If you are considering Skilled Worker sponsorship for a role that is not obviously graduate level, two official lists still matter in 2026: the Immigration Salary List (ISL) and the Temporary Shortage List (TSL). They are not the same thing. One can reduce the general salary threshold if you use the right tradeable-points option. The other can keep a medium-skilled job eligible for sponsorship. Neither is a salary figure on its own, and the pounds you must pay depend on the option that actually applies — not on a single headline floor.

This is general information for UK employers and HR as at 31 August 2026. It is not advice on your vacancy, SOC code or worker. Worldwide Immigration Ltd is IAA-regulated (Ref F201900032). Our advisers are not SRA-regulated solicitors.

The two lists do different jobs

From 22 July 2025, a new Skilled Worker sponsorship normally has to be skilled to RQF level 6 (graduate level) or above. A role below that level is only eligible if it is on the ISL or the TSL, or a transitional rule applies (for example, the worker has been a Skilled Worker continuously since before 22 July 2025). That is the official skill-level rule, not a marketing summary.

The Immigration Salary List is the list that can still reduce the general salary threshold. Home Office sponsor guidance (version 04/26, valid from 8 April 2026) describes it as occupations where the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has identified shortages and where a discounted salary is considered sensible. In the Rules, that discount is Option D (or Option I in limited health-and-care / older-transitional cases). You still pay the occupation’s full going rate.

The Temporary Shortage List is an interim list of medium-skilled (RQF 3–5) occupations that the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury identified as important to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. Being on the TSL can keep the occupation eligible for sponsorship. It does not, by itself, discount the general salary threshold. The applicant must still satisfy the relevant salary option and the going rate.

That last point is where some commercial blogs go wrong. Follow GOV.UK, not those posts: sponsor guidance SK4.12 and SK6.44 say jobs on the TSL only are not eligible for Options D or I unless they also appear on the ISL. A TSL-only role does not qualify for the ISL salary discount.

You still need a licensed sponsor, a genuine vacancy, the right SOC 2020 code, a Certificate of Sponsorship, English language, and the salary that actually applies to the option you are using. Inclusion on the ISL or TSL does not, by itself, guarantee eligibility for Skilled Worker sponsorship.

Salary depends on the tradeable-points option

Quote these only as the general thresholds for the option named. You must still meet the occupation’s going rate as well (full rate, or 70 / 80 / 90 per cent of it, depending on the option). We are not reproducing going-rate tables here — check Appendix Skilled Occupations and the live list pages for the code you intend to use.

Do not treat £41,700 or £33,400 as universal Skilled Worker floors. Appendix Skilled Worker and sponsor guidance SK5.10 are explicit: the applicable general threshold depends on which option the worker is claiming points under. For Certificates of Sponsorship assigned on or after 22 July 2025 it can be any of £41,700, £37,500, £33,400, £31,300, £28,200 or £25,000 a year.

For a typical new Skilled Worker (tradeable points Option A), GOV.UK and Appendix Skilled Worker both require the higher of:

  • £41,700 a year; and
  • the full going rate for the SOC 2020 code.

If the job is on the Immigration Salary List and you are using Option D, the Rules require the higher of:

  • £33,400 a year; and
  • the full going rate for that code.

That is a 20 per cent cut to the general floor only. It is not an 80 per cent going rate. The public “when you can be paid less” page and sponsor guidance SK6.9 both say you still pay the standard going rate. The ISL HTML publication’s line about “80% of the route’s usual minimum rate” refers to that general-threshold cut (£41,700 × 80% is rounded in the Rules to £33,400), not a cut to the going rate.

A TSL-only job does not get Option D or I. Unless another option applies (for example new entrant or a relevant PhD), a TSL-only job is still assessed against £41,700 and the full going rate. The TSL HTML page’s “standard rate” and “lower rate” columns are occupation going-rate figures (and the pre–4 April 2024 lower-rate column), not a separate TSL general threshold.

