What the discount actually is
Under the new entrant option, for certificates of sponsorship assigned on or after 22 July 2025, your salary must be at least £33,400 a year and at least 70% of the going rate for your occupation code — instead of £41,700 and 100%.
| Test | Standard (Option A) | New entrant (Option E) |
|---|---|---|
| General salary floor | £41,700 | £33,400 |
| Share of the going rate | 100% | 70% |
| Required salary if the going rate is £40,000 | £41,700 | £33,400 |
| Required salary if the going rate is £60,000 | £60,000 | £42,000 |
The last row is where it matters most. In occupations with high going rates — engineering, finance, some clinical and legal roles — the standard requirement can be far above the general floor, and the 70% discount is worth tens of thousands of pounds of headroom. In occupations with low going rates, the £33,400 floor does the work instead.
Who counts as a new entrant
You generally qualify if, at the date of application, at least one of the following applies:
- You are under 26 years old.
- You are switching from a Student or Graduate visa, or applying shortly after completing a UK course in defined circumstances.
- You are working towards a recognised professional qualification in the occupation you're being sponsored for.
- You are working towards full registration or chartered status in that occupation.
- You are being sponsored for a postdoctoral position in one of the eligible research occupation codes.
That four-year limit deserves planning, not just noting. If you enter on a new entrant salary and your pay rises slowly, your extension application will be assessed against the full going rate at whatever level it has reached by then. The gap you need to close is knowable years in advance.
Turning it on in your search
New entrant status belongs to you, not to the job — which is why it isn't stored against any listing on this site. Instead it's a setting: switch on new entrant status in Visa Settings and every salary check across the site recalculates using the 70% going rate discount. Roles that showed as below threshold can flip to meeting it.
What it doesn't change
- The job still has to be an eligible occupation at the required skill level. The discount lowers a salary bar; it doesn't make an ineligible role eligible.
- The employer still needs a valid sponsor licence. Nothing about new entrant status makes an unlicensed employer able to sponsor you.
- English language and financial requirements still apply in the normal way.
- Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts. Bonuses and allowances are excluded from the assessment here exactly as they are under the standard option.
- Settlement isn't discounted. Time on a new entrant salary counts towards settlement like any other Skilled Worker time, but the salary requirements at the settlement stage are assessed on their own terms.
How to use it well
- 1Work out whether you qualify, and — importantly — for how much longer. Someone who is 25 has a very different planning horizon from someone who is 22.
- 2Switch new entrant on in Visa Settings so the salary badges across the site reflect your actual position.
- 3Widen your search to high-going-rate occupations, where the 70% discount opens up roles that were previously out of reach.
- 4In interviews, be specific rather than apologetic: “this role can be sponsored at the new entrant rate” is a concrete, checkable statement that makes an employer's decision easier.
- 5Plan the salary trajectory you'll need by the time the four years run out, and revisit it at each pay review.
For the full picture of how the general floor, going rates and the Immigration Salary List interact, see the salary threshold guide.
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