Policing BA Honours

Course summary

Our Policing BA course is designed to equip you for a future career as a police officer or police staff. The course meets the benchmarking standards of the College of Policing, allowing you progress onto the degree holder entry programme. We’ll give you the tools to put your policing ambitions into practice using detailed case studies from crime scene investigation through to processing suspects and court prosecutions, while also uniquely considering the problems and challenges facing contemporary policing in Britain. This degree provides a pathway for students from all backgrounds to solve these issues, make a positive change to modern-day policing and serve the equally diverse communities which the police work within and for.

You’ll study within Westminster Law School, with its focus on legal and ethical aspects of criminal justice and broader social matters. This gives you the opportunity to take optional modules that keep the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) route open to you, if a career in law is something you may be interested in.

This course has been designed to educate police officers and leaders of the future. You’ll be taught by our experienced academic staff in law, sociology and criminology and gain the knowledge to address the key issues in modern policing. By choosing to study this course with us, you’ll benefit from a supportive environment and great location where you can prepare for your future career. You’ll graduate ready to become part of a new culture within the police force, equipped to drive forward change and re-establish the values in policing.

Top Reasons to study with us

• Be part of an inclusive community that prepares students from all backgrounds to serve the diverse communities the police work with and for
• Study a cutting-edge degree with an interdisciplinary focus on the challenges faced by the police, communities and society
• Course leader Dr Paul Betts has 29 years’ experience in the police, in roles including Detective Chief Superintendent, working across offender management, youth justice and counter terror
• Our course delivery means you’ll study the problems of modern policing head-on and be encouraged to develop ideas to improve policing in the future
• By taking specific option modules, this course includes a route to take the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) for entry into the legal profession

This course is ideal for those who not only wish to pursue a career in the police force and related fields, but become future leaders and push forward change within modern-day British policing. If you’re interested in law and criminal justice but unsure of your career path, this course provides a good opportunity to explore different career options, as successful completion of relevant option modules will allow you to pursue the SQE route to becoming a solicitor.

This course will prepare you for roles in a variety of areas including:

• Police Officer

• Police Staff

• Investigator

• Probation Officer

• Prison Officer

• Solicitor

• Barrister

• Intelligence professionals

• Crime analysts

• Leadership roles in the policing and criminal justice sector