The UK’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published details of a proposed new framework for public service interpreting, which includes recommended changes to the existing qualifications and experience required of public service interpreters in England and Scotland from October 2026.
The proposed new framework has been published as part of an independent technical review on public service interpreting, which outlined that “The need to provide a service […] across a wide range of core and rare languages has led to different standards being applied to different languages.”
The recommendations aim to simplify and clarify the current three-tier service classification of public interpreting — Standard, Complex, and Complex-Written — into two tiers: Professional, and Community.
Under the existing model — described as “overly complicated” and “opaque” — interpreters are registered in the three tiers based on “core” and “rare” languages, or by their native language (English vs. non-English).
The independent review stated that “This unclear differentiation between standards is a key concern of the interpreting community and has diminished public service interpreters’ willingness to engage with the MoJ contract. It has resulted in the profession perceiving that professional standards are at best being eroded, at worst ignored.”
The review recognized that while “no evidence has been seen to suggest that current arrangements are seriously compromising the quality of interpreting service provided, […] current requirements, in some cases, allow interpreters to provide services with no prior interpreting experience which poses a serious and substantial risk to quality and the due process of assignments and case handling.”
As a result, the proposal for a two-tiered system aims to have clearer and simplified criteria to ensure those booking interpreters understand the assignment types and qualification standards.
The independent review recommends that interpreters in the Professional tier — working for the police and courts — hold a Level 6 qualification. These qualifications include an undergraduate degree or professional qualification, namely the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI), the Diploma in Police Interpreting (DPI), or the Diploma in Community Interpreting (DCI; Police & Courts Option).
According to the independent report, “approximately 48% of all interpreters registered with the MoJ” hold either a DPSI, DPI or DCI qualification. A further 10% are partially qualified.
Interpreters in the Community tier should have a Level 3 qualification, ie., the equivalent of a UK A-Level qualification.
In addition, the report outlines that “an experience requirement should apply to all registrations across all languages and all levels. In exceptional circumstances, where qualification and/or experience requirements cannot be met, but use of an interpreting resource is unavoidable, additional measures should be applied during preparation for the assignment, to assess performance and manage any potential risk to MoJ.”
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Recommendations for Future Contracts
One of the 19 recommendations set out by the independent report includes a future shift to remote interpreting. The report recommends that interpreters receive training on the MoJ Cloud-Video-Platform (CVP) and be assessed on remote interpreting in the long term as part of the skillset requirements.
In addition, recommendations include provisions for reducing off-contract bookings in future framework agreements. The MoJ “should provide for the recording centrally of all downgraded, exceptional and off-contract deployments.”
“An exceptions policy would help to ensure that additional measures can be applied to such bookings and that extra quality assurance processes are in place where an interpreter is engaged outside the specified standards, levels and qualification requirements,” it stated.
The MoJ is currently reviewing proposals from language service providers to provide translation and interpreting services to UK courts. It was also recently called to present evidence as part of a public inquiry into interpreting and translation services in the courts.
Hat tip to the National Register of Public Service Interpreters.
Image: Shabana Mahmood, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice