Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of Skilled Worker visa eligibility criteria for (a) childcare and (b) early years workers.

On 12 May, the Government published our Immigration White Paper, outlining our future approach to legal migration routes. On 22 July the first phase of changes took effect, including raising the threshold for Skilled Worker visas to graduate level occupations. Nursery education teaching professionals meet this new threshold.

Other occupations in childcare and early years work are classed as medium skilled roles and are not on the Temporary Shortage List (TSL) or Immigration Salary List (ISL). Therefore, new applicants from overseas are ineligible, and those in the UK on other visa routes will not be able to switch to the Skilled Worker route.

Those on Skilled Worker visas before 22 July 2025 and who need to extend their stay can continue to apply in medium skilled roles and will have to meet the salary requirements in place at the time they apply.

On 2 July we asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to advise on future salary requirements for Skilled Worker visas. We expect the MAC to respond around the end of the year.