Salary & SOC Code Check Does Your Job Offer Meet Skilled Worker Salary Rules?
Search a job title, enter the salary you are offering, and see in one click whether it clears the two figures the Home Office measures it against: the general salary threshold and the going rate for that occupation code.
Built for UK sponsor licence holders and employers thinking about sponsoring for the first time. Free, and updated for 2026.
All results from these tools are estimates based on current UK rates and thresholds. Tax rules and rates change, and individual circumstances vary. Please confirm any figure with a qualified adviser at WPC Accountants before relying on it.
This tool checks a job offer against both the standard salary rules and the New Entrant rules. New Entrant rates only apply if the worker is under 26, switching from a Student or Graduate visa, in a postdoctoral role, or in a recognised professional training programme, and they can only be used for a maximum of 4 years across the route. If none of those apply, the standard result is the one that matters. Speak to WPC Accountants if you are not sure which applies to you.
Speak to WPC AccountantsThe offer
Leave blank to use your contracted hours. Working more hours than you are paid for lowers the effective hourly rate, which can fail the check on its own.
Your compliance check appears here
Pick an occupation, enter the salary and hours, then click Calculate.
What this checker tells you
Sponsoring a worker on a salary that does not meet the rules is one of the most expensive mistakes a licence holder can make. This checker takes five details and gives you a straight answer:
Sponsoring a worker on a salary that does not meet the rules is one of the most expensive mistakes a licence holder can make. This checker takes five details and gives you a straight answer:
- The occupation code matched to the job title you searched, from the official Home Office list
- The going rate for that code, shown as both an annual figure and an hourly one
- The general salary threshold that applies across all sponsored roles
- The required floor, which is whichever of those two is higher, because you have to clear both
- The effective hourly rate of your offer at contracted hours, and again at the hours actually being worked
That last figure is the one most employers have never calculated, and it is where compliant-looking offers quietly fall over.
How to use the Salary & SOC Code Check
- 1
SOC code or job title
Type the job title, for example "software developer" or "web designer", and pick the match. If you already know the four-digit code, type that instead. If you are not sure, the Home Office recommends the CASCOT coding tool.
- 2
Gross annual salary (£)
The guaranteed basic gross pay for the role, not the package. Bonuses, overtime, commission, allowances and benefits are normally excluded from this calculation.
- 3
Contracted hours a week
The weekly hours that will be stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship. Going rates are published on a 37.5-hour week and are adjusted from there.
- 4
Actual hours a week (optional)
If the person will genuinely work more than their contracted hours, put the real figure in. Leave it blank to use contracted hours. This is the check almost nobody runs.
- 5
Check this role
You get the going rate, the general threshold, the required floor and both hourly rates, with a clear result.
The two figures your salary has to clear
A sponsored salary is not measured against one number. It is measured against two, and it has to clear the higher of them. For most Skilled Worker roles the general salary threshold is £41,700 a year, and it applies whatever the job is. Every eligible occupation code also has its own published going rate, based on what the job typically pays in the UK: some are well below the general threshold, some are well above it. The rule in one line: the salary must be at least £41,700 a year, or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher. Clearing one but not the other is not enough. Skilled Worker visa: your job and salary requirements on GOV.UK
Why the hourly rate matters as much as the salary
Published going rates are annual figures based on a 37.5-hour working week, which is 1,950 hours a year, and GOV.UK is explicit that they must be pro-rated for other working patterns, using the weekly hours the sponsor states.
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| You contract more than 37.5 hours a week | The going rate goes up with the hours. A role with a going rate of £43,800 on a 37.5-hour week becomes £46,720 at 40 hours, because you are buying more of the same work. A salary of £44,000 clears the published figure but fails the pro-rated one. |
| The role is part time | The going rate pro-rates down for part-time hours, but the general salary threshold is an annual figure that does not shrink with the hours. A half-time role at a pro-rated going rate will still usually fail, because the salary has to clear both figures and the general threshold has not moved. |
| Actual hours exceed contracted hours | If someone is contracted for 37.5 hours but genuinely works 45, the salary has not changed but the effective hourly rate has fallen, which is exactly the sort of thing that surfaces during a Home Office compliance visit, when payroll records and timesheets are compared against what the Certificate of Sponsorship says. |
This checker shows both hourly figures side by side for that reason. If the two are different, that gap is worth a conversation before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned, not after.
Worked example: a web design role
An employer wants to sponsor a web designer on £40,000 a year, contracted at 37.5 hours a week.
| Line | Figure | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Occupation code matched | 2141, Web design professionals | From the Home Office list |
| Going rate (annual, 37.5 hours) | £43,800 | Published rate |
| Going rate (hourly) | £22.46 an hour | £43,800 over 1,950 hours |
| General salary threshold | £41,700 | Applies to all roles |
| Required floor (the higher of the two) | £43,800 | This is the number to beat |
| Salary offered | £40,000 | £3,800 short |
| Effective hourly at 37.5 contracted hours | £20.51 an hour | Below the £22.46 going rate |
| Effective hourly if 45 hours are actually worked | £17.09 an hour | Further below still |
This offer does not meet the standard requirements: the salary is £3,800 below the required floor of £43,800, and the effective hourly rate is below the going rate as well. Raising the salary to £44,000 would clear both. But that is not the end of the story: £40,000 is comfortably above £33,400, the floor for several lower-salary routes, so if the candidate is a new entrant this offer may well be acceptable. See the next section.
