On 4 December 2023, the UK Government announced wide-ranging measures aimed at reducing legal migration to the UK.

These include:

• Increasing the general salary threshold for a Skilled Worker visa to £38,700 from £26,200, an increase of 48%
• Ending the 20% discount on the general salary threshold for occupations on the Shortage Occupation List
• Reviewing and reducing the number of jobs on the Shortage Occupation List
• Spring 2024: British citizens and those with settled status must earn £36,000 if they want to bring family members to the UK via a family visa.
• Reviewing the Graduate visa route

It is intended to introduce these new measures in Spring 2024.

The University has been working with colleagues in the Russell Group, Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and Universities UK (UUK) to provide sector responses to the changes. These colleagues are also collaborating with external bodies, such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Recruitment and Employment Federation (REC), to work with the UK Government to understand the details and impact of the changes.

Following on from these discussions, the Home Office has published a Factsheet on 8 December 2023 offering the following reassurances:

• ‘Salary discounts for those towards the start of their careers will still exist.’ This means the Home Office intends to retain the current provision of Tradeable Point E (for new entrants). This is where students (or those holding a Graduate route visa) switching to a Skilled Worker visa would continue to be eligible for a lower salary requirement. It is currently set at 70% of the job ‘going rate’ or 80% of the minimum salary threshold (whichever is higher). You can view the current eligibility criteria here.

• The ‘Graduate route review’ means that the Migration Advisory Committee will review evidence to ensure it supports student pathways into high-quality jobs. The Graduate route visa was introduced in July 2021 and more data is now available to enable this assessment.

We understand that the announcement will be a cause for concern for international students looking to work in the UK after your studies. We want to reassure you that we will continue to actively seek further formal clarification regarding students switching to a Skilled Worker visa and we will work with colleagues in the sector to provide evidence for the review of the Graduate route visa.

If you are worried about what this means for you, please read our latest Careers Blog. You can also seek advice or request an appointment with our Careers team if you need help with searching for jobs.

We will keep you posted on further clarifications via our News page.