MAC Skilled Worker Salary Thresholds Technical Note
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published its “Calculating Salary Thresholds” technical note in May 2026 to explain how future immigration salary thresholds could be calculated under the UK’s sponsored work system.
The document focuses primarily on the Skilled Worker route and sets out the MAC’s recommended methodology for calculating both general salary thresholds and occupation-specific salary requirements.
Importantly, the technical note does not change the Immigration Rules or introduce new salary requirements for sponsors or visa applicants. It is instead an explanation of the methodology the MAC believes should be used when recommending future salary thresholds to the Home Office.
Much of the reporting surrounding publication of the note focused on the illustrative £44,000 figure referenced within the document: that figure is not the current Skilled Worker salary threshold and does not automatically apply to sponsorship applications.
The MAC used Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data to demonstrate how salary thresholds could be calculated under its proposed methodology. The note nevertheless provides an important indication of how future salary policy may develop across sponsored work routes.
What the technical note says
The MAC explains that salary thresholds under the Skilled Worker route generally operate through two separate mechanisms:
- a general salary threshold applying across the route
- occupation specific salary thresholds linked to individual SOC occupation codes
The technical note proposes methodologies for calculating both. The MAC recommends continued use of ASHE earnings data, with annual updates intended to reflect changes in UK wage levels over time.
The document also explains how salary thresholds could be calculated where occupation specific earnings data is limited or statistically unreliable. In those situations, the MAC discusses smoothing and imputation methods intended to reduce volatility between occupations and across different years of wage data.
Why the technical note matters for sponsors
Although the document does not create immediate legal changes, it provides useful insight into how future salary policy may evolve.
The MAC’s recommendations indicate continuing policy support for salary thresholds linked more directly to domestic earnings data and annual labour market conditions. If adopted by the Home Office, that approach could result in more regular salary recalibration across sponsored work routes.
For sponsors, the significance is less about immediate compliance changes and more about longer-term workforce planning. Employers operating large sponsored worker populations may face greater pressure to monitor future salary movement, particularly where business models rely heavily on overseas recruitment within lower-margin sectors.
The note also reinforces continuing policy emphasis on higher-skilled and higher-paid sponsorship within the Skilled Worker route. That direction has remained broadly consistent across successive rounds of immigration reform since 2024.
Current Skilled Worker Salary Threshold Rules
Skilled Worker salary requirements continue to derive from the Immigration Rules and associated sponsor guidance already in force. Sponsors assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship are required to ensure the role satisfies the applicable salary rules in effect at the date of assignment and application.
Under the current framework, salary assessment is not based on a single threshold figure. The Skilled Worker route instead operates through a combination of general salary thresholds, occupation specific going rates and tradeable points provisions which can alter the applicable minimum salary requirement depending on the worker’s circumstances and occupation.
The applicable threshold can therefore vary significantly between roles, sectors and applicant categories.
General salary thresholds
The Skilled Worker route uses a general salary threshold which applies across the route alongside occupation specific salary requirements linked to individual SOC occupation codes.
In most cases, sponsors need to ensure salary meets both:
- the relevant general threshold for the route or applicant category
- the applicable occupation specific going rate
The Immigration Rules generally require salary to satisfy whichever figure is higher.
The applicable threshold may differ depending on factors including:
- whether the application is transitional or subject to post July 2025 rules
- whether the role appears on the Immigration Salary List
- whether the applicant qualifies as a new entrant
- whether separate health or education salary tables apply
- whether continuing sponsorship concessions apply
The result is a salary framework operating through multiple threshold categories rather than through a single minimum salary figure across the route.
Occupation specific salary requirements
Occupation specific salary thresholds are linked to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes assigned to the sponsored role.
Each eligible occupation code carries its own salary requirement, commonly referred to as the going rate. The purpose is to align sponsorship salary levels more closely with UK market earnings for comparable roles.
The assigned SOC code therefore carries significant legal and compliance importance. Sponsors are required to ensure:
- the role genuinely matches the selected occupation code
- the salary satisfies the applicable going rate requirements
- the job description aligns with the occupation classification
Incorrect occupation coding can create wider compliance exposure extending beyond salary assessment alone. The Home Office may question whether the role is genuinely eligible for sponsorship where salary, duties and occupation classification do not align consistently.
