Syllabus translation is the order that often arrives at our office in a bag: a second-year medical student transferring to a university in Poland or Italy carries the syllabi of 30-40 courses, 6-12 pages each, up to three hundred pages in total. The receiving university's credit recognition committee decides by exactly these pages whether the anatomy and biochemistry studied in Tbilisi will count, or whether the student will have to start from the first year. So the syllabus is the educational document where the quality of the translation is measured directly in years and tuition fees, and because of the volume, planning the order correctly matters as much as the translation itself.
Who needs syllabus translation
- Transfer to a foreign university. The most frequent case, especially for students of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and engineering; the syllabi go together with the academic transcript and every course in it must be covered by a syllabus.
- Master's admission in an adjacent field. The university checks whether the candidate has enough credits in a specific field (for example 30 ECTS in economics), which it cannot see from the supplement but can see from the syllabi.
- Medical licensing. ECFMG in the USA, the GMC in the United Kingdom, Approbation in Germany and similar procedures ask for the hourly workload of specific subjects; in case of a shortfall the candidate is assigned an additional exam or internship.
- Recognition of engineering, architectural and legal professions. Professional chambers (for example Engineers Ireland, the Canadian provincial associations) carry out a course-by-course assessment.
- A programme not in Anabin. If a Georgian programme or university is not unambiguously assessed in the German database, ZAB asks for the curriculum for an individual assessment.
- Teachers' and lecturers' portfolios. For an academic position abroad the syllabi of courses taught confirm teaching experience, together with an academic CV.
Full translation or a structured extract
This is the first question we ask, because it determines the volume of the work. The standard structure of a Georgian syllabus is: course title and code, status (compulsory or elective), credits and the distribution of hours (lecture, seminar, laboratory, independent work), prerequisites, aim, learning outcomes, the weekly topic plan, the assessment system with its components, and literature. Most universities are satisfied with exactly these fields for credit recognition, without the teaching methods, the standard policies and the full literature list; in that case we prepare a structured translation where every course fits on 1-2 pages, and note that it is an extract from the official syllabus. For medical licensing and some chambers the full text is needed, with every week of the topic plan, because it is by the topics that they establish whether a specific subject was covered. We check the receiving side's requirement in writing and only then agree the format.
What we pay attention to when translating
The hours and credits the committee counts
The distribution of contact and independent hours is carried over numerically, unchanged, in the same table structure. This is not a formality: the ECFMG and Approbation committees add up the hours by subject group and a 20-hour difference means an additional exam. If the syllabus contains only credits and no hours, we recommend adding an hours certificate from the university, which we translate in the same package.
Terminology consistent across 40 documents
Several translators work on a syllabus package in parallel, otherwise the deadline stretches into weeks. So that "learning outcome" does not become learning outcome in one place and study result in another, the project has one glossary and one editor; the course titles are translated in the same form as in the student's academic transcript and supplement, so that the committee links all three documents without difficulty. For the programmes of the main Tbilisi universities we already have subject bases, which saves time.
Assessment components
"Midterm assessment 40 points, final exam 40, activity 20, minimum competence threshold 51" is vocabulary specific to the Georgian system and is translated for a foreign committee with an explanation, so that the assessment system is understood and not merely rendered word for word. The literature list, if a full translation is needed, stays in bibliographic form: author and publisher transliterated, the title translated in brackets.
Frequent mistakes that lead to lost credits
- A syllabus from a different year. Programmes change; the committee needs the syllabus of the academic year in which you took the course, not the current version from the website.
- 38 courses in the transcript, 31 syllabi. An uncovered course does not exist for the committee; we check completeness before the translation starts.
- Without hours. A syllabus drawn up with credits only is insufficient for a licensing body.
- A title different from the transcript. "General Surgery I" in the transcript and "Fundamentals of Surgery" in the syllabus are perceived as two different courses.
Certification: the university's seal, the notary, the apostille
Before translation the syllabi must be certified by the university: with the seal and signature of the faculty, the quality assurance office or the registrar on every document, or on the bound package with the inscription "certified". A syllabus printed from the internet without a seal is unofficial for a foreign committee and a translation cannot add weight to it. There are three options for certifying the translation: on the bureau's letterhead, with the translator's signature and seal, which is enough for most universities; notarization as one bound package, where the notary certifies the translator's signature once for the whole collection; and, rarely, an apostille, placed on a notarized copy of the package at the Ministry of Justice if a regulator requires legalization. The general rules are on the category page; in the opposite direction, for recognition in Georgia of studies completed abroad, the syllabi are submitted to the Quality Center and we translate them into Georgian, which we describe on the recognition page.
How we plan a large package
On the first day we receive the scans of the syllabi and the academic transcript, compile the list of courses and check that every course in the transcript has a matching syllabus: a missing syllabus must be requested from the university before the translation starts. On the second day we agree the format (full or structured), the glossary and the deadline. The translation is delivered to you in parts, so that you can start uploading to the university portal in stages. The package often includes a student status certificate, the school certificate and a language certificate, which we prepare within the same deadline.
Turnaround
5-10 syllabi are ready within 2-3 working days, the 30-40 syllabi of a full programme usually within 7-10 days. Send the scans as one archive or a link; you receive the finished translation as PDFs split by course and, where needed, as a bound paper version.
Frequently asked questions
Should a syllabus be translated in full or in abridged form?
It depends on the receiving side. For credit transfer most universities accept a structured extract: title, credits, hours, learning outcomes, topics, assessment. For medical licensing and some recognition bodies the full text is needed. We agree the option before the order.
Who has to certify the syllabus before it is translated?
The university: with the seal and signature of the faculty or the quality assurance office on every syllabus or on the bound package. A foreign university does not treat a printed syllabus without a seal as an official document.
Do syllabi need an apostille?
Rarely. For transfer and credit recognition the university's seal and a certified translation are enough. If a regulator requires legalization, a notarized copy of the package is prepared and the Ministry of Justice places the apostille.
How soon will it be ready?
5-10 syllabi within 2-3 working days, the 30-40 syllabi of a full programme usually within 7-10 days, with several translators working in parallel and one editor.