Your employer is willing to sponsor you, but the proposed salary falls below the usual Skilled Worker requirement. You may have been told that a lower salary is possible because you are a recent graduate, under 26 or beginning your professional career.
That may be correct. It still needs to be established against the conditions that apply to your circumstances.
The new entrant provisions allow qualifying applicants to meet a lower salary requirement. Under the standard new entrant option, the starting point is at least £33,400 a year and the applicable new entrant going rate, generally expressed as 70% of the occupation’s going rate, subject to the published minimum rates and adjustment for working hours.
Two questions need answering before an employer relies on that option: do you qualify as a new entrant, and does the proposed period of permission fit within the time limit?
Our view is that these questions belong in the recruitment discussion. A lower starting salary can support a workable application, but both sides should understand how long that arrangement can last and what may need to change afterwards.
What does “new entrant” mean for a Skilled Worker visa?
New entrant is a defined salary category within the Skilled Worker route. It is not a separate visa, and it does not simply mean someone making their first application or joining a new employer.
Eligibility can arise through age, qualifying Student or Graduate permission, specified professional training or a qualifying postdoctoral position. Meeting one of those conditions can establish the relevant basis, but the salary, occupation and time-limit requirements still need to be satisfied.
This distinction matters because everyday descriptions can be misleading. A person described by an employer as a “graduate recruit” may not qualify through the Student or Graduate provisions. An older applicant, however, may qualify through recent immigration permission or professional training.
The assessment should identify the precise condition being relied upon. That gives the employer a basis for preparing the sponsorship and gives the worker a clearer understanding of why the proposed salary may be acceptable.
How much must a new entrant be paid?
For an applicant using the standard new entrant option, £33,400 is the general annual threshold. The occupation rate must also be met after applying the relevant new entrant provisions and adjusting for working hours.
The published tables matter. Appendix Skilled Occupations includes a £17.13 hourly floor within the standard going-rate framework, including its discounted columns. Simply multiplying any advertised occupation salary by 70% can therefore produce an incorrect answer. The relevant published new entrant rate should be checked directly.
Consider a hypothetical eligible role whose published new entrant rate is £35,000 for a 37.5-hour week. An offer of £34,000 would exceed the general £33,400 threshold but still fall below that occupation rate. If the job instead involved 40 hours a week, the adjusted occupation rate would be approximately £37,333.
These figures illustrate the calculation rather than the rate for a particular occupation. They show why confirming eligibility as a new entrant does not settle whether the offered salary is sufficient. The official new entrant salary tables use a 37.5-hour basis and require adjustment for other working patterns.
Different provisions can apply to qualifying health and care roles and applicants covered by transitional arrangements. Some health and education occupations use national pay scales instead. The employer should establish the applicable salary framework before selecting a figure from a table.
Being under 26 can provide a qualifying basis
An applicant who is under 26 on the date of application can meet the age condition for new entrant status. The relevant date is the application date, rather than the date of the job offer or the employer’s decision to sponsor.
Someone relying on this condition does not also need to establish that they recently completed a UK degree. Age is a separate qualifying basis. The remaining Skilled Worker requirements, including the four-year limit, still apply.
If an applicant’s 26th birthday is approaching, the timetable needs careful attention. The employer may still need to finalise the role, prepare the Certificate of Sponsorship or resolve an allocation issue. An intention to apply before a birthday is useful only if the necessary preparation can realistically be completed.
For the worker, the practical step is to raise the date early. For the employer, it is to establish who is responsible for each part of the process and whether the proposed timetable is achievable.
Graduate visa holders can qualify, including those aged 26 or over
A separate condition applies where the applicant’s most recent permission, disregarding Visitor permission, was under the Graduate route. If that Graduate permission has expired, it must have expired less than two years before the application date. This condition does not require the applicant to be under 26.
The immigration history therefore matters more than the general description “recent graduate”. Holding an overseas degree, having completed a course several years ago or beginning a graduate-level job does not by itself establish eligibility through this condition.
For someone currently on a Graduate visa, there is also an important planning issue. Time already spent with Graduate permission counts towards the four-year new entrant limit. The period available for a subsequent Skilled Worker application may therefore be shorter than the employer expects.
