MA in
MA Translation and Interpreting
University of Surrey
Key Information
Campus location
Guildford, United Kingdom
Languages
English
Study format
On-Campus
Duration
1 - 2 year
Pace
Full time, Part time
Tuition fees
GBP 19,800 / per year **
Application deadline
Request info *
Earliest start date
Sep 2023
* Applications for September 2023 are still open for students who do not require a visa.
** full-time UK students: £8,200 | part-time UK students: £4,100/year; overseas students: £9,900/year
Introduction
Why choose this course
The growing complexity of international communication requires professionals with skills in both translation and interpreting. This course is one of the few in the UK to give you the expertise needed to perform both tasks professionally.
Our programme has a strong practical component to suit the needs of the translation and interpreting market today. We support ‘virtual internships’, which enable you to collaborate with language service providers and build a professional engagement portfolio for future employers.
The Centre for Translation Studies (CTS) is currently developing an ambitious new research programme on the responsible integration of human and automated approaches to translation and interpreting, which will inform our teaching and future-proof your career in this evolving industry.
What you will study
Our internationally recognised MA combines translation and interpreting studies with a strong focus on technology. This allows graduates to meet the demands of the global market and current challenges for the language industry.
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.
Practical modules are taught by experienced professional interpreters and translators, simulating realistic scenarios and covering different topics (business, legal, scientific, technical translation).
The background lecture enables you to understand, discuss and justify translation and interpreting-related decisions. Our range of optional modules will also allow you to customise your learning experience.
Admissions
Curriculum
Professional development
You will enjoy regular contact with professional translators and interpreters in your practice-based modules and gain advanced knowledge of how technologies are shaping up the translation and interpreting industry. You’ll benefit from course components that emphasize the business aspects of the translation and interpreting profession.
You will practice with the latest computer-assisted translation software, corpus tools, and resources, and gain advanced corpus-compilation and terminology extraction skills that make you stand out.
As a student, you’ll benefit from free access to the following software to help you learn about translation technology:
- SDL Trados Studio
- SDL MultiTerm
- Matecat
- Smartcat
- WinCaps
- Dragon Naturally Speaking
- Sketch Engine.
You’ll also have access to a cutting-edge two-way and multipoint videoconferencing system that simulates remote or distance interpreting, with delegates and interpreters interacting over a video link.
You will have invaluable opportunities to further hone your interpreting skills and strategies in real-life working environments. For example, our students have recently provided interpreting services for various multilingual events held at the University of Surrey, such as workshops and graduation ceremonies. They have also refined their skills by participating in a remote interpreting Summer School and have developed projects with the local community, such as the Watts Gallery or the Guildford Walking Tours. These opportunities will prepare you to begin work as a freelancer or as a language service provider at an international organization, government body, university, or private company.
You will 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 organizations
- Representatives of professional translator and interpreter associations
- Translation and interpreting researchers.
These opportunities will prepare you to begin work as a freelancer or as a language service provider at an international organization, 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 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.
Modules
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability, student demand, and/or class size caps.
The University operates a credit framework for all taught programs based on a 15-credit tariff. Modules can be either 15, 30, 45, 75, or 120 credits, and additionally for some masters dissertations, 90 credits.
The structure of our programs follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each program. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:
Year 1 (Full-time)
- Academic Research Methods
- Consecutive And Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) I
- Consecutive And Dialogue Interpreting I
- Principles And Challenges of Translation And Interpreting
- Professional Translation Practice I
- Translation As Human-Computer Interaction
- Writing And Rewriting For Translators
- Business And Management in Translation
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) II
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting II
- Hybrid Practices For Live Speech-To-Text Communication
- Interpreting And Technologies
- Professional Translation Practice II
- Public Service Interpreting- Trends And Issues
- Smart Technologies For Translation
- Translation For Creative Industries
- Translation And Interpreting Studies Dissertation
Year 1 (Part-time)
- Academic Research Methods
- Consecutive And Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) I
- Consecutive And Dialogue Interpreting I
- Principles And Challenges of Translation And Interpreting
- Professional Translation Practice I
- Translation As Human-Computer Interaction
- Writing And Rewriting For Translators
- Business And Management in Translation
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) II
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting II
- Hybrid Practices For Live Speech-To-Text Communication
- Interpreting And Technologies
- Professional Translation Practice II
- Public Service Interpreting- Trends And Issues
- Smart Technologies For Translation
- Translation For Creative Industries
Year 2 (Part-time)
- Academic Research Methods
- Consecutive And Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) I
- Consecutive And Dialogue Interpreting I
- Principles And Challenges of Translation And Interpreting
- Professional Translation Practice I
- Translation As Human-Computer Interaction
- Writing And Rewriting For Translators
- Business And Management in Translation
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting (Additional Language) II
- Consecutive and Dialogue Interpreting II
- Hybrid Practices For Live Speech-To-Text Communication
- Interpreting And Technologies
- Professional Translation Practice II
- Public Service Interpreting- Trends And Issues
- Smart Technologies For Translation
- Translation For Creative Industries
- Translation And Interpreting Studies Dissertation
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. View our Code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF).
