Skilled Worker Salary Threshold Checker

---

1. Page SEO Copy

Intro copy (publish as-is):

A sponsored job must pay enough — and "enough" is a specific number for your specific occupation. Enter the job and the salary on offer and this checker compares it against the three figures that decide a Skilled Worker application: the general salary threshold, the going rate for the occupation code, and the new entrant rate if you qualify for it. Every figure comes from the GOV.UK salary tables — the source and the table date are shown with your result, because thresholds change and old numbers on other websites are a real cause of refused applications. Data below is from GOV.UK tables dated 22 July 2025.

Section copy — "The three numbers, in plain words":

Your salary must clear the higher of the general threshold and your occupation's going rate — not just one of them. The new entrant rate is a lower bar available to people who qualify as new entrants (for example many under-26s and recent graduates switching from a Student or Graduate route — the exact qualifying list is on GOV.UK and linked from your result). Health and Care Worker roles follow their own salary basis, which the checker applies automatically when you pick a health occupation. Read Skilled Worker Visa Salary Thresholds Explained for the full picture.

2. User Inputs (exact)

| # | Input | Type | Required | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | Occupation | Searchable select over the GOV.UK SOC occupation table (title + code) | Yes | Free text maps to nearest SOC titles and shows the code before calculating — the code drives the result, and the user must see it. Unmapped text → guidance state, never a guessed code. | | 2 | Offered salary | Number (annual, GBP) + hours/week (default 37.5 default = 37.5 hours/week, labelled "Going rates are published on a 37.5-hour-week basis and pro-rated to your actual weekly hours.) | Yes | Going rates are pro-rated by hours in the official rules; the input exists so the comparison is honest. | | 3 | Applicant basis | Select: Standard / New entrant / Health & Care route (auto-suggested when a health SOC is picked, overridable) | Yes | Determines which rate set applies. | | 4 | Immigration Salary List? | Auto-derived from the SOC table (displayed, not asked) | — | If the occupation is on the ISL, the result names it and applies the published basis for ISL roles. |

3. User Outputs (exact)

Display in this order:

1. Verdict: "This salary clears / does not clear the published requirement for [occupation (SOC code)] on the [basis] basis" — plain, first.
2. The three figures side by side: general threshold · going rate for the SOC (pro-rated to the entered hours, showing the calculation) · the applicable applicant-basis figure — each labelled "Official figure — GOV.UK, tables dated 22 July 2025" with a link to the GOV.UK source page.
3. The gap line where it fails: "Shortfall: £X against the going rate" (computed from the official figures and the entered salary — arithmetic on official data, not an invented figure).
4. Next steps: the occupation's live jobs (facet link) · Sponsor Licence Checker · guide 04.
5. Disclaimer line (mandatory): "Guidance from published GOV.UK figures, not immigration advice. The Home Office decides applications on the rules in force at the decision date."

Never output: a figure typed by an editor, a figure copied from any other website, or a pass verdict without showing which figures were compared.

4. Data Source and Update Method

Only source: GOV.UK published Skilled Worker salary material — the general threshold, the SOC going-rate tables, the new-entrant provisions, and the Immigration Salary List — ingested at build and re-ingested on a scheduled check (at least monthly, and on any GOV.UK "our services" update notice the editor catches). Every ingest updates 22 July 2025 on the page. General threshold £41,700/yr (effective 22 Jul 2025). Going rates: Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations — the higher of the median (50th percentile) ASHE rate for the occupation or £17.13/hour; published on a 37.5-hour-week basis and pro-rated. Discounted options: 70–90% of the going rate with a £33,400 floor (new entrant 70%; STEM PhD 80%, floor £33,400; relevant non-STEM PhD 90%, floor £37,500; postdoctoral 70%). Immigration Salary List: at least £33,400 AND the full standard going rate. Health and Care Worker basis: at least £25,000/yr or the going rate if higher (national pay-scale table for NHS roles).

5. Empty / Edge Behaviour

• Occupation not in tables: show the nearest SOC matches and the GOV.UK occupation-coding link; never substitute another occupation's rate.
• Salary exactly at a threshold: verdict = clears (the requirement is "at least"), and the copy says "exactly at the published minimum — any reduction in hours or pay changes this."
• Stale data guard: if 22 July 2025 is older than the scheduled refresh window, a visible "figures being refreshed — verify on GOV.UK" banner renders above the tool. A stale silent answer is a build failure.

6. Internal Links (by slug)

Outbound: guide 04 · Sponsor Licence Checker · Eligibility Checker · sector facets (occupation → facet where one exists) · Visa Sponsorship Jobs UK hub. Inbound required from: every facet salary strip, profiles, guide 04, tools 1 and 3, homepage tools band.

7. Acceptance Tests

• [ ] For a test SOC code, all displayed figures equal the GOV.UK table values of the recorded table date, character for character.
• [ ] A salary £1 below the going rate fails with the correct shortfall; £0 below (exact) passes with the "exactly at minimum" note.
• [ ] Hours pro-rating: halving the hours halves the compared going rate exactly as the official basis prescribes.
• [ ] New entrant basis changes the compared figure to the published new-entrant basis for the same SOC.
• [ ] A health SOC auto-suggests the Health & Care basis and labels it.
• [ ] No numeric salary figure exists anywhere in the page template or copy — all numbers render from the ingested table data.
• [ ] With the table date artificially aged, the staleness banner renders.
• [ ] The GOV.UK source link + table date appear on every result.