UK Council Jobs with Visa Sponsorship
180 of the 258 UK councils on the Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors have sponsored overseas workers in the last three years, issuing 3,303 Certificates of Sponsorship for Skilled Worker visas. The biggest sponsors are Nottinghamshire County Council, East Sussex County Council, Derbyshire County Council. Most of the volume goes to qualified social workers (SOC 2461), town planners (SOC 2452), civil engineers (SOC 2121), and environmental health officers (SOC 2483). These roles are hard to fill from the UK labour market, which is why councils recruit overseas.
Top 10 UK councils by sponsor activity
Latest council jobs
Most recent live openings at the councils tracked on this page. For every live vacancy, open a council profile below.
Organisation Schools Directorate Secondary Schools Service Area All Saints Catholic College Hours 15 hours per week, Monday – Friday (3 hours per day, times to be agreed), Term Time + 1 day Number of Jobs 1 Location(s) All Saints Catholic College, Specialist in Humanities, Bradley Bar, Huddersfield, HD2 2JT Position type Temporary Length of contract Fixed term from September 2026 to December 2026 Grade Grade 5 Salary £8,855 - £8,996 (FTE £25,583 - £25,989) Advert Wording An exciting opportunity
We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made - please note that this also includes any CV uploaded. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage. Organisation Kirklees Directorate Adults & Health Service Area Adults Social Care Operation Hours 37 Number of Jobs 1 Location(s) Across Kirklees Positio
Organisation Schools Directorate Secondary Schools Service Area All Saints Catholic College Hours 35 hours per week, Monday – Friday 8am-3.30pm, Term Time + 1 day Number of Jobs 1 Location(s) All Saints Catholic College, Specialist in Humanities, Bradley Bar, Huddersfield, HD2 2JT Position type Permanent Grade 5 Salary £20,663 - £20,991 Advert Wording An exciting opportunity has arisen for a knowledgeable and committed individual to become a Business Support Officer from September 2026, providin
Organisation Schools Directorate Special Schools Service Area Woodley School & College Hours 31.25 Hours per week term time plus 5 inset days (or pro-rata for part time, working 8.45am – 3.30pm (6.25hrs) daily Number of Jobs 1 Location(s) Dog Kennel Bank, Huddersfield HD5 8JE Position type Permanent Grade Grade 7 Salary £21,852 - £22,949 Advert Wording Woodley School and College is a Kirklees Local Authority special school for children and young people with autism aged 5-19. We are looking t
We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made - please note that this also includes any CV uploaded. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage. Organisation Kirklees Directorate Place Service Area Homes & Neighbourhoods Hours 37 Number of Jobs 1 Location(s) Across Kirklees Position type Permanent
Organisations C&K Careers Hours 37 Number of Jobs Numerous Location(s) across West Yorkshire Position type Permanent Salary £31,799 to £36,285 Advert Wording Kirklees Council are advertising this role on behalf of C&K Careers Careers Advisers (37 hours per week ) 33.5 days Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays C+K Careers have full and/or part time opportunities for qualified Careers Advisers to deliver high-quality CEIAG in schools, colleges and community settings across West Yorkshire We wou
Occupational Therapy Team Manager Band 11: £56,233 - £60,010 | 37 hours per week | Permanent Ready to lead and shape Occupational Therapy services across Northumberland? Northumberland County Council is looking for an experienced Occupational Therapist to join our Adult Social Care Countywide Occupational Therapy Service as an Occupational Therapy Team Manager. This is an exciting opportunity to lead skilled and dedicated Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants and Technical Ins
Technician/Senior Technician | 10405 | permanent contract | 37 hours per week | £29,064 to £36,363 per annum | Grade F/H depending on experience | Hethel, Norwich Are you customer‑focused, great at working in a busy team, and known for your attention to detail? We’re continuing to grow our centre of excellence in calibration and expanding our support to businesses across the UK. To help us on this journey, we’re looking for someone who shares our ambition and values. If this sounds like you, the
Quality Assurance Officer | 10880 | permanent contract | 37 hours per week | £43,822 to £48,227 per annum | Grade K | Norwich - hybrid Join our Quality Assurance Team and help shape how Adult Social Services learns, improves and celebrates great practice. This is a role for someone who is curious, reflective and confident in using evidence, relationships and constructive challenge to support meaningful improvement We believe Quality Improvement and Assurance is about more than identifying what n
Commissioning Support Officer (3 posts) | 10865 | fixed term contracts/secondment opportunities for two years | 37 hours per week | £32,061 to £33,699 per annum | Grade G | Countywide About The Role We have an exciting opportunity for three Commissioning Support Officers to join Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Services team. Are you passionate about improving lives and shaping high-quality social care services? This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in the development and deliv
Which council roles get sponsored?
