Fees and key information

Course type
Postgraduate
Entry requirements
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Why study this course?

The Interpreting MA prepares you for work mainly as a professional conference interpreter for international organisations and the private market. Languages offered include English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian and Spanish. You’ll benefit from work placements, site visits and dummy booth practice at the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the International Maritime Organisation and the United Nations (Geneva and Vienna). It’s suitable for translators and linguists new to the field but would also benefit practising interpreters without formal qualifications.

This course offers a distance learning option for full time (one year) and part time (two years) students. Students from both courses are taught together in a synchronous hybrid mode as one community of learners.

The Interpreting MA is a vocational master's course grounded in theory and practice, specifically set up to train professional interpreters. The course offers you an opportunity to acquaint yourself with the theoretical and professional frameworks of interpretation applied to a range of interpreting types including public service interpreting, conference interpreting and remote interpreting (telephone and video conferencing).

We offer excellent interpreting facilities, including six AIIC (Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conference) standard soundproof booths, each with audio and video digital recording facilities. The interpreting suite facilities are the same as those used in Brussels for the European Commission and each booth is equipped with broadband and audio-visual digital recording. You’ll also benefit from the use of our virtual platform to access teaching materials and documentaries, presentations for conferences and recordings of mock conferences.

A key part of the course is a work placement during which you’ll perform live interpreting tasks under supervision and shadow professional interpreters at work. The course offers a wide range of language combinations paired with English: German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese. Further language combinations with English may also be available, such as Arabic, subject to demand, staff expertise and availability. In the past, we have offered Romanian, Dari and Lithuanian.

Choose from a wide variety of languages

Languages offered include English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Spanish and more

Benefit from extra-curricular activities

You’ll be able to attend work placements, site visits and dummy booth practice at the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the International Maritime Organisation and the United Nations (Geneva and Vienna)

Take your career prospects to the next level

This course is suitable for translators and linguists new to the field but would also benefit practising interpreters without formal qualifications

Student reviews

Our real, honest student reviews come from our own students – we collect some of these ourselves, but many are also collected through university comparison websites and other nationwide surveys.

Course details

You will be required to have:

  • a 2.1 first degree or a 2.2 with professional experience in interpreting (candidates with substantial experience as a professional interpreter but no degree will also be considered)
  • certificate and diploma-level English and one other language, or MA level English and one or two other language(s)
  • near-native proficiency in your first foreign language (language B) and a good command of your second foreign language (language C)
  • a very good command of English with a Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE): Grade AM

Entrance aptitude test

Application forms are processed by the admissions tutor. Once you've demonstrated that you match the entry criteria, you'll be invited to London Metropolitan University to attend the entrance aptitude test. For international students, the test can be done remotely.

The entrance aptitude test is free and runs on Fridays between 10am and 1pm twice a month. It includes:

  • translations into and from English
  • presentations in the various language combinations
  • consecutive interpreting into the A language (mother tongue)
  • essay writing
  • an interview with the admissions tutor and interpreting lecturers

Accreditation of Prior Learning

Any university-level qualifications or relevant experience you gain prior to starting university could count towards your course at London Met. Find out more about applying for Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL).

English language requirements

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. This course requires you to meet our higher requirements.

If you need (or wish) to improve your English before starting your degree, the University offers a Pre-sessional Academic English course to help you build your confidence and reach the level of English you require.

You'll be assessed through a variety of coursework, interpreting exams, presentations, essays, independent work and a research project.

Career prospects for graduates are excellent, with many proceeding to work as in-house or freelance interpreters and typically finding positions in translation and interpreting agencies; international, European and national organisations and bodies; local authorities, hospitals, the police, immigration services and refugee and asylum organisations.

If you've already studied your undergraduate degree with us, as a graduate of London Met, you'll be entitled to a 20% discount on any further study with us.
* exclusions apply

Please note, in addition to the tuition fee there may be additional costs for things like equipment, materials, printing, textbooks, trips or professional body fees.

Additionally, there may be other activities that are not formally part of your course and not required to complete your course, but which you may find helpful (for example, optional field trips). The costs of these are additional to your tuition fee and the fees set out above and will be notified when the activity is being arranged.

How to apply

Use the apply button to begin your application.

If you require a Student visa and wish to study a postgraduate course on a part-time basis, please read our how to apply information for international students to ensure you have all the details you need about the application process.

When to apply

You are advised to apply as early as possible as applications will only be considered if there are places available on the course.

To find out when teaching for this degree will begin, as well as welcome week and any induction activities, view our academic term dates.

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