An employer discussing sponsorship with a Graduate visa holder should establish the relevant dates before deciding how long to sponsor them. The worker should also understand the effect of waiting until their Graduate permission is nearly exhausted.
That does not make immediate switching the right choice in every case. It makes timing a decision that deserves examination alongside the job offer.
Students and recent Student visa holders have additional conditions
The Student-based condition requires more than evidence that the applicant has studied in the UK.
The applicant’s most recent permission, disregarding Visitor permission, must have been Student permission. If it has expired, that must have happened less than two years before the application. The qualifying courses are a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, PhD or other doctorate, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, or a Professional Graduate Diploma of Education. Another qualification at an equivalent level is not automatically sufficient.
The applicant must have completed the relevant course, be applying no more than three months before expected completion, or meet the specific provision for current UK PhD study involving at least 12 months’ study.
These details can change the answer for someone who appears, in general terms, to be a recent student. The qualification, immigration history and stage of study should all be established.
Our recommendation is to obtain clear confirmation of the course and relevant completion or study dates. An employer should be able to explain which condition the applicant meets, rather than rely on a broad statement that the person is graduating soon.
New entrant eligibility does not settle whether a Student can switch
The salary condition and the rules governing a switch from Student permission answer different questions.
A student may meet the new entrant criteria but still need to satisfy the separate conditions governing when they can switch and the start date of their sponsored employment. Those conditions address matters including course completion and, for the relevant PhD provision, a separate 24-month point. A Visitor cannot switch to Skilled Worker permission from inside the UK merely because earlier Student or Graduate permission can be considered for new entrant eligibility.
For the worker and employer, the consequence is practical: establish salary eligibility and application timing separately, then bring them together in one timetable.
A course-related condition should not be treated as permission to begin full-time sponsored employment. The person’s current work conditions and the proposed immigration arrangements need their own assessment.
Professional training can qualify, but ordinary workplace training is insufficient
New entrant eligibility can also arise where someone is working towards a recognised UK professional qualification in a UK regulated profession. Another condition covers working towards full registration or chartered status with the relevant professional body for the sponsored job.
These are specific professional arrangements. An employer’s induction programme, internal training course or description of a role as “trainee” does not establish that either condition is met.
The assessment should identify the profession, qualification or registration being pursued, the relevant body and the relationship between that process and the sponsored role. The sponsor should be able to explain the arrangement clearly.
This can be particularly useful for an applicant who is older than 25 and cannot rely on recent Student or Graduate permission. It also requires care: a general intention to pursue professional development is different from an identifiable route to the qualification or status required by the rules.
The evidence should show what the worker is actually working towards and how the employment supports that process.
Certain postdoctoral positions provide another qualifying basis
A qualifying postdoctoral position can provide a separate basis for new entrant status. The rules specify occupation codes covering certain science and research roles and higher education teaching.
The eligible codes are 2111, 2112, 2113, 2114, 2115, 2119, 2162 and 2311. The position itself must be postdoctoral; possession of a PhD alone does not establish this particular condition.
For an academic or research employer, the job description should make the nature of the appointment clear. The occupation code and the actual role need to support the basis being claimed.
A relevant PhD may also be relevant to other Skilled Worker salary options. Those options have their own conditions and salary calculations. An assessment should identify which option the applicant can properly use, rather than treating every PhD-related provision as interchangeable.
The four-year new entrant limit remains relevant where the application relies on new entrant status.
The four-year limit includes earlier permission
The new entrant provisions cannot be used where the proposed grant would take the applicant’s combined permission as a Skilled Worker, Graduate or Tier 2 migrant beyond four years. The periods do not need to be continuous. Student permission is not included in this particular calculation.
The calculation concerns relevant immigration permission. It is not restricted to time spent working for the proposed sponsor or time during which the person actually received a discounted salary.
That distinction matters for a Graduate visa holder who spent part of their permission looking for work. The period does not disappear from the calculation because they were unemployed. Equally, changing employers does not create a fresh four-year allowance.
Consider a hypothetical applicant who has already completed two years with Graduate permission. An employer proposes a further three years as a Skilled Worker using the new entrant provisions. That proposed period would take the combined total beyond four years.
The parties would need to examine a shorter sponsorship period that fits the available time, or another salary basis for the longer application. Either approach requires a fresh assessment of the actual dates and requirements.
