Overview
Study Forensic Investigation with Criminal Investigation and explore the policies, practices, and procedures found in policing and the crucial role that the forensic sciences play within criminal investigations.
This course will provide you with an in-depth and practical insight into the main theories, concepts, and procedures used by the police to investigate crime and manage criminals, victims, and witnesses. You'll gain a comprehensive understanding of how forensic investigation, which is made up of forensic science, criminal investigation, and the Criminal Justice System, is governed within the UK, as well as global perspectives on methodologies and international standards, enabling you to gain a holistic understanding of the associated legal and regulatory frameworks.
This degree in Forensic Investigation with Criminal Investigation has been carefully crafted to nurture critical thinking and inquiring minds, enabling you to adopt analytical approaches to exploring key concepts, theories, and practices within criminal and forensic investigations.
You'll gain hands-on experience in a wide range of techniques including investigative interviewing, decision making, crime scene processing, the search, recovery, and interpretation of forensic evidence and the presentation of evidence in court. You'll have the opportunity to work on real-life cases such as miscarriages of justice and missing persons.
What's more, you'll have access to our £65 million industry standard facilities, which include a court room, Hydra Suite, interview rooms, police cells, crime scenes flats and vehicles, and our award-winning Anatomy Learning Centre. Furthermore, the diversity of modules offered as part of the degree means that you'll have the opportunity to explore subjects that are of interest to you and develop key skills that will enable you to shape your career.
We know employers are looking for dynamic, open-minded graduates who can adapt, innovate, and collaborate. So we have designed a new way of teaching and learning to ensure that you are work-ready for when you graduate.
The modules are enjoyable to study and have effectively enabled me to put my knowledge into practice. It gave me the ability to foresee how I could apply these skills in real-life scenarios and compare them with current practices “in the real world”.
A.T., Forensic Investigation with Criminal Investigation student
Entry requirements
Qualification type |
Grades |
|
A Levels |
BBC |
|
BTEC |
DMM |
|
Access |
15 Distinctions and 30 Merits |
|
International Baccalaureate |
29 Points |
|
Combinations |
A combination of qualifications totalling 112 UCAS points |
Find out more information about entry requirements.
International students
Find out about IELTS requirements. Depending which country you're from, there may be specific entry requirements. Check your country to see if this is applicable to you.
If you have any questions about entry requirements for this course, please contact our Course Enquiry Team.
112
UCAS Points
Module information
We know employers are looking for dynamic, open-minded graduates who can adapt, innovate, and collaborate. So we have designed a new way of teaching and learning to ensure that you are work-ready for when you graduate. Alongside the modules below you will choose from our new curriculum that will help you achieve student success, engage with contemporary topics and work with industry or the community.
As well as the core modules, you will also have the opportunity to study a number of option modules. The availability of specific option modules may vary from year to year. This will be subject to a minimum number of students choosing the module and staff availability. It means we cannot guarantee the availability of a particular option module. However, we will ensure you have a choice of option modules.
Core/optional modules
*Modules subject to approval
How you’ll learn
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops and practical sessions, typically having around 10-14 class contact hours per week, supported by additional online materials. Your actual contact hours depend on the modules you take.
Lectures are used to provide information, and these are supported by small group seminars to enable discussion. Practical sessions allow you to apply your theory to a practical situation and workshops will support you with key skills development. Tutorials are available to provide one-to-one support.
The team is dedicated to your professional development and they provide many sessions to help you develop personal, as well as academic skills. We know that coming to university can be rather daunting and you might feel you have lost your academic skills, so you can also elect to receive extra support from our central Learning Skills Hub.
The teaching sessions are interactive, allowing you to engage with the material on a deeper level, and all practical sessions are designed to enable you to apply theory to context. You will have the opportunity to use a range of specialist methods and equipment relevant to the modules you study, and we have a dedicated forensic suite, including a workshop and a range of internal and external crime scenes.
You will have the opportunity to gain extensive practical experience in sessions which are designed around real-life scenarios, often related to staff's real, previous case work. You will also have lectures from professionals working in the field who can bring you their valuable and captivating experiences. This provides context to theory and may provide you with future contacts in the fields which interest you.
We will support you with getting work experience and, where possible and depending upon your module choices, we arrange field trips that are designed to consolidate your knowledge (such as fire dynamics demonstrations, ballistics / shooting trips, and visits to relevant external organisations.)
All courses are informed by the University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy 2015-2022.
When not attending lectures, seminars, workshops, or other timetabled sessions you will have access to a range of resources we provide to continue learning through self-study. This typically involves reading journal articles and books, undertaking research in the library, working on projects, and preparing for coursework assignments or examinations, workshops, and seminars.
Your lecturers will direct you towards specific readings and/or activities where appropriate to complete before or after class and provide tutorials where necessary to support your learning.
We also recommend that you set up student study groups and support each other with your studies, as research shows that we learn much better in communities.
A range of study skills and employability workshops are available from the University and we encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities.
Each 30-credit module requires approximately 300 hours of learning, of which approximately 66 hours are taught class contact time, with the remaining being guided learning and independent study.
The teaching team consists of highly qualified and experienced forensic practitioners and academic researchers, who have a range of expertise and experiences. This experience is injected into teaching sessions and assessments to make your experience as realistic as possible.
The core team is supported by other staff in the University, drawn from the law, policing and criminology teams, and a range of professionals currently working in the field who provide guest lectures.
Our degree is taught by forensic practitioners who offer an informative, innovative, practical and rigorous course that will open up a vast range of career opportunities for you.
