Polish interpreters and translators anywhere in the UK, for maternity wards and GP practices, employers, solicitors, police custody suites and the courts. You can have an interpreter face-to-face in the room, on the telephone or on a video call, or a certified translation between Polish and English, and we take bookings 24 hours a day.
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Polish interpreting services
Dialect seldom decides who you book for Polish. Since the Second World War, standard Polish has become the ordinary speech of most of the country, so an interpreter who grew up in Gdańsk and a client from Kraków understand each other without effort. Silesian and Kashubian are the varieties you may hear mentioned, and some linguists count them as languages in their own right.
Register needs more care. Polish has no neutral polite word for "you": an adult stranger is addressed as Pan (for a man) or Pani (for a woman), with the verb in the third person, so a nurse's "Do you smoke?" comes out, word for word, as "Does the gentleman smoke?" A trained interpreter carries that courtesy across in both directions, so the patient hears a respectful question and the nurse hears a plain one.
Face-to-face interpreting
The interpreter comes to you: a hospital ward, a courtroom, a council office, a home visit or a business meeting. It is the best choice when people need to read expressions as well as words, or when the conversation is long or sensitive.
Telephone interpreting
The quickest option to set up. It works well for short calls, triage, appointment reminders and quick checks with a client.
Video interpreting
A Polish interpreter joins by video for remote hearings, consultations and meetings, which helps when there is no interpreter near you.
We also provide medical interpreting and conference interpreting.
Certified Polish translation
Translation runs both ways, and one rule holds throughout: each translator works only into their native language, so Polish certificates go to native English speakers and English letters to native Polish speakers. Birth and marriage records from Poland come in two main versions, and the difference matters. An odpis zupełny, the full copy, carries every later note, such as a change of name, a divorce or an adoption, while an odpis skrócony, the abridged copy, shows only the position today. Ask whoever will receive the translation which one they want before you pay for it.
Polish records also carry a PESEL, the 11-digit national number whose first six digits give the date of birth, and handwritten dates may show the month in Roman numerals, so 12 IV 1986 means 12 April 1986. We reproduce both exactly.
- Certified translation of birth, marriage and death certificates, passports, driving licences, degree certificates and bank statements, for the Home Office, courts, universities and employers.
- Legal translation: witness statements, court bundles, contracts and immigration papers.
- Document translation of medical reports, letters, leaflets and patient information.
- Urgent translation when a deadline is close.
- Transcription of Polish audio and video recordings, with an English translation if you need one.
English to Polish translation
Polish verbs in the past tense change with the sex of the person, so a question such as "Have you been in hospital before?" needs a masculine and a feminine form (był or była) or a rewording that avoids the problem. Written Polish has one standard, so there is no regional version to pick. Documents bound for an office in Poland are different: a British birth certificate being entered in the Polish civil register, for example, must be translated by a sworn translator (tłumacz przysięgły) listed by the Polish Ministry of Justice or authorised in another EU or EEA country, or by a consul, so ask the office what it accepts first.
Polish court and police interpreters
Polish has for years been one of the languages that courts in England and Wales ask for most, in cases that run from a first appearance before magistrates to care proceedings about a child and extradition hearings at Westminster. For legal work we choose Polish interpreters who have done it before, and we look for those holding the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (Law) or registered with the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI), where such interpreters are available.
How to book a Polish interpreter
- Tell us about the assignment: the date, time and address, or that you need telephone or video; how long it should last; and what it is for, such as a hospital appointment, a hearing or a business meeting.
- Tell us about the speaker: their country or region and, if you know it, their dialect. Mention any preference for a male or female interpreter.
- Get your quote. We email you a quote, with no obligation to book.
Call 0800 2425 125, email info@uklinguisticservices.co.uk or request a quote online.
About the Polish language
Polish is a West Slavic language, spoken mainly in Poland. It is the official language of Poland and an official language of the European Union.
Polish is written in the Latin alphabet, with letters such as ą, ę, ł and ż.
At the 2021 Census, 611,845 usual residents of England and Wales aged three or over gave Polish as their main language, making it the most common main language after English. The local authorities with the most were the London borough of Ealing (15,449 people), Southampton (10,436) and North Northamptonshire (9,297). Source: Office for National Statistics.
Before you book: Polish surnames change with gender (Kowalski for a man, Kowalska for a woman), and every accented letter in a name must be copied exactly onto a certified translation, or the name will not match the passport.
| Name in Polish | polski |
|---|---|
| Language family | West Slavic language |
| Where it is spoken | Poland |
| Writing system | Latin alphabet, with letters such as ą, ę, ł and ż |
| Language code | pl |
| Main language in England and Wales (Census 2021) | 611,845 people |
Related languages
Polish interpreters near you
Polish is needed in Wales as well as England. At the 2021 census it was the main language of about 21,000 people in Wales, more than any language other than English and Welsh, and Wrexham had the highest share of any Welsh council area.
Polish interpreter and translator FAQs
How quickly can I book a Polish interpreter?
We take bookings 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Telephone and video interpreting are usually the quickest to arrange. For a face-to-face appointment, give us as much notice as you can: same-day cover is often possible, but it depends on where you are and how many Polish interpreters work nearby.
How much does a Polish interpreter cost?
The price depends on the type of interpreting (face-to-face, telephone or video), how long the appointment lasts, where it is and how much notice you give. We quote before anything is booked, and quotes are free: call 0800 2425 125 or use our online quote form.
Can you certify Polish translations for a UK visa or immigration application?
Yes. We translate and certify documents such as birth and marriage certificates, passports and police certificates for visa, settlement and citizenship applications. UK Visas and Immigration asks for each translation to confirm that it is accurate and to show the date and the translator's full name, signature and contact details, so tell us when you order that the document is for an immigration application.
Do you provide Polish interpreters for courts, tribunals and police interviews?
Yes. Tell us the setting when you book, for example a Crown Court trial, an immigration tribunal hearing or a police interview under caution, so we can match a Polish interpreter with the right legal experience and qualifications.
How many people speak Polish in the UK?
At the 2021 Census, 611,845 usual residents of England and Wales aged three or over gave Polish as their main language, making it the most common main language after English. The local authorities with the most were the London borough of Ealing (15,449 people), Southampton (10,436) and North Northamptonshire (9,297). The census asked for each person's main language, so people who speak Polish at home but gave English as their main language are not in that figure. Scotland and Northern Ireland count languages in their own censuses.
