Criminology - worth it or not?

[mirahyndley]

I did a BSc Criminology years ago with OU as a hobby degree whilst on an extended career break. I really enjoyed it, it was something different and opened my mind to some new things.
DD is now thinking to apply next year. Entry requirements are quite high, I think she said ABB. Is it useful? Or just another 'I can tick the I've got a degree box'?
Has anyone gone into a job because of this degree? Any thoughts welcome.

I am accountant and would say to anyone going to uni to do a degree they enjoy. My peers on my graduate program had varied degrees - maths, classics, psychology, geography, civil engineering. I did economics and wouldn’t suggest anyone do it unless they really love it 😂

There are accounting degrees that offer exemptions for exams but unless she really loves accounts/finance I’d not bother with those. With 40+ years of work ahead of her there is plenty of time for exams.

I believe the civil service are blind to institution but not degree subject.

I wouldn’t for 9k a year. It’s a Mickey Mouse degree in the sense that it’s unlikely to help with getting a job. I’m sure some end up with good jobs in the police, but I imagine that it’s a tiny proportion compared to the thousands doing this degree course. Plus, I’m sure that most with good jobs in the police don’t have criminology degrees. It’s an unnecessary degree.

What would you say is the best route into accountancy? Degree or apprenticeship?

@Piggywaspushed What about the ones you haven’t heard from? They will be the ones with nothing to show for it. They won’t be boasting about working in a call centre or not working at all, will they? I’d probably look at training to be a social worker. Always jobs going.

@Apprentice26 That’s a huge amount of money the op doesn’t have and what use has the sticking with it been? Young people want to work. They now aren’t all seeing a degree as a fun 3 years and not worry about a job. The sensible ones are thinking about employment!

Re degree apprenticeships vs degrees - this is based on the experiences of friends' kids and my own daughter at uni... Unless your dd really wants to have the university experience, she should strongly consider a degree apprenticeship. She will be earning straight away and will have no student debt but still have a degree at the end of it. They are competitive though.

Re criminology - these courses have become competitive in recent years because they are so popular. And, I'm afraid to say, this has been driven by the true crime phenomenon. Lots of students start the degree thinking it's going to be CSI Miami and it's actually the sociology of drug-based crime in Peckham.

I did say I hadn't heard from all of them of course they may be , but that is 3/5 of those who have graduated bh now in criminology. I was just sharing as per OP's question.

It's actually hard to get accepted on to social work graduate programmes.

Not sure this child wants these kind of careers as accounting and economics are also mentioned.

I think that depends on the pathway possibly. My DS just did one and only put in that he had one in one of the listed subjects at the required level.

Hmm so you chose your username deliberately after one of the most notorious killers of the 20th century – because this is a thread about a degree in criminology? Yes tone-deaf is a nice way to describe that.

Your phrase “coasting in a minimum wage job” – while I appreciate you need your DC to earn more than min wage or they won’t be able to afford to move out of home, maybe be aware that that implies (perhaps not your intention) that those who work for min wage are all “coasting”.

Anyway; my suggestion for your DD is that she does a maths degree (not at a very popular uni as she has no FM; but plenty of unis will be happy with just maths A level) and trains after that to be a maths teacher. She will have a bursary of £29k to train and a starting salary of £32k outside London, plus likelihood of good progression to £40k+ pretty soon. Not too bad. Very likely to be able to get a job and also AI proof if anything is. Certainly well above min wage. Will she enjoy it? Only she and maybe you know that, and it's not clear how highly you rate that (though I think it's vital)

Yes social work graduate programmes are competitive, I've a number of friends who did this and none of them recommend social work at all. I work adjacent to SWs and the rate of burn out and stress is very high. Most of them have work to do at home as they cannot finish their caseload work during office hours.

@clary I don't think by definition that is tone deaf at all. If you must know I choose usernames based on books that are near me at the time and one of them was about MH, who is hugely relevant in the field of critical criminology. I hope that can put your mind at rest now.
Thanks for the advice, AFAIK the £29k bursary for teacher training is England only?

