The Specialised Translation MA prepares you for a career in the translation market. The course is open to native and non-native speakers of English, who combine English with any of the following languages: Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish. At the heart of the Specialised Translation MA lie our weekly practical translation classes between English and one of the languages listed above. Building on your existing language skills, you will learn how to research specialised subjects to produce, with and without the use of translation memory software tools, commercially viable translations of a broad range of specialised texts, applying insights drawn from linguistics and translation theory as well as from professional practice.

If you are studying the Specialised Translation MA with English and one other language, you will also attend modules that introduce you to audio-visual and computer-assisted translation, revision, editing, post-editing, quality assurance, and project management skills for translators. If you are a native speaker of English and would like to study translation with two of the above languages, you can choose to replace the Audio-visual and Computer-Assisted Translation and Quality Assurance and Project Management for Translators modules with two Specialised Translation modules in your second foreign language. You will also engage with a comprehensive programme of professional development activities and will further complement the knowledge and skills acquired on the core modules by choosing either Translation as Cultural Practice or International Organisations and Institutional Discourses as an option module. At the end of the course, you will submit an MA Translation Project or an MA Dissertation.

You will benefit from our wide range of resources, including an extensive collection of volumes and electronic materials in our library, specialised software applications, and additional resources made available through the University's Virtual Learning Environment. Our teaching staff include full and part-time lecturers, all with professional expertise in translation and other specialist fields. You will be allocated a personal tutor and be given academic guidance by the course team.

The course emphasis is on practical training in translation, developing your skills to a high level and learning about the professional environment. Your core Specialised Translation modules will involve both direct and inverse translation training between English and Chinese, French, German, Italian or Spanish. The majority of your translation assessments, including the final translation exam, will, however, be conducted into your mother tongue only. You will translate texts in a wide variety of specialised topics, types, and genres (together with their respective specialist vocabularies and discursive contexts), developing the practical translation skills and techniques that will provide a solid foundation for a career as a professional translator. You will also acquire a wide range of additional skills, including career building and professional development skills, through the remaining core and option modules.

Your studies are further supported by weekly lectures on the theoretical concepts and principles of translation, introductory workshops to a range of translation memory tools, guest lectures and workshops delivered by external speakers from industry and international institutions, and the opportunity to take part in a post-graduation mentoring programme.

The Specialised Translation MA has an excellent graduate employment record. Many of our graduates work as in-house translators in international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Commission, or within translation companies both in the UK and across many other countries all over the world.

Other graduates work as freelance translators, or as translation project managers, subtitlers, editors, revisers, proofreaders, or terminologists.

Our membership of the European Graduate Placement Scheme and Elia Exchange ensures that we can assist our students in securing high-quality work placements both during the course and following graduation. We are also a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, a Higher Education Language Partner of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, and have a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations on cooperation in the training of language professionals for the UN language competitive examinations.