Criminology MSc

Please note, applications for 2025/26 entry are now closed, but we're welcoming applications for 2026/27 entry.

Brunel's Criminology MSc is designed for graduates and professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of the complex issues surrounding crime, deviance, harm, victimisation, and justice. The course is ideal for those with a background in criminology looking to enhance their knowledge and career prospects, as well as individuals from related fields such as social sciences, humanities, arts, and law who wish to explore criminological themes in more depth.

Our programme is dynamic, innovative, and focused on employability, encouraging students to engage critically with contemporary debates that extend beyond traditional crime and criminal justice issues. Students will gain a nuanced understanding of social harms, inequality, injustice, and power in a global context.

The programme team brings extensive experience in both teaching and professional practice across the criminal justice system and related sectors. Our strong connections with government agencies, criminal justice organisations, and third sector groups ensure that students benefit from valuable industry links and real-world perspectives.

The MSc Criminology is made up of a compulsory 60 credit Dissertation module, as would be expected on a PGT course in the social sciences. Students will be supported to undertake a substantial piece of independent research, which is informed by current understandings in criminology and may be empirical, policy-based or theoretical.

The dissertation module sits alongside three other compulsory 30 credit modules, each designed to provide advanced knowledge and understanding of core areas of criminological scholarship. These are essentially modules that look at criminological theory (Deconstructing Criminological Imaginations), research methods (Critical Research Methods) and issues relating to criminal justice and the control of crime (Criminal Justice, Risk, and Harm).

Students on the programme will then have the option to deepen their knowledge and understanding in a specialist area of criminology by selecting one of three distinctive modules. These modules have been designed to support students to specialise and develop their theoretical and practical understandings and skills in key areas of criminology, namely: 1) relational and restorative practices; 2) global criminology; 3) investigations. This distinctive feature of our programme will support students to develop their theoretical understandings of these distinct areas of criminological inquiry and practice, whilst also providing opportunities to develop relevant practical and employability skills.

This course can be studied 1 Year full-time or 2 years part-time, starting in September.

Graduates of the MSc Criminology will benefit from a theoretical and methodological grounding that will provide them with the knowledge and relational skills required for further research and/or a professional career. For graduates that intend to pursue an academic or research career, this degree provides students with the tools needed to pursue doctoral study, or employment as a researcher in a range of organisations (i.e. universities, civil service and local authorities, think-tanks, and other third sector organisations such as non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations). Students may also go on to work in a range of criminal justice settings. This could include the police (or a range of other policing/private security organisations), the criminal or civil courts, prisons, probation (and other rehabilitative) services, victims support services, and/or youth justice services. Within these organisations/settings, graduates may undertake a range of advanced roles including those relating to frontline services/support, research, policy, and management. Students with an MSc Criminology may also gain employment in the social justice sector. This may include organisations with a wide range of specialisms, including addictions, victims, child protection, restorative justice, education, and health. The MSc Criminology will provide students with critical analytical and research skills sought by third-sector organisations and NGOs that challenge issues of human rights violations in the UK and internationally. Reflecting the opportunity in MSc Criminology to specialise in a range of distinctive modules, students may also go on to secure employment in a range of specific roles/organisations with a concern for global/international issues, relational and restorative practices, and/or investigations. This will support graduates secure employment in a wide range of organisations including international and intergovernmental organisations, human rights and social justice organisations, criminal justice inspectorates, and restorative justice service providers. 

2:2 or above in Social Science, Law, Arts, Humanities preferred, all other subjects will be considered on a case by case basis

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all) 

The curriculum and teaching and learning strategy of this programme adopts a variety of methods which reflects the contributions of individual lecturers. Collectively, these rest upon a number of shared assumptions about the learning process:

• Learning is a social activity, where we use restorative practice to create meaningful and just relationships to humanise the classroom and help create an effective learning environment.
• Learning is interactive and co-constructive which encourages independent thought, criticality and self-reflection as well as dialogic engagements.
• Students are encouraged to share knowledge, discuss ideas, and aid each other in their intellectual development.
• Teaching is a guided conversation rather than simple instruction to students.
• Learning involves exploring existing knowledge and evaluating concepts, theories, and empirical data.
• Teaching encourages intellectual independence on the part of students that encourage students to interrogate at an advanced level the inter-relationship between theory and practice at both an international and domestic level.
• Learning involves the application of conceptual and practice-based skills in group work.

Activities

Teaching and learning will normally take place in a variety of contexts:

• Direct-instruction strategies including lectures, guided readings and seminars, discussions/debates, and learning circles.
• Activity-based strategies that engage students in individual or group experiential learning opportunities including field visits; whole group interactive sessions; group work; comparative analyses; tutor-led, participant-led, self-directed research and study
• Independent learning strategies will be facilitated with active tutoring and scaffolded formative and summative assessments, journaling, resource-based learning, including library and digital work. These prepare students to undertake their advanced independent research projects.
• Subject-specific and generic technologies where students are taught to source and assess databases and use software to analyse content.

The range of assessments on the programme ensures coherence between teaching, learning, and assessment strategies. The programme assessments also serve to ensure that key knowledge, understanding, and skills in different areas of the discipline are cultivated and developed. All assessments require students to demonstrate their advanced level of comprehension and critical reflection. Students’ knowledge and understanding of learning outcomes will be determined via a range of assessment types that build on different learning styles. As such, the programme uses a variety of assessment types to enforce a broad and comprehensive coverage of the programme themes and the more selective, creative, and skills-oriented forms of understanding. The assessments also seek to:

• Enhance student’s written communication skills by emphasising the importance of well-researched arguments underpinned by evidence, independent critical evaluation, clarity and clear articulation of the narrative, and ability to communicate through various forms of written work (through essays, literature reviews, reports, case studies, and critical reviews),
• Develop innovative and targeted delivery of ideas, including student oral communications skills that are targeted at a clearly defined audiences (through in person, video and audio presentations, creation of podcasts, infographics, opinion editorials, etc),
• Strengthen individual and collaborative work strategies intended to build team-work experience, as well as interpersonal and project management skills (through individual and group projects, and portfolios).

Students will have the opportunity to receive written feedback on their draft work through the use of formative assessments across all modules. Formative assessments help show you and us that you are learning and understanding the material covered in this course and allow us to monitor your progress towards achieving the learning outcomes for module. Following the submission of summative (final) assessments, students will be provided with written feedback and invited to discuss their feedback 1:1 with module teaching staff.