Which SOC code is a nurse job, and can nurses be sponsored?

Which SOC code is a nurse job?

A SOC code is the 4-digit occupation code the Home Office uses to classify a job. Nurse jobs use the seven codes below. The titles are GOV.UK’s. The example job titles are from GOV.UK’s Skilled Occupations list, which says its examples are “non-exclusive”, so a job title that is not listed can still sit in the code.

Two things the table shows. A job called just “nurse” or “staff nurse” is listed under 2237, the catch-all code, so 2237 is not a rare code. And midwives have their own code, 2231. Nursing auxiliaries and assistants are 6131, a separate code covered further down.

Before you can find out if your job is eligible, you need to know its 4-digit occupation code. If you already have a job offer, ask your employer for your occupation code.

In short: GOV.UK says to ask your employer for the code. The table helps you read an advert or an offer.

Can nurses be sponsored, and on which visa?

Nurse jobs are eligible for sponsorship in the sense that their codes are on GOV.UK’s lists. Whether a particular employer sponsors is a separate question, covered at the end of this page. GOV.UK lists the seven nurse codes for the Health and Care Worker visa. This is the quote for people applying for that visa.

You can apply for a Health and Care Worker visa if your job is in one of the following occupation codes:

2231: midwifery nurses 2232: registered community nurses 2233: registered specialist nurses 2234: registered nurse practitioners 2235: registered mental health nurses 2236: registered children’s nurses 2237: other registered nursing professionals

In short: all seven codes are in GOV.UK’s list of jobs you can apply with. That is the list for people applying for the visa, not only for people already holding it.

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must: be a qualified doctor, nurse, health professional or adult social care professional work in an eligible health or social care job work for a UK employer that’s been approved by the Home Office have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK be paid a minimum salary - how much depends on the type of work you do

In short: the visa needs a qualified nurse, an eligible job, an approved employer, a certificate of sponsorship and the minimum salary for the job. The Health and Care Worker visa page has the rest, and our page on that visa links below.

Health and Care Worker visa: eligible jobs, salary and fee

How is the pay for nurse codes set?

Not by one figure. GOV.UK sets the nurse codes’ pay by NHS pay band and part of the UK. This is GOV.UK’s sentence for health and care jobs outside the codes with different salary requirements.

If you’re doing any other health and care job Check how much you need to be paid in the table of national pay scales for eligible healthcare jobs . Salaries are listed by NHS pay band and area of the UK you’ll be working in. Ask your employer if you’re not sure what your role or pay band will be.

In short: find the NHS pay band and the part of the UK for the job, then read the amount from GOV.UK’s table. GOV.UK says to ask your employer which band the role is.

The Skilled Occupations list confirms the nurse codes use that route to a pay figure: in its Table 3, each of 2231 to 2237 has the going rate “See relevant pay band in Table 4” and the source “NHS Agenda for Change: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland”. GOV.UK’s national pay scales page gives the amounts, below. It says they apply to codes 2231 to 2237, among others.

Based on a 37.5-hour week, 37 in Scotland, they must be pro-rated for other working patterns, based on the weekly working hours stated by your employer.

Band or equivalent England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland Band 3 £24,071 £26,869 £24,433 £22,816 Band 4 £26,530 £29,116 £26,928 £25,147 Band 5 £29,970 £31,892 £30,420 £28,407 Band 6 £37,338 £39,912 £37,898 £35,392 Band 7 £46,148 £48,788 £46,840 £43,742 Band 8a £53,755 £60,126 £54,550 £50,952 Band 8b £62,215 £70,986 £63,150 £58,972 Band 8c £74,290 £83,837 £75,405 £70,417 Band 8d £88,168 £99,534 £89,491 £83,571 Band 9 £105,385 £117,732 £106,967 £99,891

In short: the table lists a yearly amount for each pay band in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The amounts are for a 37.5-hour week (37 in Scotland), and are pro-rated for other hours. The page was updated on 22 July 2025 and uses 2024/25 NHS pay scales, so check GOV.UK for the current version.

One more condition affects nurse codes. GOV.UK’s Skilled Occupations list says this about all the Table 3 codes, which include 2231 to 2237.

These SOC 2020 occupation codes are considered to be skilled to Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 or above, and are eligible for the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility and Scale-up routes, other than roles below Agenda for Change band 5, which are ineligible for the Global Business Mobility and Scale-up routes, and are only eligible for the Skilled Worker route if the conditions specified in Table 4 are met.

In short: for these codes, a role below band 5 is not eligible for the Global Business Mobility or Scale-up routes, and is eligible for the Skilled Worker route only if the Table 4 conditions are met. Table 4 is on the same GOV.UK page.

What about nursing assistants and auxiliaries?

Nursing auxiliaries and assistants have their own code, 6131, which is not a nurse code. GOV.UK lists it in its pay scales page among the “Medium Skilled” healthcare codes, with this restriction.

Medium Skilled occupations are not eligible for the Global Business Mobility or Scale-up routes. Skilled Worker applications can only be made if it is to extend permission granted under the rules in force before 22 July 2025 or the job is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List.

In short: for Medium Skilled codes, GOV.UK says a Skilled Worker application can be made only to extend permission granted under the earlier rules, or if the job is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. GOV.UK’s Health and Care Worker visa page lists 6131 among the codes you can apply with, so read both pages for a 6131 job.

Is a nurse code on the Immigration Salary List?

People often ask this about 2237. The Immigration Salary List is the list GOV.UK describes like this.

Occupations where a reduced skills and salary threshold applies in the Skilled Worker route.

We read the list on the date this page was checked. We found no row for any of 2231 to 2237 on it. It does list other health and care codes, such as 1232 and 3212. GOV.UK can change the list, so read the page itself before you rely on this. A code missing from that list tells you only that no reduced threshold is listed for it. It does not say whether a job can be sponsored.

GOV.UK: Immigration Rules Appendix Immigration Salary List

Do healthcare employers offer sponsorship in their adverts?

This is our own count, not a GOV.UK figure. In our study, healthcare adverts offered sponsorship more often than any other type of work, but still rarely: 2.0% of 12,036 adverts, about 1 in 50. 8% of healthcare adverts ruled sponsorship out. Most said nothing either way, and silence is not a refusal.

How we counted: we read adverts from employers we match by name to the Home Office register, 3 October to 1 November 2026, and grouped them by type of work. Our healthcare group is a type of work, not the nurse SOC codes, and the study does not split nurses out. An advert counts as ruling sponsorship out if it says sponsorship is not available, or asks that you already have the right to work in the UK, UK nationality, years of UK residence or security clearance. These figures describe adverts, not whether a given employer will sponsor a given person.

Our study: visa sponsorship in job adverts, November 2026 edition

Search the Home Office register of licensed sponsors by employer name

What to check next

• The job’s 4-digit code, from your employer. Midwives are 2231, and a job titled just “nurse” is listed under 2237.
• The NHS pay band and the part of the UK for the job, then the amount in GOV.UK’s national pay scales table.
• Whether the role is below band 5, where GOV.UK’s Table 4 conditions apply.
• That the employer is on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors.
• The visa’s own rules, fees and family conditions, on the Health and Care Worker visa page.

All occupation codes and going rates

NHS jobs and visa sponsorship

Common questions