Translation, Interpreting and AI MA

What you will study

Our internationally recognised MA combines skills training in translation and interpreting with a strong focus on developing innovative technological skills, especially the use of AI in the context of translation and interpreting. This allows you to meet global market demands and prepares you for a future in which AI advances rapidly and where specialised skills, such as leveraging generative AI and using different modes of translation and interpreting, will be essential.

We regularly offer translation and interpreting practice in English paired with other languages. We regularly offer Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Greek, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Many other languages are available upon request, subject to a minimum number of students.

You will develop professional translation skills to produce contextually accurate, culturally appropriate, and stylistically consistent translations. Alongside this, you will gain professional skills in interpreting, including consecutive and dialogue interpreting, and sight translation, and you will practise both on-site interpreting and remote interpreting via audio/video link. You will also learn to understand, discuss and justify translation and interpreting-related decisions.

Optional modules focusing on the creative, business, technological and research dimensions of translation and interpreting enable you to customise your learning according to your own strengths, personal interests and career ambitions. You will also have opportunities to gain industry experience through work placements.

1. Our flexible dissertation options enable you to choose from :A research-based dissertation on a specific translation or interpreting topic
2. An extended translation or interpreting project accompanied by a reflective analytical commentary
3. A critical report based on a language-industry work placement or a skills-enhancement activity (such as a summer school or similar).

During the course, academic and professional excellence will be rewarded with the following prizes:

• RWS Campus Top Student Award (two Trados Studio licenses)
• Project management training (one free-of-charge place in the Pro PM Training and Certification Programme)
• Professional Engagement Portfolio Prize
• Best Dissertation in Translation and Interpreting Prize.

An international community

Our course attracts students from all over the world, fostering a vibrant, multilingual and multicultural international community. Our MA cohorts blend recent graduates and more mature students, with diverse backgrounds and experience.

A future-proof education

The MA Translation, Interpreting and AI equips you with core translation, interpreting and technological skills, alongside expertise in terminology management for translation and interpreting, note-taking for consecutive interpreting, transcreation, localisation, multimodal and audiovisual translation, audio/video-mediated remote/distance interpreting, hybrid translation practices and other specialised and multilingual language services. 

Industry-focused and informed by CTS’s leading research, our course trains you in both translating and interpreting to the highest professional standards while effectively using translation-memory systems, automatic speech recognition (ASR), neural machine translation (NMT) and large language models (LLMs), performing post-editing tasks, and collaborating through digital platforms. You will explore the quality, uses and usability of AI-powered machine translation, the translation of audiovisual content for diverse audiences, and gain an introduction to natural language processing (NLP). You will also explore corpus linguistics techniques for terminology extraction and bilingual term compilation, and learn how to enhance translation quality and adapt translation products to different user preferences through advanced writing and editing techniques.

Our experienced academic staff will guide you through current and future industry challenges, while our professional translators and interpreters bring first-hand knowledge, industry standards, and up-to-date market insights directly into the classroom.

Professional development

Our course equips you with the translation, technological, business, interpersonal and essential soft skills for a successful career in the language services industry.

You will practise translation and interpreting in your working language combination(s) through simulations of real-world scenarios across a range of specialisms (e.g., business, legal, scientific, technical and medical domains). With strong expertise in translation and interpreting technologies, our graduates are well prepared to succeed in today’s translation, interpreting and technology markets, adapt to evolving language services, and meet future market needs. 

Through regular seminars with guest speakers (translators, interpreters, users of language services and researchers), you will gain further insights into the profession and the latest translation research. Our annual CTS careers fair connects our MA students with local and international language service and technology providers, supporting professional networking, while work placements provide first-hand industry experience.

You will receive guidance on developing a professional engagement portfolio to help you build a professional CV as you study. This includes documenting your collaborations with language services providers (such as work placements and volunteer translation) and other extra-curricular activities (such as mastering a new AI or translation tool, joining a professional association or attending a professional development workshop). 

You will also have invaluable opportunities to further hone your translation and interpreting skills and strategies in real-life working environments. Our students have provided interpreting services for various multilingual events held at the University of Surrey, from workshops to 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 Surrey’s Watts Gallery or the Guildford Walking Tours.

Industry links

We have forged close links with the main professional bodies in the language industry. For example, we are part of the prestigious Higher Education Partnership of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and a corporate member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI). You can join these bodies as a student member during the course and become a full member after you graduate. 

After graduating from our MA Translation, Interpreting and AI course, you will be able to have your interpreting modules recognised towards application for membership of the National Register of Public Service Interpreters.

We also collaborate with the Translation Automation User Society (TAUS), the European Language Industry Association (ELIA), and the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA), which enables you to apply for a work placement with various translation and interpreting partner companies. We have close links with many language service providers, and have an extensive network of visiting professionals, so you will benefit from excellent connections and be taught to industry standards.

IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall with 6.5 in writing and speaking and 6.0 in each other element.

Alternatively, if you have successfully been awarded the Certificate of Excellence offered by our partner, KL Communications, and had an IELTS of 6.0 overall with 6.0 in each category before you took the course for the Certificate of Excellence, and the IELTS will still be valid for the start of the MA, then you will not need to take another IELTS.

These are the English language qualifications and levels that we can accept.

If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.