Overview
- Degree awarded
- Master of Arts (MA)
- Duration
- 1 year
- Entry requirements
-
We normally expect students to have a First or Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent in a humanities-based subject area.
- Number of places/applicants
A deposit of the tuition fee is required to secure your place on the programme. There are limited places available for certain language combinations. We recommend candidates apply at the earliest possible date in the academic cycle.
- How to apply
- Apply online
Course options
| Full-time | Part-time | Full-time distance learning | Part-time distance learning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MA | Y | Y | N | N |
Course overview
- Explore a wide range of specialisations: commercial translation; audio-visual translation; transcreation; literary translation; translation project management; technical translation; translating for international organisations; interpreting for business and public services.
- Train in the latest technologies, including translation memory, terminology management, subtitling and machine translation.
- Develop a career in the language services sector.
- Gain excellent preparation for doctoral study in translation and interpreting studies.
Open days
Find out what it's like to study at Manchester by visiting us on one of our open days .
Fees
For entry in the academic year beginning September 2025, the tuition fees are as follows:
-
MA (full-time)
UK students (per annum): £14,000
International, including EU, students (per annum): £31,000 -
MA (part-time)
UK students (per annum): £7,000
International, including EU, students (per annum): £15,500
Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.
The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.
All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.
Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Each year the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures offer a number of School awards and Subject-specific bursaries (the values of which are usually set at Home/EU fees level), open to both Home/EU and international students. The deadline for these is early February each year. Details of all funding opportunities, including deadlines, eligibility and how to apply, can be found on the School's funding page where you can also find details of the Government Postgraduate Loan Scheme.
See also the University's postgraduate funding database to see if you are eligible for any other funding opportunities.
For University of Manchester graduates, the Manchester Alumni Bursary offers a £3,000 reduction in tuition fees to University of Manchester alumni who achieved a First within the last three years and are progressing to a postgraduate taught master's course.
The Manchester Master's Bursary is a University-wide scheme that offers 100 bursaries worth £3,000 in funding for students from underrepresented groups.
Contact details
- School/Faculty
- School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
- Contact name
- PG Taught Admissions
- MASALC@manchester.ac.uk
- Website
- http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/translation-and-intercultural-studies/
- School/Faculty
-
See: About us
Courses in related subject areas
Use the links below to view lists of courses in related subject areas.
- Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies
- Arab World Studies
- Chinese Studies
- East Asian Studies
- European Languages and Cultures
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Italian Studies
- Japanese Studies
- Languages and Cultures
- Modern Languages and Cultures
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Russian and East European Studies
- Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Entry requirements
Academic entry qualification overview
We normally expect students to have a First or Upper Second class honours degree or its overseas equivalent in a humanities-based subject area.
English language
An overall grade of IELTS 7.0 with 7.0 in writing and no skill below 6.5 is required or 100+ in the TOEFL iBT with a minimum writing score of 25 and no skill below 22.
If you have obtained a different qualification, please check our English language requirements to ensure that it is accepted and equivalent to the above requirements.
Please note that due to the volume of applications received, we will only assess applications with an English language test result included.
English language test validity
Other international entry requirements
Application and selection
How to apply
Advice to applicants
As there is a high demand for our courses we operate a staged admissions process with selection deadlines throughout the year. Due to the competition for places and high quality of applications that we receive, we give preference to students from high ranking institutions and with grades above our minimum entry requirements.
Please ensure you submit all supporting documentation with your application before the application deadline to avoid a delay in processing.
Applications for 2025 entry:
Stage 1: Application received by 7th December 2024 ; Application update by 21st February 2025
Stage 2: Application received by 3rd March 2025 ; Application update by 2nd May 2025
Stage 3: Application received by 5th May 2025 ; Application update by 8th June 2025
Stage 4: Application received by 4th July 2025 ; Application update by 25th July 2025
Whilst we aim to give you a decision on your application by the deadline date, in some instances due to the competition for places and the volume of applications received, it may be necessary to roll your application forward to the next deadline date.
Applications received after our final selection deadline will be considered at our discretion if places are still available.
Please note: All places are subject to availability and if you apply at one of the later stages, some courses may already be reaching capacity or be closed to further applications. We therefore recommend that you apply early in the cycle to avoid disappointment.
Tuition fee deposits
If you are successful in receiving an offer, you will be required to pay a tuition fee deposit of £1,000 by the deadline stated in your offer letter to confirm your place. We ask for the deposit as competition for places is high and there is limited availability. The deposit amount is then deducted from the mandatory CAS deposit required for a Study Visa.
How your application is considered
Applications are mainlyconsidered on the basis of an assessment of past and predicted academic achievements, the academic reference(s) and any other supplementary evidence that supports the application. Once we have an application that is ready for a decision, the admissions tutor (often the Programme Director) will relay the decision to the admissions team, who will send you this decision.
Please note that your application is usually received by the School 48 hours after you submit it. Ifyou have not provideddocumentation thatallows the admissions tutorto makea decision, we will contact you.
Overseas (non-UK) applicants
Re-applications
If you applied in the previous year and your application was not successful you may apply again. Your application will be considered against the standard course entry criteria for that year of entry. In your new application you should demonstrate how your application has improved. We may draw upon all information from your previous applications or any previous registrations at the University as a student when assessing your suitability for your chosen course.
Course details
Course description
Our MA Translation and Interpreting Studies programme is ideal if you are considering a career in language services. It aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills you'll need to work in translation or in other professions that require expertise in intercultural communication.
