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•  

UK Skills Shortage List

Government-approved shortage occupation lists for Tier 2 of the Points Based System 15 June 2009

Sponsors must also refer to the Tier 2 codes of practice for detailed information on appropriate salary rates, and on the evidence they need to keep to show that the shortage occupation criteria have been met.

UK list:

Related occupation title and SOC code (see notes 1 and 2)	Job titles included on the shortage occupation list	Other information: skill levels and review timescales (see note 3)
Civil engineers (2121)	ALL jobs within this occupation including the following: public health engineer, rail engineer, drainage engineer, structural engineer, water engineer, geotechnical engineer, geotechnical design engineer, geotechnical specialist, tunnelling engineer, marine engineer, mining engineer, mining geotechnical engineer, petroleum engineer	Review over the next six months
Physicists, geologists and meteorologists (2113)	ONLY the following job titles within these occupations: geologist, geological engineer, hydrogeologist, geophysical specialist, geological advisor, geological analyst, geological associate, geophysicist, geoscientist, geosupport engineer, contaminated land engineer, geoenvironmental engineer, reservoir panel engineer, rock mechanics engineer, soil mechanics engineer, geomechanics engineer, landfill engineer, contaminated land specialist, geoenvironmentalist, nuclear medicine scientist and radiotherapy physicist. Also staff working in diagnostic radiology (including magnetic resonance imaging).	Review over the next 6 months
Chemical engineers (2125)	ALL jobs within this occupation including the following: chemical engineer, petrophysicist	Review over the next 6 months
Medical practitioners (2211)	ONLY the following job titles within these occupations: Consultants within the following specialities: audiological medicine, chemical pathology, clinical neurophysiology, clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, dermatology, genitourinary medicine, haematology, immunology, intensive care medicine, medical microbiology and virology, neurology, nuclear medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, occupational medicine, paediatric surgery, paediatrics, plastic surgery and renal medicine Consultants within the following specialities of psychiatry: child and adolescent psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, general psychiatry, learning disabilities and old age psychiatry Also non-consultant, non-training, medical staff posts in the following specialities: anaesthetics, emergency medicine, general surgery, intensive care medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, and trauma and orthopaedic surgery	Review over the next 6 months
Dental practitioners (2215)	ONLY the following job titles within this occupation: Consultants within orthodontics and paediatric dentistry.	Review over the next 6 months
Veterinarians (2216)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: veterinary surgeon	Must be registered as a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) to work in the UK Review over the next six months
Biological scientists and biochemists (2112); Psychologists (2212); Pharmacists/ pharmacologists (2213), Medical radiographers (3214); Medical and dental technicians (3218); Speech and language therapists (3223); Therapists n.e.c. (3229)	ONLY the following job titles within these occupations: cardiac physiologist, clinical neurophysiologist, clinical vascular scientist, HPC-registered ophthalmic and vision scientist, respiratory physiologist and sleep physiologist (within 2112); clinical psychologist (within 2212); pharmacist working in the NHS or hospitals (within 2213); HPC-registered diagnostic radiographer, HPC-registered therapeutic radiographer and sonographer (within 3214); nuclear medicine technologist and radiotherapy technologist (within 3218); speech and language therapist (Agenda for Change bands 7+ or their independent sector equivalents) (within 3223); HPC-registered orthoptist (within 3229)	Review over the next 6 months
Secondary education teaching professionals (2314)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: Secondary Education Teachers within the subjects of maths or science	Review over the next 6 months
Social workers (2442)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: Social workers working in children’s and family services.
Nurses (3211)	ONLY the following job titles within this occupation: theatre nurse, critical care nurse (nurses working in critical units with a level 2 or level 3 classification) and operating department practitioner	Review over the next 6 months
Engineering Technicians (3113)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: aircraft component manufacturing engineer	Review over the next 6 months
Dancers and choreographers (3414)	ONLY the following job titles within this occupation: skilled classical ballet dancer, and skilled contemporary dancer.	For this job to be skilled classical ballet dancers must meet the standard required by internationally recognised UK ballet companies (e.g. Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet). Skilled contemporary dancers must meet the standard required by internationally UK contemporary dance companies (e.g. Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Scottish Dance Theatre and Rambert Dance Company).
Musicians (3415)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: skilled orchestral musician	For this job, the skilled orchestral musician must meet the standard required by internationally recognised companies (e.g. London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra).
Photographers and audio visual equipment operators, (3434)	ONLY the following job titles within this occupation: roles within visual effects and 2D/3D computer animation for film, television or video games: animation supervisor, animator, computer graphics supervisor, technical director, VFX supervisor, modeller, rigging supervisor, rigger, matte painter, texture artist, compositing artist, producer, production manager, editor, R&D tools, R&D software, software engineer, system engineer
Ship and hovercraft officers (3513)	ALL jobs within this occupation	Must hold a certificate of equivalent competency from the Marine and Coastguard Organisation indicating qualification to a level equivalent to Officer of the Watch certification or above to work in the UK. Review over the next 6 months
Welding trades (5215)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: high integrity pipe welder	3 or more years documented evidence of related on-the-job experience. Review over the next 6 months
Line repairers and cable jointers (5243)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: electricity transmission overhead lineworker	Review over the next 6 months
Chefs, cooks (5434)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: skilled chef	‘Skilled’ requires that the individual is earning at least £8.45 per hour after deductions for accommodation, meals etc. Review over the next 6 months
Care assistants and home carers (6115)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: skilled senior care worker	“Skilled” requires that the individual is earning at least £7.80 per hour after deductions for accommodation and meals, etc, and has a relevant NQF level 2 qualification, two years relevant experience, and will have supervisory responsibilities. OR there is a requirement for senior care workers to be qualified at NQF level 3 or above (currently only the case in Scotland and Wales).
Agricultural and fishing trades not elsewhere classified (5119)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: skilled work rider	‘Skilled’ requires documentary evidence that the individual has three or more years of paid experience in this job, at level equivalent to NQF level 3. See Migration Advisory Committee (2008b) for further details of job responsibilities. Must also be registered by the British Horseracing Authority. Review over the next six months
Fishing and agriculture related occupations n.e.c. (9119)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: skilled sheep shearer	Individual must hold British Wool Marketing Board bronze medal (or equivalent) or above. Review over the next six months

  
Scotland list:

Related occupation title and SOC code (see notes 1 and 2)	Job titles included on the shortage occupation list	Other information: skill levels and review timescales (see note 3)
N/A	ALL job titles and occupations on the UK shortage list	See UK list for more details
Fishmongers, poultry dressers (5433)	ONLY the following job title within this occupation: manual filleters of frozen fish; machine trained operatives and quality controllers in the fish processing industry IN SCOTLAND	Individual must have three or more years paid experience in this job for this job to be skilled. Review over the next six months

Notes: (1) n.e.c. stands for ‘not elsewhere classified’. (2) For official job descriptions relating to 4-digit occupations in SOC 2000, see www.statistics.gov.uk/methods_quality/ns_sec/downloads/SOC2000_Vol1_V5.pdf . (3) Timings are indicative. The MAC may review any occupation at any time.