Fazlur Rahman
The UK Skilled Worker visa salary threshold in 2026 is £41,700 per year or 100 percent of the SOC 2020 going rate, whichever is higher. Tradeable options lower this for PhD holders (£37,500 for non-STEM, £33,400 for STEM) and new entrants (£33,400). Online UK degrees count for Skilled Worker sponsorship on the same basis as on-campus degrees, but tuition is paid separately from the visa cost (Home Office Workers and Temporary Workers guidance + UK Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker, 2025/26).
The financial picture for an online UK degree plus Skilled Worker visa is roughly £7,440 to £21,500 in tuition plus the visa application fees, Immigration Health Surcharge, and the salary threshold requirement.
Last verified: Sep 15, 2026.
At a glance
- Skilled Worker standard Option A: £41,700/yr or 100% going rate (whichever higher)
- Option B non-STEM PhD: £37,500 + 90% going rate
- Option C STEM PhD: £33,400 + 80% going rate
- Option D Immigration Salary List: £33,400 + 100% going rate
- Option E new entrant: £33,400 + 70% going rate
- Hourly floor when hourly methodology applies: £17.13/hr
UK Skilled Worker visa 2026 salary options
The Skilled Worker visa uses a tradeable points system with the salary requirement being the most variable test. For Certificates of Sponsorship assigned on or after 22 July 2025, the standard Option A requires the higher of £41,700 per year and 100 percent of the SOC 2020 going rate. UK Visas and Immigration recalculates the going rate annually based on the Office for National Statistics' Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Home Office Workers and Temporary Workers guidance, 2025/26).
| Option | Who can use it | Cash floor | Going rate percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Standard Skilled Worker | £41,700 | 100% |
| B | Relevant non-STEM PhD | £37,500 | 90% |
| C | Relevant STEM PhD | £33,400 | 80% |
| D | Immigration Salary List role | £33,400 | 100% (no further discounts) |
| E | New entrant (under 26, recent graduate) | £33,400 | 70% |
| F-J | Health and Care visa | £31,300 to £25,000 | 90%-100% |
| K | National pay scale occupations | £25,000 | 100% |
The lower cash floors of £37,500, £33,400, £28,200 and £25,000 are only available where the worker qualifies for the specific tradeable points option being claimed. Each option requires both the cash floor and the relevant percentage of the going rate to be met. New entrants (under 26, recent UK graduates, trainees, post-docs) qualify for Option E; the relevant PhD paths require Ecctis verification of the qualification (UK Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker, 2026/27).
What an online UK degree changes for Skilled Worker sponsorship
An online UK degree does not change Skilled Worker visa thresholds, but it affects the points options. The Skilled Worker route tests the job offer, the sponsor, the SOC 2020 going rate, and the salary level, not the worker's qualifications directly. An online UK master's degree does not qualify the worker for any points discount. A UK PhD (or equivalent overseas doctorate verified through Ecctis) qualifies for the Option B or C discount, provided the qualification is relevant to the sponsored role (Home Office caseworker guidance, 2026).
Online UK degrees count for the Graduate visa (post-study work) on the same basis as on-campus degrees. The Graduate route provides two years of unrestricted work permission after completing a UK degree, which is the most common pathway for Skilled Worker sponsor conversion. A UK online master's graduate completes their degree, applies for the Graduate visa, finds a Home Office-approved sponsor, then applies to switch into Skilled Worker status while in the UK (UK Immigration Rules Appendix Graduate, 2026/27).
Online UK degree tuition in context of Skilled Worker sponsorship
UK online master's tuition for the 2026/27 academic year ranges from about £7,440 to £28,140. The table below maps the most popular UK online master's programmes to the typical Skilled Worker salary requirement. The salary requirement dominates the calculation; tuition is the smaller line by an order of magnitude (Birmingham + UCL + Essex Online 2026/27).
| Programme | Tuition (2026/27) | Skilled Worker Option A requirement | Tuition as % of salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keele MSc Computer Science (online) | £7,440 | £41,700 | 17.8% |
| Northumbria MSc Cyber Security (online NCSC) | £10,250 | £41,700 | 24.6% |
| Aston MSc Cyber Security (online BCS) | £11,500 | £41,700 | 27.6% |
| UCL Data Science and Machine Learning MSc | £21,500 | £41,700 | 51.6% |
| Birmingham Online MBA (AMBA) | £28,140 | £41,700 | 67.5% |
Online UK degree tuition is a fraction of the salary requirement; for Option E new entrants earning £33,400 with 70 percent of the going rate, even a £28,140 Birmingham MBA tuition is 84 percent of the cash floor. The trade is real: the cheapest UK online master's programme recovers tuition within 2 to 4 years of Skilled Worker sponsorship, but the visa threshold is independent of the qualification choice (ONS ASHE + Home Office, 2025).
Cost-of-application breakdown
Skilled Worker visa application costs add up before tuition enters the picture. The Certificate of Sponsorship assignment is paid by the sponsoring employer, not the worker. The main applicant visa application fee is £1,321 for up to three years or £1,751 for more than three years. The Immigration Health Surcharge is £1,035 per year per applicant, paid up front. Dependents add their own visa fees and IHS amounts (Home Office visa fees, 2026/27).
A typical applicant on a Skilled Worker visa for three years with a partner and one child pays roughly £7,200 in visa fees and IHS, plus the salary threshold requirement, plus the online degree tuition if the route is via Graduate visa conversion. The total first-year outlay ranges £15,000 to £35,000 depending on programme choice and family size (Home Office fees, 2026/27).
