You've been applying
to jobs that can't
sponsor you.

We compare every employer in a job ad against the current Home Office register of licensed sponsors. If the company's own careers page shows the same job, we mark it as verified, because then we know the employer is who we think it is. If we can only match the company by its name, we mark it as likely or possible and show how close the match was, so you can decide how much to trust it.

For each search we read the job descriptions and count which skills come up most often. We also note when a skill is called essential and when it is only nice to have. Then we compare the salary in the ad with the minimum a sponsored job has to pay. If you add a CV, we show which of those skills you already have and which ones are missing.

The roadmap lists the skills you are missing, starting with the ones that will help you most, and gives a rough number of weeks each one takes to learn. It also suggests how to reword weak lines on your CV and which roles to apply for now, and which to leave until you have closed a gap.

A general chatbot gives advice that sounds right but is not based on the jobs you are actually going for. Threshold starts from real, current job ads and the official sponsor register. Every skill percentage and every sponsor label comes from that data, and the AI review of your CV is checked against what your CV really says.

Your CV is read once to make your results. The text is sent to the AI service that writes the review, and we do not keep a copy of it afterwards. You can also search without an account and without uploading anything at all. The CV is only needed for your personal score and roadmap.

We use the Home Office register from 28 July 2026, which lists 121,199 licensed sponsors. We update it by hand, so a licence given or taken away after that date will not show yet. We also keep 10 earlier copies going back to 2023. They show how long a company has held its licence, and a company that has held one for years is usually a safer bet than one that was added recently. A company that has dropped off the register is never shown as a sponsor.

A Skilled Worker visa needs a job that pays at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for that type of job, whichever is higher. If you are under 26, or switching from a Student or Graduate visa, a lower new entrant rate of £33,400 can apply. We flag jobs that pay less than the threshold so you do not spend time on an offer that cannot be sponsored.

No. You can search for a role and see sponsors, salaries and the skills employers ask for without uploading anything. Adding a CV unlocks your personal match score, the list of skills you are missing, the AI review and the roadmap. It also lets us show roles that fit your level, so a graduate is not shown lead or principal jobs.

Jobs we verify on a company's own careers page are certain. Jobs matched by company name alone were right about 59 times in 100 in our tests, which is why they are labelled likely or possible. Always check the employer yourself before you apply. The full method is written up on our methodology page.