As part of a series of research collaborations between Keele and UKROEd (UK Road Offender Education) the newly formed Roads Policing Research Group is delighted to be advertising a fully-funded PhD studentship. The project, which UKROEd are funding from September this year, will explore the use of education as an alternative to punishment for UK drivers caught exceeding the speed limit. The PhD will be supervised by Dr Helen Wells (Criminology, Keele), Dr Gemma Briggs (School of Psychology and Counselling, the OU) and Dr Leanne-Savigar-Shaw (School of Law, Policing and Forensics, Staffordshire University) as well as UKROEd as the project partner.

UKROEd is a private not-for-profit company, which conducts the management and administration of the NDORS (National Driver Offender Retraining) scheme on behalf of the Police service. The NDORS scheme is unique to the UK and was developed as an alternative to penalty points and fines. The scheme allows motorists who have committed a minor offence to have education with the aim of improving the driver or rider’s knowledge and behaviour whilst on the road.

Partner-funded studentships involve a PhD student working alongside an organisation to undertake a study which is designed to be relevant to the organisation. This creates an invaluable opportunity for students to undertake PhD research which bridges academic and professional concerns, having a direct impact in a professional context whilst also producing a PhD thesis.

The PhD, “Education as a criminal justice disposal: conceptualising the role of NDORS driver diversion courses in a contemporary road safety and roads policing landscape”, will see the student work with UKROEd to theorise and investigate the role of education as a criminal justice disposal for drivers who would otherwise be prosecuted for their offence. Such courses have experienced rapid growth in recent years, and are increasingly being evaluated in terms of their effectiveness at securing change in driver behaviour, but they have not, to date, been considered more conceptually in terms of their role as a diversion from prosecution and their place within a broader criminal justice landscape.

For more information, contact Dr Helen Wells (h.m.wells@keele.ac.uk) or visit Criminology (UKROEd) - Keele University