Let's call it the CSI Effect: thanks to the uncontrolled proliferation of cop shows focusing on forensic investigation, including Bones, Silent Witness, CSI and its Miami and New York spin-offs, the number of degree courses in forensic science being offered in the UK has rocketed, from just two in 1990 to 285 this year.
Prospective students should prepare for disappointment: real life CSI is not like CSI: Miami, not even in real-life Miami, and certainly not in Durham. You won't be a cop, so you won't be able to arrest anyone. A lot of the cool machines they use on TV haven't actually been invented yet, and in the UK you're not even called a CSI, you're called a Soco, or scene of crime officer (although Norfolk constabulary for one has adopted the term CSI for its forensic personnel).
Sadly, the degrees may be no more realistic than the programmes. As far back as 2005 a select committee report found "extensive evidence that a large proportion of forensic science courses on offer provide poor preparation for a career in forensic science". For higher level jobs, degrees in traditional sciences such as chemistry are usually required. To wear a paper suit and photograph footprints, a forensic science degree is probably unnecessary.
The biggest problem, however, is that crime has not kept pace with the explosion in TV detective shows. The government-owned Forensic Science Service currently finds 1,300 scientists sufficient for its crime-solving needs. The UK's largest private provider, LGC Forensics, employs 500 people. In 2008 alone, 1,667 students embarked on forensic science degree courses. In order to ensure there are enough jobs to go round, more than half of them will have to retrain as serial killers.
