Pharmacist visa: band rates, technicians and which visa to use
Pharmacists are a Table 3 health code: the threshold is the Agenda for Change band of the post, £46,148 at Band 7 in England, with a £25,000 floor.
Pharmacist salary check: choose the band
Minimum salary for this job
£25,000
Your salary of £44,000 meets it, with £19,000 to spare.
| Points option K | £25,000 floor |
| Going rate (full time) | £24,071 |
| Going rate per hour | £12.34 |
| Your pay per hour | £22.56 |
| Visa fee, up to 3 years (outside the UK) | £819 |
| Health surcharge, 3 years | none if Health and Care visa |
Health or education occupation: going rate from the national pay scale (Table 3).
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Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
Pharmacists are sponsored under SOC code 2251, one of the health codes of Table 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. Their going rate is the NHS Agenda for Change band the post is graded at, in the nation where it is: £37,338 at Band 6 and £46,148 at Band 7 in England, £48,788 at Band 7 in Scotland. Those rates apply in community and hospital pharmacy alike, private employers included, and the general threshold of £41,700 does not: the floor for listed health jobs is £25,000. Pharmacy technicians are a different case. Code 3212 is medium skilled, so it is open to new applicants only because it is on the Immigration Salary List, until 31 December 2026, at a threshold of £33,400. A pharmacist working for the NHS or an eligible health employer can apply for the Health and Care Worker visa, with a lower fee and no health surcharge.
Band rates for pharmacists by nation
| Band | England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
The band is the one of the job, as the employer grades it, not your own experience. A private employer that does not use Agenda for Change still has to pay at least the rate of the equivalent band, and the certificate of sponsorship states it. For part-time posts the band rate is pro-rated to the weekly hours; the £25,000 floor is not.
Pharmacists and technicians compared
| 2251 Pharmacists | 3212 Pharmaceutical technicians | |
|---|---|---|
| Table | Table 3 | Table 1a |
| Open to new applicants | yes | through the Immigration Salary List, until 31 December 2026 |
| Threshold, full time in England | band rate, floor £25,000 | £33,400 |
| Visa fee from abroad, up to 3 years | £324 (Health and Care) | £628 (Salary List) |
A technician's job sits on the Salary List in all four nations, which lowers the floor to £33,400 and the fee, but the going rate of the code still applies in full. Technicians employed by the NHS or by a regulated care provider can also use the lower transitional rates that the rules give to "Health and Care ASHE salary jobs": choose that employer type in the checker.
Worked examples
A hospital pharmacist offered £45,000 for a full-time Band 6 post in England clears the band rate of £37,338; the same salary for a Band 7 post falls £1,148 short. A part-time Band 7 post of 30 hours in Wales must pay at least £37,472, the band rate scaled to the hours. For a pharmacy technician in Scotland, the threshold is the code's going rate of £33,400 or the £33,400 Salary List floor, whichever is higher.
The checker applies the same arithmetic: choose 2251 or 3212, then the band, the nation and the hours. It also flags the transitional rates for technicians at an NHS or regulated care employer.
Which visa and what it costs
The Health and Care Worker visa is the Skilled Worker route for qualified health professionals working for the NHS, an NHS supplier or in adult social care. For a pharmacist and partner on a five-year visa from abroad it costs £1,256, against £13,586 on the standard Skilled Worker visa, because the fee is lower and nobody pays the surcharge. A pharmacist sponsored by a retail chain that does not provide NHS services takes the standard visa. Both visas lead to settlement after five years on the same terms, so the choice changes the bill, not the route. The Health and Care Worker page sets out who qualifies.