When a lower salary can still qualify
Falling short of £41,700 or the going rate does not automatically end the conversation. There are recognised routes that allow a lower salary, each with its own floor.
| Situation | Percentage of the going rate | Salary floor that still applies |
|---|---|---|
| Under 26 on the date of application, a recent graduate, on a Student or Graduate visa, or working towards a recognised professional qualification or chartered status | 70% | At least £33,400 a year. Total UK stay on this basis cannot exceed 4 years. |
| STEM PhD relevant to the job | 80% | At least £33,400 a year |
| Non-STEM PhD relevant to the job | 90% | At least £37,500 a year |
| Postdoctoral position in certain science or higher education codes | 70% | At least £33,400 a year. Four-year limit applies. |
| Job is on the immigration salary list | Full going rate still applies | At least £33,400 a year, and a lower visa application fee |
Source: Skilled Worker visa, when you can be paid less, on GOV.UK
These routes have conditions attached beyond the salary, and some of them limit how long the person can stay. Do not rely on the percentage alone.
The three results you can get
The checker tests the offer against both sets of rules at once, the standard route and the New Entrant route, so you get one of three answers rather than a bare pass or fail.
| Result | What it means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Meets the requirements | The salary clears both the general threshold and the going rate for the occupation code, at the hours worked. | Nothing further on salary. The rest of the application still needs checking. |
| May qualify as a New Entrant | The salary is below the standard requirement but clears the New Entrant floor. It works only if the worker meets the New Entrant conditions. | Worth a conversation. New Entrant status is capped at four years across the route. |
| Below the required threshold | The salary is below both the standard requirement and the New Entrant floor. | The offer needs raising, or the role needs looking at again, before a Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned. |
Salary is now checked pay period by pay period
For Certificates of Sponsorship assigned on or after 8 April 2026, the salary paid in each pay period has to meet the going rate for every hour worked in that period. It is no longer enough for the annual figure to average out across the year. The practical effect is on anyone whose pay or hours move around: a quiet month, a period of unpaid leave, or a stretch of longer hours for the same salary can now put a single pay period below the required level even though the year as a whole looks fine. This checker tests a single snapshot, one salary and one set of hours. It cannot see your payroll month by month, so if pay or hours vary in your business, the annual result here is a starting point rather than an answer.
What sponsoring a worker actually costs
Meeting the salary threshold is one question. Affording it is another, and it is the one we get asked most.
| Cost | Amount | When it is paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor licence application | £611 for small businesses and charities, £1,682 for medium and large organisations | One-off, when you apply |
| Immigration Skills Charge, first 12 months | £480 small or charitable sponsor, £1,320 medium or large sponsor | When the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned |
| Immigration Skills Charge, each additional 6 months | £240 small or charitable, £660 medium or large | Paid up front, in one go |
| Employer's National Insurance | 15% of everything above £5,000 a year | Every payroll run |
| Minimum employer pension contribution | 3% of qualifying earnings, the slice between £6,240 and £50,270 | Every payroll run, where the worker is enrolled |
Visa application fees, the healthcare surcharge and other Home Office fees vary by route and length, and are usually the worker’s cost, though many employers cover them.
Total first-year cost of a £43,800 sponsored role
Put together, a medium-sized employer sponsoring a £43,800 role pays roughly this in the first year, before the one-off licence fee and any Home Office application fees.
| Item | First-year cost |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | £43,800.00 |
| Employer's National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 | £5,820.00 |
| Minimum employer pension at 3% of qualifying earnings | £1,126.80 |
| Immigration Skills Charge, first 12 months | £1,320.00 |
| Total, before licence fee and Home Office application fees | £52,066.80 |
That is nearly £8,300 on top of the salary, before anyone has issued a visa application. Eligible employers can reduce the National Insurance element by up to £10,500 a year through the Employment Allowance.
How your payroll has to back the salary up
This is the part employers tend to discover late. Promising the right salary on a Certificate of Sponsorship is not the same as being able to prove you paid it. If the Home Office visits, they will compare your records against what the Certificate of Sponsorship says. The things that cause problems are almost always administrative rather than deliberate:
This is the part employers tend to discover late. Promising the right salary on a Certificate of Sponsorship is not the same as being able to prove you paid it. If the Home Office visits, they will compare your records against what the Certificate of Sponsorship says. The things that cause problems are almost always administrative rather than deliberate:
- Payslips showing a lower figure than the Certificate of Sponsorship, because a deduction was applied that should not have been
- A salary paid partly as expenses or allowances, so the basic pay on record falls below the required floor
- Hours on timesheets that do not match the hours on the contract, which changes the effective hourly rate
- A pay change, a change of hours, or unpaid leave that was never reported, when reporting was required
- Records that exist but cannot be produced quickly, which is a finding in itself
Getting this right is a bookkeeping and payroll job, and it is ours.
