Criminal Justice and International Relations

Experience and networking opportunities that our real-world connections offer provide our students in this study area with a competitive edge when it comes to employability.

You could take advantage of our connections with business in the public and private sectors to elevate your career in community rehabilitation, the civil service and security sectors.

Our partnerships include influential names in the criminal justice and international relations arena, including West Midlands Police, the prison service, Staffordshire Forensics Partnership, and more.

Read some of our graduate stories to see where studying at Staffordshire University could take you.

View our Criminal Justice and International Relations courses

Your career

Students go on to work in a wide variety of fields in the criminal justice system and in other related areas. These could include:

Policing
Prison Service
Health Service
Analytical Chemistry
Loss Adjustment
Technical Management
Crime Scene Investigation
Toxicology
Education
Science writing
National foreign or defence ministries
Armed forces
Security services
International or regional organisations
Intelligence
Journalism
International organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations
NGOs such as Amnesty International or Greenpeace
Think tanks such as Saferworld

Cold Case Unit

Gain real-world experience in our Cold Case Unit

Our Cold Case Unit is an opportunity for students to work on live cold-cases helping the police to review evidence and work on a number of tasks

Find out more

Laura Maddocks

Graduated 2007

Laura first experienced the prison service during her studies. She is now an Offending Behaviour Programme Facilitator working to reduce prisoner reoffending.

Laura's story

Our latest connections

Work experience

You can choose to take a placement year on many of our undergraduate courses. You’re also be able to collaborate on research projects with organisations in the criminal justice system. These include police forces, forensic nurses, professional bodies, forensic investigation units and laboratories.

Subject-related opportunities are also available which could enhance your experience and skillset. For example you could join our FaCS Student Society, learn more about forensic archaeology on a dedicated module, undertake a placement with Staffordshire or Derbyshire Police Forensic Units, or get in touch with our Global Connections team to find a placement or study opportunity overseas.

What's more, we also have a Cold Case Unit, where some of our students have the opportunity to work with experts to revisit historical unsolved crimes. This enhances work experience and practical skills, giving the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in a real-life setting.

Our students

You’re actually out in the field gaining experience

What I enjoy most about the course is that you’re not just sitting in a lecture theatre all of the time being spoken to. You’re actually out in the field gaining experience, you’re very practical, visiting prisons and having prison officers and governors come in and speak to us.

Danielle Hackett

Criminal Justice with Offender Management

No other university I had applied to had the strong links that Staffordshire University had.

With my future career goal in mind, the links that the University has with Staffordshire Police really appealed to me and ended up being another reason that I chose the university. No other university I had applied to had the strong links that Staffordshire University had already established.

Sarah Hartley

MSci Forensic Investigation

Without help from the University I wouldn't be where I am now. It's pretty much my dream job.

The course has given me the knowledge and skills to collect evidence on a crime scene - skills I now use in my job. Without help from the University I wouldn't be where I am now. It's pretty much my dream job.

Louise Walker

Forensic Science Scenes of Crime Officer

Studying Forensic Investigation at Staffs gave me back my confidence and opened so many doors.

Studying Forensic Investigation at Staffs gave me back my confidence and opened so many doors.

The combined knowledge of the staff as well as the opportunities for hands on learning in the labs and the crime scene house gave me the foundations to begin my dream career.

Nadine Jones

Forensic Investigation Graduate

Got a question about Criminal Justice and International Relations?

Our friendly enquiries team are on hand to answer any questions you may have about your course, life at Staffordshire University and much more.

Careers and connections in Criminal Justice and International Relations

Undergraduate