EPThttp://www.veritaslanguagesolutions.com/translation-blog/2011/05/closure-of-the-westminster-university-course-in-ma-in-conference-interpreting/
http://theinterpreterdiaries.com/2011/05/18/the-university-of-westminster-closes-its-training-program/
The University of Westminster is closing down their conference interpreting course. If you want to become a simultaneous interpreter for the EU or UN, it is - was - the place to go. Even though Westminster could not compete with the more prestigious schools like ESIT Paris or ETI Geneva, it was still good enough to jumpstart your career as an interpreter. It was also comparatively easier to get into Westminster and the CI course took only one year instead of two, something that becomes more important to you the older you get.
The closing of their program is pretty much throwing a curveball at my career plans. Even though I only would have been able to start the course in 2013, I've already dedicated a lot of my life towards my training there, like moving to London and doing an Erasmus year at Westminster this September. My second C-language, French, is much too weak for ETI (where the French grammar tests are in fact so difficult that even most native speakers fail them) or ESIT (which is, simply put, the hardest interpreter school in the world with a failure rate of 80% in their entrance exam). Sacrificing yet another year to go to France to take my French to a somewhat decent C-level is almost impossible for me. I'm actually thinking to quit my Erasmus year in England this year and find something in France instead, which would involve a horrible amount of paperwork and might not even be possible at this short notice. I still have to complete my studies in Germany afterwards anyway, which will take yet another year. Doing my CI course in Germany would simply not distinguish me enough from ETI or ESIT graduates and improving my French to the level required without actually living in a French country is considered impossible by many interpreters.
There is a FB page trying to rally enough people for a petition, but it will most likely not change a thing - Westminster is forced to close the course because of budget cuts and apparently tried hard to keep it's program alive without compromising quality.
This sucks.
