The leading quality assurance provider for language services

The Language Shop (TLS) is the UK’s leading quality assurance provider for language services. We are the single approved supplier of Quality Assurance Services on the Crown Commercial Service Language Services framework (RM6141) and provide assurance across the Ministry of Justice’s language services contracts, assessing language professionals working in courts, prisons and probation services across the UK.

TLS provides a comprehensive quality assurance service, from interpreter assessments to desk based compliance audits, ensuring your language service suppliers are meeting the terms of their agreements with you.

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    Why do I need independent assurance?

    In an unregulated and notoriously complicated profession, there are widely-reported instances of the serious and damaging repercussions from the provision of sub-standard language services. A quality assurance service guarantees that your supplier provides not just an acceptable service, but one that is of the highest quality measured against strict assessment criteria.

    Harm to the public
    Financial damage
    Negligant care
    Reputational harm
    Legal action
    Miscarriage of justice
    Loss of liberty

    How we work with you

    TLS offers a full range of quality assurance services. These are entirely flexible, so you can draw on as much as you need. Through our established ‘Discover, Design, Deliver’ process, we ensure your programme is the most suited for your requirements as well as the best value for money.

    Discover

    We will:

    • Work closely with you to build a detailed understanding of your language service use
    • Consult with your supplier
    • Analyse data – bookings, feedback, complaints. Identifying risks and targeting areas for assessment

    Design

    Considering your budget and aspirations, we will build a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP), which will:

    • Set out the objectives of QA activities
    • Be risk driven, targeting the highest risks first
    • Account for the practicalities of particular assessment types
    • Set out the detail of the assessment programme

    Deliver

    Deliver the agreed programme, reporting our findings and recommendations to you whilst continually refining the QAP as we learn more about your service. We will:

    • Report supplier performance transparently
    • Work closely with suppliers to implement remedial action and improvement.
    • Ensure service continuity at all times

    Assessments

    Practical assessment of interpreters and translators during real assignments, from recordings/documents or using roleplays, are the most effective way to monitor and continually improve the quality of language services you receive. TLS delivers more than 8,000 examinations and assessments a year across the public sector, including the MoD, MoJ and the NHS. We have more than 200 experienced assessors specialising in a wide range of languages.

    Supplier compliance checks

    It is vital suppliers maintain rigorous processes for onboarding language professionals. TLS is expert in negotiating this complicated landscape. We provide everything from one-off checks of an interpreter’s qualifications, to a full desk-based audit of hundreds of records.

    Complaint Handling and Investigation

    Our highly experienced feedback and complaints team can provide a range of services including a fully independent complaint service, review and support for your existing provider’s complaints process, or impartial investigation and adjudication of individual complaints.

    Training and development

    We work with partners such as the Chartered Institute of Linguists to offer industry leading qualifications and training to interpreters. We have also developed our own training platform so we can design and tailor training to meet the specific requirements of your service and deliver it quickly and effectively to language professionals using our own infrastructure.

    End user feedback

    We are able to collect valuable and often overlooked feedback from end-users of interpreting services on your behalf. We will design a simple and effective solution that works across a range of languages specifically for you. Feedback and complaint processes can be linked with your assessment services, triggering interpreter assessments where end-users identify issues or concerns.