9 Best Criminology Master of Arts (MA) Degree Programs for 2025

The MA in Criminology at Manchester equips students with intellectual, critical, and analytical skills for understanding and applying criminological theories and concepts. It delves into the interactions between politics, criminology, and criminal justice, emphasising the impact of public policy in these areas. Graduates gain specialist knowledge attractive for various criminal justice careers, including roles in local and central government, criminal intelligence analysis, probation services, NGOs, pressure groups, and think-tanks

UCLan’s MA Criminology programme offers you a flexible approach to developing your skills and knowledge to enhance your employability in this fascinating and growing area of study. Our course covers a wide range of current issues that are the subject of public and policy concern, both in the domestic UK system or globally.

Our Master's in International Criminology is ideal if you're already working in criminal justice, crime prevention, youth offending, child protection, victim support, or forensics. The course is well-suited to anyone looking to extend their knowledge of criminology and broaden their understanding in an international context.

The MA Criminology: Crime and Victimisation address contemporary issues within the study of crime, community safety and criminal justice. It will enable you to develop specialist knowledge of the current trends and historical debates surrounding crime causation, crime control and regulation in the UK and internationally.

GW’s Master of Arts in Criminology program has a strong emphasis on research methods, incorporates required and elective courses from the GW Department of Forensic Sciences and underscores the way crime and criminal justice need to be understood in social context. The program is housed in the Sociology Department and therefore draws on criminology’s roots in sociology. Racism and police abuse of force are as much the subject matter of our program as are classes in punishment, criminal law and traditional criminological theories of crime.

The Master of Arts in Criminology and Social Policy is aiming to enable students to develop an advanced understanding of cutting-edge developments in the fields of criminology and social policy, with a particular focus upon their intersection through the processes of criminalization and the workings of institutions of (in)justice; enable students to develop a critical awareness of the theoretical and empirical relationships between power and social divisions as they relate to the fields of criminology and social policy; help students develop a critical understanding of the social, political and historical processes that affect the ways in which crimes and harms are perpetrated and responded to locally, nationally and internationally; prepare students to develop critical discussion and analysis of complex concepts and to work independently and with some originality; present students with the opportunity to engage in a sustained piece of in-depth research work which demonstrates an advanced understanding and application of the methodology, method and analysis; enhance the critical, analytic, research and employability skills of students working within or aspiring to work within Criminology and Social Policy related professions.

The MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice challenges students to engage with contemporary issues faced by the criminal justice system from both a criminological and legal perspective. This course is designed to equip students with the conceptual tools needed to engage with such issues, imparting a broad range of cognitive, analytical, and general transferable skills including judging and evaluating evidence, interpreting data, generating and synthesising information, and formulating reasoned arguments. Overseas students will be required to demonstrate English language proficiency equivalent to IELTS 7.0 overall, with a minimum of 5.5 in each element. This qualification must have been obtained prior to submitting your application. For information regarding other English language qualifications we accept, please visit the English Requirements page. If you do not meet the above IELTS requirements, you may be able to take part in one of our Pre-session English and Academic Study Skills courses. These specialist courses are designed to help students meet the English language requirements for their intended programme of study.

This unique MA Serious and Violent Crime will impart essential practical leadership skills for understanding, investigating, and responding to serious and violent crimes. The full flexibility of the course has been specifically designed to help you fit your career progression around your professional life. Using case studies, you will critically analyse a wide range of criminological topics within the remit of serious and violent crime, such as terrorism, sexual offences, and the dark web.

Analyzes criminological dynamics and strategies to improve social security through a critical lens. The program explores crime theories, prevention policies, and social intervention models, preparing experts capable of developing and evaluating innovative solutions to address crime and promote justice and security in communities.