University was the start of my journey into policing 

Michael Angell is a graduate of UoG’s Professional Policing degree and is now a police officer.

“I started my university journey in September 2020, in Professional Policing, which gave me a full understanding of the role and helped me gain the insight into what makes a good police officer. This really fuelled my passion for the job. My first year started with the restrictions of Covid, but the lecturers were fully supportive and took their time to help any way they can.

“In my second and third years, we had to chance to go into the university and meet face-to-face for the first time with our cohort and our tutors. We were able to dive into the lectures from learning about criminal justice, road policing, counter terrorism, and many more exciting things. This fuelled my ambitions to join, so in my second year I had joined the police as a Special Constable which worked hand in hand with the theory stuff I was learning at university.

“As well as studying police practice and legislations, we also had the chance to part take in a Major Incident Simulation, which involved policing students, paramedic and healthcare students. This gave us the chance to put what we learnt into practice. It was fun and amazing to do, the lecturers went all out with the practical, making it as close to real-life situations as they could.

“I enjoyed my time at university, and during my three years I built my confidence and understanding of the role that I wanted to go into. I developed an understanding the Competency and Values Framework (CVF), and from the support that I got from the lecturers, I was able to pursue a career as a police officer.

“Overall, I have been happy with my journey at university. It’s had its lows and high, and I am forever grateful to those tutors who gave their time to help me through my degree and the long-term friendships that I have made during those three years.”

Discover UoG’s full range of criminology and policing courses.