Becoming a forensic professional: a student-informed guide to presenting and communicating forensic evidence

Project Summary Professional forensic practice requires practitioners to communicate complex, qualified and sometimes inconclusive findings to investigators, colleagues, legal professionals and non-specialist audiences. This project explored how professional communication could be developed more deliberately and progressively within forensic science curricula, rather than encountered principally through isolated presentation or assessment tasks. One Level 5 undergraduate and three MSc student interns worked with the project lead to audit existing opportunities, identify barriers experienced by students, and co-design authentic learning activities. The process combined individual drafting, facilitated workshops, peer review, collective decision-making, curriculum mapping and iterative standardisation. The principal project output is a student-informed teaching guide containing five adaptable activities: presenting uncertainty and evidential limitations; responding to questions or challenge; explaining contamination risk through a short training video; communicating forensic findings to a non-specialist audience; and communicating a limited DNA-profile result through a professional email and accompanying case summary. Supporting outputs include tutor implementation notes, a student-informed rationale, inclusive-practice guidance and suggested curriculum placement. A complementary student-facing Microsoft Sway resource was also developed to provide a more concise and visually structured route into the material. The project highlighted that authentic professional contexts can provide substantial intellectual challenge, but engagement depends on clear scaffolding, repeated low-stakes opportunities and transparent expectations. Student involvement materially influenced the variety, language, accessibility and realism of the activities. Formal impact evaluation has not yet taken place. The next stage is to pilot selected activities, gather student and tutor feedback, evaluate how the guide and accompanying Sway resource are used, and refine the resources in response to this evidence.