Face to face interpreting
The interpreter attends in person. Best for court hearings, hospital appointments and anything long, sensitive or legally significant. In major UK cities we can usually arrange face-to-face interpreting within 2-4 hours.
Interpreting Services
Qualified, DBS-checked interpreters in 300+ languages, in person, by telephone 24/7 or by video. Trusted by NHS trusts, HM Courts & Tribunals and UK solicitors.
Prism Linguistics provides professional interpreting services across the UK in more than 300 languages. Face-to-face, telephone (24/7), video and conference interpreters for NHS trusts, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, the Home Office, police forces, local authorities, solicitors and private clients. Quotes come back within one hour during office hours.
We've been arranging interpreters since 2013, drawing on a pool of 20,000+ vetted linguists. Some bookings are routine: a GP appointment, a parents' evening. Others are anything but, such as a rare-language asylum interview in a language most UK agencies can't source. Both get the same care.
Most of our interpreter bookings come from organisations that can't afford a misunderstanding: NHS trusts, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, the Home Office, police forces, local authorities and immigration solicitors. The rest come from businesses and private individuals who need the same standard for a meeting, a hearing or an appointment.
Every interpreter we assign is vetted and professionally qualified for the work in question, and those working in the NHS, courts, police stations, schools and safeguarding settings hold a valid Enhanced DBS certificate. Where the language is common, that vetting is straightforward. Where it isn't (Tigrinya, Kinyarwanda, Dinka and other rare languages), it's where we earn our keep, because the UK pool of qualified interpreters in those languages is tiny.
Interpreting is one part of what we do. You can see all our language services on the services page, and the full A to Z on our languages directory.
The right mode depends on the setting, the notice you have and how sensitive the conversation is.
The interpreter attends in person. Best for court hearings, hospital appointments and anything long, sensitive or legally significant. In major UK cities we can usually arrange face-to-face interpreting within 2-4 hours.
On-demand telephone interpreting in 300+ languages, 24/7, 365 days a year. Connects within minutes, which is why NHS teams and council out-of-hours services rely on it.
Video remote interpreting adds the visual link a phone call can't give you. Useful for remote consultations and multi-site meetings where body language matters but nobody can travel.
NRCPD-registered BSL interpreters for the NHS, courts, employers and live events, either on site or over video.
| Mode | Best for | How quickly | Typical settings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Face-to-face | Long, sensitive or legally significant appointments | Usually 2-4 hours' notice in major UK cities | Court hearings, hospital appointments, safeguarding meetings |
| Telephone | Short conversations at short notice | Connects within minutes, 24/7 | GP reception, emergency triage, council out-of-hours |
| Video remote (VRI) | Visual contact without travel | Arranged in advance | Remote consultations, BSL, multi-site meetings |
| Conference (simultaneous) | Multilingual events with live audiences | Booked in advance, with equipment | Industry conferences, summits, multi-day events |
Legal work is unforgiving. A mistranslated answer at an immigration tribunal can sink a case, so court bookings go to interpreters with legal experience and current DBS checks, and we accept Legal Aid Agency rates for publicly funded matters. UK solicitors book us for first-tier tribunal hearings, solicitor-client conferences, witness statements and family court work.
A word of advice, whoever you book with: for HMCTS work, ask whether the interpreter holds a legal interpreting qualification such as the DPSI, and whether they're NRPSI-registered. Those are the right questions, and we're happy to answer them for every booking. More on our legal sector work, or go straight to a language, for example an Urdu court interpreter.
Medical interpreting is core work for us. NHS trusts and GP practices book us for outpatient clinics, GP appointments, mental-health assessments, maternity care and discharge planning. Face-to-face suits most clinical appointments; for a short pharmacy query or a triage call, telephone interpreting gets a linguist on the line within minutes.
Every interpreter working in a healthcare setting is DBS-checked and used to clinical conversations, including the awkward ones. Details on the healthcare and NHS page.
A custody-suite interview at 2am needs an interpreter who is police-cleared, calm and precise. We supply interpreters to UK police forces for suspect and witness interviews, and to local authorities for safeguarding meetings, housing appointments and school reviews.
Private clients use us too, for solicitor meetings, medical appointments and personal matters. Private interpreting bookings are handled with the same vetting and the same discretion as our public-sector work.
For events we provide simultaneous, consecutive and whisper interpreting, with booth and equipment hire available UK-wide. Simultaneous interpreters work in pairs from a booth; whisper interpreting suits one or two delegates in a larger meeting. If you're not sure which your event needs, tell us the format and we'll advise. Full details under conference interpreting.
People often search for an "English to Polish interpreter" as if the direction were fixed. In practice a working interpreter carries the conversation both ways, English to Polish and Polish back to English, in the same breath. What matters is that they're qualified for the setting.
The most requested pairs have their own pages: book a Polish interpreter, find a Romanian interpreter for a tribunal or medical appointment, or an Arabic interpreter covering regional dialects. For everything else, the A to Z of languages lists all 300+.
Use the online quote form or call +44 (0) 20 3880 6688. Tell us the language, the date and time, the location, and whether you need the interpreter in person, by telephone or by video.
During office hours a UK project manager replies within one working hour with a clear price and any compliance notes, such as DBS status or Legal Aid Agency rates.
We match the booking to a vetted interpreter with experience of your setting and send confirmation with the interpreter's details. Telephone interpreting connects even faster, usually within minutes, 24/7.
There's no single answer, because interpreting is priced per assignment. The main factors are duration, location, the language and the setting. A one-hour telephone call in Polish costs a lot less than a full-day simultaneous team with booths. Telephone interpreting is charged by the minute; face-to-face is priced for the session, with travel considered.
Two things we can say plainly. We accept Legal Aid Agency rates for publicly funded legal work, and the quote is free, with a reply within one working hour during office hours. No obligation either way.
Interpreted conversations are often the most private ones people have: an asylum interview, a diagnosis, a police statement. Our interpreters are bound by confidentiality, we'll sign an NDA where you need one, and our information handling is UK GDPR compliant. Booking details go only to the interpreter assigned to your job, and no further.
Interpreting is spoken; translation is written. If it's a document you're dealing with, our translation services cover the same 300+ languages, and certified translation handles anything the Home Office, UKVI, HMCTS or a university needs to accept.
Tell us the language, the setting and the date. We'll reply with a clear price within one working hour, and telephone interpreting is available right now, 24/7.