Forensic and Investigative Psychology

BSc (Hons)

Location

Stoke-on-Trent campus

Stoke-on-Trent campus

UCAS code

CMV5

Start dates available

  • September 2026

Start dates available

  • September 2026

Explore the mind of a criminal and study the psychology behind real cases on our exciting course.

You’ll analyse the ‘before, during and after’ stages of a crime as you discover how forensic psychologists support investigations. You can get hands-on at simulated crime scenes, practise interview techniques and learn about managing offenders inside our custody suite and prison cell.

Other topics range from whether criminals can be rehabilitated to how psychological factors can explain wrongful convictions. You’ll delve into psychological profiling too, so you can build up a picture of an offender’s characteristics.

The course puts crime into context and involves analysing major cases, such as killer GP Harold Shipman and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.

With specialist options, you can tailor it to your interests. We offer lots of support as well, with every student assigned an academic mentor.

The degree can lead to a variety of postgraduate study and career opportunities, including specialising in forensic or clinical psychology and roles in victim support, youth offending services or with police forces.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Forensic and Investigative Psychology

Duration

  • Full-time course runs for 3 years
  • Full-time with a placement year runs for 4 years

Work placements

Students have the option of undertaking a placement year. This typically involves working for three days a week for a nine-month period.

You can choose your ideal placement with support from our staff. Examples have included helping with behavioural programmes, witness support, and roles with addiction or mental health charities.

Some students have also gained placements with the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT), working with offenders and their families.

Explore the mind of a criminal and study the psychology behind real cases on our exciting course.

You’ll analyse the ‘before, during and after’ stages of a crime as you discover how forensic psychologists support investigations. You can get hands-on at simulated crime scenes, practise interview techniques and learn about managing offenders inside our custody suite and prison cell.

Other topics range from whether criminals can be rehabilitated to how psychological factors can explain wrongful convictions. You’ll delve into psychological profiling too, so you can build up a picture of an offender’s characteristics.

The course puts crime into context and involves analysing major cases, such as killer GP Harold Shipman and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.

With specialist options, you can tailor it to your interests. We offer lots of support as well, with every student assigned an academic mentor.

The degree can lead to a variety of postgraduate study and career opportunities, including specialising in forensic or clinical psychology and roles in victim support, youth offending services or with police forces.

On successful completion of study, we will issue the following award: BSc (Hons) Forensic and Investigative Psychology

Duration

  • Full-time course runs for 3 years
  • Full-time with a placement year runs for 4 years

Course content

First year:

You’ll explore core areas of modern psychology and how they can be applied to everyday life. We also look at the criminal justice system and cover key issues around policing, interviewing and the courtroom.

You will begin to hone your skills as a researcher, learning how to decide on research questions and hypotheses, plan your study, use software to collect and analyse data, and write up your findings in an academic report. Research skills are an important part of working as a psychologist.

You’ll also look at personal development for your future career.

Second year:

You’ll look at the psychology behind why people commit crimes and explore key issues such as youth offending, stalking and violent crime.

You can choose from a range of optional modules to suit your interests and career aspirations. These include the opportunity to undertake a research assistantship. You can also look at psychological interventions and how they contribute to health and wellbeing.

If you’re interested in a career in the criminal justice field, you can delve into the law relating to prisoners and how this extends to their release into the community. There’s a module dedicated to offender management too, where you can practise your skills using role plays in our mock custody suite and cell.

Third year:

You will complete an in-depth project, which answers a research question of your choice. You will also look at career planning, including developing your CV.

We cover applications of psychology in forensic settings, such as profiling, deception detection, being an expert witness and managing offenders. You will also look at how social and cognitive psychology are used to tackle important issues in society, such as prejudice and discrimination.

You can choose from a range of optional modules too, covering topics such as child safeguarding, behavioural medicine, cybercrime, and the criminological theories behind serial killers. You can also study parapsychology – from ghosts to kinetic powers. And there’s a module exploring policing as well.

