Hundreds of teenagers took a look at life in the UK’s criminal justice sector last week.

Roughly 300 GCSE and A Level students visited Chelmsford Cathedral for the Crime and Deviance conference.

Experts delivered sessions on forensic psychology, coroners’ courts and the justice system as a whole to pupils studying, or looking to study, psychology, criminology or sociology.

Attendees to the event on November 17 included about 100 pupils from Drapers’ Academy in Harold Hill.

Romford Recorder: Civil servant Ian Bickers talks about his 17 years' experience in the criminal justice sector.Civil servant Ian Bickers talks about his 17 years' experience in the criminal justice sector. (Image: Arthur Communications)

Drapers Academy student Sydnie Teague, 17, said: “I didn’t know much about that sort of field before. So, it was quite interesting to have that new information.

“The criminal justice system isn’t actually how it's portrayed. I learnt that it's very different when you’re there as opposed to how it looks on the outside.”

Nadia Fonari, 16, of Harold Hill, who is considering a career in the criminal sector, said she was interested in learning more about forensic psychology after the talk on the topic.