The published salary threshold
The salary threshold is one of the most important rules for the Skilled Worker visa. This guide explains exactly how it works and who qualifies for lower rates.
- Section
- Skilled Worker Visa
- Reading time
- 9 min
- Last checked
- 2 September 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 general salary threshold is £41,700 per year.
- You must also meet the going rate for your specific occupation.
- A lower floor of £33,400 applies in defined circumstances, and the going rate still applies on top.
- Only guaranteed basic salary counts. Bonuses and overtime generally do not.
- The threshold applies to both new applications and extensions.
The general Skilled Worker salary threshold is £41,700 a year, and has been since 22 July 2025. A lower floor of £33,400 applies in defined circumstances — new entrants, PhD-relevant jobs, immigration salary list jobs — and health and education jobs take their rate from a national pay scale. The going rate for the occupation applies on top.
The General Threshold: £41,700
The Skilled Worker visa requires a minimum salary of £41,700 a year. That figure has applied since 22 July 2025, when it replaced £38,700. The Home Office sets it by reference to earnings in the occupations the route covers, and updates it when those are revised.
However, the £41,700 is only the general threshold. In practice, you must meet the higher of:
- £41,700 (the general threshold), or
- The going rate for your specific occupation (set by SOC code).
If the going rate for your job is higher than £41,700, you must meet the going rate. If it is lower, you still need to meet £41,700.
Going Rates by Occupation
Every occupation eligible for the Skilled Worker visa has a "going rate" set by the Home Office. The going rate is based on salary data for that occupation in the UK. Some examples:
- Software developers: £54,700 under occupation code 2134.
- Civil engineers: £50,400 under occupation code 2121.
- Nurses: no single figure. The nursing codes (2231 to 2237, covering midwifery, community, mental health, children's and other registered nursing) take their rate from the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale, which varies by band and by UK nation. Jobs at band 1 or 2 are not eligible, and bands 3 and 4 are open only to someone who already held Skilled Worker permission before 22 July 2025 and has kept it.
- Chefs: £33,400 under occupation code 5434, and open only to someone who already held Skilled Worker permission before 22 July 2025 and has kept it. It is not open to new applicants.
Check the going rates table on GOV.UK for your specific occupation.
Exceptions to the £41,700 Threshold
New Entrants: £33,400 and 70% of the Going Rate
The lower floor is £33,400, and the salary must also be at least 70% of the job's standard going rate. GOV.UK sets out the circumstances that open it:
- Under 26 on the date of the application.
- Currently in the UK on a Student visa studying at bachelor's degree level or above, or on the Graduate route — or in either position within the last 2 years, where a Student, Graduate or visit visa was the most recent one.
- Working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession, or towards full registration or chartered status in the sponsored job.
Where the lower floor is used on these grounds, total stay in the UK cannot exceed 4 years, counting any time already spent on a Graduate visa.
PhD-Level Qualifications
A PhD relevant to the job allows 80% of the going rate for a science, technology, engineering or maths subject, with a floor of £33,400, or 90% for any other subject, with a floor of £37,500. Only jobs on the published list of qualifying occupations are covered. A postdoctoral position in certain science or higher education occupation codes allows 70% of the going rate, again with the 4-year limit on total stay.
Immigration Salary List
The Immigration Salary List (formerly the Shortage Occupation List) no longer discounts the going rate. A job on the list must be paid at least £33,400 and at least the full standard going rate for the occupation. What the list does give is a lower application fee, and it reopens some medium-skilled occupations to new applicants that would otherwise be closed.
Health and Education Workers
Health and education occupations take their rate from a national pay scale — the NHS Agenda for Change scale, or the national pay scales for teachers — rather than from the £41,700 figure. The scale varies by band and by UK nation, so there is no single number to quote.
What Counts as Salary
The Home Office is strict about what counts towards the salary threshold:
Counts
- Basic gross salary.
- Guaranteed contractual allowances (such as London weighting, if contractually guaranteed).
Does Not Count
- Overtime (even if regularly worked).
- Bonuses (even if guaranteed).
- Commission.
- Tips.
- Benefits in kind (company car, health insurance, etc.).
- Employer pension contributions.
This is a common reason for refusals. Make sure the base salary on your contract and CoS meets the threshold. Do not rely on overtime or bonuses to get there.
Part-Time Work
The salary threshold is based on full-time equivalent salary, not actual hours. If you work part-time, your full-time equivalent salary must meet the threshold. For example, if you work 20 hours per week and earn £19,350, your full-time equivalent (at 37.5 hours) would be £36,281, which would not meet the £41,700 threshold.
The Threshold for Extensions and ILR
When you extend your Skilled Worker visa, you must meet the threshold in force at the time of your extension application. This is also true when you apply for ILR after 5 years.
If the threshold increases between your initial application and your extension, you will need to meet the higher figure. This is an important consideration for long-term planning.
Comparison with Spouse Visa Threshold
The Skilled Worker salary threshold (£41,700) is higher than the Spouse Visa income threshold (£29,000). The two thresholds serve different purposes: the Skilled Worker threshold is about the salary the job must pay, while the Spouse Visa threshold is about the sponsor's income.
The two were once meant to converge. In December 2023 the government announced that the family income requirement would rise in stages to £38,700, which was the Skilled Worker general threshold at the time. Only the first stage happened: £29,000, from 11 April 2024. The £34,500 and £38,700 stages were never written into the Immigration Rules, and the Skilled Worker threshold has since moved to £41,700, so the two figures no longer line up in either direction. See our income threshold timeline for that history.
Costs
For a full breakdown of all Skilled Worker visa costs (not just the salary requirement), see our Skilled Worker cost guide and our UK visa fees guide.
For the full list of Skilled Worker visa requirements beyond salary, see our requirements guide.
See also our Immigration Health Surcharge guide and English Language Tests for UK Visas.
Questions and answers
What is the Skilled Worker visa salary threshold in 2026?
The general salary threshold for a Skilled Worker visa in 2026 is £41,700 per year, or the going rate for the specific occupation, whichever is higher.
Can I earn less than £41,700 on a Skilled Worker visa?
In some cases. A lower floor of £33,400 applies to people who are under 26, studying or recently graduated, or working towards a qualification in a regulated profession, and the salary must still be at least 70% of the going rate. A relevant PhD allows 80% of the going rate (90%, with a £37,500 floor, for non-STEM subjects). Jobs on the immigration salary list have a £33,400 floor but must still be paid the full going rate. Health and education jobs take their rate from a national pay scale.
What is the going rate?
The going rate is the minimum salary for a specific occupation as set by the Home Office. Each SOC code has its own going rate. You must earn at least the going rate for your job, even if it is higher than the general threshold.
Do allowances count towards the salary threshold?
Only guaranteed basic salary counts towards the threshold. Overtime, bonuses, commissions, and most allowances do not count unless they are guaranteed and contractual. Some specific allowances (like London weighting) may count in certain circumstances.
What if my salary is just below the threshold?
The salary rule is a hard requirement, not a matter of discretion: an application below the applicable figure does not meet it. The salary stated on the certificate of sponsorship is the figure the Home Office assesses, so a salary below the figure is something the sponsoring employer would have to change before the certificate is assigned.
Does the salary threshold apply to extensions?
Yes. When you extend your Skilled Worker visa, you must still meet the salary threshold in force at that time. If the threshold has increased since your original application, you must meet the new figure.
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.