UK Skilled Worker Visa Salary Thresholds 2026: A Compliance Reference for HR Systems and Immigration Developers

This post is a technical reference for HR platform developers, immigration compliance engineers, and people teams building or maintaining sponsor licence workflows. It covers the current salary threshold logic for the UK Skilled Worker visa following the April 2024 rule changes.

The Core Threshold Structure (Post-April 2024)

The Skilled Worker visa now operates on a dual-threshold system:

Threshold Type	Amount (2026)
General minimum	£38,700/year
New entrant minimum	£30,960/year (70% of going rate, floor applies)
Going rate (role-specific)	Varies by SOC code

Applicable salary = max(general_threshold, going_rate_for_soc_code)

For new entrants: applicable_salary = max(new_entrant_floor, 0.7 × going_rate)

Where "new entrant" means:

• Within 2 years of graduating from a UK/overseas degree or postgraduate qualification
• Switching from a Student or Graduate visa
• Under 26 at the time of application
• In a profession with a recognised training contract (e.g. solicitors)

SOC Code and Going Rate Lookup

Every eligible Skilled Worker occupation maps to a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. Going rates are defined in Appendix Skilled Occupations of the Immigration Rules.

The going rate is specified as an annual full-time equivalent — for part-time roles, you calculate the pro-rated going rate:

effective_going_rate = going_rate × (contracted_hours / 37.5)

If proposed_salary < effective_going_rate, the CoS cannot be assigned at that salary.

What Counts as "Salary" for Threshold Purposes

The Home Office allows a 10% tolerance for guaranteed allowances:

eligible_salary = basic_salary + qualifying_allowances
qualifying_allowances ≤ 0.1 × applicable_threshold

An allowance qualifies if it is:

• Guaranteed (not performance-based or discretionary)
• Non-conditional (not dependent on employer decision to award)
• Listed explicitly on the Certificate of Sponsorship

Common qualifying allowances: location supplements written into the employment contract, guaranteed shift premiums.

Non-qualifying: bonus schemes, overtime, discretionary pay, benefits-in-kind.

Healthcare and Education Carve-outs

NHS and health/care roles follow separate pay scales. NHS roles must meet the applicable Agenda for Change (AfC) pay band minimum, not the standard going rate. The SOC codes for health professionals map to AfC bands, and the going rate for those occupations is set accordingly.

Education roles (teachers, further education) follow similar sector-specific frameworks.

If your HR system handles NHS or school sponsors, the threshold logic for these roles branches differently from the standard occupational going rate lookup.

What Was Removed in April 2024

HR systems built before April 2024 may still implement the old shortage occupation discount. Remove it. The 20% discount for shortage occupations was abolished. The Immigration Salary List (formerly the Shortage Occupation List) still exists but no longer carries any salary reduction benefit.

Checklist for systems built pre-April 2024:

• [ ] Remove any shortage_occupation_discount multiplier (was 0.8, now effectively 1.0)
• [ ] Update the general threshold from £26,200 to £38,700
• [ ] Update new entrant floor from £20,960 to £30,960
• [ ] Refresh going rate values from current Appendix Skilled Occupations (last updated April 2024)

Ongoing Compliance: Salary Monitoring

Sponsors have a continuous reporting obligation. If a sponsored worker's salary falls below the threshold at any point during the visa, the sponsor must report it via the Sponsor Management System (SMS).

For HR platforms, this means threshold checking should not be a one-time event at CoS assignment. Recommended monitoring events:

• On salary change (pay review, restructure, contract amendment)
• On hours change (FTE reduction)
• On role change (SOC code may change → different going rate)
• On immigration status change (new entrant status expiry)

def check_salary_compliance(employee):
    soc_code = employee.soc_code
    going_rate = get_going_rate(soc_code)

    if employee.is_new_entrant():
        threshold = max(NEW_ENTRANT_FLOOR, 0.7 * going_rate)
    else:
        threshold = max(GENERAL_THRESHOLD, going_rate)

    eligible_salary = employee.basic_salary + min(
        employee.guaranteed_allowances,
        0.1 * threshold
    )

    return eligible_salary >= threshold

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) Assignment Logic

A CoS can only be assigned when:

1. The role appears in Appendix Skilled Occupations (SOC code eligible)
2. The proposed salary ≥ applicable threshold (going rate or general minimum)
3. The allowance breakdown, if used, is correctly documented
4. For restricted CoS (roles on the cap): additional quota considerations apply

Resources

For teams building UK immigration compliance tools, ImmigrationGPT provides RAG-based Q&A over GOV.UK immigration policy — useful for sanity-checking threshold logic and rule interpretation against current official guidance.

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Content is for technical reference only. Immigration rules change — verify against current Immigration Rules and Appendix Skilled Occupations before implementation.