Holding a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence allows independent schools to sponsor any migrant worker who meets the relevant requirements under the sponsorship route and falls into an eligible occupation code. In this article, we look at some of the common occupation codes independent schools may utilise when looking to sponsor migrant workers.
Occupation codes relevant to independent schools
Although the first role that springs to mind as the one in which an independent school may sponsor a migrant worker is the teaching role, there are other positions that can also be filled by a sponsored worker.
Migrant workers can be sponsored in different occupations, not only as teachers. It may be that an independent school needs a database and IT systems administrator, a bursar, teaching assistant, a marketing manager who is fluent in a particular language, even a headmaster. Providing that the individual identified for the post satisfies the relevant requirements for the position and sponsorship, and an appropriate occupation code is identified, it may be possible to sponsor a migrant worker to fill in that particular vacancy.
Before offering sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, it is important to first ensure that the role is eligible for sponsorship. The first step in the process is to establish the most relevant standard occupation code (SOC code) for the role from the UKVI’s list, found here.
Teaching roles
Independent schools can recruit teaching staff from overseas for any subject, to teach most age ranges, as well as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) practitioners.
The occupation code is unlikely to be an issue for teaching positions within an independent school, as occupation codes 2313 (secondary education teaching professionals), 2314 (primary education teaching professionals), or 2315 (nursery education teaching professionals), will be applicable to most teaching positions. Regardless of the subject the teacher will be teaching, if they are being employed to teach in a secondary independent school, code 2313 is likely to be appropriate for their job, or code 2314 for teaching jobs in junior independent schools.
Relevant occupation codes for teachers are listed in Table 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations, with salaries based on the National Pay Scales.
Some independent schools may appoint teachers with no training or experience but plenty of potential, others will require teachers with considerable teaching experience. The same occupation code would apply to both qualified and unqualified teachers, however the salary they would need to be paid will be dependent on the seniority of the individual and their role. Table 5 of Appendix Skilled Occupations sets out the minimum going rates for eligible occupation codes not only by administration but also by role.
Applicable occupation codes
The recent change in the Immigration Rules resulted in the occupation codes used previously now being numbered differently. Certain jobs that were previously grouped under the same code, are now split between two different codes, while some jobs now fall under a completely new occupation code.
To sponsor teachers, the following codes would apply:
2313: Secondary education teaching professionals
This code replaced previous code 2314 and may be appropriate for independent schools sponsoring a secondary school teacher or sixth form teacher.
2314: Primary education teaching professionals
Jobs that fall under this code were previously grouped with jobs for nursery education teachers, under code 2315. This new code may be appropriate when an independent school sponsors an infant teacher, junior school teacher or primary school teacher.
2315: Nursery education teaching professionals
This code previously included jobs for primary education teachers, which now fall under a separate code. This new code may be appropriate when an independent school wishes to sponsor a kindergarten teacher (professional), nursery school teacher or pre-school teacher.
2316: Special and additional needs education teaching professionals
This code has not changed and continues to include behaviour support teachers, learning support teachers, special educational needs coordinators and special needs teachers.
It is worth noting that not all teaching jobs may necessarily fall under the above mentioned occupation codes. For instance, a qualified ballet teacher or music teacher may fall under occupation code 2319 teaching professionals not elsewhere classified, which is listed in Tables 1 and 2 of the Appendix Skilled Occupations.
Non-teaching roles that can be sponsored
Though the majority of jobs that an independent school may want to sponsor a worker in would be teaching jobs, they may be able to sponsor migrant workers in other positions as well. The relevant jobs, other than teaching jobs, would fall in occupation codes which although exist in education sector, would not be listed under specialist education codes. For the same reason the salaries for those jobs would not be based on national pay scales but will depend on the minimum salaries indicated in relevant tables of the Appendix Skilled Occupations.
The following are examples of some of the occupation codes that an independent school may consider sponsoring a migrant worker in:
- 6112 Teaching Assistants – for teaching assistants to assist teachers with their day-to-day classroom work and with routine administrative tasks.
- 2329 Other education professionals – to sponsor a bursar to manage and oversee the financial accounts in an independent school.
- 2321 Head teachers and principals – this is a new code for head teacher jobs which were previously under code 2317 which also included bursars.
- 2432 Marketing managers – to promote an independent school and oversee their marketing activity.
- 2132 IT managers – to manage and coordinate the provision of IT and telecommunications services.
- 2133 Database administrators and web content technicians – to maintain and provide user support for databases and websites and assist in the design and development of the same.
For non-teaching roles including support staff or senior management positions, it will be important to identify the most appropriate occupation code for the position and ensure that the salary requirement is met.
Our series on sponsorship and independent schools
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We have more to come as part of this series, with articles focusing on the process to sponsor teachers from the UK and overseas, how to maintain a licence, and alternative options.
Skilled Worker applications for teachers: How our Immigration Solicitors can help
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