First year:

You’ll explore core areas of modern psychology and how they can be applied to everyday life. We also look at the criminal justice system and cover key issues around policing, interviewing and the courtroom.

You will begin to hone your skills as a researcher, learning how to decide on research questions and hypotheses, plan your study, use software to collect and analyse data, and write up your findings in an academic report. Research skills are an important part of working as a psychologist.

You’ll also look at personal development for your future career.

Second year:

You’ll look at the psychology behind why people commit crimes and explore key issues such as youth offending, stalking and violent crime.

You can choose from a range of optional modules to suit your interests and career aspirations. These include the opportunity to undertake a research assistantship. You can also look at psychological interventions and how they contribute to health and wellbeing.

If you’re interested in a career in the criminal justice field, you can delve into the law relating to prisoners and how this extends to their release into the community. There’s a module dedicated to offender management too, where you can practise your skills using role plays in our mock custody suite and cell.

Third year:

You will complete an in-depth project, which answers a research question of your choice. You will also look at career planning, including developing your CV.

We cover applications of psychology in forensic settings, such as profiling, deception detection, being an expert witness and managing offenders. You will also look at how social and cognitive psychology are used to tackle important issues in society, such as prejudice and discrimination.

You can choose from a range of optional modules too, covering topics such as child safeguarding, behavioural medicine, cybercrime, and the criminological theories behind serial killers. You can also study parapsychology – from ghosts to kinetic powers. And there’s a module exploring policing as well.

Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module where available.

Modules

The tables provide an indicative list of the modules that make up the course for the current academic year. Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Our teaching is informed by research, and modules change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline. We aim to ensure that all modules run as scheduled. If for any reason a module cannot be run we will advise you as soon as possible and will provide guidance on selecting an appropriate alternative module where available.

Year 3 compulsory modules
Psychology Placement Year 120 credits

Entry requirements

96 UCAS Tariff Points

  • GCE A Levels- grades CCC or equivalent
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma – grade MMM
  • Access to HE Diploma – Pass Access with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points. Applicants to Staffs who are taking the Access to HE Diploma receive a reduced tariff point offer as part of our access and participation plan activity
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma – grade MMM

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

96 UCAS Tariff Points

  • GCE A Levels- grades CCC or equivalent
  • Pearson BTEC National Extended Diploma – grade MMM
  • Access to HE Diploma – Pass Access with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points. Applicants to Staffs who are taking the Access to HE Diploma receive a reduced tariff point offer as part of our access and participation plan activity
  • OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma – grade MMM

We understand that you might have experienced a challenging run up to higher education and may have not met the entry requirements as listed. If this is the case don’t worry, contact us and our team of expert advisors can guide you through the next stages of application, or help you find the perfect course for your needs.

Facilities

Science Centre

Our £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent contains specialist laboratories with the latest state-of-the-art equipment. Read more

Find out more about our Science Centre Facilities. 

Psychology Observation Suite

The Observation Suite contains an Observation Laboratory setup with a one-way mirror, video cameras and microphones to allow activities to be observed and recorded from the Control Room. Read more

Find out more about our Psychology Observation Suite. 

Psychology Simulation Facilities

Simulation equipment is available throughout the psychology laboratory areas and as stand-alone resources for facilitating research and teaching. Read more

Find out more about our simulation facilities.

Psychology Eye Tracking Cubicles

The Psychology Eye Tracking Cubicles house desktop and portable eye trackers that allow us to track participants’ visual attention during psychology experiments. Read more

Find out more about our eye tracking cubicles.

Psychology Human Sciences Suite

The Psychology Human Sciences Suite has an impressive array of laboratory equipment which includes the Electroencephalography (EEG) Laboratory, the Pain Laboratory, and the Cardiovascular Laboratory. Read more

Find out more about our Human Sciences Suite. 

Psychology Cognitive Cubicles

The Psychology Cognitive Cubicles are a set of small cubicles used to run Psychology based tests on individual participants using specialist software. Read more

Find out more about our Psychology Cognitive Suite.

