I gained a great deal of confidence during my degree

Beth Stonehouse graduated with a degree in Professional Policing in 2023 and is looking forward to a career in witness and victim support.

“Starting university in the middle of a pandemic was extremely daunting, however, the lecturers were all super supportive even with the majority of my first year being taught online. I had access to a personal tutor to discuss any worries and gain extra support.

“The BSc Professional Policing degree enabled me to gain a great deal of confidence, especially with the engagement in many practical lessons which ensured that I was able to put theoretical knowledge into practice safely. These practicals included the simulated critical incident that was ran for our course, alongside students of Paramedic Science and other courses.

“A big part of the policing degree is reflective learning, which mimics the way that police officers are trained, enabling me to highlight my areas for improvement and put extra work into those areas as necessary. 

“The Professional Policing course taught me not only the information of front-line policing, but also about public protection by learning about MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference), domestic abuse protocol and risk factors, research and investigative skills and processes, and useful topics for other roles within the police which included response policing and roads policing.

“This enabled me to learn more about the roles that I was interested in pursuing around victim support and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs). The University’s ‘Your Future Plan’ careers team provided a range of services including helping me ensure that my essays were written to a high standard, teaching me about building the perfect CV, how to apply for future jobs, and access to online events to either learn about certain skills or to hear from graduates and specialists.

“Throughout my 3 years at University, I worked as a student ambassador, showing people around the University, discussing and answering questions, and giving any advice that prospective students needed. This job allowed me to blossom, I gained confidence in public speaking, and made some amazing life-long friends in the process.

“I also volunteered for the University’s Nightline, and engaged with some online courses throughout University which has enabled me to understand counselling skills to complement my ambitions to work as an IDVA or ISVA (Independent Sexual Violence Adviser) and actively support victims.

I finished my University studies and swiftly gained a job working within witness and victim support and am already actively looking to progress within other companies in a similar role. This would not have been possible without the knowledge gained from the Professional Policing course. I would not have been able to get this far without the ongoing support from my personal tutors, Nadine and Jen, and the support available within the University too.”