Tradeable points and reduced thresholds
The Skilled Worker route also contains tradeable points provisions allowing some applicants to qualify under lower salary thresholds in specific circumstances.
Reduced thresholds may apply for categories including:
- new entrants to the labour market
- certain Immigration Salary List occupations
- some health and education roles
- workers benefiting from transitional arrangements
Those provisions do not remove the requirement to satisfy the wider salary framework. Sponsors still need to ensure the role meets the applicable salary rules attached to the relevant tradeable points category.
Transitional arrangements have become particularly important following the July 2025 reforms, especially for workers sponsored in occupations which later became ineligible for new sponsorship applications or subject to higher salary thresholds.
The MAC technical note sits against that wider legal background. Its focus is not on changing the structure of the Skilled Worker salary framework itself, but on explaining how future salary thresholds could potentially be calculated within that framework.
MAC Recommendations
The technical note focuses on the methodology the MAC recommends for calculating future salary thresholds under the Skilled Worker route. The document is primarily concerned with how thresholds should be derived from labour market earnings data rather than with changing the legal structure of the sponsorship system itself.
The MAC’s approach centres on the use of Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data produced by the Office for National Statistics. That dataset is already used extensively within the immigration system and forms the basis of current occupation specific going rates.
The note supports a salary framework linked closely to prevailing UK earnings levels, with annual recalibration intended to reflect labour market wage movement over time.
Use of ASHE salary data
The MAC recommends continued reliance on ASHE data when calculating both general salary thresholds and occupation specific salary requirements.
ASHE is one of the UK’s largest earnings surveys and provides wage data across occupations, sectors and working patterns. The MAC considers it the most appropriate dataset for assessing prevailing UK salary levels because it is updated annually and reflects earnings across the domestic labour market.
Under the proposed approach, salary thresholds would continue moving in line with updated earnings data rather than remaining fixed for extended periods.
The note also explains that the MAC generally favours median earnings data when calculating salary thresholds. Median salary calculations are intended to reduce distortion caused by unusually high or unusually low earnings within particular occupations.
ASHE data already underpins much of the current occupation-specific going rate framework used within the Skilled Worker route. The technical note therefore reflects evolution of an existing methodology rather than creation of an entirely new salary calculation system.
General salary threshold methodology
The technical note explains how the MAC calculated an illustrative general threshold for graduate-level occupations using updated ASHE 2025 data.
The document references an indicative figure of approximately £44,000 for RQF Level 6 occupations under the proposed methodology. The figure attracted considerable attention following publication of the note.
However, the MAC used that figure as an illustration of methodology rather than as a proposed immediate immigration rule change.
The technical note therefore does not establish a new Skilled Worker threshold of £44,000 and does not alter the current Immigration Rules.
The more important aspect of the calculation is the methodology itself. The MAC is signalling continuing support for salary thresholds linked closely to prevailing graduate-level earnings data within the UK labour market.
Occupation-specific salary calculations
The MAC also explains how occupation specific salary thresholds could continue to be calculated using SOC occupation coding and ASHE earnings data.
The proposed methodology relies on four-digit SOC occupation groupings to assess earnings within particular professions and job categories. Salary thresholds are then derived using earnings data associated with those occupation groups.
The note supports maintaining occupation specific salary requirements rather than relying solely on a single general threshold across all sponsored roles.
That approach reflects the longstanding policy objective of aligning sponsorship salary levels more closely with market earnings within the relevant occupation.
Smoothing and imputation methods
One of the more technical aspects of the note concerns the treatment of occupations where earnings data may be limited, inconsistent or statistically unreliable.
The MAC explains that some occupation groups generate relatively small ASHE sample sizes, making annual salary calculations potentially volatile from year to year.
The note therefore discusses smoothing and imputation methods intended to reduce sudden fluctuations in occupation specific salary thresholds.
Smoothing involves moderating year-to-year changes in salary calculations where earnings data produces unusually sharp movement. Imputation methods may be used where earnings data for a particular occupation is incomplete or insufficiently reliable on its own.
The MAC’s rationale is that immigration salary thresholds should remain responsive to labour market conditions without producing unstable or disproportionate salary shifts between annual updates.
Annual recalibration proposals
The technical note supports continued annual updating of salary thresholds using revised earnings data.