Other options, so you do not mix them up with an ISL or TSL “list discount”:

  • Option B (relevant non-STEM PhD): higher of £37,500 and 90% of the going rate.
  • Option C (relevant STEM PhD): higher of £33,400 and 80% of the going rate.
  • Option E (new entrant): higher of £33,400 and 70% of the going rate — see the next section.
  • Options F–J are not the default new-hire options. They apply if the worker is being sponsored for a Health and Care ASHE salary job, or (for applications before 4 April 2030) was granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules in place before 4 April 2024 and has had continuous Skilled Worker permission since then. Those general floors include £31,300 (Option F) and £25,000 under Option I where the job is on the ISL. Specified prison-officer cases can also use Option F. Check the live Rules, not this summary, before you assign a CoS in that cohort.

Hours matter. Only the first 48 hours a week count towards the general threshold. Going rates on the list pages are based on a 37.5-hour week and must be pro-rated. For Options A–E, if the going-rate maths would fall below £17.13 an hour, that hourly figure is the applicable going rate.

New entrants

Some candidates may rely on the new entrant provisions (Option E, or Option J in the F–J cohort) instead of, or as well as, a list. That is a separate tradeable-points option. It is not an ISL or TSL discount.

Under Option E, Appendix Skilled Worker currently requires the higher of:

  • £33,400 a year; and
  • 70% of the applicable going rate.

Eligibility is set out in SW 12.2. In outline it covers applicants under 26 on the date of application; specified postdoctoral jobs; people working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession, or towards full registration or chartered status; and people whose most recent permission (disregarding a visit visa) was as a Student or Graduate, with further course and timing conditions for Students.

The grant must not take the applicant’s combined permission as a Skilled Worker, Graduate and/or Tier 2 Migrant over four years in total, whether or not that period is continuous (SW 12.3; sponsor guidance SK6.47). Previous relevant permission on those routes counts towards the four years. The public “when you can be paid less” page mentions Graduate time; the Rules also count Skilled Worker and Tier 2. Check the worker’s history before you assign a CoS as a new entrant.

In the F–J cohort, Option J is the higher of £25,000 and 70% of the applicable going rate, still subject to the same eligibility and four-year cap.

Examples — not the full lists

These examples appeared on the live official lists on 31 August 2026. The lists are not exhaustive in this article. Several codes have extra criteria (experience, job type, or nation). Do not sponsor from a job title alone.

ISL (salary-discount list), UK-wide examples: graphic and multimedia designers (2142); pharmaceutical technicians (3212); bricklayers (5313); carpenters and joiners (5316). Some ISL entries are Scotland only (for example fishing boat masters under 1212, nuclear-industry chemical scientists under 2111, and boat and ship builders under 5235).

ISL care codes need extra caution. Care workers (6135) and senior care workers (6136) remain on the ISL, but Appendix Skilled Worker SW 6.1B restricts new sponsorship: the application must be for permission to stay; the worker must already have been legally working for that sponsor in one of those codes for at least three months, or already hold Skilled Worker permission in those codes; and England roles need an active CQC-registered sponsor carrying on a regulated activity. Private households cannot sponsor. Nursing auxiliaries and assistants (6131) are on the ISL only where registered nurse or other registered healthcare professional roles also exist in that environment.

TSL (eligibility list), examples: managers in logistics (1243); IT user support technicians (3132); electricians and electrical fitters (5241); plumbers and heating and ventilating installers and repairers (5315); construction and building trades supervisors (5330).

A few codes appear on both lists, sometimes with tighter ISL wording (for example laboratory technicians 3111: ISL needs three or more years’ related on-the-job experience that was not gained through working illegally; TSL lists the code more broadly). If you want the Option D / I salary discount, the job must meet the ISL entry for the nation where the job is based.

Inclusion on a list is not enough

Inclusion on the ISL or TSL does not, by itself, guarantee eligibility for Skilled Worker sponsorship.