Where are you based OP?

Yeh just England. Apologies if you are not in England. If in Scotlabd no fees for the degree tho

Dd did law & criminology degree, went into the police on their detective entry programme.

Its not easy work, she is enjoying it (mostly), its certainly different. I manage my worrying.

That would certainly be a very safe choice @clary

• Maths teaching is very mobile. You can get a job anywhere in the country, including places with low living costs.
• The skills are very transferable. The great thing about maths is that you can apply it to almost any field. These days, most big employers have data analytics departments. Teaching skills are also very transferable!
• If she wants children one day, she will be able to transition back to teaching and / or go part-time.

I know someone who did just that - maths degree with a view to teaching, but now works as a data scientist. Also leads training weeks at big employers in python, machine learning, etc. so is using her teaching skills as well (to some extent). I'm a data scientist myself (undergraduate degree in statistics, master degree in data science) and I have worked from home since 2021 (my choice). Great work-life balance, though that may depend on the employer. I can definitely recommend it.

If she isn't sure about maths, there are also data science degrees or joint / "with" honours like this one (Warwick, ABB): https://warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/ba-social-sciences-with-data-science/

We are north of Ireland. I just checked and there is a fees waiver for post primary BEd in maths in a teacher training college, but very few jobs here from what I know. I've quite a few teacher friends who have either been subbing or assisting for years as they haven't been able to get a permanent teaching role. Maths might be different though, but my DD keeps telling me that her maths teacher told them more than 100 people applied for her job. I hope some teachers from NI can tell me differently.

No, I think that is true. Recruitment to teaching in NI and Scotland is less awful. You'd think they'd look at why in E and W.

@mirahyndleyWhat professional does all their work in office hours? Hardly anyone! It’s how most jobs are now. However there are senior social workers who have stuck with it. Of course, when we churn out vast numbers of grads, applications go up. Teaching maths certainly isn’t 9-5 but in England these teachers are needed. Maybe NI oversupplies with maths grads? Not in rest of Uk as they find other more lucrative jobs. If she can do maths, it’s way better than criminology!

Older now but we had a relative who had a first in economics and stats and ended up very very wealthy!

Ah sorry @mirahyndley I don't know much about HE in NI or the availability of jobs, tho from posts on here I gather teaching is in a better state than in England.

Does she definitely want to stay in NI? because if not she could do a PGCE in maths in England and as noted, walk into a teaching job for sure.

My DD similar but not the extra law bit.

She starts detective programme this year, any tips for surviving the worry @Hedgesgalore

Would she be entitled to the bursary if she did the PGCE in England?

Teaching in England, particularly the inner cities seems to lead to very fast progression. A school friend of mine failed university, worked a number of retail and care jobs and did OU in her late 20s, followed by a PGCE. She got a job in London and after three years was the acting headteacher.

I have a criminology degree from almost 30 years ago, at the time going to university was seen as a big deal - especially as I come from a council estate / single parent. I regretted it for many years as it didn’t lead to a job and I had debt. I went on to train as a nurse so things worked out. These days I would never encourage university, apprenticeships yes. Employers want experience, I don’t believe most care or even look at what university someone went to for most jobs.

There are a number of jobs that don't require taking work home, but for those that do, there's taking work home and taking work home. My best friend is a probation officer and if someone in the office goes off sick the caseload is simply given on to the other officers. This year a high number of officers were off on stress and my friend had treble the work to do. She said delaying a pre sentencing report could set someone back 6 months, so she would go nights without any sleep to finish not only her reports, but the extra ones of her colleagues. Last summer she sent her DH and dc off on their holiday and she joined them four days later, all at her own expense so she could finish her work as she cannot take her work abroad. This isn't the sort of job I'd like for my dc.

I suggest not teaching then!

But it is up to her, right?