This is the reverse of the usual journey: you graduated in Spain and you are applying for a postgraduate course in the UK. And the first misunderstanding arrives immediately, because the UK has no sworn translator in the sense Spain uses.
In Spain, "official translation" has a legal definition: it is signed by a translator accredited by the MAEC. In the UK, certified translation is not a state category but whatever each institution decides to require. Which is why the first task is not translating — it is reading your university's admissions requirements.
Which documents you will be asked for
The usual set for a postgraduate application:
- The academic transcript: subjects, marks and credits.
- The degree certificate, if it has already been issued.
- The conditions of your offer, if you receive a conditional one: they often specify exactly which document is missing and in what form.
On the transcript there is a requirement about its origin that many people overlook. British universities want the document issued by your university's official office — the registry or student records — on institutional headed paper, stamped and signed. What they tend to reject outright: screenshots from the student portal, unofficial lists of marks, and transcripts issued by a department rather than the registry.
Check this early rather than late: requesting the official transcript from your university can take weeks, and it is the document everything else depends on.
What certified translation means at your university
UCL, for example, publishes that for documents not in English you must upload a full translation of each, produced by your institution or by a registered translator, and that applicants may not translate them themselves. Other British universities describe a similar standard: a translation carrying the translator's details, signed and stamped, and never supplied by the applicant.
Those two conditions — an independent, identifiable translator, plus signature and stamp — are what a Spanish sworn translation satisfies naturally. The translator is accredited by the MAEC, signs, stamps and answers for the fidelity of the work; it is precisely the profile those institutions describe when they say registered translator.
But the decision is the university's, not ours. The practical move is a three-line email to the admissions office asking whether they accept a translation signed and stamped by a sworn translator accredited by Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A written answer beats any assumption, and you will have it within a couple of days.
Before you order: check whether you already have an English version
Two routes can save you the work, and both need verifying:
A transcript issued in English. Some Spanish universities issue the transcript directly in English on request. If yours does, and the receiving university accepts a document officially issued in English by the home institution, you need no translation. Ask your registry whether the option exists.
The Diploma Supplement. It is usually issued bilingually and describes your qualification, the grading system and the study load. Useful and verifiable — but it accompanies the degree and the transcript, it does not replace them. What it contains and how far it goes, in what the Diploma Supplement contains.
If neither route resolves your case, what you need is a translation of your academic transcript into English, through the Spanish–English sworn translation service.
How to present original and translation
They travel as a pair: the original document and its translation, not the translation alone. Check these points first:
| What to check | Why |
|---|---|
| Your name | Identical to the passport you are applying with |
| The marks | Carried across as they are, with their scale; not converted to British notation |
| The graduation date | Conditional offers often hinge on it |
| Complete pages | Reverse sides and legends included |
| Delivery format | If they want PDF, PDF; if they want paper, allow for postage |
The second row deserves a warning. A translation should not "translate" your grade average into a British classification — First, 2:1 — nor state that your qualification equates to a particular bachelor's degree. Those equivalences are established by the receiving university on its own criteria, and a translation asserting them would be claiming something that is not its to claim.
A checklist before the deadline
- Request the official transcript from your university now: it is the slowest item.
- Ask the admissions office in writing which translation they accept.
- Check whether your university issues an English version, or a bilingual Diploma Supplement.
- Gather the complete originals and count the real pages.
- Order the translation with margin against your offer date, not the application deadline.
And the usual caution: whatever your university publishes on the day you submit overrides any general guide, this one included. Each institution sets its own requirements and updates them independently.
Send us the complete transcript and degree certificate, the name of the British university and your offer date, and we will give you the exact price and turnaround.