MA Translation Studies (Distance Learning)

The global Language Services industry is growing at an impressive rate; two of the top five providers, SDL and RWS, are based in the United Kingdom, and there are many large- and medium-sized providers headquartered in the US, Europe and Asia. Wherever you are based, there is no better time to enter the industry and our innovative MA is ideal for those looking to embark on, or develop, careers as professional translators.

Our programme is designed cover the list of competences required by professional translators published in 2017 by the European Master’s in Translation network. We work closely with translation agencies, freelancers and other stakeholders to ensure that our syllabus prepares you for professional employment in the growing translator industry.

Translation practice is at the heart of the programme, and you will undertake extensive practical and specialised translation in your chosen language pair(s). We also offer training in state-of-the-art translation technology. The MA also provides excellent preparation for further study at PhD level.

The programme is available to students who are proficient in English and one of the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. The industry standard is for translators to work into their mother tongue. We also have an ‘open’ route through the programme for students who wish to work in a different language pairing. For the ‘open’ route, your assessments, while still often very practical in nature, will not involve translation, and we cannot guarantee that you will be allocated a tutor who is a specialist in your language pairing.

We are a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and of the Association of Programmes in Translation and Interpreting Studies, UK and Ireland. We are also part of the SDL University Partner Program, which allows us to allocate SDL Studio Freelance licences to our students for the duration of their studies and to award a free license to the top two students studying translation technology each academic year for use after they graduate.