MA — 2024 entry Interpreting
This is the only course in the UK that will give you advanced skills in all interpreting modes, including consecutive, simultaneous, dialogue and distance interpreting. We’re the first university to teach video-mediated and telephone interpreting based on research in distance interpreting, giving you excellent and flexible career opportunities.
Why choose
this course?
- The course has a strong practical component designed to suit the needs of the interpreting market today.
- We’re one of the UK’s top translation and interpreting research centres, with over four decades of experience in postgraduate education and research training.
- We focus on exciting and newly developing areas of the discipline, such as interpreting technologies, distance/remote interpreting, hybrid modalities of interpreting, corpus-based approaches, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, audio visual translation and multi-modality studies.
- The Centre for Translation Studies (CTS) has developed an ambitious new research programme on the responsible integration of human and automated approaches to interpreting and translation. This programme informs our teaching and future-proofs your career in this evolving industry.
Statistics
Fantastic graduate prospects
97% of our School of Literature and Languages postgraduate students go on to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2024, HESA)
10th for research impact
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 ranked the School of Literature and Languages 10th for research impact
4th in the UK
For Languages and Linguistics in the Guardian University Guide 2024
What you will study
Our MA Interpreting course has both a multilingual and a Chinese pathway.
On this multilingual pathway we offer Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish paired with English (languages subject to availability and/or demand). Other languages may be available upon request, subject to a minimum number of students.
You'll develop skills in all interpreting modes (consecutive, dialogue and simultaneous interpreting, and sight translation), delivered on-site and remotely via audio/video link. Lectures enable you to understand, discuss and justify interpreting-related decisions. For example, the compulsory Interpreting and Technologies module focuses on the integration of different technologies in interpreting, e.g. to support the interpreter’s preparation and performance (such as accessing electronic glossaries, digital note-taking) and delivery of distance/remote interpreting. This provides you with the necessary digital skills to develop a successful interpreting career in a fast-changing world and work environment.
Practical modules are taught by experienced professional interpreters and you’ll benefit from cutting-edge facilities and participate in simulated industry-relevant scenarios. Our range of optional modules will allow you to customise your learning experience according to your own strengths, personal tastes and career ambitions.
To conclude your MA, our flexible dissertation options enable you to submit a choice of one of the following:
- A dissertation based on researching a specific interpreting topic
- An interpreting project with an analytical commentary
- A critical report of a skills-enhancement programme (such as a summer school or similar).
During your studies, you will have an opportunity to demonstrate academic and professional excellence by winning prizes. These include the following:
- RWS Campus Top Student Award (two Trados licenses)
- Project management training (one free-of-charge place in the Pro PM Training and Certification Programme)
- Professional Engagement Portfolio Prize
- Best Performance in Interpreting Prize.
An international community
The Interpreting MA programme attracts students from all over the world, fostering a vibrant, multilingual and multicultural international community. Our MA cohorts consist of a harmonious blend of graduates who have recently completed their undergraduate courses and more mature students with different background and experience.
A future-proof education
During the course, you'll learn through a combination of regular language pair-specific practice, simulations of multilingual events (mock conferences, guided campus tours and distance interpreting), modules highlighting different aspects of the profession. Our experienced academic staff will help you develop a broad understanding of the current and future challenges of interpreting, while well-established, professional interpreters bring their workplace experience, standards and up-to-date knowledge of the market into the classroom.
Professional development
You'll have regular contact with professional interpreters in your practice-based modules. You’ll gain advanced knowledge of how technologies, including machine translations and tools like ChatGPT, are shaping the interpreting profession, making you fit for the current market. You'll benefit from course components that emphasise the business and industry aspects of interpreting.
You'll have invaluable opportunities to apply and further hone your interpreting skills and strategies in real-life working environments. For instance, our students have provided interpreting services for a variety of multilingual events held at the University, ranging from graduation ceremonies to a three-day medical conference and other workshops. They have also had the opportunity to further refine their skills by participating in a remote interpreting summer school, as well as shadowing professional interpreters working at several international conferences held in London, thanks to our well-established contacts with some major interpreting service providers.
You'll gain further insights into the industry from the external guest speakers we invite to our Centre for Translation Studies seminars and workshops, such as:
- Professional translators and interpreters
- Subtitlers and audio describers
- Professionals working in public services, companies and international organisations
- Representatives of professional translator and interpreter associations
- Interpreting researchers.
These opportunities will prepare you to begin work as a freelancer or as a language service provider at an international organisation, government body, university or private company. You will receive guidance on the development of a professional engagement portfolio to help you build a professional CV as you study. This involves documenting work placements and other collaborations with language services providers, and extra-curricular activities, such as joining a professional body, attending professional development workshops and webinars, and participating in projects with the local community.