HellenCourse Director for Forensic Investigation
94%
of Forensic Investigation students are satisfied with the teaching on their course
NSS, 2023How you’ll be assessed
Assessment support
Assessments are a core part of the course, and each module has 1-3 assessments that contribute to the 4000-word assessment quota. We ensure that each assessment is supported by written guides, study skills sessions and staff guidance. You will be provided with a range of assessment types to allow you to play to your strengths, discover skills you didn't know you had, and provide you with the tools you need to meet some of the requirements of your future employers. We provide opportunities for you to gain formative feedback before you complete the formal assessments. These opportunities can offer clarity and guidance to ensure that you can reach your full potential.
The assessment methods include written open-book examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, forensic paperwork, forensic statements, portfolios, oral presentations, and your final year dissertation.
Feedback
The team is dedicated to providing high quality feedback on all assessments to enable you to understand what action you need to take to improve your work and, consequently, your marks. We try to ensure that feedback is student-focused, supportive and constructive.
Your future career
This course provides an excellent grounding for any career that involves the collection, analysis and interpretation of information or evidence, as these skills are taught in core modules and transferable to many careers.
The graduate attributes that are routinely required by employers are embedded into the Forensic Investigation parts of your curriculum and therefore, graduates are normally able to evidence these skills, preparing them for a range of careers. This is evidenced by ex-students who have secured positions in forensic organisations, the UN, police forces, prisons, medical laboratories, schools and universities.
Many have gone onto higher degree studies at CCCU and other universities at home and abroad. We even have our own home-grown PhD students.
Many students have ambitions to become Crime Scene Investigators, and we are delighted they have achieved this dream locally (Kent) and further afield (London and elsewhere). The role requires immense dedication and resilience - we will do our best to support you in applying your knowledge and skills in this.
However, our guest lecturers bring with them a wealth of experiences, and students discover new ambitions and inspiration through their sessions.
What might you become?
Potential opportunities exist as investigators for: National Crime Agency, the Military, Independent Office for Police Conduct, Security Services, in commerce, and so on. You will be encouraged to make the most of the volunteering and networking opportunities available throughout your degree course, in addition to your studies, in order to enhance your employment prospects.
Studying Forensic Investigation at CCCU provided me with the knowledge, practical experience and personal skills required to adjust and adapt in my current career role. The course helped me develop my research skills and the practical facilities gave me the opportunity of real-world experience. I will always be grateful for the help and support the staff has provided me throughout my time at CCCU.
IPResearcher for a UN missing persons unit
Related courses
Fees
The 2025/26 annual tuition fees for this course are:
| UK | Overseas | |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | £9,535 | £15,500 |
Tuition fees for all courses are payable on an annual basis, except where stated. The fees represented here are for study with Canterbury Christ Church University. If you are looking to study at a partner institution, please visit their website for fees information.
Please read the 2025/26 Tuition Fee Statement for further information regarding tuition fees and year on year fee increases.
Home (UK) Fees
The Government has announced that it will increase the tuition fee cap by 3.1%, in line with inflation, for the 2025/26 academic cycle. Subject to parliamentary approval, the University intends to increase our tuition fees in line with this and as per our terms and conditions. This means that from September 2025 our undergraduate home tuition fees are expected to be £9,535.
Overseas/International Fees
Undergraduate / PGCE tuition fees for international students are not set by the UK Government.
- Read advice about funding your degree
- See information about the financial support available for undergraduate studies
- If you would like information about paying your fees, please contact accounts.receivable@canterbury.ac.uk
- For specific fee queries, please contact fees@canterbury.ac.uk
Industry links
We welcome visiting lecturers, who are practitioners working in the forensic field. They will share their expertise and experience with you to give you an insight into real life forensics. You may also have opportunities to participate in field trips.
One member of the teaching team is a trained coach and mentor and has injected this influence into the degree course structure, to enable students to develop as people and professionals, in addition to learning the subject. It is often personal qualities such as confidence that prevents us from reaching our potential, and this approach is actively helping students to overcome issues that might impact their success.
We have a range of external professionals involved in the delivery of the course and these professionals also act as advisors to the core lecturing team. They advise us on changes in legislation, procedure and trends, and aid the core team in course development, thereby ensuring that our degree is current, accurate and relevant to forensic employers.
We actively consult and collaborate with a range of forensic and related organisations and these change on a yearly basis, in response to changing operational commitments of these organisations and trends in forensic investigation. Collaborations include Kent Police, Kent Fire Brigade, Prometheus Fire Investigation, Metropolitan Police and a range of independent laboratories and professionals.
Professional accreditation
The Forensic Investigation course adheres to and is guided by the QAA Benchmark Statements for Forensic Science, which define expectations as part of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education.
Specialist facilities
The forensic facilities include a range of crime scenes, including cars, crime scene rooms, fire scenes and outside scenes, a forensic workshop and further science laboratories. A wide range of forensic equipment is housed within these areas and the facilities and equipment used depends on whether you study Forensic Investigation as a single or combined honours degree.
We have a dedicated crime scene facility containing bedrooms and a blood distribution room, a Victorian graveyard and dedicated outdoor space, two fire scenes, a forensic laboratory and five further science laboratories. We also make use of the university's Hydra suite and court room facilities to simulate giving evidence, all with relevant equipment attached.
We use our practical experience to generate realistic and complex scenarios to challenge your mind, your skills, and the common misconceptions about crime.
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Duration:
3 yearsUCAS code:
F415Location(s):
CanterburyAny questions?
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*We are advertising this course as ‘subject to approval.’ When we add new courses or update existing courses, we advertise the course as ‘subject to approval’. We do this to let you know the University still needs to agree to run the course. It is rare for a course not to gain approval, but it is not guaranteed. There may be changes to course and module titles, content and assessment, but we will tell you about these if there is a change. You can still apply to study a course subject to approval. We have prepared some questions and answers to tell you more.