Public service jobs on the 5-year settlement path
The 30 health, teaching and social work jobs the government lists for the 5-year public service path to settlement under earned settlement, with their occupation codes, and the separate one-off arrangement for jobs below degree level.
- Section
- ILR & Settlement
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 3 November 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- The government has decided that working in an eligible public service job for 5 years leads to the 5-year settlement path. It is not yet in the Immigration Rules.
- Annex C of the government's response lists 30 eligible jobs: 23 in health, 6 in teaching and social workers.
- The list is taken from the health and education jobs in the Immigration Rules that are paid on national pay scales.
- Prison officers are not on the list. The Home Secretary confirmed this in Parliament.
- Some workers below degree level, such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, keep a 5-year route only if they came to the UK before May 2025. No list of those jobs has been published.
Under the earned settlement decision of 2 November 2026, the standard wait for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) becomes 10 years. One way onto the shorter 5-year path is working in an eligible public service job for 5 years. The government lists 30 eligible jobs in Annex C of its response: doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, pharmacists, paramedics and other health professionals, teachers and head teachers, and social workers. This guide reproduces that list with each job's occupation code. It also covers the separate, one-off arrangement for some health and education workers below degree level who came to the UK before May 2025. None of this is in the Immigration Rules yet.
Where This Stands
On 2 November 2026 the Home Secretary announced the government's decision on earned settlement, and the Home Office published its response to the consultation, A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government Response to the Consultation (CP 1707). Annex C of that response lists the public service jobs that lead to the 5-year path to settlement, also called indefinite leave to remain.
- It is a decision, not a rule. No statement of changes to the Immigration Rules has been laid. Today's rules still apply.
- Timing. The Home Secretary told the House of Commons on 2 November 2026 that the changes “will begin to be laid from the December immigration rules. They will be implemented over the course of 2027.” The response itself gives no start date.
For the whole decision, see our guide to earned settlement.
The 5-Year Public Service Path
Under earned settlement, the standard qualifying period for settlement becomes 10 years. The government's summary table (page 42) lists three ways onto the shorter 5-year path. Any one of them is enough:
- earnings of £50,271 for 3 of the last 5 years;
- having “worked in an eligible public service occupation for 5 years”;
- a “British connection”, such as being the partner, parent or child of a British citizen.
On public service, the response says: “eligible workers in specified health and education occupations (for instance, doctors, nurses and teachers) will be able to qualify for settlement after five years, provided they meet the other settlement requirements. The qualifying occupations will be those health and education public-sector roles that are already identified in the Immigration Rules as being paid according to national pay scales. This follows the independent advice of the Migration Advisory Committee on the treatment of these occupations” (page 12).
The response also explains why: “salary alone does not always capture the value of an individual's contribution in essential public services such as health and education, particularly where pay is set through national pay structures rather than the wider labour market” (page 13).
The requirements everyone must meet still apply
The public service path does not replace the requirements that apply to every pathway. The response says they “cannot be offset by higher earnings, public service or other positive contributions” (page 4). They are:
- good character and suitability, including refusal for any adult with a criminal record in the UK;
- no outstanding government debt, including NHS debt, tax and National Insurance;
- English at level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, unless an exemption applies;
- the Life in the UK test, unless an exemption applies;
- a sustained contribution, with a minimum of £12,571 a year.
The summary table also lists two things a person on the 3, 5 or 10-year paths must not have: access to specified public funds in the last 5 years, and a “qualifying immigration breach” (page 42).
The response's own example
The response gives this example (page 15): “Individual A is a social worker earning below the salary threshold of £50,271 required for accelerated settlement under the three or five-year pathway. Because social work is a qualifying public service profession, they can still access the 5-year route.”
The Annex C List: 30 Jobs
Annex C (pages 54 to 55) sets out the qualifying occupations. The response says the list “is derived from Table 3 Appendix Skilled Occupations (health and education SOC 2020 occupations where going rates are based on national pay scales)”.