Industry links
We offer professionally relevant courses and we have forged close links with the main professional bodies. For example, we are part of the prestigious Chartered Institute of Linguists’ Higher Education Language Partnership and corporate members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting. You can join these bodies as a student member during the course and become a full member after you graduate. After graduating from our MA Interpreting course you will be able to apply for membership of the National Register of Public Service Interpreters.
We also collaborate with the Translation Automation User Society, the European Language Industry Association, and the Globalization and Localization Association, which gives you the possibility to apply for a work placement with various translation and interpreting partner companies. We collaborate with language service providers, and have an extensive network of visiting professionals, so you will benefit from excellent connections and be taught to industry standards.
The MA Interpreting (Multilingual pathway) course can only be taken on a full-time basis. The taught part of the programme is divided into eight 15-credit modules. A 15-credit module is indicative of 150 hours of learning. The hours of learning comprise of contact hours, guided learning and private study.
The MA Interpreting (Multilingual pathway) course has six compulsory modules, and you must select another two optional modules.
Our varied offer of optional modules will enable you to tailor the programme to your personal strengths and preferences. Students normally take four modules in Semester 1 and four in Semester 2.
You will complete your degree with a Translation and Interpreting Studies Dissertation (60 credits), to be submitted at the beginning of September.
The structure of our programmes follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:
Modules
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Modules are subject to teaching availability, student demand and/or class size caps.
The University operates a credit framework for all taught programmes based on a 15-credit tariff.
Course options
Year 1
Semester 1
Compulsory
This module provides students with little or no previous experience of interpreting with a hands-on introduction to interpreting and with the practical skills and knowledge required to perform consecutive interpreting tasks (with and without note-taking) into the student's A language effectively in a wide range of communicative scenarios (e.g. conference/business/media settings, international institutions).
View full module detailsThis module provides students with little or no previous experience of interpreting with a hands-on introduction to simultaneous interpreting into their A language and with the practical skills and knowledge required to perform simultaneous interpreting tasks effectively in relevant communicative situations. The module takes place in professionally equipped, ISO-certified simultaneous interpreting labs. The focus is on interpreting in a wide range of communicative scenarios (e.g. conference/business/media settings, international institutions).
View full module detailsThis module provides students with a systematic framework for understanding key concepts in Translation and Interpreting Studies and how they relate and apply to the rest of the programme and to everyday professional practice. The module enables students to confront a wide range of translation and interpreting challenges, from the lack of equivalence between languages and cultures to contemporary technological, ethical and societal issues affecting translation and interpreting practice, including the rapidly evolving use of machine translation and artificial intelligence (AI). The module equips students with both a solid grounding in the guiding principles of translation and interpreting, derived from scholarly engagement with the discipline, and the strategies required to engage in best practices in the profession and future career development. Taking a holistic approach to translator and interpreter education, the module consists of lectures and seminars that discuss the main principles and challenges of translation and interpreting, and explore solutions in close alignment with other modules in the programme. Students complement lectures and seminars with practical exercises and independent reading.
View full module detailsOptional
This module provides students with little or no previous experience of interpreting with a hands-on introduction to interpreting and with the practical skills and knowledge required to perform consecutive interpreting tasks (with and without note-taking) into the student’s A language effectively in a wide range of communicative scenarios (e.g. conference/business/media settings, international institutions).
View full module detailsThe purpose of this module is to develop problem-solving skills, enabling students to acquire basic and intermediate concepts of computer science and programming, and to learn how to apply them to problems related to translation-related tasks such as glossary creation, error analysis, automatic substitution. Topics to be covered include computational thinking, basic programming concepts such as fundamental data types, control structures, as well as practical examples how this knowledge can be applied for extracting statistics from corpora, cleaning translation memories and preparing data for experiments and analyse the results. Students will be taught different prompting techniques which allows them to interact with Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT to solve problems. Students will learn how to analyse a problem, design solutions and implement them in a chosen programming language with the help of LMMs. The programming language to be used in this module is Python. Students will learn not only how to implement solutions in Python, but they will also gain the skills to analyse the responses from LLMs existing pieces of code and understand how to adapt them for their needs. Practical sessions will give participants hands-on experience in LLM prompting and writing Python programs individually and in teams. The practical sessions will greatly enhance students’ problem-solving skills and resourcefulness. The module is intended for students who have no programming experience, but students with programming background interested in learning Python and how it can be used in the area of translation technology will also benefit from it.
View full module detailsThis module is an introduction to the practice of translation with the support of the most advanced technologies available, focusing on the demand for translators to possess expert skills to be in command of their performance and in control of the outputs of their work. The module is informed by the evolution of requirements of professional translation, namely under the influence of advanced technologies like machine translation. The focus of the module is on the interaction between translators and the computer tools that they use.