Before you advertise or assign a CoS, check all of the following on live GOV.UK — not a screenshot from last quarter:

  1. Sponsor licence. You cannot assign a Skilled Worker CoS without a Worker licence that includes this route. If you do not have one, start from the firm’s sponsor licence page and the live Home Office guidance — this article is not a licence how-to.
  2. Correct SOC 2020 code. UKVI can refuse if you pick a “list” code that is not the most appropriate code. Use CASCOT and the job description, not a hopeful job title.
  3. List-specific criteria and nation. Appendix Immigration Salary List states which UK nations each ISL job is included in. TSL inclusion also requires a CoS issued before 31 December 2026.
  4. The higher of the general threshold and the going rate, using the option that actually applies (ISL Option D/I, standard Option A, new entrant, PhD, or a transitional / Health and Care option).
  5. Other Skilled Worker rules that still apply: genuine vacancy, National Minimum Wage and Working Time, English (normally CEFR B2 for new grants), and the Immigration Skills Charge.

Dependant restrictions for medium-skilled ISL and TSL roles

Workers sponsored in certain below-RQF 6 occupations on the ISL or TSL may be restricted from bringing new dependants. This is not a side issue. Put it on the same checklist as salary.

Sponsor guidance SK1.6: workers sponsored below graduate level are generally no longer allowed to bring a partner or children unless a transitional or other specified exception applies. Appendix Skilled Worker SW 29.1A generally requires the Skilled Worker to be sponsored in Table 1, 2 or 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations (the graduate-level tables) before a partner can apply, subject to listed exceptions.

The public GOV.UK partner-and-children page is to the same effect for a “medium skilled” occupation code. If the partner or children are inside the UK, they can usually apply to stay only if the worker has been continually employed in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa in a medium-skilled job since before 22 July 2025, or a listed child exception applies (child born in the UK; sole surviving parent; other parent also sponsored in a medium-skilled job), or a specified prison-officer case. If they are outside the UK, the usual route is even tighter: continual employment in a medium-skilled Skilled Worker job since before 22 July 2025, or a child born in the UK.

Care workers and senior care workers (6135 / 6136) have a separate, tighter rule: new dependants from overseas generally only if the worker has been continually employed as a care or senior care worker in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa since before 11 March 2024 (with listed child exceptions).

Check the live Rules and the partner-and-children page against the SOC code and the worker’s permission history before you tell a candidate they can bring family.

Time limits — dates vary, and you must check on the day

Appendix Immigration Salary List only treats an occupation as included where the application is made using a CoS issued before the removal date in the table. Those dates are not all the same. On 31 August 2026 the live table showed:

  • 31 December 2026 for the listed ISL occupations other than the two care codes below; and
  • 22 July 2028 for care workers (6135) and senior care workers (6136), still subject to the SW 6.1B restrictions.

The TSL rule is a single cut-off for every code in SW 6.1A: the occupation is only included where the CoS was issued before 31 December 2026. Do not drop that date. It is still the live TSL condition.

Home Office sponsor guidance SK4.13 says the Government can bring those dates forward (for example if there is non-compliance in a sector). Removal dates can change. Check the live Immigration Rules on the day you advertise and again on the day you assign the CoS. Do not recruit from a saved copy of a list.

The MAC published its Temporary Shortage List Stage 2 report on 23 July 2026. That is advice to the Home Secretary. It does not amend the live TSL or the Immigration Rules. Do not recruit against MAC recommendations, or against a 2024 “shortage occupation list” leftover page, until a Statement of Changes puts a new list into force.

Check the live ISL publication, Appendix Immigration Salary List, the TSL publication, and SW 6.1A on the day you advertise and again on the day you assign the CoS.

What this article does not cover

This is not a full Skilled Worker guide, not a going-rate table, and not a visa-application walkthrough. PhD and national-pay-scale options, Health and Care visa eligibility, and settlement salary tests are separate questions. New-entrant rules are outlined above only so you do not confuse them with an ISL or TSL discount.

If you want a paid review of a specific SOC code, salary and CoS plan, use the contact details below. We will check the live Rules against your facts. That is advice; this page is not.

Contact: worldwideimmigration.co.uk/contact · +44 203 488 2308 · inquiry@worldwideimmigration.co.uk

Worldwide Immigration Ltd is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA Ref F201900032). Advisers are not SRA-regulated solicitors. This article is general information as at 31 August 2026, not advice on your facts.