The UK's new salary thresholds, explained

The number that redraws the map every year

British work migration runs on one blunt instrument: the salary threshold. In April 2024 the general Skilled Worker floor jumped nearly 50 percent to £38,700, the sharpest tightening in the route's history, and the policy direction since has been unambiguously upward: subsequent statements of changes lifted the general threshold into the £40,000s, the 2025 immigration white paper proposed restricting sponsorship to degree-level (RQF6) roles, and ministers have floated stretching the settlement qualifying period beyond five years. Exact figures shift with each rules update, so verify today's number on gov.uk before acting on anything, including this page.

What follows is the durable structure underneath the moving numbers.

How the threshold really applies

Clearing the headline figure is necessary but not sufficient. Your offer must beat both the general threshold and the "going rate" for your specific occupation code, whichever is higher. Going rates come from national pay data per SOC code, and for many technology, finance and engineering roles they exceed the general threshold anyway, making the headline number irrelevant to you.

Three more rules of the arithmetic:

• No pro-rating. Thresholds are absolute annual figures; part-time work does not scale the bar down.
• Guaranteed pay only. Basic salary counts; discretionary bonuses and most allowances do not.
• Age and stage discounts exist, and they are the most valuable print in the rulebook.

The discounts worth planning around

New entrants. Under-26s, recent graduates of UK institutions, and those working toward professional registration qualify for a materially lower threshold (roughly 30 percent below the general figure) for a limited period of their early career. If you are eligible, the timing of your application is worth thousands of pounds of required salary; plan moves inside the window, not after it closes.

The Immigration Salary List. The old Shortage Occupation List, with its broad 20 percent discounts, was replaced by a much narrower Immigration Salary List. Fewer occupations, a thinner discount. Check whether your code is on it, but do not assume the old generosity survives.

Health and Care. NHS and social-care roles run on their own lower scale, reflecting national pay bands. The same political period that raised thresholds also barred most care workers from bringing dependants, which changed the family calculus of that route entirely.

PhD-level roles and occupations on national pay scales (teachers, NHS clinical grades) carry their own adjusted arithmetic.

What sponsorship actually costs

The threshold is the qualifying test; the bill is separate, and it is substantial. Employers pay the sponsor licence, the Certificate of Sponsorship and the Immigration Skills Charge (up to £1,000 per sponsored year for medium and large firms). Applicants and their families pay visa fees per person plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, currently over £1,000 per adult per year, up front, for the whole visa term. A five-year Skilled Worker visa for a family of four routinely crosses five figures in fees and surcharges before a single month of London rent. Budget it like the investment it is, and negotiate which side of the table pays what.

Strategy for applicants

• Look up your SOC code's going rate first. It, not the headline threshold, is probably your real bar.
• Exploit new-entrant status while you have it. A move at 25 can clear at a salary that would fail at 27.
• Mind total compensation structure. A £45,000 package built as £36,000 basic plus bonus fails a threshold that a £41,000 flat salary passes.
• Watch the settlement consultation. The road from visa to Indefinite Leave to Remain defines the value of the whole journey; a longer road changes the comparison with Canada or Australia more than a few thousand pounds of threshold does.
• Alternatives exist inside the UK system. The Global Talent visa has no salary threshold at all for those who can evidence leadership in tech, academia or the arts; the Graduate route gives UK graduates two unsponsored years; the High Potential Individual route admits recent graduates of top global universities without a job offer.

Next steps

Test your position with the Migration Wizard and read the UK profile for routes, costs and city-level living data. Then confirm the current thresholds and your occupation's going rate in the Immigration Rules on gov.uk, which change several times a year, and where an employer is involved, make sure their sponsor licence and threshold reading come from their immigration advisers rather than a job ad written last spring.