Our practical recommendation is to prepare a permission history before agreeing the sponsorship period. Reconstructing it after the Certificate of Sponsorship has been assigned can create avoidable work.
The proposed application must fit within the available period
An applicant cannot rely on new entrant status for only part of the permission being requested. Home Office guidance addresses applications that exceed the limit and allows consideration of contacting the sponsor about revised sponsorship dates where time remains. It does not justify assuming that the Home Office will automatically shorten the application into a compliant one.
This means the sponsorship period should be deliberate. A business may prefer a longer initial grant to reduce administration, but that preference needs to be tested against the salary option available to the worker.
The calculation should also account for the period of immigration permission, including the usual additional 14 days after the Certificate of Sponsorship end date. A rough calculation using whole years can miss a problem close to the limit.
For a worker, a shorter sponsorship period may affect when another application and salary review will be needed. For an employer, it creates a future recruitment and retention decision.
Both sides should understand those consequences before choosing the dates. The appropriate period is the one supported by the facts and the immigration plan.
Having time left does not guarantee another new entrant application
The four-year limit is a ceiling. It does not reserve four years of new entrant eligibility for everyone who qualifies once.
A further application still needs a qualifying basis. Someone initially eligible because they were under 26 may be older when they apply again. Someone who initially relied on Graduate permission will usually have Skilled Worker permission as their most recent permission by the time of an extension.
Unless another new entrant condition is met, remaining below four years will not, by itself, be enough. This follows from the separate eligibility conditions and time limit in Appendix Skilled Worker.
That is an important distinction when choosing the initial sponsorship period. A worker and employer may assume they can request a short grant now and use the remaining allowance later. The later application needs its own legal basis.
Our recommendation is to consider the likely circumstances at the next application before settling the first one. Which condition would the worker rely on then? Would it still be available? If not, what salary option would need to support continued sponsorship?
These questions do not require certainty about every future event. They require an honest account of what the current plan depends on.
Plan for the salary needed after new entrant eligibility ends
Where the worker can no longer use the new entrant provisions, a further application must meet another available salary option and its conditions.
For someone moving to the standard salary option, the current starting point is £41,700 and the full applicable going rate. The occupation rate may require more, and the figures in force at the later application may differ from today’s figures. Other salary provisions may apply where their conditions are met.
The commercial question is whether the employer can realistically support that progression. A promise to review salary is not the same as an agreed increase, and an expected promotion is not a confirmed future role.
The worker should understand what is committed, what remains discretionary and when the position will be reviewed. The employer should consider the likely future salary requirement when budgeting for retention.
Our article on what to check when an employer promises sponsorship examines the wider distinction between an intention to help and a workable immigration plan.
A lower initial salary can be useful. Its value is clearer when both sides understand the next decision it creates.
What evidence should support the new entrant assessment?
The evidence should correspond to the condition being relied upon. Age can be established from identity information. Student and Graduate cases require an accurate immigration history, with relevant course or completion evidence where necessary. Professional training and postdoctoral cases need clear information about the role and qualifying arrangement.
The sponsor guidance also requires the employer to identify new entrant status on the Certificate of Sponsorship and provide a brief explanation of how the worker meets the criteria.
In practical terms, the assessment should bring together the job description, occupation code, salary, weekly hours, permission history and proposed sponsorship dates. Those documents should support the same conclusion.
If the result depends on an expected course completion date or an unresolved training arrangement, that dependency should be recorded. It should not disappear behind a general statement that the worker is eligible.
The purpose is to make the application understandable and supportable. A clear explanation helps the worker, employer and adviser identify any missing fact before it affects the timetable.
A lower salary should support a sustainable employment plan
The new entrant provisions can make a sponsored role accessible at an earlier stage of someone’s career. They also create decisions about evidence, timing, sponsorship length and future pay.
Our view is that a sound assessment should explain three things clearly: why the worker qualifies now, how long the proposed arrangement can be supported, and what will need reviewing before the next application.
Knightsbridge’s Skilled Worker Visa service considers the proposed role, salary, sponsorship details and individual circumstances together.
If you need to establish whether a job offer can rely on the new entrant provisions, Request a Case Assessment. Include your current permission, relevant visa dates, proposed salary and working hours so the appropriate next step can be considered.