Translation studies seminars take place on Wednesday afternoons – attendance is optional but strongly encouraged.
Please note that our practice-based classes are normally provided by professional translators or interpreters and we may sometimes have to reschedule classes to accommodate professional commitments.
Scholarships and Funding
About the Discounts for Surrey Graduates 2023 entry
If you are a fully self-funded Home or International student who has studied for an undergraduate degree at the University of Surrey campus in Guildford, you may be eligible for a 20 percent discount on our taught postgraduate masters program fees.
The discount applies to:
- September/October 2023 entrants
- February 2024 entrants
- February 2024 entrants. Note: if applicable and Masters's programs are running with a February intake for the 2023/24 academic year.
- This scheme is only open to 2023 postgraduate taught entry students who are not in receipt of any external sponsorship.
Postgraduate Master's Loans
A Postgraduate Master’s Loan can help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate taught course.
What you'll get
You can get up to:
- £12,167 if your course starts on or after 1 August 2023
- £11,836 if your course started between 1 August 2022 and 31 July 2023
- £11,570 if your course started between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022
- £11,222 if your course started between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021
- £10,906 if your course started between 1 August 2019 and 31 July 2020
- £10,609 if your course started between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019
This loan is non-means tested, i.e. the amount you can request is not dependent on your or your family's income. Your loan can be used towards the cost of your course fees and living expenses.
Eligibility
To be eligible, you will need to meet a number of eligibility criteria set by the Government including residency, age and course. See the full eligibility criteria.
Not all courses at the University of Surrey are eligible for postgraduate loan funding, for example, unstructured, part-time or distance learning courses where the maximum period of registration is five years are not eligible.
Repayment
You’ll repay your postgraduate loan using a percentage of your income. Once you are earning more than £21,000 a year (or £1,750 a month), you’ll pay six per cent of the amount you earn above the £21,000 threshold.
You’ll be charged interest from the day you get the first payment.
Get more information on repaying your postgraduate loan.
How to apply
The quickest and easiest way to apply is through the Government's Postgraduate Master's Loans website.
Receiving your loan
To receive the first payment of your loan, you’ll need to have fully completed registration with the University (which includes part payment of tuition fees).
You get the first payment after your course start date, once your university or college confirms that you’ve registered.
There are specific rules around students who transfer or repeat study and how this affects eligibility. For further information, please contact the Student Records team.
If you have been accepted for the Postgraduate Master's Loan, and are having difficulties in paying your fees before your first instalment is due, please contact our Student Finance team once you’ve received a tuition fee invoice.
Please be aware this page is a summary correct as of January 2023.
Career Opportunities
We offer career information, advice and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University. Our graduates have lifetime access to Surrey Pathfinder, our online portal for appointment and events bookings, jobs, placements and interactive development tools.
91 per cent of our School of Literature and Languages postgraduate students go on to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes survey 2023, HESA).
Local and international companies from the language industry who have an active interest in Surrey graduates come to our Centre for Translation Studies. They explain what current and future opportunities they have, 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 will be well-equipped to begin work as a freelance or in-house translator or interpreter, or as a project manager for business, international organisations and public bodies.
The language services industry continues to grow despite a challenging international economic climate. Globalisation and technological innovation open up new markets and create novel demands for multilingual interpreting services to exchange knowledge and communicate with clients. As an MA Translation and Interpreting graduate and qualified language professional, you’ll be able to take advantage of global employment opportunities.
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 a translation/interpreting project or work placement. It is also one of the many ways of getting involved in ongoing research at the Centre for Translation Studies. We regularly have students who decide to stay on and study for a PhD and pursue an academic career in translation and interpreting studies For further information, see our PhD course.
To further help our students 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 meet our students in an informal, friendly atmosphere.
Program Tuition Fee
Student Testimonials
English Language Requirements
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