Annex C gives job titles only. The four-digit codes below are Rowan's match of each title to its Standard Occupational Classification 2020 code (the system the Immigration Rules use to group jobs) in Appendix Skilled Occupations. Every Annex C title matches a code title in that appendix word for word. Our copy of the appendix was last checked on 2 September 2026.
Health: 23 jobs
- 2211 Generalist medical practitioners
- 2212 Specialist medical practitioners
- 2221 Physiotherapists
- 2222 Occupational therapists
- 2223 Speech and language therapists
- 2224 Psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists
- 2225 Clinical psychologists
- 2226 Other psychologists
- 2229 Therapy professionals not elsewhere classified
- 2231 Midwifery nurses
- 2232 Registered community nurses
- 2233 Registered specialist nurses
- 2234 Registered nurse practitioners
- 2235 Registered mental health nurses
- 2236 Registered children's nurses
- 2237 Other registered nursing professionals
- 2251 Pharmacists
- 2252 Optometrists
- 2253 Dental practitioners
- 2254 Medical radiographers
- 2255 Paramedics
- 2256 Podiatrists
- 2259 Other health professionals not elsewhere classified
Teaching: 6 jobs
- 2312 Further education teaching professionals (Annex C uses the singular, “professional”)
- 2313 Secondary education teaching professionals
- 2314 Primary education teaching professionals
- 2315 Nursery education teaching professionals
- 2316 Special and additional needs education teaching professionals
- 2321 Head teachers and principals
Social work: 1 job
- 2461 Social workers
Our job eligibility checker shows each code's entry in Appendix Skilled Occupations, including how pay is set for the Skilled Worker visa today. For the visa rules on these jobs as they stand, see our guides for doctors, nurses, teachers and social workers.
Jobs Not on the List
Prison officers
Prison officers are not on the list. In the House of Commons on 2 November 2026, the Home Secretary said: “The list does not include prison officers”, and referred to “a very small number of prison officers who will settle at 10 years”.
Care workers
Care workers are not on the Annex C list. They have a separate transitional arrangement that depends on whether they entered or switched into the care route before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper, and on a £25,000 salary and other conditions. See our guide to care workers and earned settlement.
Health and education jobs below degree level
Annex C covers jobs at Regulated Qualifications Framework level 6 or above, which is roughly degree level. The response describes them as “RQF6 or above public-sector workers in health and education” (page 40). Health and education jobs below that level are not on the list. A separate, one-off arrangement applies to some of them, set out next.
The One-Off Arrangement Below Degree Level
The response sets out a transitional arrangement for some existing workers (page 40):
“Workers in healthcare and education occupations below RQF6 that are on a national pay scale for the purposes of the Immigration Rules, such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants, will retain a five-year route to settlement if they came to the UK before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper publication and meet the requirements of their visa.”
It adds: “This is a one-off arrangement for the existing cohort, not a permanent five-year pathway for these occupations. Those arriving after publication of the Immigration White Paper in May 2025 will qualify through the standard 10-year pathway, with opportunities to qualify sooner if they subsequently meet the requirements for an accelerated pathway.”
Points to note about this arrangement:
- No list of jobs has been published. The response gives two examples only: nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants. The Home Secretary's statement mentions “auxiliary nurses”.
- The cut-off wording. The response says “came to the UK before” the White Paper. For care workers it uses different words: “entered, or switched into, the route”. The response gives no exact day. GOV.UK records the White Paper, Restoring control over the immigration system, as published on 12 May 2025.
- A second visa. Care workers who do not meet their conditions after 5 years can apply for a further 5-year Health and Care visa. The response does not say whether the same applies to this group. The Home Secretary's statement says “The same transitional arrangement will be applied”. The GOV.UK news story says “A similar approach”.
- No salary figure is given beyond meeting “the requirements of their visa”.
