Course summary

The degree in Professional Policing, with Foundation year, is a 4 year professional academic knowledge-based degree that will provide students with a professional knowledge of the ethics, skills and attitudes that are critical to 21st century policing. The degree is built around the national curriculum for the police constable role and is aimed at students who have an interest , or wish to pursue a career, in policing or the wider security and criminal justice sector. The aim of the program is to provide students with all of the knowledge needed to become a police officer in the UK, prior to joining a police force. Crucially, students will be made aware that application and recruitment to a police force is a separate process from their study on the pre-join degree and that the degree has a currency of 5 years for recruitment (post-graduation). There is a high level of face-to-face tuition and student will be taught by a team of experts from a variety of backgrounds to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the domestic legal system, and provide the foundations of legal, forensic, psycho-social and criminological knowledge with regard to areas encountered in policing and investigative practice. The course is delivered over two semesters per academic year. The students study six modules per year. In the third year there is a choice between a placement and an optional module. Students will be provided with key transferable skills relating to analysis, communication, decision-making, autonomy and team-work. The degree programme is designed so that the Foundation Year provides an underpinning year, incorporating both academic and legal/professional related learning as well as skills needed to participate in levels 4, 5 and 6.