You will learn about a wide range of specialisations, including:
- commercial translation
- audio-visual translation
- transcreation
- literary translation
- translation project management
- technical translation
- translating for international organisations.
You may also choose to develop skills in dialogue interpreting for business and public services.
As aspiring professionals in language services and communication, all students on this programme are expected to have a very high level of proficiency in English and one or more other languages (corresponding to the C2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
To complete all course units successfully, you must be able to read and understand complex texts in a variety of genres in English, and to be able to write analytical and critical essays that are logically structured and cogently argued in English.
For your practical translation course units, you may choose to work with English and any other language(s), if you have the requisite proficiency in those languages. If English is your strongest language (sometimes described as your 'native language'), you'll translate into English from one or two other languages. If English is your second language, you'll translate out of English into your strongest language.
We provide specialised translation tuition for any language combination, with English. We offer dialogue interpreting tuition for a subset of those combinations, usually English and Arabic; English and Chinese; English and French; English and German; English and Spanish.
Practical training is also provided in translation technologies, including subtitling tools, translation memory, terminology management, and machine translation.
We also offer comprehensive options in research training, for those who wish to prepare for doctoral study in translation or interpreting studies.
Aims
We aim to:
- equip you with the knowledge and skills for a career in translation and/or interpreting or in other professions which require expertise in cross-cultural communication;
- equip you for further study and research;
- provide specialist training in various types of translation and/or interpreting activity, including the use of technology in translation, interpreting and related activities;
- provide a gradual transition into the world of work through practical, real-life translation and/or interpreting tasks, according to the chosen pathway.
On successful completion of the course, you will have demonstrated an understanding of:
- translation and interpreting studies as an academic discipline and the various perspectives from which different scholars have attempted to develop theories of translation and interpreting;
- the role of translation and interpreting in solving interlingual and intercultural communication problems;
- the interdisciplinary nature of translation and interpreting studies and the exchange of empirical and theoretical approaches between translation/interpreting studies and other disciplines;
- research issues in interpreting and translation, including recent approaches, current problems, and potential future developments;
- the relationship between translation, interpreting and other aspects of language use and communication, including language patterning, textual organisation and the semiotics of verbal and non-verbal communication;
- specific translation and/or interpreting practices and the role of the translator and/or interpreter in various sectors of economic activity including audiovisual media, publishing, localisation, commercial and international organisations, depending on the chosen pathway.
Teaching and learning
Our programme combines independent and guided study. You will learn through a variety of teaching methods, including interactive seminars and small-group tutorials.
Coursework and assessment
All course units are assessed by coursework rather than written examination. Interpreting skills are also assessed through interpreting examinations.
You will complete various coursework tasks to demonstrate your learning. These include translations, text analyses, critical essays, oral presentations, reflective reports and other practical tasks like subtitling film clips and compiling termbases.
Following two semesters of taught course units, MA students write a dissertation of 12-15,000 words. The dissertation can be a traditional research dissertation or a translation dissertation consisting of an extended translation or subtitling assignment and an accompanying critical analysis.
Course unit details
You will undertake units totalling 180 credits. Core units combine to make 120 credits, with the remaining 60 credits allocated to a research dissertation.
Course unit list
The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
| Title | Code | Credit rating | Mandatory/optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| MATIS Dissertation | ELAN60330 | 60 | Mandatory |
| Introduction to Translation and Interpreting studies | ELAN64001 | 15 | Mandatory |
| Translating for Business and Institutions 1 | ELAN65441 | 15 | Optional |
| Translating for the Creative and Heritage Industries 1 | ELAN65451 | 15 | Optional |
| Interpreting, Society and Skills | ELAN65461 | 15 | Optional |
| Translating for Business and Institutions 2 | ELAN65542 | 30 | Optional |
| Translating for the Creative and Heritage Industries 2 | ELAN65552 | 30 | Optional |
| Dialogue Interpreting for Business and Public Services | ELAN65562 | 30 | Optional |
| Multilingualism and Language Policy | ICOM60081 | 15 | Optional |
| Aspects of Professional Communication | ICOM60101 | 15 | Optional |
| Displaying 10 of 12 course units | |||
| Display all course units | |||
Course collaborators
We collaborate on translator training initiatives with the UK's Association of Translation Companies, the Northwest Translators Network, the World Intellectual Property Organization and other professional translator associations.
We participate in University partnerships to give students access to the latest software from RWS (formerly SDL), Kilgray (MemoQ), Memsource and Lilt, among others.
The MA programme is also informed by our ongoing research partnerships with several cultural and commercial organisations.
Facilities
The University of Manchester has the largest single-site university library in the UK and a world-leading collection of translation studies publications.
The University Language Centre is an excellent source of multimedia resources in over 80 languages.
You will have access to industry-standard translation and subtitling software.
As a student of the SALC Graduate School, you'll have access to a dedicated postgraduate space where you can meet, organise events and participate in a thriving academic community.
Find out more about our Facilities .
Disability support
Careers
Career opportunities
Many of our graduates begin careers in translation and interpreting, whilst others have pursued roles in subtitling, marketing, film production and distribution, publishing, media, and international business. Some graduates also pursue careers in academia.
Graduates have found employment at UN agencies, Translators without Borders, The British Council, The Hut Group, Capita Translation and Interpreting, universities in the UK and around the world, and other translation agencies.
Read more about our graduate career destinations.
The University has its own dedicated Careers Service that you would have full access to as a student and for two years after you graduate. At Manchester you will have access to a number of opportunities to help boost your employability .
Find out more on the careers and employability page and read profiles of our graduates .