Course overview
Knowledge and skills developed will be valuable across a range of careers such as the police, prison service, probation service, border force, intelligence services, forensic services, and civilian investigative roles.
Your teaching team have substantial professional and teaching experience, and delivery methods are varied, including practical skills and theoretical knowledge with a real-life flavour. They draw upon local case studies to enrich your learning experience in class and by sending you out into the community. Put theory into practice using our fingerprint lab, crime scene evidence room and our crime scene house which presents over 30 crime scene areas.
Our well-established links and network of contacts with criminal justice organisations and practitioners, locally and nationally, our Policing Clinic, strong links with Her Majesty’s Prison, probation service, and Cleveland Police ensures your course is relevant and adds additional depth and breadth to your studies.
First-class facilities enable you to develop and hone important professional and practical skills including our simulated police station equipped with interview rooms, a custody office and an enquiry desk. You benefit from an immersive learning experience and expand your understanding of practical procedures. In addition, our replica court room has the features of a modern court and offers invaluable courtroom experience to increase your awareness of the needs of victims and witnesses.
We have a proven track record of working effectively with policing and criminal justice partners which provide unique employability opportunities. Our exceptionally talented crime and investigation team are from a variety of backgrounds including policing professionals and academia giving you an authentic and current learning experience.
We support you to build your confidence as you progress through the course. We’ll teach you how to study well, write coherently and critically engage with ideas, develop professional and practical skills, experience and knowledge giving you key transferable skills, which form the foundations of a successful career.
Top reasons to study this course
- Step into the scene: discover how to present and contest evidence in our replica courtroom, preserve a crime scene in the crime scene house, or see how suspects are booked and charged in our replica police station.
- No two days the same: the subject is incredibly varied and always interesting – you’ll enjoy exploring every angle.
- Understand the bigger picture: develop a deep understanding of crime, criminals and how the justice system operates in the real world.
- Be part of the solution: explore the root causes of crime and learn how to prevent and reduce it, creating safer communities.
- A range of career options: your skills will open doors to a range of meaningful careers in the police, prison and forensic services – and beyond.
Course details
Course structure
Year 1 core modules
Examine the role of law enforcement within England and Wales, focusing on the historical development and contemporary role and function of policing, forensic investigation, the investigation of sudden death, the process of criminal investigation, and the role of victims and witnesses. You also explore important historical criminal investigations in England and Wales, and their significance in terms of historical investigations, plus basic theoretical explanations of crime and deviance.
This is a 40-credit module.
Fundamentals of the English Legal System
You gain the skills for success in legal study and practice, including the use and sourcing?of legal materials, legal research, how to tackle legal questions and the processes of legal reasoning such as the doctrine of judicial precedent and judicial approaches towards interpreting statute. Consider some of the key skills of the lawyer in practice, enabling you to practice for the conduct of cases including the preparation and presentation of arguments.
This is a 20-credit module.
Introduction to Digital Investigation and Intelligence
Identify and examine potential sources of intelligence as part of wider digital investigations. Locate an investigation's sources - their structure, contents and value - and the surrounding legal and ethical implications involved with using them. You discuss and interpret different approaches to examining intelligence sources, and apply them to real-world scenarios.
This is a 40-credit module.
You work on real case examples and theories to get the professional skills you need when you work as part of an investigative team. Enhance your knowledge on how to trace evidence at a range of crime scenes and further develop your own mental skills to successfully recover forensic evidence through various investigative methods.
This is a 20-credit module.
Year 2 core modules
Develop existing knowledge of the investigation of crime, drawing on cases to understand the contemporary context of the investigative process. The investigative focus is broadened to include issues related to the recording and investigation of crime, including exploratory interviewing skills.
This is a 40-credit module.
Future Directions (Research, Careers and Development)
Undertake personal and professional development through self-evaluation, self-reflection, and developing key transferable skills including research, academic writing, and critical thinking. Engage with practitioners in relevant professions, gaining insight into their work and possible career paths. Learn about professionalism and ethical decision-making, preparing you for the challenges of professional life. Engage with the contemporary research topics of our academic staff to inspire your interests in preparation for your research project.
This is a 20-credit module.
