Graduate jobs with visa sponsorship in the UK: where to look

Key points

• For many graduate roles the new-entrant minimum is the £33,400 floor itself, well below what an experienced hire in the same job needs.
• New-entrant rates can be used for a total stay of up to 4 years, including time already spent on a Graduate visa.
• A licence means an employer can sponsor, not that it will. Check the register, then the advert's own sponsorship line.
• The Graduate visa needs no sponsor. Sponsorship comes in when you switch to a Skilled Worker visa.
• Nurses, doctors and teachers are paid on national pay scales, which set their own salary rules.

Why do the salary rules favour graduates?

A Skilled Worker job usually has to pay at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for its occupation code, whichever is higher. For many professional jobs the going rate is well above the general threshold, which puts experienced-hire salaries out of reach for a first job.

The rules make room for people at the start of their career. gov.uk lists who counts as a new entrant: people under 26 when they apply, people on a Student visa studying at bachelor’s level or above, people on a Graduate visa, people who held either visa in the last 2 years if it was their most recent visa (a visit visa aside), and people working towards a professional qualification or registration. A new entrant’s salary can be 70% of the going rate, with a floor of £33,400.

Take software development, code 2134. An experienced hire needs at least £54,700. A new entrant needs at least £38,300. That gap is often the difference between a graduate offer that can be sponsored and one that cannot.

There is a limit. gov.uk says your total stay on new-entrant rates cannot be more than 4 years, including time already spent on a Graduate visa. The new-entrant guide explains who counts and how the limit works.

Which graduate roles have the lowest salary bar?

The table lists every role Visavi covers where a new entrant needs only the £33,400 floor, widest gap to the experienced minimum first, then the next few occupation codes above the floor. The figures come from the Home Office going rates. Where several roles share an occupation code, they share a row. It shows the bar the rules set, not what employers actually pay: compare it with the salary in each advert.

A few patterns stand out:

• Many roles sit at the floor. For science, engineering, design, environmental and several business roles, 70% of the going rate falls below £33,400, so the floor is the new-entrant minimum.
• The gap can be large. In some of those roles an experienced hire needs well over £41,700, while a new entrant needs the floor.
• Some technology and data roles have higher bars. Codes such as 2134 (software developers), where a new entrant needs at least £38,300, and 2433 (statisticians and statistical data scientists), at £38,600, carry higher going rates, so their new-entrant minimum sits above the floor.

Every role page shows the rates for its own codes. The going rates by occupation code cover every eligible code. The employer chooses the code for each job, so it is worth checking that the duties in the advert match the code you expect.

What counts as a graduate-level job?

Since 22 July 2025, gov.uk says a new Skilled Worker application generally needs a job in a “higher skilled” occupation, which the Home Office tables define as RQF level 6 or above: the level of a bachelor’s degree. The skill level belongs to the occupation, not to you, so a job is graduate level because of what it involves, not because the person doing it has a degree.

Every job is matched to a 4-digit occupation code, and the code decides both whether the job is eligible and which going rate applies. gov.uk says to ask the employer for the code if you have an offer, and points to the CASCOT coding tool if you do not. The Home Office tables list example job titles for each code. For code 2134, for example, they include software developers, computer programmers and computer games designers.

Two practical points follow:

• The job title is not the code. A “graduate analyst” could be coded as a data, finance or business role, each with a different going rate.
• The duties have to match. gov.uk says the job description has to match what you will actually be doing.

What if the salary is below the bar?

If the advertised salary is below the new-entrant minimum for the likely code, the job cannot be sponsored on that basis as it stands. The published rules have a few other routes to a lower salary, for example for some people with a PhD relevant to the job, and for jobs on the Immigration Salary List, each with its own conditions. The salary thresholds guide lists them, and gov.uk has the detail. Whether any of them fits a particular offer is a question for the employer, gov.uk or a regulated adviser.

Which roles use pay scales instead?

Some public sector roles do not have a single going rate. For nurses, midwives, doctors, allied health professionals and teachers, the going rate is the national pay scale for the job, and gov.uk says different salary rules apply. The new-entrant discount does not reduce a pay-scale rate. Many health roles also qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa.

See the NHS visa sponsorship guide, and the role pages for nurses, doctors and secondary teachers.

Where are the licensed employers?

Licensed employers are spread across the UK, but they cluster in the big cities. These are the towns with the most Skilled Worker licences on the current register:

Each town and city page has the count, nearby towns, and examples from the register. If you are still at university, the university pages show the licensed employers near each campus. Companies that sponsor visas groups the register by sector.

• Tech
• Finance and insurance
• Accounting
• Law
• Consulting
• Engineering and architecture
• Science and research
• Marketing and media
• Healthcare
• Social care
• Education
• Construction and property
• Manufacturing
• Energy and utilities
• Transport and logistics
• Retail

Do graduate schemes sponsor visas?

Some do. Whether a particular scheme sponsors depends on the employer and the role, and the scheme’s own eligibility page is usually where it says so. Two checks narrow it down quickly:

1. Is the employer on the register? An employer needs a licence to sponsor a Skilled Worker visa, whatever the scheme says. The sponsor check searches the register by name. The register changes often and lists legal names, which can differ from a brand name. Check the latest register on gov.uk before you rule an employer out.
2. What does the scheme say about sponsorship? A line such as “We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship” is an open door, though still not a guarantee. A line such as “Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK” is a no for that scheme.

Large employers often recruit graduates many months ahead of the start date. That timing matters if you are planning around a visa end date.

When do you need a sponsor, against your visa timeline?

The Graduate visa needs no sponsor and lets you work in most jobs. It cannot be extended, so a sponsor comes in when you switch to a Skilled Worker visa. gov.uk says a switch is made online before your current visa expires and is usually decided within 8 weeks.

How long you have depends on your Graduate visa. gov.uk says it lasts 2 years if you apply on or before 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply on or after 1 January 2027, and 3 years for a PhD. The Graduate visa timeline works out the dates. The Graduate visa guide explains the rule. Your own plan depends on your own dates, so check gov.uk or a regulated adviser if anything is unclear.

Some graduates work on the Graduate visa for an employer that also holds a sponsor licence, then switch to a Skilled Worker visa with the same employer. The Graduate Route to Skilled Worker guide covers what the switch needs.

How do you check every employer before you apply?

The same four checks work for any advert:

1. The licence. Search the employer on the sponsor check. The register uses legal names, so try the name ending in Limited or LLP if the brand name does not come up.
2. The advert’s sponsorship line. A clear no is a no, even from a licensed employer.
3. The salary against the code. Compare the advertised salary with the new-entrant minimum and the experienced minimum for the likely code. The salary check does the comparison.
4. After an offer, the Certificate of Sponsorship. Ask whether the employer will assign one, and which code it will use. The Certificate of Sponsorship guide lists the questions.

The guide to finding a job that sponsors your visa turns these checks into a routine.

How Visavi helps

Visavi does these checks before a job reaches you. Every job is from a licensed sponsor on the Home Office register, or the advert itself says they sponsor, and adverts that say they will not sponsor are left out. Each job shows the register row, the employer’s own words and the salary against the threshold. When you swipe right, Visavi tailors your CV to that job and fills in the employer’s form, and review-before-send is on by default.