Languages and Translation with Foundation

Languages and translation is a discipline that takes language itself as its subject, asking not just how to speak and write in other tongues but how meaning travels between them, where it transforms, and where it resists translation altogether. Translation is both an art and a technical skill, requiring deep bilingual competence, cultural literacy, and an understanding of how texts function in their original contexts and in the new ones created when they are rendered into another language. It is a discipline with immediate practical application and profound theoretical depth.

At the University of Westminster, this four-year full-time degree includes an integrated foundation year, providing a supported entry route for students who want to build their academic and language foundations before progressing into the honours degree. Westminster's location in London, one of the world's most linguistically diverse cities, provides an exceptional context for language study, with access to communities, organisations, and cultural institutions that bring the discipline to life. The sandwich year gives you the opportunity to gain professional experience in a translation, language, or communications environment, and a year abroad provides the immersive linguistic experience that makes the difference between functional competence and genuine fluency.

Work placement experience is integrated throughout.

You will develop high-level skills in at least two languages alongside the theoretical and practical knowledge of translation, working across a range of text types and registers and learning how professional translators make the decisions that determine whether a translation works.

Graduates go on to careers as translators and interpreters, working freelance or in-house for international organisations, governments, law firms, media companies, and multinational businesses. Others move into language teaching, diplomacy, international development, journalism, publishing, and the cultural sector. Postgraduate study in translation, conference interpreting, or linguistics is a common next step for those who want to specialise further.