What this checker does not tell you
It checks the salary. It does not check whether the visa will be granted. These are separate questions and this tool only answers the first one.
It checks the salary. It does not check whether the visa will be granted. These are separate questions and this tool only answers the first one.
- Whether the occupation is eligible at all. Most Skilled Worker roles now have to be skilled to RQF level 6, broadly graduate level.
- Whether the occupation code is the right one. Choosing a code with a convenient going rate rather than one that genuinely matches the duties is a serious problem, not a shortcut.
- Healthcare and education roles, where going rates follow national pay scales and different rules apply.
- Care worker and senior care worker roles, which carry extra requirements including Care Quality Commission registration for employers in England.
- Extensions, switches and changes of employer, which can have lower salary requirements than a first application.
- English language, maintenance funds, criminal record certificates, ATAS, or any other part of the application.
- Whether your business qualifies for a sponsor licence at all, or whether an existing licence is in good standing.
Estimate only, based on the general Skilled Worker salary threshold and the published going rates at the date shown. Discounts, new entrant rates, healthcare and education pay scales, and other immigration routes may apply. Immigration rules change frequently. Please speak to us, or to our group company Work Permit Cloud, for a definitive assessment before assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship.
Frequently asked questions
- For most roles, the salary must be at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher. Clearing one but not the other is not enough. Lower figures apply in specific situations, including new entrants and jobs on the immigration salary list, where the floor is usually £33,400.
- A SOC code is a four-digit Standard Occupational Classification code that identifies the type of work being done. Every sponsored role has one, and it determines the going rate. If your employer has not given you a code, the Home Office recommends searching for the job title in the CASCOT occupation coding tool. Make sure the description matches the actual duties, because similar-sounding jobs can sit under very different codes.
- Each eligible occupation code has its own published going rate, based on what the job typically pays in the UK. Some sit below the general threshold and some well above it. You can look any code up in the Home Office going rates table, or search the job title in the checker on this page.
- Published going rates assume a 37.5-hour working week, which is 1,950 hours a year. The hourly figure is the annual going rate divided by 1,950. For example a going rate of £43,800 works out at £22.46 an hour.
- Yes. Going rates are pro-rated for other working patterns based on the weekly hours the sponsor states. A role with a published going rate of £43,800 on a 37.5-hour week has a going rate of £46,720 if it is contracted at 40 hours. Employers who miss this are the most common near-miss we see.
- Sometimes, but the maths rarely works. The going rate pro-rates down with the hours, which helps, but the general salary threshold is a flat annual figure that does not reduce. Because the salary has to clear both, a part-time role usually fails on the general threshold. It is worth checking before advertising the role rather than after.
- In defined situations. Someone under 26, a recent graduate, on a Student or Graduate visa, or working towards a professional qualification can be paid 70% of the going rate with a floor of £33,400. A relevant STEM PhD allows 80% with the same floor, a non-STEM PhD allows 90% with a floor of £37,500, and certain postdoctoral roles allow 70%. Jobs on the immigration salary list have a floor of £33,400 but must still meet the full going rate.
- A new entrant is broadly someone at the start of their career: under 26 at the date of application, recently graduated, currently or recently on a Student or Graduate visa, or working towards a recognised qualification or chartered status. They can be paid 70% of the going rate, subject to a floor of £33,400 a year. Total time in the UK on this basis is capped at four years, so it is a starting point rather than a permanent arrangement.
- Generally not. The requirement is measured against guaranteed basic gross pay. Overtime, bonuses, commission, allowances and the value of benefits in kind are normally excluded. Because there are exceptions and the detail matters, confirm the exact position with an adviser before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned.
- Only in limited circumstances. Most Skilled Worker roles now need to be skilled to RQF level 6, broadly graduate level. A medium skilled code can still be used if the job appears on the immigration salary list or the temporary shortage list, or in a small number of transitional cases such as extending a visa where the first Certificate of Sponsorship was issued before 22 July 2025.
- More than the salary. The sponsor licence application is £611 for small businesses and charities or £1,682 for medium and large organisations. The Immigration Skills Charge is £480 for the first 12 months for a small or charitable sponsor, or £1,320 for a medium or large one, with further amounts for each additional six months. On top of that sit employer’s National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 and the minimum workplace pension contribution. Visa fees and the healthcare surcharge are usually the worker’s cost, though many employers choose to cover them.
- No. This tool checks the salary against the general threshold and the published going rate. It does not assess whether the occupation is eligible, whether the code is correct, whether the sponsor licence is in order, or any other part of the application. For that, speak to our group company Work Permit Cloud, who handle sponsor licences and Skilled Worker visa applications.