Criminology

Entry requirements

A second-class honours degree (2:2) or above in the humanities, social sciences or law.

Applications are reviewed on their individual merits and your professional qualifications and/or relevant work experience will be taken into consideration positively. We actively support and encourage applications from mature learners.

Months of entry

January, October

Course content

Our MSc Criminology offers you unique insights into crime, punishment and justice in today’s world. It explores both cutting-edge criminological theory and current real-world phenomena related to crime and punishment. This criminology degree provides you with a multidisciplinary platform to:


- engage with the complexity of contemporary criminology


- understand and critically assess the complexity of political, economic, social and cultural forces that affect crime and its control.


The MSc Criminology is ideal if you have a keen interest in crime and criminal behaviour and wish to better understand the key issues facing criminal justice today. Not only will you gain advanced knowledge and understanding of contemporary criminological theory, you will also have the opportunity to specialise by pursuing one of four pathways. You will also learn cutting-edge research methods to enable you to complete a substantial, original research project.

Depending on your choice of pathway specialism, you will be awarded one of the following:


- MSc Criminology (Criminology and Criminal Justice)


- MSc Criminology (Gender, Sexuality and Criminal Justice)


- MSc Criminology (Race, Crime and Justice)


- MSc Criminology (Global Criminology)


**This course is part of our new Birkbeck Flexible Master’s UK, which gives you the choice of how you want to study - on campus, online or via flexible learning, which combines both.**

**Highlights**

• Your specialist pathway will reflect your interests and help you develop focused knowledge in a key area. Whichever pathway you decide on, you can look forward to a stimulating evening learning environment, learning alongside students with diverse backgrounds and professional experiences.
• You will be taught by staff who are part of a proud tradition of critical scholarship in criminology and criminal justice, who address issues of crime through power and inequality, and are led by principles of social and racial justice. 
• We are home to the Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research. Its director, Professor Jessica Jacobson, leads a team of outstanding researchers. Academics and researchers at ICPR bring a wealth of knowledge to this Master's course, leading compulsory and specialist modules and providing research project supervision.
• Students can attend specialist research seminars, such as the Criminology Seminar Series and the Race and Justice Seminar Series, which feature national and international scholars speaking to current issues and groundbreaking interdisciplinary research.
• We use electronic learning environments to enhance our teaching and learning. Birkbeck Library has an extensive teaching collection of books, journals and electronic resources in law and related disciplines, such as economics, politics and sociology. For example, it provides access to over 17,000 electronic journals, which are available online 24 hours a day. You can also take advantage of the rich research collections nearby, including those of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Senate House Library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science (LSE Library) and the British Library.
• Candidates with an outstanding academic record who demonstrate high potential for strong performance on one of our Master's degrees can apply for School of Law Postgraduate Fee Awards.

Information for international students

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this course is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 7.0, with not less than 6.5 in each of the sub-tests.

If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses and foundation programmes to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.