The UK Skilled Worker threshold is now £38,700. Here is what changed and who it hurts.

When the UK Home Office raised the general Skilled Worker salary floor from £26,200 to £38,700 in April 2024, the headline reaction was that the threshold had jumped by 48%. Two years on, the picture is more granular than that. The Going Rates table by SOC 2020 code did most of the lifting, the Immigration Salary List replaced the old Shortage Occupation List, and the new-entrant discount stayed at 30%. Here is how that maths actually plays out for the typical applicant.

Who qualifies today

If your job offer is at or above £38,700 and the role's going rate, you qualify on Option A — the cleanest tradeable point. That covers most senior software engineers, finance professionals, consultants and qualified medical practitioners outside the NHS. The friction is around mid-career roles where the going rate has risen sharply: certain civil-engineering, education and care-coordination codes that were comfortably qualifying in 2023 now require £45,000+ at the going rate.

Who got squeezed out

The most affected group is mid-career applicants in roles below RQF 6 (degree-level). Hospitality supervisors, retail managers, and several traditional trade roles where the going rate now sits awkwardly between the old threshold and the new floor. The care-worker route was further restricted in May 2025 — new applicants must already be in the UK on another route or working for the same sponsor. That removes the most common entry-point for South Asian healthcare candidates.

Going-rate maths we run before every file

Before any UK Skilled Worker file leaves our desk, we check three numbers against the published GOV.UK Going Rates table:

1. The exact SOC 2020 code that matches the role's day-to-day duties (not the job title — the duties).
2. The general going rate for that SOC code as currently published.
3. Whether the role appears on the Immigration Salary List, and at what discounted rate.

If the sponsor has written the contract at a salary that meets the threshold on paper but trips the going-rate check, we go back and request a re-issue before filing. Sponsors are usually receptive — they would rather adjust the contract than face a refusal.

What we predict for 2026

The £38,700 floor is unlikely to fall under the current government. The Spouse Visa £29,000 income requirement was paused mid-2024 pending review; that review is now overdue, and any rise to £38,700 in line with the Skilled Worker route would be politically contentious. Watch the Migration Advisory Committee reports for direction on whether the Immigration Salary List expands or shrinks in the next cycle.

If you are weighing a UK Skilled Worker file against an EU Blue Card, run the maths both ways. A €48,300 Blue Card threshold in Germany is more accessible than £38,700 in the UK for many South Asian tech profiles, and Germany now offers settlement in 21 months on the Blue Card with B1 German — faster than UK ILR's 5-year clock.