View full module detailsSemester 2
Compulsory
This module introduces students to the principles and practical implications of using different technologies in the interpreting profession. It addresses the impact of technology on the interpreting process and product, and on the delivery of interpreting services in the 21st century. The module explores the use of technological tools and resources such as electronic corpora and databases for background research and preparation, the role of communication technologies such as videoconferencing to support different modalities of remote interpreting (distance interpreting), the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools and techniques such as natural language processing (NLP), automatic speech recognition (ASR) and machine translation (MT) to support interpreters before and during assignments. The module also discusses the implications of machine interpreting (speech-to-speech translation).
View full module detailsThis module builds on the skills learned and settings covered in Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting I (TRAM482) and focuses on the advanced practice of spoken-language interpreting between English and the chosen language not only monologically (i.e. in one direction) but also dialogically (i.e. both-ways). The module provides students with advanced skills, strategies and practical knowledge to perform consecutive and dialogue interpreting tasks professionally and confidently in a variety of relevant communicative situations which require interpreting both-ways.
View full module detailsThis module builds on the skills learned and settings covered in Simultaneous Interpreting I (TRAM486) and focuses on the advanced practice of simultaneous interpreting between English and the chosen language. The module takes place in professionally equipped, ISO-certified simultaneous interpreting labs and provides students with advanced skills, strategies and practical knowledge to perform simultaneous interpreting tasks professionally and confidently in a variety of relevant communicative situations. This module builds on the skills learns and settings covered in 'Simultaneous Interpreting' and focuses on the practice of simultaneous interpreting between English and the chosen language. It provides students with advanced skills, strategies and practical knowledge to perform interpreting tasks professionally and confidently in the simultaneous mode and in a variety of relevant communicative situations including the use of communication technologies such as videoconferencing.
View full module detailsOptional
This module introduces students to the professional dimension of the different fields of Public Service Interpreting (PSI). It covers current issues such as the specific ethical requirements, codes of conduct, working conditions and legislation associated with PSI, as well as new trends in a constantly evolving industry and their repercussions on the PSI landscape.
View full module detailsThis module builds on the skills learned and settings covered in Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting I (TRAM484) and focuses on the advanced practice of spoken-language interpreting between English and the chosen language not only monologically (i.e. in one direction) but also dialogically (i.e. both-ways). The module provides students with advanced skills, strategies and practical knowledge to perform consecutive and dialogue interpreting tasks professionally and confidently in a variety of relevant communicative situations which require interpreting both-ways.
View full module detailsIn this module students learn about the distinctive features of multimodal translation, such as subtitling, dubbing, audio description and live subtitling. The module introduces students to the main challenges in each mode of audiovisual translation across a variety of genres, such as film, documentaries and video games. As such, the module will combine tutor-led components and components with a prominent practical element.
View full module detailsSemester 1 & 2
Compulsory
This module is designed to enable students to consolidate and further advance the knowledge and skills acquired during the taught components of the programme, and gain experience working independently on an extended project through one of the following options: Research on a Translation or Interpreting Studies topic and a written dissertation An extended translation with an analytical commentary or an interpreting simulation with an analytical commentary A work placement of at least 150 hours accompanied by a critical report. If taking this option, it is the responsibility of students to find a professional placement approved by CTS (this includes volunteer translation and a range of ad hoc language-industry activities carried out during the academic year). CTS will support students in finding a placement through professional engagement portfolios, invited seminar talks and a dedicated language industries careers fair. A practical skills-enhancement programme of 60 hours or equivalent and a written report. If taking this option, the skills-enhancement programme can be either run by CTS (subject to availability and demand) or external. If external (e.g. a summer school run by another organization), the programme must be approved by CTS in advance
View full module detailsGeneral course information
Contact hours
Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's module catalogue. See the modules section for more information.
Timetable
Course timetables are normally available one month before the start of the semester.
Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week (Monday – Friday). Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities. The part-time timetable is based on the full-time one, so classes will run on any teaching day.
Translation Studies seminars take place on Wednesday afternoons – attendance is optional, but strongly encouraged.
Please note that as our practice-based classes are normally provided by professional interpreters and we may sometimes have to reschedule classes to accommodate professional commitments.
View our code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF).
Location
Stag Hill is the University's main campus and where the majority of our courses are taught.
We offer careers information, advice and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University.
97 per cent of our School of Literature and Languages postgraduate students go on to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2024, HESA).
