Class of 2025: Amelia Roberts

The option of a placement year drew Amelia Roberts to Essex and the opportunity hasn’t disappointed. Not only has the BA Criminology graduate gained valuable skills and confidence, she’s also made a real difference to the lives of people affected by homelessness.

Amelia was drawn to criminology because she “always had a fascination with the criminal world, specifically why people commit crime and understanding how society can affect people’s likeliness to commit crime.”

Despite an offer from another university, she decided to choose Essex, her insurance choice, because it allowed her to do a placement year, and because of the Colchester Campus.

“I liked how campus felt, like its own mini town. It felt like a community,” she said.

Amelia, who is from Southend, spent her placement working at the Forward Trust, in their small Vision Housing department which supports people in need of housing, most often people recently released from prison.

Working as a mentor, she supported service users with tasks that helped them maintain their tenancies, like setting up bills and council tax and liaising with their landlords. She also helped ensure they got specialist mental health and wellbeing support when they needed it.

Her proudest moment with the charity was when her team nominated for a Best Volunteer award. Despite not winning, she says she “felt extremely grateful and appreciated by all the team for nominating me and thinking I was worthy of an award.”

Amelia, who admits to being shy, said her placement and university experience has boosted her confidence in her abilities.

She cites her dissertation supervisor, Dr Magda Borkowska, with playing a critical role in her success.

“She was so lovely and kind and supported me throughout my dissertation, despite some complications with my data and research question at first. She believed in my abilities and helped me be confident in my work.

“Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to complete my dissertation to the standard of work that I am proud of today,” Amelia said.

Having decided to explore the criminal mind at the individual level, Amelia will start a postgraduate degree in Essex’s Department of Psychology in the autumn.