UK Skilled Worker Visa 2025-2026: RQF Level 6 Threshold, New Salary Requirements, and What Pakistani Applicants Must Know

The UK Skilled Worker visa has been the primary route for economic migration to the United Kingdom since the points-based immigration system was introduced in January 2021. For Pakistani professionals, it has been a crucial pathway to work in sectors from medicine and engineering to finance and technology. Since 22 July 2025, the route has undergone its most significant tightening since its inception: the minimum skill level has been raised from RQF Level 3 to Level 6, and the general salary threshold now stands at £41,700 per year. This guide sets out what changed, what stayed the same, and what the changes mean in practice for Pakistani applicants and their UK sponsors.

How the Points-Based System Works

Under the UK points-based immigration system, a Skilled Worker visa application must accumulate 70 points. Of these, 50 are mandatory and non-tradeable: the applicant must have a job offer from a licensed sponsor (20 points), the job must be at the required skill level (20 points), and the applicant must meet the English language requirement (10 points). The remaining 20 points come from salary, and they can be traded against other characteristics such as shortage occupation status or holding a relevant PhD.

This structure means that a failure on any of the 50 mandatory points results in automatic refusal, regardless of how high the salary is. The skill level change made on 22 July 2025 affects the mandatory skill points, which means it cannot be overcome by offering a higher salary or by any other tradeable characteristic. Either the job is RQF Level 6 or above, or it is not eligible for the Skilled Worker route at all.

The RQF Level 6 Change: What It Means

The Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) is the system used in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to classify qualifications by level and type. RQF Level 6 corresponds broadly to a bachelor's degree. Before 22 July 2025, jobs at RQF Level 3 (A-Level equivalent) and above were eligible. After that date, only RQF Level 6 and above qualify. Scotland uses the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF), where the equivalent level is SCQF Level 9.

The practical effect of this change has been to remove approximately 180 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes from the list of eligible occupations. Jobs in sectors such as hospitality, retail management, care work, construction, and some administrative roles that were previously accessible through the Skilled Worker route are no longer eligible for new applications. Roles that require a university degree, professional qualification, or comparable academic attainment remain eligible.

Pakistani applicants who were targeting roles in mid-level management, technical trades, or support functions below degree level need to consider whether the specific SOC code attached to their job offer meets the new threshold. The correct SOC code is determined by the sponsor, but applicants are entitled to check the Home Office's published list of eligible occupations, which is updated alongside changes to the Immigration Rules.

New Salary Thresholds from July 2025

The general salary threshold for Skilled Worker applications under the new rules is £41,700 per year, or the "going rate" for the specific occupation, whichever is higher. This represents a substantial increase from the £26,200 threshold that applied before April 2024 and the £38,700 threshold that applied between April 2024 and July 2025.

The going rate is the occupation-specific salary benchmark assigned to each eligible SOC code. These benchmarks are updated annually using data from the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). A going rate that exceeds £41,700 means the applicant must be paid the going rate. A going rate below £41,700 means the £41,700 floor applies. In either case, the salary must also meet the hourly equivalent of at least £17.13 calculated on no more than 48 working hours per week. Part-time work at a pro-rated salary below the annual threshold will not qualify.

Tradeable Points: Reducing the Salary Threshold

The 20 salary-based points can still be traded against certain characteristics, which allows some applicants to qualify at a lower salary than the general threshold. The main tradeable options are as follows.

A holder of a relevant PhD can qualify at a reduced salary. Where the PhD is in a STEM subject (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) and is directly relevant to the job, the minimum is £37,500 or 90% of the going rate, whichever is higher. Where the PhD is in a non-STEM subject but is relevant to the role, the same £37,500 floor applies but the going-rate percentage requirement may differ depending on the specific role.

A new entrant to the labour market can qualify at a reduced rate of £31,300 or 70% of the going rate. The new entrant concession applies to recent graduates (within two years of completing a UK degree or postgraduate degree), those switching from a student visa within two years of graduating, and those under 26 at the date of application. This is a time-limited concession: if you use it, you can only benefit from it for a total of four years, after which you must meet the full threshold on any renewal or change of employment application.