The language services industry continues to grow despite a challenging international economic climate. Globalisation and technological innovation open new markets and create novel demands for multilingual interpreting services to exchange knowledge and communicate with clients. As an MA Interpreting graduate and qualified language professional, you'll be able to take advantage of global employment opportunities.
To help our students further with work opportunities in the language services industry, we host an annual careers fair where local and international companies with an active interest in Surrey graduates come to the Centre for Translation Studies to meet our students. They explain their current and future job opportunities, providing a chance for you to engage with them directly and kick-start your career in an informal, friendly atmosphere.
Our emphasis on professional development means that you'll be well equipped to begin work as a freelancer, in-house interpreter, interpreting services manager or as an interpreting technology co-ordinator at international organisations, government bodies, universities and private companies, or as a language and interpreting tutor.
Technological innovation is also rapidly reshaping the interpreting industry, opening up new research opportunities. The Translation and Interpreting Studies dissertation enables you to consolidate the knowledge and skills acquired during the taught components of the programme and guides you along the identification and selection of an appropriate research topic or project. It is also one of the many ways of getting involved in ongoing research in the Centre for Translation Studies. We regularly have students who decide to stay on and study for a PhD to pursue an academic career in this exciting field. For further information, see our PhD course.
If you have any questions about the MA in Interpreting, contact the programme leader.
As a student, you will have classes in dedicated language-software computer lab and state-of-the-art interpreting labs. You’ll also have access two conference interpreting suites equipped with ISO-approved double interpreting booths, as used by international institutions, to practise simultaneous interpreting; to a cutting-edge, two-way, multipoint video-conferencing system that simulates remote or distance interpreting, with delegates and interpreters interacting over video link; a portable interpreting system for training in mobile interpreting (used for museum or factory tours). You will also practise hands-on with cutting-edge software for subtitling, like Dragon Naturally Speaking and subtitling, like WinCaps.
Giulia Crotti
Student - Interpreting MA
"I chose to study interpreting at Surrey because besides its international reputation, the course has close links with the main professional bodies and organisations in the field."
Shane White
Student - Translation and Interpreting MA
"I was pleasantly surprised by how close-knit the CTS department is and how approachable the lecturers are. Within a few weeks, I really felt like I knew almost everybody in the department, both fellow students and the teaching staff."
If you are a native English speaker, we require a minimum of a 2:2 UK honours degree in one of the languages listed below or in a related subject taught in one of these languages.
Native speakers of a relevant language (from the list below) require a degree in English or a related subject. If you are a Chinese native speaker then you should apply for our Interpreting (Chinese Pathway) course. Alternative subjects will be considered by the Faculty on a case-by-case basis. Relevant work experience to be considered by the Faculty on a case-by-case basis.
The languages available in the programme (subject to demand) are:
- Arabic
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- French
- German
- Greek
- Italian
- Korean
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Turkish.
Other languages may be available upon request.
English language requirements
IELTS Academic (or equivalent): 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and speaking, and 6.0 in each other category.
These are the English language qualifications and levels that we can accept.
If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.
Selection process
Offers are made subject to a successful aptitude test.
Recognition of prior learning
We recognise that many students enter their course with valuable knowledge and skills developed through a range of ways.
If this applies to you, the recognition of prior learning process may mean you can join a course without the formal entry requirements, or at a point appropriate to your previous learning and experience.
There are restrictions for some courses and fees may be payable for certain claims. Please contact the Admissions team with any queries.
Fees per year
Explore UKCISA’s website for more information if you are unsure whether you are a UK or overseas student. View the list of fees for all postgraduate courses.
September 2024 - Full-time - 1 year
- UK
- £10,400 per year
- Overseas
- £21,500 per year
- These fees apply to students commencing study in the academic year 2024-25 only. Fees for new starters are reviewed annually
- Annual fees will increase by 4% for each subsequent year of study, rounded up to the nearest £100, subject to any overriding applicable legislative requirements.
Payment schedule
- Students with Tuition Fee Loan: the Student Loans Company pay fees in line with their schedule (students on an unstructured self-paced part-time course are not eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan).
- Students without a Tuition Fee Loan: pay their fees either in full at the beginning of the programme or in two instalments as follows:
- 50% payable 10 days after the invoice date (expected to be early October of each academic year)
- 50% in January of the same academic year.
- Students on part-time programmes where fees are paid on a modular basis: cannot pay fees by instalment.
- Sponsored students: must provide us with valid sponsorship information that covers the period of study.
The exact date(s) will be on invoices.
Funding
You may be able to borrow money to help pay your tuition fees and support you with your living costs. Find out more about postgraduate student finance.
Scholarships and bursaries
Discover what scholarships and bursaries are available to support your studies.
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View our generic registration terms and conditions (PDF) for the 2023/24 academic year, as a guide on what to expect.
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