Develop a critical understanding and knowledge of the nature and purpose of criminal law. Consider the basic elements of a crime, and a variety of criminal offences and defences. You also develop a detailed and critical understanding of the rules and regulations impacting on crime investigation, human rights and policing decisions. Through critical thinking, you examine professional situations and scenarios demonstrating your knowledge of powers, legislation and authorised professional practice.
This is a 20-credit module.
Develop your research skills ready for your final-year research project. You explore the key features of the research process to understand how quantitative and qualitative research methods can help to investigate different issues in society. Consider the causes of crime, and criminological and psychological concepts to appreciate a range of explanations.
This is a 40-credit module.
Final-year core modules
Defendants and Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System
Explore and challenge the law concerned with obtaining and the admissibility of evidence at trial, and the relevance of evidence in the investigatory process and during the criminal trial. Gain an understanding of policing-related decisions, founded upon critical thinking, in complex professional situations and contexts, demonstrating appropriate knowledge of powers, legislation and authorised professional practice.
This is a 20-credit module.
International Policing and Investigation
Examine the policing systems in the UK, Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, along with the law enforcement agencies that help investigate international crime. You explore the policing systems that exist based on the historical, social and political contexts of policing, and current international debates on police recruitment, training and police cultures. Identify the role of the police in different societies, their different tasks and responsibilities, and the relationship between the police and the society of their country.
This is a 20-credit module.
Develop key research skills as you explore the features of the research process, understanding how quantitative and qualitative methods are suitable to investigating different issues in society. Explore some of the causes of crime, giving consideration to criminological and psychological concepts to develop an appreciation of a range of contributory explanations.
This is a 40-credit module.
This is a 40-credit module.
Develop your knowledge, skills and understanding of the professionalisation of the investigation process. Consider the renewed emphasis on delivering a more professional, ethical and effective investigative process in the 21st century. Focus on the contemporary role and function of practitioners within the investigative field. Explore police investigations, the impact of the growth in serious and organised crime, using technology within an investigation and the role of other professionals. You apply theory to practice and conduct investigations on reconstructed incidents.
This is a 40-credit module.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
All modules are taught through a combination of lectures and seminars, and the forensic modules also include practical sessions. In lectures, specific information is delivered to larger groups while, in the smaller seminar groups, you can explore these issues in more depth supported by independent study. Forensic sessions provide the in-depth study and application of skills within the crime scene house laboratory, vehicle examination laboratory, mock police station, interview rooms and the mock courtroom.
How you are assessed
Assessment is varied and includes essays, portfolios, presentations, projects, case studies, evidence gathering, examinations and a dissertation. Some modules have several pieces of assessed work to help you to develop your skills throughout the academic year. Also, some assessed sessions will be undertaken within the crime scene house laboratory.
Our Disability Services team provide an inclusive and empowering learning environment and have specialist staff to support disabled students access any additional tailored resources needed. If you have a specific learning difficulty, mental health condition, autism, sensory impairment, chronic health condition or any other disability please contact a Disability Services as early as possible.
Find out more about our disability services
Find out more about financial support
Find out more about our course related costs
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
A typical offer is 80-104 tariff points from at least two A levels, T level or equivalent. You must have GCSE English Language grade 4 (grade C) or equivalent.
For general information please see our overview of entry requirements.
International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country.
You can gain considerable knowledge from work, volunteering and life. Under recognition of prior learning (RPL) you may be awarded credit for this which can be credited towards the course you want to study.
Find out more about RPL
Employability
Career opportunities
You can enter a broad range of careers including the police service as a police officer or member of police staff (for example, crime scene investigator, intelligence analyst, fingerprint examiner), other law enforcement or criminal justice agencies, voluntary organisations, the public sector or the law sector, and postgraduate training or study.
All programmes are designed to incorporate employability skills development alongside your degree course. Our staff utilise their extensive connections to provide many and varied opportunities to engage with potential employers through fairs, guest lecture sessions, live projects and site visits. In addition we offer a series of workshops and events in the first, second and third year that ensure you are equipped with both degree level subject knowledge PLUS the practical skills that employers are looking for in new graduate recruits.
Our award-winning careers service works with regional and national employers to advertise graduate positions, in addition to providing post-graduation support for all Teesside University alumni.
Information for international applicants
Qualifications
International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.
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Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.
