Develop high-level interpreting and translation skills on this challenging course, where you’ll use state-of-the-art technology to gain the knowledge base and practical skills to succeed in the language services industry.

You’ll gain essential skills in interpreting, analysis, active listening and note-taking, then build on this foundation by practising specialised consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in our conference interpreting facilities. At the same time, you’ll deepen your theoretical and practical understanding of translation, exploring how interpreting and translation interconnect in professional practice. Additionally, you can tailor your learning experience by selecting from a range of optional modules, such as genre analysis, corpus linguistics, computer-assisted translation and machine translation.

As a programme included in the AIIC Interpreting Schools & Programmes Directory, the Leeds interpreting programme follows best practices that are recommended by AIIC (the International Association of Conference Interpreters). The University of Leeds is also a partner university of the Directorate-Generale for Interpretation of both the European Parliament and the European Commission. We enjoy close ties with international organisations including the UN.

The course aims to prepare students for life as a professional conference interpreter, whilst giving them broader skills in the translation service industry, and an understanding of the theory and research underpinning current practice.

Interpreting works with an ''ABC'' language classification. Your A-language is your mother tongue, your B-language is an active language that you can work both from and into, and your C-language is a language that you can only work from. At Leeds, you can either work from and into one foreign language (AB pathway) or from two foreign languages (ACC pathway). We will not provide training in a combination that does not include your mother tongue as this could severely limit your employability as an interpreter.