Translations for ARB, Engineering Council, RICS and accountancy bodies

A different regulator for every profession

Outside healthcare and law, UK professional regulation is spread across many bodies and most of them do not publish Turkish-specific guidance. The Architects Registration Board (ARB) keeps the register of architects and assesses overseas qualifications through its prescribed examination. Engineers seek Chartered or Incorporated Engineer status not from the Engineering Council directly but through a licensed institution such as the ICE, IMechE or IET, which reviews the degree and experience. Surveyors apply to RICS. Accountants deal with ACCA, ICAEW, CIMA or AAT, mainly for exemptions from exams on the strength of a Turkish degree or SMMM qualification. Teachers apply to the Department for Education for qualified teacher status. What unites them is that your evidence starts in Turkish and must be translated before an assessor can read it.

What these bodies require

We searched for published translation rules from ARB and the engineering and surveying bodies and found none that name Türkiye or set a translation format. That is not unusual: most of these bodies simply state that documents not in English must be accompanied by an English translation, and some add that the translation should be certified. Because the wording varies and changes, check the body’s current guidance for overseas applicants before you order and send us any sentence it contains about translations. In the absence of a specific rule we apply the format used by the UK regulators that do publish one: a complete translation, a statement of accuracy, the date, the translator’s or company’s name and contact details, a stamp and a signature. That is the same standard as our certified translation for every UK body.

Turkish documents by profession

• Architects: the mimarlık diploması, transcript, course descriptions and the Chamber of Architects (Mimarlar Odası) membership certificate; ARB also assesses a portfolio, which is your own work and rarely needs translation beyond captions.
• Engineers: the mühendislik diploması and transcript, the TMMOB chamber registration (oda kayıt belgesi), and detailed employment references describing projects and responsibilities, which institutions weigh heavily for CEng applications.
• Surveyors and valuers: degree documents, SPK valuation licence where held, and sample valuation reports (ekspertiz raporu) as evidence of practice.
• Accountants: the işletme, iktisat or muhasebe degree and transcript, the SMMM or YMM licence from TÜRMOB, and course descriptions for exemption claims.
• Teachers: the öğretmenlik diploması, pedagogical formation certificate, MEB appointment records and SGK service record for years of experience.
• All: a UK ENIC statement of comparability is often requested first; see translations for UK ENIC.

Common reasons these applications are queried

• Degree titles are loosely rendered. An inşaat mühendisi is a civil engineer, a harita mühendisi a geomatics engineer; a wrong label sends the application to the wrong assessor.
• Experience letters are generic. Institutions want project names, dates, your role and the referee’s contact details; a two-line çalışma belgesi does not help.
• Accreditation is not shown. Turkish engineering programmes accredited by MÜDEK are treated differently by some institutions; the accreditation statement on the transcript or diploma supplement needs to be translated, not skipped.
• Chamber registration is confused with a licence to practise. We translate oda kaydı as chamber registration and explain the Turkish system in a translator’s note where needed.
• Course descriptions are translated selectively for exemption claims and the missing module is exactly the one the body wanted.

How we prepare the bundle

Send scans of everything, including the diploma supplement if you have one. Translators with engineering, finance or education backgrounds translate the technical content; a second linguist checks titles, dates and figures. Each page is certified with our statement, the company’s Ankara registry details, the date, stamp and signature, and the original is attached. Typical prices: diploma £10, transcript £30–60, chamber certificate £10, a detailed reference £10–20, course descriptions on the economy tier from £8 per page. Delivery is by PDF within 2–4 working days for a standard bundle, with hard copies by courier from Ankara (£30) or UK Special Delivery (£8) when a body wants paper. No UK VAT is charged. Engineers may find our recognition guide useful before they start.