Criminology Level 3

Applications Open: - 17 November 2025

Applications Close: - May 2026

Entry Requirements: - 5 GCSEs at grade 4 including English Language or Literature, and Maths. There are some further entry requirements for specific courses.

How to Apply: - Please apply via KentChoices

Open Event: - Wednesday 12th November 2025 16.30-19:30 - talks at 17.30 and 18.30pm

An understanding of criminology is relevant to many job roles within the criminal justice sector, social and probation work and sociology and psychology. WJEC Level 3 Applied Certificate in Criminology is a qualification with elements of psychology, law and sociology that complements studies in humanities.

This is an Applied General qualification. This means it is designed primarily to support learners progressing to university. It has been designed to offer exciting and interesting experiences that focus learning for 16-19 year-old learners and adult learners through applied learning, i.e. through the acquisition of knowledge and understanding in purposeful contexts linked to the criminal justice system.

The Units covered in Criminology are:

Unit 1: Changing Awareness of Crime - will enable the learner to demonstrate understanding of different types of crime, influences on perceptions of crime and why some crimes are unreported.

Unit 2: Criminological Theories - will allow learners to gain an understanding of why people commit crime, drawing on what they have learned in Unit 1.

Unit 3: Crime Scene to Courtroom - will provide an understanding of the criminal justice system from the moment a crime has been identified to the verdict. Learners will develop the understanding and skills needed to examine information in order to review the justice of verdicts in criminal cases.

Unit 4: Crime and Punishment - learners will apply their understanding of the awareness of criminality, criminological theories and the process of bringing an accused to court in order to evaluate the effectiveness of social control to deliver criminal justice policy.

The WJEC Level 3 Applied Diploma in Criminology is assessed using a combination of internal and external assessment.

Unit 1: Changing Awareness of Crime - Internally Assessed

Unit 2: Criminological Theories - Externally Assessed

Unit 3: Crime Scene to Courtroom - Internally Assessed

Unit 4: Crime and Punishment Mandatory - Externally Assessed

Students must pass Unit 1 and 2 that will be completed by the end of Year 12 to enable them to progress to Unit 3 and 4 in Year 13.

In order to attend Meopham Sixth Form the minimum entry requirement is 5 level 4 GCSEs, including English Language and Mathematics.

A GCSE/ Level 2 in Criminology is not required and students will not be at a disadvantage if they do not hold a previous criminology qualification.

The main purpose of the WJEC Level 3 Applied Diploma in Criminology is mainly to use the qualification to support access to higher education degree courses, such as BSc or BA (Hons) Criminology, LLB (Hons) or BSc Law with Criminology or BA Criminology and Criminal Justice. Alternatively, the qualification allows learners to gain the required understanding and skills to be able to consider employment within some aspects of the criminal justice system, e.g. the National Probation Service, the Courts and Tribunals Service or the National Offender Management Service.