For reference only: Appendix Skilled Occupations today lists these health and education codes below degree level with pay set by a national pay scale. The government has not said that the arrangement covers exactly these codes. They are shown because the response describes the group in the same terms.
- 3213 Medical and dental technicians
- 3219 Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified
- 3231 Higher level teaching assistants
- 6112 Teaching assistants
- 6113 Educational support assistants
- 6131 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants
- 6132 Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)
- 6133 Dental nurses
Under today's Skilled Worker rules, most of these codes are open only to people who already held Skilled Worker permission before 22 July 2025. Our job eligibility checker shows the current position for each.
What Has Not Been Published
The response and the Home Secretary's statement do not answer these points:
- Five years in the same job. It is not said whether the 5 years must be in one occupation on the list, or can be made up of time in more than one.
- The employer. It is not said whether work for a private employer in a listed job counts. The response describes the jobs as “health and education public-sector roles”.
- The one-off arrangement. No list of the jobs below degree level it covers has been published, and it is not confirmed whether the second visa applies to this group.
- The start date of the 5-year public service path.
The response says that “before implementation, the Government will publish further guidance setting out additional technical and operational detail” (page 6).
Related Guides
Sources
- Home Office, A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: Government Response to the Consultation (CP 1707), published 2 November 2026. Annex C is on pages 54 to 55. Page numbers above are the printed page numbers.
- Home Secretary's statement to the House of Commons, “Immigration: Earned Settlement”, 2 November 2026, Hansard.
- Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Occupations, GOV.UK, as checked by Rowan on 2 September 2026.
This guide sets out published information. It does not say how the rules apply to any one person. Only a person regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority or a solicitor can advise on an individual case. See our guide to getting help with an application.
Questions and answers
Which jobs count as public service for settlement after 5 years?
The government's response lists 30 jobs in Annex C. They are 23 health jobs (including doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, psychologists, pharmacists, optometrists, dentists, radiographers, paramedics and podiatrists), 6 teaching jobs (further education, secondary, primary, nursery and special needs teachers, and head teachers) and social workers. The full list with occupation codes is on this page.
Do nurses and doctors get settlement after 5 years under earned settlement?
The government's response says that eligible workers in specified health and education occupations, “for instance, doctors, nurses and teachers”, will be able to qualify for settlement after five years, provided they meet the other settlement requirements. The nursing and medical jobs on the list are set out on this page. The decision is not yet in the Immigration Rules.
Do social workers count?
Yes. Social workers are the last entry in Annex C. The response also uses a social worker as one of its own examples: a social worker earning below £50,271 can still use the 5-year route because social work is a qualifying public service job.
Does a public service worker need to earn £50,271?
No. The public service condition is a separate way onto the 5-year path from the earnings test. The government's summary table lists “Earned £50,271 for 3 of the last 5 years”, “Worked in an eligible public service occupation for 5 years” and “British connection” as alternatives. The requirements that apply to everyone, such as English at B2 and no criminal record, still apply.
Are prison officers on the list?
No. Asked in the House of Commons on 2 November 2026, the Home Secretary said: “The list does not include prison officers” and referred to “a very small number of prison officers who will settle at 10 years”.
What about teaching assistants and nursing auxiliaries?
They are not on the Annex C list. The response sets out a separate, one-off arrangement: health and education workers below degree level on a national pay scale, “such as nursing auxiliaries and teaching assistants”, keep a 5-year route if they came to the UK before the May 2025 Immigration White Paper and meet the requirements of their visa. Those who arrive after that date go on the 10-year path. No list of the jobs covered has been published.
Are care workers on the public service list?
No. Care workers have their own transitional arrangement, based on whether they entered or switched into the care route before May 2025 and met a £25,000 salary and other conditions. See our guide to care workers and earned settlement.
Is this in force now?
No. The government announced its decision on 2 November 2026, and no statement of changes to the Immigration Rules has been laid. The Home Secretary told Parliament the changes will begin to be laid from the December immigration rules and be brought in over the course of 2027. Today's rules still apply.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.