Course summary
Prepare for a career as a professional translator. Our industry-focussed course gives you the translation and project management skills to stand out in the sector. This course is for anyone looking to begin a career as a translator or enhance their existing career in the sector. You'll join our global community of translators and develop industry-specific skills. We also offer a distance learning programme over 18 or 30 months. At Birmingham, we work closely with translation agencies and freelancers to prepare you for professional employment in the translator industry. You can take a Professional Development module where you'll develop the skills you need to excel as a professional translator. We have strong links with industry and organise talks from professionals, as well as advertising mentoring and internship opportunities. You'll get to build your networks from day one.
- The University is the top choice for the UK's major employers searching for graduate recruits (The Graduate Market in 2024, High Fliers report).
- We’re a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), the Association of Programmes in Translation and Interpreting Studies, UK and Ireland, and the Association of Translation Companies.
- Develop the employability skills you need for the translation industry with modules covering translation theory and practice.
- Access translation software, including translation memory tools, corpus and text analysis tools and post-editing tools, plus SDL Studio Freelance licences.
Modules
The programme comprises 120 credits of taught modules and a 60-credit dissertation. Visit the course page on the University of Birmingham website for the most up-to-date module information.
Assessment method
The University of Birmingham offers flexible routes of study for this programme: Accelerated Route* (programme code 011D): Complete your studies in 18 months (Complete a module every 2 months and your final project over 6 months). October start only. Standard Route (programme code 8914): Complete your studies in 30 months (Complete a module every 4 months and your final project over 6 months). October, February or April starts available. *Only students following the accelerated route are eligible for Government loans All MA students will need to complete 6 modules, followed by a final project.
Entry requirements
The language into which you intend to translate should be the language in which you have mother tongue competence, or alternatively your language of habitual use. In the latter case, you may be asked to provide evidence of proficiency. It will normally be necessary to have training to degree level in the language(s) from which you intend to translate. If you do not hold a degree in your ‘second’ language, you may be asked to provide other evidence of proficiency (equivalent to at least level C1 on the Common European Framework for Languages). If you do not hold a languages or humanities-related degree, you may be asked to provide evidence of relevant work experience. International applicants will normally be required to provide evidence of English language competency. Language pairings we can accommodate are: Arabic to English and English to Arabic, French to English and English to French, German to English and English to German, Greek to English and English to Greek, Italian to English and English to Italian, Mandarin to English and English to Mandarin, Polish to English and English to Polish, Portuguese to English and English to Portuguese, Russian to English and English To Russian, Spanish to English and English to Spanish. We are also able to offer a pathway through the programme for those working in other languages.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .
Additional fee information
No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Provider information
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT