Study Method Online
Provider University of Essex Online
Start Date 17 March 2026, 26 May 2026, 28 July 2026

Course overview

Learn more about the criminal mind and critical issues in the criminal justice system, with this 100% online, part-time BSc (Hons) Criminal Psychology*.

Throughout this course, you’ll explore thought-provoking topics from both psychology and criminology, such as developmental science, offender profiling and forensic psychology. There’s also a strong emphasis on the importance of evidence-based practice, along with integrating psychological theory to understand, reduce and prevent offending behaviour. Your studies will culminate with a final project on a criminal psychology topic of your choice.

*Please note: This course isn’t accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS). If you’d like to study a BPS accredited course, please check out our BSc (Hons) Psychology.

Job outcomes

Careers in:

  • Security
  • Marketing
  • Academia
  • Business

Want to see more job outcomes and how your future could change?

Study method

  • Online Online info icon
    Online delivery - online course content with the exception of assessments and work placement
  • Blended Blended info icon
    Blended delivery - both online course content and partial face to face requirements
  • In-class In-class info icon
    In class delivery - predominately face to face course content conducted at a specific location
  • Virtual Virtual info icon
    Virtual Delivery - Live and interactive classroom-style learning conducted completely online

Duration study load

  • 4 years – Part-time

Delivery

We’re a 100% online education provider, so we use a state-of-the-art virtual learning environment (VLE) to deliver our teaching, resources and assessments. Our system tracks and manages the learning process in real-time and provides you with immediate access to your learning materials. The VLE is accessible 24/7 and allows both students and tutors to actively take part in real-time conversations and live seminars.

Entry requirements

At University of Essex Online, we believe that everyone should be able to access education. That is why we offer two different entry routes onto our BSc (Hons) Criminal Psychology, which considers academic or work-based experience. 

Academic entry route

You must have the following qualifications as a minimum:

  • three A-levels or equivalent

Work experience entry route

You must meet the following criteria:

  • GCSE Maths and English at grade C or above, or equivalent
  • three years’ relevant work experience

English language requirement

Our courses are taught in English so to study with us you must have an IELTS (Academic) score of 6.0 or equivalent. If you don’t hold an IELTS or equivalent qualification, you will be required to pass a free online English test to assess your proficiency.

Find out more about the entry requirements for this course

Course features

We believe you get the most out of your time spent studying when you are kept informed of your performance, and we achieve this by:

  • assessing you throughout modules rather than waiting for end of year assessments
  • showing your marks in your grade book which can be viewed whenever you log onto the virtual learning environment (VLE)
  • rapid turnaround on work assessed to ensure your grade book is always up to date
  • ensuring you have regular contact with your Student Support team

Assessment

All assessments are delivered through our virtual learning environment (VLE). You’ll submit assignments through the VLE, such as written reports, discussion forum participation or reflective journal entries.

We also have a policy of ensuring that the work submitted by students is authentic – we use a well-established electronic monitoring system to check for plagiarism.

Additional information

Career prospects

On completion of the online BSc (Hons) Criminal Psychology, you’ll have a firm starting platform to begin a career within criminal justice. Your skills and knowledge will also be highly sought after by employers in a wider range of sectors, such as academia, business, security and marketing.

Delivery

We’re a 100% online education provider, so we use a state-of-the-art virtual learning environment (VLE) to deliver our teaching, resources and assessments. Our system tracks and manages the learning process in real-time and provides you with immediate access to your learning materials. The VLE is accessible 24/7 and allows both students and tutors to actively take part in real-time conversations and live seminars.

Subjects

The BSc (Hons) Criminal Psychology includes the following modules.

Modules
Fundamentals of Effective Learning in Psychology
Introduction to Social Psychology
Crime & Society
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Introduction to Offender Profiling
Introduction to Research Methods
Dealing with Offending Behaviour
Personality and Intelligence
Biological Psychology
Advanced Cognitive Psychology

Want more information about the subjects for this course?

Payment options

Full tuition fee:

£20,987 UK / £20,987 International (2025-26) Δ

  • Designated for undergraduate student loans in England.
  • Simple monthly payment plan available, allowing you to spread the cost over the duration of your studies.
  • Full payment discount of 5% if you pay upfront.
  • International students residing in specific regions outside of the UK may be eligible for a partial scholarship for our undergraduate and postgraduate online courses.
  • Students residing in Africa can also enjoy a 20% scholarship for the March and April 2026 intakes of all eligible undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
  • Alumni discount of 10% of the tuition fee available if you are a previous graduate with the University of Essex or University of Essex Online.
  • 10% corporate discount available when three or more of your employees study with us.

Please note, a maximum of two discounts or scholarships can be applied. The corporate discount can only be used in combination with our upfront payment discount, but not in conjunction with any other discount or scholarship. Our course fees are fully inclusive – all teaching materials and required reading are included, and there are no hidden charges for assessments or resits. Δ All tuition fees shown are net of any applicable sales tax payable by you in your country of residence. Where we are required to add sales tax at the local statutory rate, this will be added to the tuition fees shown and confirmed during the payment process.

Find out more about the payment options for this course

About University of Essex Online

University of Essex Online delivers 100% online part-time courses in business, computing, education, health, law, criminology and psychology. The qualifications we offer include CertHEs and Bachelors degrees at the undergraduate level, and PG Certs, PG Dips and Masters degrees at the postgraduate level, with study durations ranging from 8 months to 4 years. As an established provider of 100% online degrees in the UK. All our courses are specifically designed for online delivery, combining silver-standard teaching with the latest technology and enabling you to gain a degree from anywhere in the world. All our qualifications are awarded and validated by the University of Essex, an award-winning university with a 60-year heritage of teaching and research excellence. On completion of your studies, you’ll be invited to graduate at the University of Essex’s Colchester campus. You will receive the same certificate as campus-based students – your mode of study is only mentioned on your academic transcript. We're proud to be rated Gold in the Times Higher Education (THE) Online Rankings 2024. Our achievement, which is based on four pillars - resources, engagement, outcomes and environment - recognises our commitment to excellent online education.

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