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Kim Day | Senior Immigration Lawyer

How to sponsor a Dental Therapist or Dental Hygienist on a Skilled Worker visa

18/02/2026

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This guidance was updated on February 18th 2026

Following legislative changes which came into effect on 22 July 2025 the number of jobs eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route has greatly diminished. From this date only jobs considered to be at least RQF Level 6 are eligible for sponsorship within the Skilled Worker route, which means that roles such as chefs, plumbers, secretaries and gardeners are no longer eligible.

For new positions, it is now only possible to sponsor occupations listed in Table 1 of this document.

Of particular concern to the dental industry SOC code 6133: Dental Nurses is no longer eligible for sponsorship. We will continue to campaign to have this code added to the Immigration Salary List (formerly the Shortage Occupation List).

SOC code 3213: Medical and Dental Technicians has also been removed from the eligible list – both are instead found in Table 3 of this document, and not eligible for new Skilled Worker applications. Our previous advice was to use 3213 when assigning Certificates of Sponsorship for Dental Therapists and Dental Hygienists.

Due to these changes, it is important that if employers wish to sponsor an individual for the role of Dental Therapist, or Dental Hygiene Therapist the code of 2259 should be used. It is still possible to offer sponsorship to new candidates for this role from within the UK or from overseas.

The Home Office relevant guidance for employers states the following:

S3.37. You are responsible for choosing the correct occupation code – we cannot help you with this. If you are unsure which code to select, there is detailed guidance on the SOC 2020 system on the Office for National Statistics website. The University of Warwick has also developed a Computer Assisted Structured Coding Tool (CASCOT) which can help you choose the correct SOC 2020 code.

The CASCOT system allows you to search for different job titles, giving a confidence score out of 100 for each job description. It has a colour coding system to allow you to easily view which is the most appropriate code for each job. At the time of writing, the following dental roles are assigned the SOC code 2259 (“Other health professionals not elsewhere classified”) within the CASCOT system:

  • Dental Therapist, SOC code 2259 with a score of 94 (this is a recent change made in early 2026)
  • Dental Therapist / Hygienist, SOC code 2259 with a score of 74
  • Dental Hygiene Therapist, SOC code 2259 with a score of 90 (this is also a recent change made in early 2026)

It is therefore possible to hire for all of these roles through the Skilled Worker route using the SOC code 2259.

Please note that variations of some of these roles are not eligible. For example, the role of a “Dental Hygienist” is still listed as SOC code 3213 which is not considered sufficiently skilled for the route. This is frustrating, as the gov.uk’s own apprenticeship training course states that a Dental Hygienist is Level 6.

To fulfil a role such as this through the Skilled Worker route, you would instead need to ensure that the role falls under that of Dental Hygiene Therapist.

dental surgery

Sponsors have a serious duty to ensure that the correct SOC code is used when assigning Certificates and S3.38 of the above guidance is clear that “If you have provided false, misleading or otherwise incorrect information about the skill or salary level of the job on a CoS…we will take compliance action against you. This could include revoking your sponsor licence.”

You must also therefore be certain that the role you are filling is at the correct skill level. Due to the level of training and skills required, it is clear that industry experts consider the role of Dental Therapist / Hygienist to be at RQF Level 6, in contrast to the role of Dental Nurse.

Our advice when hiring for these positions is to obtain a date stamped copy of the CASCOT webpage every time you assign a Certificate in order to evidence that you are following official guidance. After checking GDC registration, we also advise when assigning the Certificate that you explain the process by stating the following in the Job Description: The applicant is registered with the GDC as a Dental Therapist/Hygienist. We have used CASCOT to search for the Best Matching Index Entry for this role which is 2259 (score of 74/100).

Whilst we are confident that this offers a partial solution to the problems raised by the 22 July changes – and we’re pleased to see the role of Dental Therapists recognised as skilled in their own right – we will also continue to campaign for full clarity in this area and the ability to sponsor Dental Hygienists in a separate role.

To help us with this, we ask that you sign and also raise awareness of our petition with colleagues and on any social media platforms.

If you have questions regarding this advice or any aspect of sponsorship and assigning Certificates of Sponsorship, please contact our team directly using the contact form below.

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