Sponsorship clusters around a few shortage occupations the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has flagged for years. The ones that actually get sponsored:
- Qualified social workers (SOC 2461). By far the biggest category. Children’s services and adult safeguarding teams hire from overseas to meet statutory caseload ratios. Social work is on the Immigration Salary List, so it qualifies at a lower salary floor. See live social worker vacancies.
- Town planners (SOC 2452). Planning departments are stretched by housing targets. Senior planners and conservation officers are sponsored regularly.
- Civil and structural engineers (SOC 2121). Highways, flood, and transport teams sponsor engineers on infrastructure projects. See live civil engineer vacancies.
- Environmental health officers (SOC 2483). Food safety, housing standards, pollution control. The profession is qualified-entry only, so the candidate pool is small and councils end up bidding against each other.
- Educational psychologists (SOC 2226). Councils need them for SEND statutory assessments and often sponsor them on fixed-term contracts. See live educational psychologist vacancies.
- Cyber security professionals (SOC 2135). Councils are digitising services while losing staff to the private sector. See live cyber security engineer vacancies.
The general Skilled Worker salary floor is £38,700 a year, or the going rate for the occupation if that’s higher. Immigration Salary List roles (social work included) qualify at a lower floor. That’s why entry-level council admin jobs basically never sponsor: the salary doesn’t meet the going rate.
Find council jobs by local authority
All 258 licensed councils we track, A to Z. Open a profile to see that council’s live vacancies and its recent visa record.
- Aberdeen City Council
- Aberdeenshire Council
- Angus Council
- ARGYLL AND BUTE COSMETIC DENTURES LIMITED
- Arts Council England
- Ashford Borough Council
- BASILDON BOROUGH ENTERPRISES LIMITED
- BASILDON DISTRICT COUNCIL
- BASILDON DISTRICT COUNCIL
- Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council
- Bath and North East Somerset Council
- Bedford Borough Council
Frequently asked questions
Do UK councils sponsor Skilled Worker visas?
Yes. County, city, district, and borough councils all hold Home Office sponsor licences and recruit from overseas for hard-to-fill roles: social workers, planners, environmental health officers, senior engineers. Any council with an active licence can issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for the Skilled Worker route.
Which council roles are eligible for sponsorship?
The role has to be on the Home Office eligible occupations list and meet the salary threshold. In practice, sponsored council jobs are almost all in the shortage occupations listed above: social work, planning, engineering, environmental health, educational psychology, and senior IT or cyber security. Admin and entry-level posts rarely qualify because their salaries sit below the Skilled Worker threshold.
What is the minimum salary for a council Skilled Worker visa?
Since April 2024 the general threshold is £38,700 a year, or the going rate for the occupation if that's higher. Immigration Salary List jobs and some eligible public-sector roles (social work being the obvious one) use lower thresholds. Check the current going rate for the occupation code before you apply.
How do I find councils currently hiring sponsored workers?
Start with the councils listed above. Each links to its live job postings. For a wider search, use the jobs page with your occupation and filter for licensed sponsors. The full job description usually lives on the council's own careers portal, so read it there: check for explicit sponsorship wording, or a note saying 'we welcome applications from overseas candidates'.
Can I switch from another visa to a Skilled Worker visa at a council?
Usually yes. If you’re in the UK on a visa, a Student visa (with an eligible job offer), or most other work visas, you can switch to a visa without leaving the country, as long as the council issues a valid . You can’t switch from a Visitor visa.
Data from the UK gov.uk Register of Licensed Sponsors, refreshed daily. Sponsorship eligibility depends on the specific role and the council’s current licence status.