Roles on the Immigration Salary List (ISL) formerly the Shortage Occupation List, though the ISL operates on a different basis allow sponsorship at a reduced going-rate percentage. The ISL is compiled by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and is subject to review. Being on the ISL does not lower the £41,700 floor; it can reduce the going-rate percentage required. The ISL has been significantly narrowed since the MAC's 2023 review, and it is worth checking the current version before assuming a particular role qualifies.

Transitional Arrangements for Existing Visa Holders

The government recognised that the July 2025 changes could create serious difficulties for people already working in the UK under the Skilled Worker route in roles that fell below RQF Level 6. Transitional arrangements were therefore built into the rules.

Workers who held a valid Skilled Worker visa, or who had a pending application under the Skilled Worker route that was subsequently granted, before 22 July 2025, are exempt from the new skill level requirement for the purpose of extending their visa, changing employers, or taking supplementary employment. They can continue in their current role or move to another role at the same or lower skill level, provided they remain continuously sponsored under the Skilled Worker route. This transitional protection is currently set to last until 22 July 2028, after which the position will be reassessed.

On salary, those who entered the Skilled Worker route before 4 April 2024 benefit from a transitional threshold of £31,300 for extension and change of employment applications. Those who entered between 4 April 2024 and 22 July 2025 are subject to the £38,700 threshold for transitional purposes. New applications made on or after 22 July 2025 must meet the £41,700 threshold.

The Sponsorship Requirement

Every Skilled Worker applicant must have a job offer from a UK employer who holds a valid Skilled Worker sponsor licence. The sponsor issues a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), which contains the key details of the job offer: the SOC code, the salary, the start date, and a confirmation that the role meets the requirements. The CoS has a unique reference number that the applicant enters in their visa application.

Sponsors have obligations too. They must pay the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC), currently £1,000 per year for medium and large sponsors and £364 per year for small or charitable sponsors, for each sponsored worker. For a five-year visa, the charge for a large employer sponsoring a single worker is therefore £5,000. This cost often influences whether employers choose to sponsor overseas workers or recruit domestically.

Pakistani professionals who are offered a role but whose prospective employer does not yet hold a sponsor licence should allow sufficient time for the employer to obtain one before the application is submitted. Sponsor licence applications currently take up to eight weeks, though priority processing is available for an additional fee.

English Language Requirement

Applicants must demonstrate English language ability at CEFR Level B1 or above. This can be satisfied by passing an approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) such as IELTS for UKVI, or by having a degree taught in English from a recognised institution. Pakistani applicants who studied at a Pakistani university where the medium of instruction was English should check whether their institution is on the Home Office's recognised list before assuming the degree route applies; the list does not cover all Pakistani universities.

Settlement and Indefinite Leave to Remain

The Skilled Worker visa remains a route to settlement in the UK. After five continuous years on a Skilled Worker visa (or a combination of eligible visa routes), the holder can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). The ILR application requires meeting the salary threshold applicable at the time of the application, passing the Life in the UK test, and demonstrating continuous residence without extended absences. For most Pakistani applicants, ILR after five years remains the end goal, and the route continues to deliver this despite the tightening of entry conditions.

Implications for Pakistani Applicants

Pakistan is consistently among the top five nationalities applying for UK Skilled Worker visas. The July 2025 changes will have a disproportionate effect on some sectors where Pakistani workers have historically been concentrated. Care workers and senior care workers, for example, were previously eligible under the Skilled Worker route following their addition to the SOC eligible list in 2022; the RQF Level 6 requirement has now removed many such roles from eligibility for new applicants, though existing visa holders retain their transitional protection.

Sectors that remain strongly accessible to Pakistani applicants include medicine and healthcare (doctors, specialists, pharmacists), engineering and IT, finance and accounting, architecture, academia and research, and law. These are all fields where Pakistan produces substantial numbers of degree-qualified professionals, and where the going rates typically meet or exceed the £41,700 threshold.

One practical consideration that Pakistani applicants often overlook is the requirement to provide police clearance certificates from all countries where they have lived for twelve months or more in the past ten years. This includes a certificate from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) or the relevant Pakistani provincial police in respect of their time in Pakistan. Obtaining these certificates can take several weeks, so planning ahead is essential.