Temporary Shortage List 2026: What Ends on 31 December

If you work in IT support, network administration, database work or IT training and you are hoping for UK sponsorship, there is a date to circle: 31 December 2026. Under the current Immigration Rules, the interim Temporary Shortage List (TSL) only works for applications made with a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) issued before that date. As of 28 October 2026, the government has not published rules for what replaces it. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended a smaller list for 2027, and several IT roles are not on it.

Here is what the rules say today, which tech roles are affected and what is still undecided.

What is the Temporary Shortage List?

Since 22 July 2025, the Skilled Worker route has mostly required jobs at degree level (RQF 6 or above). These are the occupations in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. Jobs at RQF levels 3 to 5 were moved into “additional” tables such as Table 1a. Sponsors can now only use those jobs in narrow cases.

The Temporary Shortage List is one of those cases. Rule SW 6.1(c) lets a job count as eligible if it is on “the Temporary Shortage List in SW 6.1A”. SW 6.1A then sets two conditions. The job must appear on the list, and the application must use a CoS issued by a sponsor before 31 December 2026.

The list in the rules today has 52 occupation codes. They range from engineering technicians and electricians to data analysts and HR officers.

Which IT and tech roles are on the list?

These are the tech-related codes on the current TSL. The table also shows their going rates from Table 1a and whether the MAC included them in its July 2026 recommendations.

SOC code	Occupation	Going rate (Table 1a, option A)	In MAC’s 28 for 2027?
3131	IT operations technicians (e.g. network and systems administrators, QA testers)	£35,200	No
3132	IT user support technicians	£33,400	No
3133	Database administrators and web content technicians	£34,600	Yes
3544	Data analysts	£34,900	Yes
3573	Information technology trainers	£40,000	No
5242	Telecoms and related network installers and repairers	£36,700	Yes
5244	Computer system and equipment installers and servicers	£35,100	No

Going rates are for a 37.5-hour week. “No” means the code is not among the 28 occupations in the MAC’s recommended list (Table 3.2 of the Stage 2 report).

Does the Temporary Shortage List lower the salary?

No. This is a common misunderstanding. The Immigration Salary List has its own points option. The TSL does not. GOV.UK says the standard minimum is £41,700 a year or the going rate, whichever is higher. For every code in the table above, the going rate is below £41,700, so in practice £41,700 is the usual floor. Lower thresholds exist only through the separate reduced options, such as the new-entrant option, and each has its own conditions.

Temporary Shortage List and dependants

This is the biggest catch. SW 29.1A (partners) and SW 32A.2 (children) say a dependant can only join a Skilled Worker who is sponsored in Table 1, Table 2 or Table 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. TSL jobs sit in Table 1a. The main exception covers workers who were first sponsored in these codes under the rules in force before 22 July 2025 and have held Skilled Worker permission ever since. A worker newly sponsored through the TSL generally cannot bring a partner or children on that route.

What did the MAC recommend for 2027?

The government asked the Migration Advisory Committee to review the list. Its Stage 2 report, published on 23 July 2026, made these main recommendations:

• 28 occupations should get TSL access, all for 18 months only. The MAC said none had a strong enough “Jobs Plan” for the full three years.
• If the Home Office accepts the advice, the MAC expects those 28 occupations to receive access from January 2027 to the end of June 2028.
• Under Digital and Technology, it recommended 3133 (database administrators and web content technicians), 3544 (data analysts) and 5242 (telecoms and network installers).
• The 82 occupations it considered in Stage 2 accounted for around 10,000 visas a year, on average, from 2022/23 to 2024/25. The recommended occupations accounted for around 4,000.

The MAC rejected some occupations because it found no shortage, including 3111 laboratory technicians and 3115 quality assurance technicians. It rejected others because their Jobs Plans were weak. 3131 IT operations technicians, 3132 IT user support technicians, 3573 IT trainers and 5244 computer system installers do not appear among the 28.

Has the government accepted it?

Not in the rules, so far. The latest statement of changes is HC 584, laid on 3 September 2026. It changed only two things in Appendix Skilled Worker: a wording update to SW 9.2 and a new rule (SW 18.3) that lets recognised victims of modern slavery change employer. It did not touch SW 6.1A or its 31 December 2026 cut-off. As of 28 October 2026, we could not find a published government response that confirms the 2027 list. Treat the MAC’s list as advice, not law. Ministers can accept it, change it or ignore it.

What this means for you

This is general information about how the rules work, not advice on your own case.

If your role is in Table 1 (most DevOps, cloud and software jobs), the TSL does not affect you directly. DevOps engineers sit in 2139 and software developers in 2134, both on the graduate-level Table 1. Your rules are the usual salary and going-rate tests. We cover them in our DevOps and cloud salary comparison.

If your offer is in a TSL code, the date your CoS is issued matters, not just the date you apply. The rule says “before 31 December 2026”, so a certificate issued on 31 December itself does not meet it. Our certificate of sponsorship explainer explains how CoS assignment works.

If you are already on a TSL-based visa, read the rules carefully before any extension or job change. On the current wording, a new CoS issued from 31 December 2026 onwards would not meet the SW 6.1A condition unless the rules are changed. The MAC report says it made no recommendations about people already sponsored in these jobs. What happens to them will depend on any transitional rules the Home Office publishes.

If you were first sponsored before 22 July 2025, the separate transitional rule in SW 6.1(d) may keep Table 1a codes open to you, provided you have held Skilled Worker permission continuously. This is a different rule from the TSL.

Whatever your code, check the employer first. Any sponsored job needs a licensed sponsor. Our guide to checking the register of licensed sponsors shows how. If you are switching from a Graduate visa, see our Graduate to Skilled Worker guide.

Temporary Shortage List UK 2027: what to watch for

• A new statement of changes. Any new TSL, cut-off date or transitional protection has to appear in the Immigration Rules. Watch the GOV.UK statement of changes collection.
• The final list may differ from the MAC’s. Compare the exact SOC codes, any “only these job types” limits and the dependant rules once they are published.
• Settlement. The MAC noted that, at the time it wrote the report, visas in TSL occupations do lead to settlement. Any change to that would also need new rules. Our ILR guide covers the current requirements.

We will update this post when the Home Office publishes its decision.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Temporary Shortage List end?

Under SW 6.1A of Appendix Skilled Worker, a job only counts as being on the Temporary Shortage List if the application uses a certificate of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026. As of 28 October 2026, no statement of changes has replaced or extended the list.

Can I bring dependants on the Temporary Shortage List?

Generally not, if you are newly sponsored. The rules say a dependent partner or child can only join a Skilled Worker sponsored in Table 1, 2 or 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. Temporary Shortage List jobs sit in Table 1a, and the exceptions mainly cover people first sponsored under the rules before 22 July 2025.

Does the Temporary Shortage List lower the salary threshold?

No. Unlike the Immigration Salary List, it has no salary option of its own. GOV.UK says the usual minimum is £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher, unless you qualify for one of the reduced options such as new entrant.

Which IT jobs did the MAC recommend for the Temporary Shortage List from 2027?

In its Stage 2 report of 23 July 2026, the Migration Advisory Committee listed three Digital and Technology occupations among its 28 recommendations: 3133 database administrators and web content technicians, 3544 data analysts, and 5242 telecoms and related network installers and repairers. These are recommendations, not rules.

Are DevOps engineers and software developers affected?

Not directly. DevOps engineers (in 2139) and software developers (2134) appear in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations, the graduate-level list, so they do not depend on the Temporary Shortage List.