Criminology - Level 3 Applied Diploma - linear

Applications Open: - Friday 28th November 2025

Applications Close: - Friday 6 February 2026 - Please note - If you do not complete your application fully by the deadline of Friday 6 February 2026, we may not be able to consider it until August when GCSE results are published.

How to Apply:

Internal students - Applications to join our Sixth Form, via Applicaa, can be made via this link Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend (applicaa.com). PLEASE NOTE that you should use an e-mail address that you check regularly as the Applicca system will contact you with updates about your application.

External students - Year 11 Students from other schools applying to Mayfield Grammar School should apply via KentChoices using this link - https://www.kentprospectus.co.uk/login. Please note - After sending your application, you'll receive a welcome email from Applicaa asking for further information.

If you applied to us before the deadline but have not heard from us for a while please bear with us, we are working through the applications and will get back to you with our decision and advice as soon as we can. We will continue to send messages via Applicaa so please logon from time to time to check if we need some additional information from you

Applications After the deadline

Students who are interested in applying to Mayfield Grammar School for Sixth Form but have missed our application process can contact us once they have their GCSE results in August. After the publication of GCSE examinations results in August we ask that you make an appointment to discuss your application with the Sixth Form team. You need to call 01474 352896 or email admissions@mgsg.kent.sch.uk. Please check you have met our entry criteria for the subjects you want to study and read our Options Booklet under the Sixth Form tab on our website for our general entry criteria. If you meet our criteria, please get in touch, and bring your original documents for GCSE Results Summary and Birth Certificate as ID when you are offered an appointment.

Entry Requirements: -

Entry to the Sixth Form is dependent on demonstrating achievements which show general breadth of ability as well as depth in the specific courses chosen for study in the Sixth Form. For this reason you will need to have achieved all the following:

1. A minimum of 6 GCSEs at Grade 5 and above, preferably on the higher papers, in discrete subjects, with the exception of Combined Science, which counts as two subjects.

2. Grade 5 or above in GCSE English and GCSE Mathematics.

3. To have met the requirements of the individual subjects that you intend to study at A Level/Level 3, which are all, with the exception of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Languages, a minimum of Grade 6 at GCSE on the Higher papers. This is essential.

Students will gain an understanding of Crime and the Criminal Justice System. You will consider the theories that are offered to explain why people commit criminal behaviour (including sociological and psychological theories) the difference between Crime and Deviance, the role of the police, social workers/probation officers, the penal system and the societal response/reaction to crime.

Year 1 (Year 12 Content). Coursework assessed.

Unit 1: Changing Awareness of Crime (25% of the Diploma – Coursework Assessed):

Not all types of crime are alike. What different types of crime take place in our society? What kinds of crime exist about which we know very little, or which are simply not reported to the police and the media? How do we explain people's reluctance to come forward about crimes of which they have been the victim? Many people learn about the fear and fascination of crime from the media, but is the media a reliable source of information? To what extent are we misled by our tastes in programmes and newspapers about crime? In this unit, you will have gained skills to differentiate between myth and reality when it comes to crime and to recognise that common representations may be misleading and inaccurate.

Unit 3: From Crime Scene to Court Room (25% of the Diploma – Coursework Assessed)

What are the roles of personnel involved when a crime is detected? What investigative techniques are available to investigators to help to identify the culprit? Do techniques differ depending on the type of crime being investigated? What happens to a suspect once charged by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service? In this unit, you will gain the skills to review criminal cases, evaluating the evidence in the cases to determine whether the verdict is safe and just.

Year 2 (Year 13 Content)

Unit 2- Criminological theories (25% of the Diploma- Externally Assessed)

How do we decide what behaviour is criminal? What is the difference between criminal behaviour and deviance? How do we explain why people commit crime? What makes someone a serial killer, or abusive to their own families? Criminologists have produced theoretical explanations of why people commit crime, but which is the most useful? In this unit, you will have gained the skills to evaluate some criminological theories and know there are debates within the different theories.

Unit 4: Crime and Punishment (25% of the Diploma – Externally Assessed)

Why do most of us tend to obey the law even when to do so is against our own interests? What social institutions have we developed to ensure that people do obey laws? What happens to those who violate our legal system? Why do we punish people? How do we punish people? In this unit, you will learn about the criminal justice system in England and Wales and how it operates to achieve social control.

Other details: The Criminology Diploma is comprised of 4 units. Two units are assessed by coursework, with the remaining units examined externally at the end of Year 13. Criminology is graded A*-E and also carries UCAS Points and appears on the UCAS Tariff Calculator. It equivalent to an A Level and is recognised by many universities, including Russell Group institutions.

Grade 6 at GCSE in either English Language or English Literature and a Grade 6 in a Humanities Subject (Religious Education, History, Geography or Psychology)

University requirements:

Typical grade requirements to study Criminology/ a related degree are as follows: Oxbridge: A* AA; Russell Group: A*AA to BBB; Non Russell Group: ABB to CCC

Links to Further Education: Any social science degree

Links to Careers: Criminologist; Law; Medicine, Children’s Services; Public Service/Community work;