MA in Translation Studies
Birmingham, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 up to 2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
29 Aug 2025
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 10,900 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* £10,900: full time | £5,450: part time | international: £26,180 full-time
Introduction
This course is for anyone looking to begin a career as a translator or enhance their existing career in the sector. You'll join our global community of translators and develop industry-specific skills.
We also offer a distance learning programme over 18 or 30 months. Find out more about the MA Translation Studies (Distance Learning).
At Birmingham, we work closely with translation agencies and freelancers to prepare you for professional employment in the translator industry.
You can take a Professional Development module where you'll develop the skills you need to excel as a professional translator. We have strong links with industry and organise talks from professionals, as well as advertising mentoring and internship opportunities. You'll get to build your networks from day one.
- The University is the top choice for the UK's major employers searching for graduate recruits (The Graduate Market in 2024, High Fliers report).
- We’re a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), the Association of Programmes in Translation and Interpreting Studies, UK and Ireland, and the Association of Translation Companies.
- Develop the employability skills you need for the translation industry with modules covering translation theory and practice.
- Access translation software, including translation memory tools, corpus and text analysis tools and post-editing tools, plus SDL Studio Freelance licences.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
To help you afford your studies, we’ve put more than £33 million into student support and scholarships. We also offer a range of advice on searching for funding and managing your finances.
Explore scholarships and funding on our school website
125th Anniversary Scholarships for International Students
We have a proud heritage of removing barriers to education. In 2025, we celebrate our 125th anniversary as a University. To mark this milestone, we’re offering £4,000 scholarships to students from a select number of countries and £5,000 scholarships to students joining us from India.
Find out if you're eligible on our school website
Scholarships for international students
At Birmingham, we believe in removing all barriers to education, so all of our talented students can achieve their full potential. As an international student, you can take advantage of our wide range of University-run scholarships as well as the many scholarships and bursaries from external funding organizations.
Curriculum
Please visit the course webpage below for up-to-date information on modules.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
By studying a postgraduate degree in Modern Languages at Birmingham, you’ll develop transferable skills suited to a range of career paths. These skills include the ability to work well with others, strong language and communication skills, plus an awareness of different cultures.
Our Modern Languages graduates enter many roles, including:
- Translation project manager
- Translator
- Secondary school teacher
- Copywriter
Employers our Modern Languages graduates have worked for include:
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Morningside Translations
- Secondary schools
Program delivery
At Birmingham, research and teaching go hand-in-hand. Lecturers and professors continue to research in their field, offering valuable expertise in Translation Studies.
- Taught modules - each module represents a total of 200 hours of study time, including preparatory reading, homework and assignment preparation.
- Seminars – modules are mainly taught by small group teaching.
- Dissertation - you will undertake a 15,000-word dissertation in an area that interests you. This can be a traditional written dissertation or an extended translation project, translating a 7,500-word text of your choice, plus a 7,500-word commentary on the text.