Scrap visa salary discounts for PhD holders, UK told

Discounts that allow PhD holders to qualify for a UK visa below the usual salary threshold should be abolished, according to government advisers on immigration. 

The Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the skilled worker visa found “no reasonable rationale” for lowering the threshold for those with PhDs after finding no evidence they are systematically paid less than the average worker.

Recommending the UK adopt a “simpler” system overall, the MAC has also put forward several potential changes to the discounts currently offered to graduates and postdoctoral students.

The Home Office tasked the MAC, which is chaired by Brian Bell, professor of economics at King’s College London, with reviewing salary requirements for the visa after the salary threshold was hiked to £41,700 or the standard “going rate” for their job in July 2025.

It concludes that the Home Office should retain the general threshold at this level, rather than increase it further.

The route currently allows students or recent graduates to be paid 70 per cent of their job’s standard rate if their salary will be at least £33,400.

In its review, the MAC recommends a universal single new entrant rate of £33,400 to ensure a typical graduate entrant can be recruited using the migration system.

“Setting a single new entrant threshold at this level would ensure that a typical new graduate can be employed through the immigration system while being paid sufficiently to remain fiscally beneficial to the UK over their lifetime,” it says.

Skilled worker applicants can earn 80 per cent of their job’s going rate if they have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) PhD – provided it is at least £33,400 a year. For non-STEM PhD graduates, they must be paid 90 per cent of the standard rate and earn at least £37,500.

The review says this rule was established to reflect the previous government’s view that PhD holders are often “not paid salaries commensurate with their level of qualifications” – with the higher discount for STEM PhDs reflecting the importance the government of the time placed on STEM.

But the data analysed by the MAC found “no statistical difference between the wages of a recent PhD graduate and the average worker on a [skilled worker] visa”.

“This indicates that recent PhD graduates do not experience a significant wage penalty. It is also important to remember that those who have recently graduated with a PhD from a UK university are eligible for the new entrant discount under current rules.”

The 70 per cent discount rate is also applied to those with a postdoctoral position in certain science or higher education roles, including researchers or teaching professionals.

The MAC review finds that an appropriate salary threshold for postdoctoral positions should be set at £41,700 – the same level as the current general threshold. If this were to be the case, then the discount would no longer be needed, it highlights. If the government decided to raise the general threshold, the MAC says the postdoctoral threshold should stay at £41,700.

The committee adds that there are “good arguments” for it to support the country’s research base, but that other sectors could make equally compelling arguments. Therefore, it says if the government believes this discount is fulfilling an important policy objective, it should set a single discounted rate of £41,700 which lasts for four years.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com