The Master of Social Sciences in Criminology [MSocSc(Crim)] is the first and long established postgraduate criminology programme in Hong Kong. It offers a professional qualification for practitioners in criminal justice and related fields, and provides a foundation for advanced research degree studies in the discipline. Offered since 1986, the programme is designed for people:
- who intend to start or already have a career in the police, the law, corrections, non-governmental organisations and related agencies;
- who want to complement their skills through the academic study of crime and criminal justice;
- who work in government, commerce, security and risk management, journalism, teaching, and other areas where acknowledge of criminology would be professionally helpful;
- who wish to increase their technical and conceptual skills through an advanced university education;
- who wish to pursue research studies in criminology.
On completion of the programme, students should:
- be able to apply a social-sciences approach to the study of crime and deviance;
- be able to understand a variety of contemporary developments in criminology and related social-policy issues;
- have possessed professional knowledge of the role of social sciences, including law and psychiatry, in understanding crime and criminal justice;
- be equipped with the theoretical and practical skills to investigate these core areas within criminology.
Mode of Attendance
Full Time (one year, with classes on evenings and occasionally weekends)
Expected February 2024
More details
Start date
Expected September 2023
The University of Hong Kong
MG 14, Ground Floor, Main Building,
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam,
Southern, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island
1. Candidates should hold a Bachelor's degree, or another qualification of equivalent standard, preferably with a major in the social sciences or humanities discipline, or preferably have relevant working experience in the criminal justice system, social-welfare agencies or in other work with offenders.
2. Candidates must pass a written test and a face-to-face interview, and if necessary a language test will be scheduled to assess their English proficiency.
In addition to satisfying the requirements for admission to the curriculum concerned, an applicant who is seeking admission on the basis of a qualification from a university or comparable institution outside Hong Kong of which the language of teaching and/or examination is not English is required to obtain one of the following examination result.
A. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
1. a score of 550 or above in the paper-based TOEFL; or
2. a score of 213 or above in the computer-based TOEFL; or
3. a score of 80 or above in the internet-based TOEFL; or
B. IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
A minimum overall band of 6 with no subtest lower than 5.5; or
C. GCE (General Certificate of Education)
Grade C or above; or
D. IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education)
Grade C or above; or
E. Cambridge Test of Proficiency in English Language
Grade C or above
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.
