Annual Salary
£0 to £0
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
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Interpreters change spoken words from one language into another, either face-to-face or remotely.
Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)
You could work: freelance / self-employed; managing your own hours
There will be
0.5% more Interpreter jobs in 2027.
There are 3 different types of interpreting:
As a conference interpreter you could:
As a consecutive interpreter you may:
As a public service interpreter you could:
You could work at a client's business, at a conference centre, in an office, at a police station, in a court, in a prison or in an NHS or private hospital.
Your working environment may be emotionally demanding and you'll travel often.
You can get into this job through:
You can do a degree or postgraduate qualification in:
You'll usually need:
You can find unpaid or paid volunteering opportunities through local councils and organisations offering community interpreting services.
A community interpreting qualification may help you volunteer as an interpreter in your local community. Colleges and universities may have more information about this.
You may be able to get into this job if you have a non-language degree if you're fluent in English and a second language.
To help you to get a job in public service interpreting, you can take a Chartered Institute of Linguists course like:
To be fluent in a language, you should:communicate quickly, smoothly and accurately; know and understand informal speech, slang and regional differences; understand the culture of the country or countries where the language is spoken
You can join an industry association to help with your professional development and to build up your network of contacts.
Organisations include:Institute of Translation and Interpreting; International Association of Conference Interpreters; Chartered Institute of Linguists; National Register of Public Service Interpreters
You can find out more about how to become an interpreter from the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.
You could combine interpreting with translating or teaching. You could also move into the management of interpreting services in the public or private sector.
You'll need: