Diploma Translation for the UK

No sworn translators: what a certified translation means

There is no regime of court-sworn translators in the United Kingdom. What official procedures expect instead is a statement of accuracy attached to the translation, declaring the translation complete and accurate and carrying the name of the translator or the agency, contact details, the date and a signature: a certificate of accuracy. Membership of the ITI or the CIOL is not compulsory for the translator, though it does add confidence; UKVI and university admissions units look for this statement. Without it, even a translation that is faultless in substance can be put on hold, because its source cannot be verified. The statement is expected to sit on the same page as the translation or to be attached to it, and to show clearly which source document it is bound to.

The UK ENIC statement of comparability is not the translation

Diploma translation and UK ENIC assessment are two separate pieces of work. UK ENIC determines the British counterpart of your Turkish degree within the RQF framework; the translation prepares the document that feeds into that assessment. The translator’s task is to convey the name of the degree as it stands. Writing “Lisans” straight out as “Bachelor’s degree” is an act of levelling one against the other, and that authority rests with UK ENIC. The sound approach is to render the name of the degree faithfully, adding an explanatory note in brackets where needed, and to leave the assigning of a British counterpart out of the translator’s hands. Since UK ENIC offers assessments of different kinds for different purposes – academic, professional, visa – finding out from the institution you are applying to which kind is wanted spares you the cost of an assessment you did not need.

Institution name, seal and reverse side

The names of the university and the faculty are kept in their original spelling; UK ENIC and the admissions unit recognise the institution by its name, and a free Englishing of it can leave the document unrecognisable. The verification elements on the diploma – the institutional seal, the wet signatures, a hologram where there is one – are marked in the translation not by their text but by their presence, in square brackets; a seal that cannot be read is shown with an [illegible] note, and no reading is invented. Any explanatory wording on the reverse side is included in the translation as well. On QR-coded e-diplomas the presence of the QR code and of the verification link is marked with [QR code] and [e-signature verification] notes; no attempt is made to decode the contents of the code, and whatever stands on the document is what is conveyed.

Where the document sits in Skilled Worker and student visa files

The United Kingdom operates a points-based immigration system, and on a Skilled Worker or Student route the sponsoring institution and UKVI read your documents as a whole. Because the diploma is weighed in that file not on its own but alongside the transcript and, where required, a UK ENIC assessment, the name of the institution, the dates of study and the person’s name must appear in the same form across every document. English may be an official language in the United Kingdom, but a Turkish diploma is not issued in English, so a certified translation is required; the translation makes the document readable in English while preserving its original elements, such as the name of the institution and the abbreviations denoting type. If the document is going to more than one university or sponsor, planning from the outset for a separate certified copy and an accompanying set of translations for each recipient will meet requests that surface at the last minute.

The apostille and the order of approval

The correct order is usually this: the original diploma or a certified copy is obtained, the apostille is completed where one is needed, and the document is then translated with the apostille included. Where the diploma runs to several pages or has annexes, the page order is preserved and the translation is presented in the same arrangement as the source document. Check the following points before delivery:

• Verify that the certificate of accuracy is attached to the translation.
• Avoid equating the name of the degree with a British level; comparability is UK ENIC’s business.
• Check that the name of the institution has not been translated, and obtain the apostille before the translation.

The United Kingdom is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; confirm the current position from the official HCCH list. You can see the level of approval required for other documents on our document types page, review the cost by number of pages on our pricing page, and upload your document to request a quotation. Translations are handled from our single office in Ankara Kızılay. The document and the level of approval required can differ from one institution to another; ask in advance.