Studying a Combined Honours Degree: The Ins and Outs

Hello to all the prospective students looking to study a Combined Honours degree. My name is Jasper and I am a current second year student studying a combined Criminology with Policing BSc Hons, who is here to talk about my experience with studying a Combined Honours degree so you can make a more informed decision on what you want to do.

Why did I choose a Combined Honours degree?

Now I had many distinct reasons for my decision in choosing to study a Combined Honours degree. First of all, actually deciding to study a Combined Honours was not a difficult decision for me, because I wanted to have the ability to learn to different types of content instead of just a singular subject like Criminology; however, while I knew I wanted Criminology to be one of my subjects, picking my second subject was much more difficult, because I wanted to study many different subjects and it was hard to pick just one subject to combine with Criminology.

I ended up picking Criminology with Policing because Policing offered a different form of teaching to Criminology, which allowed me that mixed variety of ways to learn so that it could stimulate my brain. The two subjects also complemented each other well, because Criminology is the more theoretical side of things whereas Policing offered the chance of putting the work into as close as we can get to real-life situations.

The most surprising thing about studying a Combined Honours degree are the opportunities that are available, because it opens up more different pathways for you to look at.

Workload: how bad is it really?

One of the biggest concerns created by wanting to study a Combined Honours is how bad does the workload get, considering it's double the subjects? This was one of my biggest concerns as well, but the University of Chester surprised me a lot. The way the University teaches has made it as easy as possible to study these two subjects within a ten-week block. Below is how Chester's ten-week block works:

• Three terms for the entire academic year
• Ten weeks for each term
• Each term studying either one 40-credit module or two 20-credit modules
• Combined Honours use this to not overlap subjects too much
• Example: First term – Criminology: one module. Second term – Policing: one module. Finally, third term – two smaller modules.

My experience: what was it like?

Being part of two different subjects can feel daunting, but it is also highly rewarding. My experience has included the following:

• Multiple friends from both subjects.
• Both sets of friends have taught and given me different perspectives of things that I learn.
• Not being restricted to one set of friends.
• Finding more people with the same interests as me.
• Brilliant communication to make the transition over to the other subject easier.
• Many opportunities for meeting to have help with support.

Future opportunities and the skills I developed

Being in two different subjects has taught different skills because of how different most subjects are from each other even though they do complement each other. For example, Criminology taught me how to analyse and criticise the theory of how our criminal justice system runs, while Policing taught me the skills of how to take actual law and connect it to a real-life scenario using actors and props.

Having two subjects definitely can help broaden the options in the job market because you have experience with both; however, it can also really help narrow down more of the criteria to a job you really want – the choice is yours to make. Personally, while I plan to stick to my original career plan, doing a Combined Honours has taught me that if something does not work out, I have options, and the options are brilliant.

In conclusion...

My time doing a Combined Honours in Criminology with Policing has been a brilliant and eye-opening experience. I've learned things I never thought I would, been given opportunities that did not seem possible, and made many different memories. It's been challenging in the right ways, and it pushes me to my absolute best.

Doing a Combined Honours degree is one of the most rewarding experiences, and I would not change it for anything.

Find out more about Chester's range of Combined Honours degrees.