UK Skilled Worker salary threshold explained: general threshold, going rates, and the Immigration Salary List

The rule in one sentence

For a Skilled Worker application, your salary has to clear two tests at once: a flat minimum that applies across the route, and the published going rate for your specific occupation code. Whichever of the two is higher is the number that matters.

So a £46,000 offer can fail while a £35,000 offer passes. If the going rate for the occupation is £52,000, the £46,000 job doesn't qualify no matter how far above the general floor it sits. If the role is on the Immigration Salary List with a going rate of £34,000, a £35,000 offer can clear both tests.

The general floor: £41,700, and the lower options

For certificates of sponsorship assigned on or after 22 July 2025, the standard general threshold is £41,700 a year. Several defined options reduce that floor — and most of them also reduce the share of the going rate you have to hit:

Read the third column carefully, because it's where the Immigration Salary List is most often misunderstood. Being on the list lowers the general floor to £33,400 — it does not discount the going rate. A listed occupation with a going rate of £39,000 still needs £39,000.

The new entrant option is the opposite shape: it discounts the going rate to 70% as well as lowering the floor, which is why it's the most valuable option for people early in their careers. We cover who counts as a new entrant, and for how long, in the new entrant guide.

Going rates: the number most people never look up

Every eligible occupation has a four-digit SOC 2020 occupation code, and each code has a published annual and hourly going rate. The Home Office maintains these in the going rates table. Three details do most of the damage in practice:

• The code is chosen by the sponsor, not by you. Two employers can advertise near-identical work under different codes with materially different going rates. If a role is borderline, the code is worth asking about explicitly.
• Annual going rates are quoted for a 37.5-hour week and pro-rated for your actual hours. A 30-hour contract is assessed against a proportionally lower annual figure, but the general floor is *not* pro-rated in the same way — which is why part-time sponsored roles are unusual rather than impossible.
• Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts. Overtime, bonuses, tips, shift premia and most allowances are excluded from the assessment, even when they're reliable in practice. A “£42,000 with bonus” advert on a £36,000 base does not clear £41,700.

This is exactly why our salary badge shows an annualised figure rather than the advertised range. When a job is posted as an hourly rate, we annualise it — assuming a 37.5-hour week where the advert doesn't state contracted hours, and telling you we've done so. You can change that assumption in Visa Settings if your sector works different hours.

Worked examples

• Software developer, £48,000, going rate £42,000. Clears the £41,700 floor and the going rate. Passes.
• Civil engineer, £43,000, going rate £46,000. Clears the general floor, fails the going rate. Fails — and the gap is £3,000 of base pay, which is sometimes negotiable.
• Laboratory technician on the Immigration Salary List, £34,500, going rate £30,000. Clears the reduced £33,400 floor and the full going rate. Passes.
• Marketing manager, £39,000, going rate £37,000, applicant is a new entrant. Under option E the floor is £33,400 and the going rate requirement is 70% of £37,000 = £25,900. Passes on both.
• Warehouse operative, £30,000. No eligible occupation code at the required skill level. The salary question never arises.

Roles assessed on national pay scales

Health and education roles paid on national pay scales are handled separately — NHS Agenda for Change bands and national teacher pay scales are assessed against those scales rather than against the general going rate table. If you're applying for NHS work, the relevant floor is usually the Health and Care Worker one (usually at least £25,000, or the going rate if higher), not £41,700.

What to do with a borderline number

1. 1Find the occupation code the employer intends to use, and look up its going rate before the interview stage.
2. 2Separate guaranteed base pay from everything else in the offer — that's the only figure being tested.
3. 3Check whether a lower option genuinely applies to you (new entrant, relevant PhD, listed occupation) rather than assuming the standard £41,700.
4. 4If the gap is small, raise it early and factually: employers who sponsor regularly know the thresholds and can often move base pay when the alternative is an unsponsorable hire.
5. 5Confirm the final figure in writing before you rely on it.