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

What you must be paid

Skilled Worker salary rules have two parts. Part one is the general threshold of £41,700 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025), or £33,400 where a reduced rule such as the Immigration Salary List applies. Part two is the rate set for the occupation. For most codes that is a single going rate. Code 2313 has no going rate at all. Its rate is the national pay scale that gov.uk publishes for teaching and education leadership jobs.

The scale applies in the public and private sector alike. An independent school must pay the same scale point as a maintained school. The point you are paid at depends on the role you are hired into. This page does not assign you a point. Your sponsor does that in the job offer.

The Immigration Salary List (ISL) lets certain occupations use the reduced threshold. Code 2313 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

Each UK nation has its own rule.

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. Teachers trained abroad have four routes to QTS in England. Teachers qualified in certain countries can apply for QTS directly. Others can use 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. Others can take one year of initial teacher training in England. iQTS can be taken while you are 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 titles for code 2313 cover secondary school teachers. Subject teachers of any discipline at secondary level sit here. Your sponsor chooses the code on your Certificate of Sponsorship. It must honestly reflect the work. A teacher in a college of further education belongs under code 2312, not 2313.

Qualified or unqualified: two scales, one visa

Code 2313 carries two possible starting scales. A teacher with QTS or the equivalent national registration is paid on the qualified teacher scale. That starts at £31,650 (National pay scales for eligible teaching and education leadership occupation codes, effective April 9, 2025) in England outside London. A teacher hired before gaining that status may be placed on the unqualified teacher scale. That starts at £21,731 in the same region.

Inner London pays £38,766 (National pay scales for eligible teaching and education leadership occupation codes, effective April 9, 2025) on the qualified scale and £27,252 on the unqualified scale. Scotland pays £40,305 and £33,594. Before you accept an offer, ask which scale your sponsor is using and which nation's table applies. The answer changes both your pay and how the salary rule is tested.

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 figure is not stated 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 →