2-Term Pathway - Pre-Master's in Social Sciences - Continue to Master of Science - Organised Crime, Terrorism and Security

If students hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, but don’t meet the entry requirements for a master’s, a Pre-Master’s can help them gain a place on a postgraduate degree. For progression to the 1st year of a postgraduate degree at the University of Essex. Course length is determined mainly by students' English language level (UKVI IELTS score).

Students on all course lengths take a set of common or similar modules to gain a solid base of skills for university. If their course is longer than 2 terms, students will take additional modules designed to improve one or more of their English language level, academic skills, and basic knowledge of particular subjects.

In recent years, issues of terrorism and organised crime have gained an unprecedented profile, provoked significant social concern, and dominated both law-and-order and many wider social policy agendas. Essex draws on state-of-the-art research to address key critical issues surrounding organised criminality and terrorism in contemporary society.

Essex involves multi-level analyses of organised crime as a concept, alongside the impacts of urbanisation, migration and globalisation upon both the practice of crime and the ways they are understood. Students address cutting-edge critical, conceptual and theoretical analyses of terrorism and counter-terrorism.

The course provides students with a strong grounding in the key theories, understandings and issues relating to organised crime and terrorism. Students explore topics including:

Essex's Department of Sociology was rated top 10 in the UK for research quality (REF 2014).