Rachel Christmas
Rachel studied a joint honours degree in Psychology and Criminology and graduated in 2006. She's now working in Her Majesty's Prison in Peterborough as a custody administrator.
It's a serious job with a lot of responsibility
Rachel's day to day work involves sending inmates to courts, calculating inmates' sentences, liaising with court staff, solicitors and probation about all aspects of the prisoners' sentences and releases.
And it's a job that her joint honours degree prepared her for
"I think that taking Psychology and Criminology helped me in many ways. It gave me a theoretical basis to expand on, and many skills that are transferable to everyday work. I work to very strict deadlines and collate information specifically for very different audiences and purposes."
Why she studied a joint honours degree at Derby
Rachel chose joint honours because of its flexibility and she thinks it makes you a better graduate in the end: "I liked the flexibility the joint honours course offered. I was able to study modules from subjects that I really found interesting, making the whole process really enjoyable. You end up with a much wider knowledge base and more choice of what to study and how to use your knowledge."
