Salary assessment calculator
Long hours do not raise the salary counted towards the general threshold — but they do raise the going rate required. This calculator shows both figures side by side.
Salary counted towards the general salary threshold
£37,440.00
60 hours a week · 48 counted · £15.00 × 48 × 52 weeks
12 hours a week are not counted towards this threshold. Hours above 48 a week are disregarded for the general salary threshold.
£4,260.00 below the Option A (standard) figure of £41,700.00. Other rows in the option table below set different figures.
Going rate required for these hours
Enter a published going rate to pro-rate it.
These two figures move in opposite directions. Hours above 48 are discarded for the general salary threshold, but full hours still count when the going rate is pro-rated — so extra hours raise the going rate required without raising the salary counted. Both requirements apply.
Figures verified on 8 August 2026 · official sources: Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Worker (SW 14.3, 14.3A, 14.4)
Information, not advice
This tool gives general information about the published UK immigration fees and rules — it is not advice on an individual case, and it does not decide whether anyone qualifies. Figures are summarised from GOV.UK and can change; always check the official pages before applying. For advice on a specific situation, find a regulated adviser via GOV.UK — Find an immigration adviser (the Immigration Advice Authority, formerly OISC).
Why two figures, and why they disagree
A Skilled Worker salary is tested against two separate requirements, and hours are treated differently in each. Both have to be met.
The general salary threshold caps hours at 48
Where sponsored work exceeds 48 hours a week, only the salary for the first 48 hours counts towards the salary thresholds. The published worked example: an applicant working 60 hours a week at £15 an hour is treated as having a salary of £37,440 (£15 × 48 × 52), not £46,800.
The going rate does not cap hours
Going rates are pro-rated to the working pattern — the published rate for the occupation multiplied by weekly hours divided by 37.5. Full weekly hours are included when checking salary against the going rate, even above 48 hours a week. For that same 60-hour pattern the going rate requirement rises by a factor of 1.6.
The practical effect is that hours beyond 48 add nothing to the salary counted, while still raising the going rate that must be met.
Uneven weeks are averaged over a cycle
Where regular hours differ from week to week, work above 48 hours in some weeks can still count, provided the average over a regular cycle of no more than 17 weeks is not more than 48 hours a week. Unpaid rest weeks count towards that average. The published worked example: 60 hours a week at £12 an hour for two weeks followed by an unpaid rest week averages 40 hours, giving £24,960 (£12 × 40 × 52).
The general salary thresholds
There is no single threshold. The published rules set an option table, and the applicable row depends on the applicant’s circumstances. The going-rate percentage in each row applies to the pro-rated going rate, not to the figure in the salary column.
| Option | General salary | Going rate | Applies to |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £ 41,700 | 100% | Standard |
| B | £ 37,500 | 90% | PhD in a relevant subject |
| C | £ 33,400 | 80% | PhD in a relevant STEM subject |
| D | £ 33,400 | 100% | Job on the Immigration Salary List |
| E | £ 33,400 | 70% | New entrant |
| F | £ 31,300 | 100% | Transitional cohort |
| G | £ 28,200 | 90% | Transitional cohort, PhD in a relevant subject |
| H | £ 25,000 | 80% | Transitional cohort, PhD in a relevant STEM subject |
| I | £ 25,000 | 100% | Transitional cohort, Immigration Salary List |
| J | £ 25,000 | 70% | Transitional cohort, new entrant |
| K | £ 25,000 | 100% | Listed health or education occupation |
Going rates for each occupation are published in the occupation tables of the Immigration Rules and are refreshed periodically. This tool pro-rates whichever rate is entered rather than storing a copy, so those figures cannot drift out of date here. The threshold table above is stored, and is dated in the verification note near the top of this page.