That approach would allow future salary thresholds to move more directly alongside changes in UK wage levels and labour market conditions.
The broader policy objective appears to be the creation of a salary framework capable of responding more quickly to labour market change without relying solely on major periodic threshold overhauls.
For sponsors, the more significant issue is not necessarily the specific figures referenced within the note, but the possibility of increasingly dynamic salary recalibration over time if the methodology were adopted more fully within future immigration policy.
More frequent threshold revision could create additional pressure for employers managing multi-year sponsorship planning, particularly where sponsored worker populations are large or concentrated within sectors already operating under significant wage pressure.
Outstanding Issues
The MAC technical note provides insight into how future salary thresholds could be calculated, but the document also leaves several important legal and operational questions unresolved.
Much of the public discussion following publication of the note focused on potential future threshold increases. In practice, the more immediate issue for sponsors is the level of uncertainty which remains around implementation, timing and future government policy decisions.
The technical note explains a proposed methodology. It does not confirm how or when the Home Office may choose to apply those recommendations within future Immigration Rules changes.
No changes to the current Immigration Rules
The publication of the technical note does not itself amend the Skilled Worker rules or alter current sponsorship requirements.
Current salary thresholds continue to derive from the Immigration Rules, associated appendices and sponsor guidance already in force.
Sponsors assigning Certificates of Sponsorship therefore continue applying the existing salary framework unless and until formal Immigration Rules changes are introduced by the Home Office.
The illustrative figures referenced within the MAC document do not automatically replace current salary thresholds.
No confirmation the Home Office will adopt the recommendations
The MAC acts in an advisory capacity. Responsibility for immigration policy and salary threshold implementation remains with the Home Office and government ministers.
The technical note therefore does not guarantee that the methodology outlined by the MAC will be adopted in full.
The government may decide to:
- accept the recommendations in full
- apply only parts of the methodology
- modify the proposed calculations
- delay implementation
- reject elements of the approach entirely
Immigration salary policy has historically involved both economic analysis and political decision-making. The existence of a MAC recommendation does not itself determine future Immigration Rules changes.
No implementation timetable
The technical note does not establish a timetable for any future salary threshold reforms.
No formal statement accompanying publication confirmed:
- whether the methodology will be adopted
- when revised thresholds could take effect
- which sponsored routes could be affected
- whether transitional arrangements would apply
That uncertainty creates practical difficulties for sponsors attempting to model future workforce costs across longer recruitment periods.
Businesses considering international recruitment strategy therefore need to separate current legal obligations from possible future policy developments which remain subject to government approval.
No immediate sponsor action required
The technical note does not create new reporting duties, salary adjustment obligations or immediate compliance requirements for sponsor licence holders.
Sponsors do not currently need to increase salaries solely because of the figures referenced within the MAC document.
Immediate focus should remain on compliance with the salary thresholds and sponsorship duties already contained within the Immigration Rules and sponsor guidance currently in force.
Even so, the note remains commercially significant because it provides a clearer indication of the methodology the MAC may continue recommending in future reviews of sponsored work salary policy.
DMS Perspective
So, upheaval across the sponsorship regime is set to continue, with increasing attention now directed toward how sponsorship salaries are calculated, assessed and monitored rather than simply where salary thresholds are set.
The Home Office is continuing to develop a framework intended to make salary arrangements more transparent and easier to scrutinise across different sectors and working patterns, despite the practical reality that workforce models rarely operate uniformly across the labour market.
Sponsors should no longer just be concerned with whether salary thresholds will rise again, but whether salary requirements are going to begin changing more frequently across the lifespan of sponsored employment – the MAC technical note recommends moving toward a more wage-responsive immigration system linked more closely to annual earnings data and labour market conditions.
The note also reinforces continuing policy emphasis on higher-skilled and higher-paid sponsorship. Employers operating long-term international recruitment models may therefore face increasing pressure around workforce planning, retention and future salary forecasting as sponsorship policy becomes more closely tied to domestic earnings data.
Need Assistance?
DavidsonMorris advises UK employers on all aspects of sponsor licence compliance, Skilled Worker salary requirements and long-term international workforce planning. For specialist guidance on sponsorship strategy, salary threshold compliance or future immigration workforce risk, book a fixed-fee telephone consultation to speak directly with our business immigration advisers.
Read the full MAC Technical Note here >
