Primary school teacher in the UK: your Skilled Worker visa, step by step

What you must be paid

The Skilled Worker rules have two salary parts. The first is the general threshold, £41,700 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025), or £33,400 where a reduced rule such as the Immigration Salary List applies. The second is the rate set for your occupation. For most jobs that second part is a single "going rate" figure. Code 2314 is different. It has no going rate. Its rate is the national pay scale published by gov.uk for teaching jobs.

The scale applies in the public and private sector alike. A private school sponsor must meet the same scale point as a state school. Which point applies depends on the role you are hired into. This page cannot tell you your point on the scale. Your sponsor sets it in the job offer.

The Immigration Salary List (ISL) is a list of occupations that can use the reduced threshold. Code 2314 is not on it. The Health and Care Worker visa is not available for this code.

National teacher pay scale (annual)

Test a real offer with the salary checker linked above.

Registration and licensing

The rules differ across the four UK nations.

In England, Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is legally required in maintained schools and non-maintained special schools. It is not legally required in academies, free schools or independent schools. Many of those schools ask for it anyway. There are four routes to QTS for teachers trained abroad. You can apply for QTS directly if you qualified in certain countries. You can take the Assessment Only route. The Department for Education publishes the cost of both Assessment Only and a full year of initial teacher training, and Assessment Only is much the cheaper of the two because it avoids the training year. Get Into Teaching lists the current figures. You can take initial teacher training in England over one year. You can take iQTS while still abroad.

In Scotland, registration with GTC Scotland is a legal requirement for teachers in Scottish schools.

In Northern Ireland, GTCNI registration is required for grant-aided schools.

In Wales, the Education Workforce Council registers teachers. Check with the EWC for what applies to you.

Which job titles this code covers

The gov.uk related title for code 2314 is primary school teachers. Your sponsor chooses the code on your Certificate of Sponsorship. It must honestly reflect the work you will do. A teacher of secondary-age pupils belongs under code 2313.

Four nations, four pay points

The biggest variable for a primary teacher is where the school sits. The qualified teacher point is £31,650 (National pay scales for eligible teaching and education leadership occupation codes, effective April 9, 2025) in England outside London and £40,305 in Scotland. Inner London pays £38,766. Northern Ireland pays £30,000. A teacher who has not yet gained QTS may be hired on the unqualified scale instead. In England outside London that starts at £21,731. Ask any sponsor which scale and which nation's table your offer sits on before you accept.

If this route does not fit: what else is open

• New entrant reduced threshold. A reduced general threshold can apply to early-career applicants and to people switching from the Student or Graduate routes. The rule is qualitative here; the salary checker tests your case.
• In-country switching. If you are already in the UK on another visa, a licensed school sponsor can often switch you into Skilled Worker.
• Canada Provincial Nominee Programs. A provincial nomination adds 600 CRS points to a Canada Express Entry profile. CRS is Canada's points score for permanent residence.

Our assessment checks you against every open UK and Canadian route in about three minutes and shows your score, where you stand and the first thing that would raise it. No card needed for that. Seeing every route in full needs a plan. See where you stand →