Options with criminology
A criminology degree provides you with a range of skills and many graduates enter jobs outside the criminal justice system. Discover the alternative careers available to you…
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
Jobs where your degree would be useful include:
Remember that many employers accept applications from graduates with any degree subject, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. To find out what jobs would suit me, log in to My Prospects.
Employers value experience, and a range of paid and voluntary work opportunities exist, including work with offenders, criminal justice agencies and victims of crime. Social work and community education departments also offer relevant opportunities.
Think about the group or the environment you are interested in working with and how you could get involved with local support groups or projects aimed at reducing the risk of offending. Narrowing down your preferences will allow you to focus on specific employers and voluntary organisations.
Search for placements and find out more about work experience and internships.
Major employers include central and local government, the police and prison services, and other non-profit making organisations, including the NHS, educational institutions and charities that work with young offenders or victims of crime. Opportunities also exist in the private sector.
Criminology graduates also work in a range of social welfare posts, such as mental health support and drug rehabilitation, housing (as housing officers or in outreach support roles), as homelessness officers, and in refugee and victim support/counselling.
Find information on employers in the public sector, health and social care, charities and voluntary work, and other job sectors.
Studying criminology develops your understanding of the social and personal aspects of crime, victimisation and responses to crime and deviance, as well as developing specific skills such as:
If you study other subjects alongside criminology, you should also consider the complementary skills they provide you with, e.g. an increased awareness of psychology or politics related to criminology topics.
Also consider your transferable skills in research, written and oral communication, IT, time management and planning, working to deadlines, and the ability to work productively both in a group and autonomously.
Most criminology graduates who go on to postgraduate courses choose to study in a range of vocational areas including social work, education (PGCE, or PGDE in Scotland) at both primary and secondary levels, and law conversion courses.
Some students choose to progress to Masters courses, including MAs in Criminology or Criminal Justice, which will enhance subject knowledge, possibly with a view to going on to further academic research. Courses relevant to specific client groups also exist, including MSc in Alcohol and Drug Studies.
You should also consider that there are many postgraduate courses where a degree in any subject is accepted for entry, offering the possibility to change career direction.
For more information on further study and to find a course that interests you, see postgraduate study in the UK and search courses and research.
More than half of criminology graduates are employed six months after finishing their course. Of these, around 7% go into social and welfare professions, which may include work with offenders and the probation service.
A quarter of criminology graduates go on to further study, with an additional 9% combining work and study.
Find out what other graduates are doing six months after finishing their degrees in What Do Graduates Do?
Graduate destinations data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
