Skilled Worker visa: when you can be paid less than the standard salary

You can be paid between 70% and 90% of the standard going rate if your salary is at least £33,400 a year and you meet one of the rules (GOV.UK). The rules cover people who are under 26, studying, a recent graduate or in professional training. They also cover people with a relevant PhD and people in a postdoctoral position. A non-STEM PhD needs at least £37,500.

What is the standard salary?

The minimum salary is whichever is highest of £41,700 a year and the “going rate” for the type of work (GOV.UK). The going rate is a set pay figure for that job’s occupation code. This is points option A in Appendix Skilled Worker (SW 8.1). Each occupation code has its own going rate.

See salary thresholds for the thresholds and going rates for the rate for each code.

When can I be paid less than the standard salary?

Appendix Skilled Worker sets four options that lower the amount. For each one, your salary must be at least both the general threshold and the share of the going rate shown for your SOC 2020 code.

Your situation	Points option	General threshold	Share of the going rate	Rules
Relevant PhD in a subject other than STEM	B	£37,500 a year	90%	SW 9.1 to SW 9.4
Relevant PhD in a STEM subject	C	£33,400 a year	80%	SW 10.1 to SW 10.3
Job on the Immigration Salary List	D	£33,400 a year	100%	SW 11.1 to SW 11.3
New entrant at the start of their career	E	£33,400 a year	70%	SW 12.1 to SW 12.3

You only need one option to get the 20 tradeable points. See tradeable points to see how the options fit into the points system.

Does a job on the immigration salary list pay less?

The immigration salary list is “a list of skilled jobs which have lower salary requirements” (GOV.UK). If your job is on it, the general threshold is £33,400 a year (option D). GOV.UK says: “You must still be paid at least the standard going rate for your job.” You also pay a lower application fee: see Skilled Worker visa fees.

GOV.UK says to check whether your job is listed in the part of the UK where you will work. Listings can be UK-wide, or apply only to England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland (GOV.UK and SW 11.1). The list itself is on the immigration salary list page.

What is the discount for under 26s, students, graduates and trainees?

You can be paid 70% of your job’s standard going rate if your salary is at least £33,400 a year and one of five cases applies (GOV.UK). The cases include:

• you are under 26 on the day you apply
• you are in the UK on a Student visa, studying at bachelor’s degree level or above
• you are in the UK on a Graduate visa
• you are working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession
• you are working towards full registration or chartered status in the sponsored job

For the Student and Graduate visa cases, GOV.UK also covers people who held that visa in the last 2 years, if it or a visit visa was their most recent visa.

Postdoctoral roles are a separate heading on GOV.UK, with the same 70%.

The rules call this “new entrant at the start of their career” (option E). SW 12.2 lists the cases. See new entrant for each one.

What are the rules for a PhD salary discount?

If your job is eligible for a PhD salary discount, you can be paid 80% or 90% of the job’s standard going rate, depending on the subject (GOV.UK):

• STEM qualification: 80% of the going rate, as long as the salary is at least £33,400 a year.
• Non-STEM qualification: 90% of the going rate, as long as the salary is at least £37,500 a year.

In both cases you must:

• have a UK PhD or an equivalent doctorate-level overseas qualification (you apply through Ecctis to check whether an overseas qualification is equivalent)
• be able to prove the qualification is relevant to the job in the UK (your employer can confirm this)

The rules add more conditions:

• Your sponsor must give a credible explanation of how the qualification is relevant to the job (SW 9.3).
• For the STEM option, your sponsor must also give a credible explanation that the qualification is in a STEM subject (SW 10.3).
• The job’s SOC 2020 code must be listed as “eligible for PhD points” in the right table of Appendix Skilled Occupations (SW 9.1 and SW 10.1).
• If points were correctly awarded for the qualification in an earlier grant as a Skilled Worker, you do not need to give evidence of the qualification again. Your sponsor must still give the explanation of relevance (SW 9.4).

The Appendix Skilled Occupations guide explains the “eligible for PhD points” column.

Which postdoctoral jobs qualify?

You can be paid 70% of the standard going rate if you work in a postdoctoral position in certain science or higher education roles (GOV.UK). The job must be in one of these SOC 2020 codes (also SW 12.2(b)):

SOC 2020 code	Job
2111	Chemical scientists
2112	Biological scientists
2113	Biochemists and biomedical scientists
2114	Physical scientists
2115	Social and humanities scientists
2119	Natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified
2162	Other researchers, unspecified discipline
2311	Higher education teaching professionals

Is there a time limit?

Your total stay in the UK cannot be more than 4 years if you apply at 70% of the going rate. This is for people who are under 26, studying or a recent graduate, in professional training, or in a postdoctoral position. It includes time already spent in the UK on a Graduate visa (GOV.UK).

The rules say the same. Granting the application must not mean your combined permission as a Skilled Worker, Graduate and/or Tier 2 Migrant would be more than 4 years in total, whether or not the permission is for a continuous period (SW 12.3). The 4-year limit is in the rules for options E and J. The PhD rules (SW 9 and SW 10) do not contain it.

Which jobs and applicants have different salary rules?

GOV.UK says there are different salary rules for:

• some healthcare and education jobs. The going rate is based on national pay scales, and the salary must be at least £25,000 or more if the going rate is higher. See health and education rates.
• people extending a Skilled Worker visa, updating it (for example because of a new job or employer), or switching to the visa to become a prison officer.

Appendix Skilled Worker also has lower general thresholds in options F to J. They are only for some people (SW 4.2(b)):

• people sponsored for a Health and Care ASHE salary job
• people whose application is dated before 4 April 2030, who were granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules in place before 4 April 2024, and who have had permission without a break since

Option F is also allowed for prison service officers (SOC 3314) in set cases (SW 4.2(d)). The figures are on salary thresholds.