EPSO Translator study guide
EPSO Translator · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The EPSO Translator competition is the European Personnel Selection Office route into the translator function of the EU institutions. This page is an independent study resource for candidates preparing that competition; it is not affiliated with EPSO or any EU institution. The source page for the competition returned a 'Page not found' error when retrieved, so no verified figures for question counts, duration, pass marks, fees, retake rules, validity periods or domain weights are published here - those fields are deliberately left blank rather than guessed. What can be said with confidence is the shape of the preparation: translation into your target language, comprehension of your source languages, verbal reasoning, and numerical and abstract reasoning. The EPSO Translator study guide has 4 sections and about 1,556 words.
01Linguistic Ability: Translation into the Target Language
Linguistic ability - translation into the target language (language 1) - is the core of the EPSO translator competition. It tests whether you can transfer meaning from a source text, typically in English, French or German, into your target language accurately and idiomatically, within a time limit and in the register of EU institutional writing.
399 words, about 2 min02Source Language Comprehension
Source language comprehension tests your reading of demanding texts in the source language - institutional, legal, policy and press material - not your ability to translate them. You must extract explicit meaning, implication, tone and argument structure, and separate what the text says from what you expect it to say.
402 words, about 2 min03Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning in EPSO competitions presents short passages, often on institutional or policy matters, followed by statements to judge as true, false or cannot say, or by options asking which conclusion follows. It tests logical reading rather than general knowledge: whether a statement is necessarily supported, contradicted, or undetermined by the passage.
363 words, about 2 min04Numerical and Abstract Reasoning
Numerical and abstract reasoning covers two EPSO computer-based test types. Numerical items ask you to interpret tables, percentages, ratios and changes; abstract items ask you to find the rule governing a sequence of shapes or symbols.
392 words, about 2 min