Skilled Worker visas: salary requirements and tradeable points

When sponsoring an individual under the Skilled Worker route, we must assign a Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) code to the job that they are being sponsored for. Each SOC code has a “going rate”, which determines the salary for any job under that SOC code.

A visa applicant must gain 70 points in order to be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. Some of these points are gained through being offered a job with a salary that meets either the baseline of £26,200, or the going rate for the SOC code, whichever is higher.

The going rates are based on a 37.5 hour full-time week which matches our roles at grades 7 and above, however we can pro-rate them for our 36.5 hour full time week for grade 6 and below.

If the salary offered is below the required amount, some applicants may be able to make use of the “tradeable points”, which allows them to gain the necessary points in other ways.

Existing sponsorships

An individual can remain under the transitionary rules if their first Certificate of Sponsorship was issued on or before 3 April 2024. They will be able to make an application to extend, change employment, or apply for Settlement under the transitionary rules until 4 April 2030.

The general salary threshold under the transitionary rules is £29,000, and going rates for individual SOC codes are based on 25^th percentile earnings. Any salary offered for a role must meet the higher of these two rates.

Tradeable points options F to K can be applied to these rates in order to lower them by 90%, 80%, or 70%. The absolute lowest salary possible is £23,300.

New sponsorships

An individual will be considered under the new 50^th percentile rates if their first Certificate of Sponsorship was issued on or after 4 April 2024.

The general salary threshold under the new rules is £38,700, and going rates for individual SOC codes are based on 50^th percentile earnings. Any salary offered for a role must meet the higher of these two rates.

Tradeable points options A to E can be applied to these rates in order to lower them by 90%, 80%, or 70%. The absolute lowest salary possible is £30,960.

Breakdown of points

The first 50 points are not tradeable and are gained as follows:

The final 20 points must be scored through combinations of salary and other attributes. These are known as “tradeable” points.

The table below lists acceptable combinations which gain the necessary 20 points:

New entrant criteria

In order to be classed as a “new entrant”, the applicant must meet at least one of the following requirements:

• The applicant’s most recent permission, other than as a Visitor, was on the Graduate route and that permission is either current or expired less than 2 years before the date of application
• The applicant’s most recent permission, other than as a Visitor, was as a Student and they meet the additional requirements below
• The applicant is under the age of 26 on the date they apply for entry clearance or permission to stay
• The job offer is a post-doctoral position in any of the following SOC codes:
  • 2111 Chemical scientists
  • 2112 Biological scientists and biochemists
  • 2113 Physical scientists
  • 2114 Social and humanities scientists
  • 2119 Natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified
  • 2311 Higher education teaching professionals
• The job offer is in a UK-regulated profession and the applicant is working towards a recognised professional qualification for that profession
• The applicant is working towards full registration or chartered status with the relevant professional body for the job they are being sponsored for
• The application is being made in the UK and the applicant’s most recent permission was as a Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur migrant

Additional requirements for those last granted permission as a Student:

• The applicant’s most recent permission must have been as a Student or Tier 4 Student
• That permission must have expired less than 2 years before the date they apply for permission as a Skilled Worker
• In that permission, the applicant was sponsored to study any of the following:
  • UK bachelor’s degree
  • UK master’s degree
  • UK PhD or other doctoral qualification
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Education
  • Professional Graduat Dipoma of Education
• The applicant:
  • has completed the relevant course mentioned above
  • is applying no more than 3 months before they are expected to complete the relevant course above; or
  • is studying a PhD and has completed at least 24 months’ study in the UK towards that PhD

Listed health or education occupations

The full list of eligible occupations is available in Table 2 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. A selection of codes relevant to the University are listed below:

• 2211 Medical practitioners
• 2217 Medical radiographers
• 2219 Health professionals not elsewhere classified
• 2442 Social workers

SOC codes for ineligible roles

Some jobs will be ineligible for sponsorship even if they meet all the salary requirements. This is because they either don’t meet the required skill level (only roles that are at least RQF level 3 can be sponsored) or because the Government has decided that jobs with certain SOC codes cannot be sponsored.

See a complete list of ineligible SOC codes on the gov.uk website; scroll to Table 6 at the bottom of the page. If a SOC code is included in this list, then it’s not eligible for sponsorship.

When matching a job to a SOC code, in the first instance we are looking only for the code that best fits the job. Once we’ve established that code, we will then check to see if it’s eligible for sponsorship.

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