Ministry of Justice: Interpreters
(asked on 12th May 2021) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of experience is demanded as a minimum by his Department's Register for those who are (a) Level 1 public service interpreting (PSI) qualified, (b) Level 2 PSI qualified, (c) Level 3 PSI qualified, (d) Level 4 PSI qualified, (e) those without any form of public service qualification but who have degree level qualifications in other disciplines such as philology and linguistics and (f) Level 6 PSI qualified.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is committed to ensuring the justice system is supported by a suite of high- quality language service contracts, that meet the needs of all those who require interpreters.
The MOJ does not directly employ interpreters. The MOJ commissions the services of suitably qualified interpreters through its contracted service providers, thebigword and Clarion Interpreting.
All interpreters regardless of qualifications are required to complete an induction programme. This is not an accredited piece of learning. It was created by the MOJ and The International School of Linguists (ISL) and is hosted by ISL for thebigword to meet the requirements of the MOJ.
The hours of experience required varies according to the complexity and type of language. This information is set out and can be found in the contract via the following link
A table showing the hours of experience required by qualification can be found below:
Qualifications | Experience required | Complexity level |
Enrolled on a Level 1, two-to-four week, course | 100 hours of Interpretation Services in the relevant language | Standard |
Level 1 public service interpreting (PSI) qualified | No minimum hours required | Standard |
Level 2 PSI qualified | No minimum hours required | Standard |
Level 3 PSI qualified | No minimum hours required | Standard |
Level 4 PSI qualified | No minimum hours required | Standard |
Those without any form of public service qualification but have degree level qualifications in other disciplines such as philology and linguistics | 100 hours of Interpretation Services in the relevant language | Complex |
Level 6 PSI qualified | No minimum hours required | Complex / Complex Written (DPSI Health & Lov Govt although Level 6, are only authorised for Complex; DPSI Law, DPI (Diploma in Police Interpreting) & DCI (Diploma in Community Interpreting ISL) are Complex Written) |
Of the 59 language professionals who failed spot checks, three of the language professionals had two checks for different languages, so we have provided 62 results. Below is a table which breaks down the level of qualification the language professionals had to enable them to appear on the register prior to the spot checks.
Qualification Level | Number of language professionals |
Level 3 | 2 |
Level 6 | 39 |
Level 7 | 5 |
Basic interpreting, rare language or Partial qualification | 16 |