This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Read our cookie policy

MA

Professional Policing

This master’s course will enhance and develop your management and leadership skills, whilst developing your knowledge and skills in contemporary areas of policing.

How to apply Book an Open Evening Chat to Us

Key Course Details

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Online

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £10,800*

  • International students

    £16,900*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

  • Start Date

    September

  • Location

    Online

  • Campus Code

    A

Fees

  • Home students

    £1,200*

  • Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits.

Building on the success of our well-established Professional Policing degree and decades of providing police education, this course has been designed to meet the needs of those working within the policing sector.

DESIGNED FOR

Existing and future managers and leaders within UK law enforcement or the Civil Service.

Career Paths

  • Police Senior Officers
  • Police Staff Leaders
  • National Crime Agency Leaders
  • UK Border Force Leaders
  • Civil Service Leaders

Skills taught

  • Leadership concepts
  • Safeguarding 
  • Complexity within investigation
  • Digital awareness
  • Partnership working

We make a difference in practice, not just on paper. Our courses are designed by people who offer jobs - and taught by people who have real work experience.

Two academics observing students on the screens in the hydra suite
Student using a laptop to study at Newport campus
Policing lecturer analysing computer screens in the Hydra suite

Course Highlights

Great Employment Opportunities

This course has helped many of our students land their dream jobs within crime, security and justice.

Partnerships with the Police

USW delivers police training to 7 police forces across England and Wales with fantastic links to industry.

Interactive learning

The qualification is co-created with industry partners so that content and assessments are authentic and industry focussed.

Outstanding Student Support

Whether it’s assessments or job applications our student support will be ready and waiting to help and assist.

Module Overview

Full Time students will complete 6 taught modules and a research paper during their 1-year study period.  Part Time students will have two modules and the research paper to complete in their second year of learning.

Police Leadership and Organisational Behaviour
This module used a real case study relating to organisational change to allow students to consider perspectives such as staff impact, unintended consequences, finance, public confidence, training needs and governance arrangements.

Policing in the Digital World
This module examines in depth the current strategic documents that shape strategic policing within the digital landscape (Policing Vision 2025, Digital Policing Vision 2030 and the National Cyber Strategy 2022)

Critical Incident Management
This Module looks at Major incidents and critical incidents, public confidence, initial response and reflective practice. Students are required to analyse and critique the written material that has come from public enquiries to demonstrate sound decision-making skills.

Community Policing and Partnerships

This module examines the principles of engaging communities through the new Neighbourhood Policing Strategy and focusses upon problem solving, targeting activity and promoting the correct culture.

Applied Investigation and Public Protection

This module is heavily weighted toward risk assessment, multi-agency working and the implementation of vulnerability legislation across statutory agencies.   

Critical Issues in Criminal Justice Policy

This module examines criminal justice within England and Wales and explores the justice arrangements such as appeals processes and how they embed themselves in Case Law as well as how legislation has developed from miscarriages of justice.

Evidenced Based Dissertation

This module is a written thesis on a policing topic.

Course Highlights

How you’ll learn

This is a blended course with recorded materials accessed through the students virtual learning environment. The on-line delivery concept is supported by weekly real-time tutorials hosted on Microsoft Teams. These tutorials are pre-recorded for the convenience of students who are unable to make the allocated time-slot. All the modules have end point essay-based assessments and some of the modules have a mid-point assessment such as the production of an academic poster, a professional interview or presentation. The evidence-based dissertation consists of a 1,500-word research proposal and a 16,200-word thesis.  

Teaching staff

Course Lead: Alun Davies 

Lecturers: Allison Turner, Roger Phillips, Peter Jones 

Evidence based dissertation lead: Dan Welch

Facilities

Students will be eligible to make use of the full range of facilities and support functions as if they were on-campus learners. This includes pastoral services, study skill support, on-line and on-campus library access (Including free delivery of materials for loan and the use of partner libraries across the country) and student discounts with selected retailers. 

Through the virtual learning environment, students will have access to on-line IT office 365 applications, IT storage accounts and student email.

Careers and Employability

Graduate Careers

The police service within England and Wales has structured career pathways for graduate and non-graduate candidates. This qualification supports the Police Degree Holder Entry Programme as well as the Police Now entry route for Detectives. 

 

Beyond policing a number of employers recognise industry influenced qualifications, particularly those focussing on structured leadership, critical thinking and ethical decision making.

Possible career paths

  • Policing 
  • Security 
  • National Crime Agency 
  • UK Border Force 
  • Civil Service 
  • National Probation Service 
  • Public Services

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Typical qualification requirements:

Minimum 2:2 degree. Applicants without an academic degree but who hold significant industry experience are encouraged to apply and may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) status.

International applications welcomed:

We welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications of our entry requirements. For more details related to your country of residence, please view our dedicated country pages.

English language requirements

International applicants will need to have achieved an overall of IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component/TOEFL 72 overall and a minimum of 18 in reading, 17 in listening, 20 in speaking and 17 in writing or equivalent.

Equivalents can be located on our English Language pages.

If you have previously studied through the medium of English, IELTS might not be required, please visit our country specific page for further details. If your country is not featured, please contact us.

If you do not meet the English entry criteria, please visit our Pre-Sessional course pages.

Contextual offers

We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended, for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer, and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions.

USW prides itself on its student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university.

 

We're here to help

Whether you a have a question about your course, fees and funding, the application process or anything else, there are plenty of ways you can get in touch, and we'd love to talk to you. You can contact our friendly admissions team by phone, email or chat to us online.

 

Fees and Funding

UK Full-time Fee

£10,800

per year*
International Full-time Fee

£16,900

per year*
UK Part-time Fee

£1,200

per 20 credits*

Further Information

Studying at university is one of the most significant investments you'll ever make. Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).

*Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee is anticipated to remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course except as described below.

Please be aware that we may increase the maximum fee for home students on full-time undergraduate courses only where the Welsh Government increases the permitted level of inflation of fees. Fees for all students (including part-time, postgraduate and international students) may be amended in accordance with our applicable Fees and Debt Management Policy.  We will ensure that students are given clear, intelligible, unambiguous and timely information about our courses and costs in good time, ahead of the next academic year.

 

Fees and Funding Scholarships and Busaries Alumni Discount

Additional Costs

As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.

University Quality Assurance

At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.

If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.

Studying at USW

Our courses are designed with industry leaders and provide the practical skills and experiences industry demands. Our flexible courses reflect the need for life-long learning. If you value education in practice, not just in theory, then USW is for you.

Two people studying together at a table, surrounded by books and papers.
Postgraduate fees and funding
Close up shot of the front of the Alfred Russell wallace building.
Pontypridd Campus, Glyntaff
A member of staff is smiling and chatting with an open evening visitor.
Postgraduate Open Events

How to apply

There is an online application process for this course. Please choose the application form for your preferred start date and mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time).

International admissions

Please see our international admissions advice for further information about how to apply as a prospective international student.

Related Courses

International Security and Risk Management - MSc Learn more
Crime and Justice - MSc Learn more
Working with Adult and Young People who Offend - MSc Learn more

Next Steps

How to Apply
Book an Open Evening
Chat to Us