Criminology and Psychology with Foundation Year

Criminology and psychology are disciplines that illuminate each other's blind spots. Criminology asks why crime occurs, how it is distributed across society, and how institutions respond to it. Psychology provides the tools to examine individual minds, motivations, and developmental pathways, including the specific mental processes that may contribute to criminal behaviour or shape the experience of victimisation.

The combination of social analysis and individual psychological understanding produces a far richer account of crime than either discipline can provide alone.

At Arden University, this four-year full-time programme includes a foundation year that provides a grounding in the key concepts, research methods, and academic skills needed to thrive in both disciplines. The programme is designed to give you in-depth knowledge of the interrelated fields of criminology and psychology alongside the practical skills needed to meet the current and future demands of the sector. You will explore theories of crime and deviance alongside the psychology of offending, victimisation, and criminal justice decision-making, and you will develop skills in evaluating evidence, designing research, and constructing arguments that draw on both traditions.

The programme is accessible to students from a range of educational backgrounds, with a typical entry tariff of 32 UCAS points.

Graduates from criminology and psychology programmes go on to careers in probation, the prison service, victim support, social work, police, forensic services, mental health, community justice, research, and policy. Many choose to develop further through postgraduate study, as routes into practitioner psychology require further training beyond the undergraduate level. Further study options include postgraduate programmes in forensic psychology, criminal justice, social work, and criminology.