Minimum Wage for Sponsored Workers & Visas – A Guide

This article was last updated September 2025. For legal support relating to immigration employment matters – contact the team at Truth Legal TODAY.

As of July 2025…

July 2025 saw the last significant changes to the minimum wage for employees sponsored under a Skilled Worker sponsor licence.

These changes came in the same month that the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage went up.

If you run a sponsor licence and sponsor workers, it is important to keep on top of these changes to avoid breaching your sponsor licence duties. And of course, the National Minimum Wage increases apply to all employees, whether or not they are sponsored.

What are the UK minimum wage requirements for sponsored workers?

There is no single answer to the question of the minimum wage requirements for sponsored workers, with the complexity of system meaning that this is one of the grounds on which an application for a visa is most likely to be refused, unless great care is taken to identify the applicable minimum wage requirement for:

• The individual applicant
• The specific role in which they will be employed

The exact amount is also subject to change, as the wages paid for sponsored roles are often regarded by those in government as being one of the metrics which can be most easily tweaked to impact on the potential number of migrant workers entering the UK. The latest changes were introduced in July 2025, and are reflected in this guidance.

The headline figure for the minimum wage payable to someone entering the UK on a Skilled Worker visa is, from July 2025, £41,700 OR the ‘going rate’ for the job in question, whichever is higher. There are exceptions to this rule, such as for jobs which are currently listed on the ‘Skilled Worker visa: temporary shortage list’ or the ‘Skilled Worker visa: immigration salary list’, both of which can be checked on the Gov.uk website.

What does “Going Rate” mean in relation to wages?

To find out what the going rate for a specific job is, you need to check the ‘Skilled Worker visa: going rates for eligible occupation codes’ on the Gov.uk website. First, you’ll need the occupation code for the job in question.

If you’re not certain what the occupation code is for the job in question you can look it up on the CASCOT occupation coding tool.  Once you have the right code for the job in question you can firstly check that it is eligible for a skilled worker visa and then what the official going rate for the job is.

For example, jobs under the title ‘Production managers and directors in manufacturing’ have the occupation code 1121, and on the Gov.uk website the going rate for jobs with this code is £55,000 (£28.21 per hour). A sponsored worker with this job would therefore have to be paid a minimum of £55,000, rather than £41,700.

All going rates and minimum wages are calculated on the basis of a 37.5 hour working week, and need to be paid pro rata for any other working patterns. As well as the standard going rate for eligible occupations there is also a lower going rate which can be paid in the following circumstances:

• The sponsored worker is applying for a Health and Care Worker visa in a specific occupation
• The sponsored worker got their first CoS before 4^th April 2024 and has held one or more skilled worker visas since then

For the example given above – production managers and directors in manufacturing (occupation code 1121) – the lower going rate is currently £40,000 (£20.51 per hour).

When can the minimum wage for a sponsored worker be lower?

The minimum wage for sponsored workers can be lower than the £41,700 figure quoted previously in the following circumstances:

Workers can be paid 70% of the standard going rate…

…for the job as long as the wage is at least £33,400 per year and one of the following conditions applies:

• They are under 26 when applying for a visa
• They are currently in the UK on a Student visa, studying at bachelor’s degree level, or have been in the last 2 years, and their most recent visa was a Student or visit visa
• They are currently in the UK on a Graduate visa, or have been in the last 2 years
• They are currently working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession
• They will be working toward full registration or chartered status in the job which you are sponsoring them for

Employees relevant for Postdoctoral, Higher Education & Science exceptions…

The 70% rate also applies if it is a postdoctoral position in particular higher education and science roles. At time of writing, the occupation codes which qualify for minimum salary discount are as follows:

• 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

Workers can be paid 80% or 90% of the standard going rate…

…for a job if they have a PhD level qualification relevant to that job. If they have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) qualification they can be paid 80% of the standard going rate for the job – as long as they receive a minimum of £33,400 per year.

If the qualification is non-STEM then the worker can be paid 90% of the standard going rate for the job – as long as they receive a minimum of £37,500 per year.

The list of occupations which are eligible for a PhD salary discount can be found on the Gov.uk website here. It should be noted that the lower going rate can also be paid under the conditions outlined above.

For example, someone employed as an ‘ Advertising accounts manager or creative director (Occupation code 2494)’ could be paid either 90% of the standard going rate (£41,400) or 80% of the standard going rate (£36,800) depending on the nature of their PhD. If they were eligible for the lower going rate then these figures would drop to £33,500 and £29,700 respectively.

Employees relevant for Health & Education work exceptions…

Different rules on minimum wage requirements apply if you’re taking on workers in healthcare or education jobs. In this case the wage must be £25,000 or the going rate for the job. The going rate for jobs in these sectors is based on national pay scales set by bodies such as the NHS.

The list of healthcare and education jobs which are eligible for this lower minimum wage is available on the Gov.uk website here. Examples include speech and language therapists (occupational code 2223), pharmacists (occupational code 2251) and primary education teaching professionals (occupational code 2314).

Once you have the occupational code for the job in question and have verified that the worker will be eligible for a visa you can consult the online tables of the national pay scales used as a reference for the standard going rate for each job. The rate will need to be paid whether the worker will be working in the public or private sector.

The pay scales for eligible healthcare jobs are listed according to the pay band of the worker in question and the area of the UK they will be working in. The national pay scales for jobs in the education sector are listed in a separate table, classified by role and the area of the UK the worker will be based in.

Employees relevant for ISL work exceptions…

Some workers can be paid less if the job they will be doing is listed on the Immigration Salary List (ISL).

Jobs currently on the list include carpenters and joiners (occupation code 5316) and senior care workers (occupation code 6136), and for workers with jobs on this list the minimum wage drops to £33,400. For wages higher than this, the figure can still be only 80% of the standard minimum going rate.

Ensuring you pay the correct minimum rates of pay is essential to staying on the right side of the Home Office.

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