Careers

Students on this programme have the opportunity to enhance their studies with a placement year, gain valuable work experience, and take part in international activities—potentially supported by the Turing funding.

All students have access to Careers, Placements & Employability, our dedicated careers team.

Teaching and assessment

Assessment

Reflecting the different needs of learners, we use a wide range of assessment methods.  These are carefully designed and monitored to enable students to demonstrate the learning outcomes for each module and also to allow elements of choice and co-creation (e.g., Steps to Success career planning assessments and Psychology Project).  Methods range from traditional essays and exams, through to case study analysis, research report writing, critical reviews, group presentations, live briefs, advisory report, presentation pitch and reflective writing.  All modules have formative assessment opportunities and we ensure that students undertake a variety of assessment methods at each level and that they are interesting, challenging and develop skills valued by employers.   

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include:

  • study skills such as reading, note-taking and presentation skills
  • written English, including punctuation and grammatical accuracy
  • academic writing and how to reference
  • research skills
  • critical thinking and understanding arguments
  • revision, assessment and examination skills
  • time management

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Assessment

Reflecting the different needs of learners, we use a wide range of assessment methods.  These are carefully designed and monitored to enable students to demonstrate the learning outcomes for each module and also to allow elements of choice and co-creation (e.g., Steps to Success career planning assessments and Psychology Project).  Methods range from traditional essays and exams, through to case study analysis, research report writing, critical reviews, group presentations, live briefs, advisory report, presentation pitch and reflective writing.  All modules have formative assessment opportunities and we ensure that students undertake a variety of assessment methods at each level and that they are interesting, challenging and develop skills valued by employers.   

Learning support

In addition to the excellent support you will receive from your course teaching team, our central Academic Skills team provides group and one-to-one help to support your learning in a number of areas. These include:

  • study skills such as reading, note-taking and presentation skills
  • written English, including punctuation and grammatical accuracy
  • academic writing and how to reference
  • research skills
  • critical thinking and understanding arguments
  • revision, assessment and examination skills
  • time management

Additional support

Our Student Inclusion Services support students with additional needs such as sensory impairment, or learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Fees

For the course starting on 21 September 2026 the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands International
Full-time £9,535 per year of study £17,085 per year of study

For the course starting on 21 September 2026 the tuition fees are:

Study option UK / Channel Islands International
Full-time £9,535 per year of study £17,085 per year of study

UK and Channel Island students: This tuition fee is agreed subject to UK government policy and parliamentary regulation. If the UK government passes appropriate legislation, the fee for subsequent years of study may increase in each academic year. But this increase will not exceed the rate of inflation as measured by RPIX**. Any change in fees will apply to both new and continuing students. The University will notify students of any change as early as possible. Further information about fee changes would be posted on the University’s website once this becomes available.

**RPIX is a measure of inflation equivalent to all the items in the Retail Price Index (RPI) excluding mortgage interest payments.

Accommodation and living costs

Accommodation and living costs are not included in our fees. 

Sources of financial support

If you receive funding from Student Finance you may be eligible to apply for additional benefits. Details can be obtained by reading our additional funding web pages, or visiting www.gov.uk.

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Scholarships and additional funding

As an undergraduate student at Staffordshire, you may be eligible for additional financial support through one of our scholarships and bursaries. You can visit our funding page to find out more and check your eligibility.

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date
Stoke-on-Trent campus BSc (Hons) Full-time 21 September 2026 Apply now

Apply

Location Award Study option Start date
Stoke-on-Trent campus BSc (Hons) Full-time, with a placement year 21 September 2026 Apply now

Rules and regulations

If you are offered a place at University of Staffordshire, your offer will be subject to our rules, regulations and enrolment conditions, which may vary from time to time.

Students of University of Staffordshire enter into a contract with us and are bound by these rules and regulations, which are subject to change. For more information, please see: University Policies and Regulations.

Have you considered?

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2025

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021