Conference Interpreting - MA

More about this course

The course offers a wide range of language combinations paired with English: French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Further language combinations with English, such as Arabic, may also be available, subject to demand, staff expertise and availability of learning resources.

All simultaneous interpreting activities take place in the fully digital interpreting suite which also offers the latest multimedia facilities for virtual classes, recording of interpreting performances, as well as original speeches for student practice.

You'll be able to practice interpreting in professional situations, including guided walks around London using the mobile interpreting system. Places you'll visit can include the Bank of England, Lloyd's of London, Buckingham Palace and the Barbican Centre. As well as opportunities to practice your translation skills locally, you'll also have the possibility of translating meetings from the United Nations (Geneva), the Court of Justice at the European Commission (Brussels) and more.

The course modules are designed to prepare you to work as professional conference interpreters on the private market, for commercial organisations or large international institutions. The course also includes a strong reflective element present during interpreting performances such as the mock conferences and language specific tutorials. The dissertation offers the possibility to reflect on personal interpreting performance or research the interpreting field.

You'll also benefit from guest speakers and conference interpreting professionals who visit the course and provide additional opportunities for practice and individual and group feedback.

Assessment

You'll be assessed through a variety of essays, presentations, practical interpreting performance, self and peer evaluations, a case study, a reflective portfolio and a research project or dissertation.

Entry requirements

You will be required to have:

• a first degree with a 2.1 (or a 2.2 with professional experience in interpreting) (applications from candidates with substantial experience as a professional interpreter but no degree will be considered)
• Certificate and Diploma level English and one other language / MA level English and one or two other languages
• near-native proficiency in your first foreign language (language B) and/or a good command of their second foreign language (language C)

To study a degree at London Met, you must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the English language. If you require a Tier 4 student visa you may need to provide the results of a Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as Academic IELTS. For more information about English qualifications please see our English language 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.

Entrance aptitude test

Application forms are processed by the admissions tutor. Once you've demonstrated that you match the entry criteria, you're 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 generally runs on Fridays between 10am and 1pm twice a month. It includes:

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

Modular structure

What our students say

"All the tutors were really dedicated, very professional and we received very constructive feedback. I feel that I have learned a lot."

Diana, graduate

"For me, this course was really important for professional development. I knew where I wanted to be and this course helped me get there. It was really useful in terms of public speaking, confidence, but also in terms of developing new that you need in the profession."

Tanya, graduate

After the course

Students who complete the course automatically fulfil the requirement to access the EU/UN interpreting accreditation test to work as conference interpreters. Graduates can continue to come to London Metropolitan University to practise conference interpreting thanks to our short courses and events (CPD).

Graduates are also fully qualified to work as conference interpreters on the private market in the UK and abroad, and to continue onto further study with a PhD.

Additional costs

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.

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.