UK Tech Salary Benchmarks: What 'Above Median' Actually Means

The salary optional criterion for Global Talent requires you to demonstrate that your compensation is significantly above the median for your role and geography within the UK digital technology sector. To use this criterion effectively, you need to know the actual benchmarks — and to understand what documentation the assessment body expects.

The Benchmark Numbers (2025-2026)

These are approximate sector medians based on published survey data from Hired, Levels.fyi, LinkedIn Salary Insights, and the UK Tech Talent Network annual survey. They represent base salary, excluding equity, bonus, and benefits.

Software Engineering

• Junior / 0-3 years: £35,000–£50,000
• Mid / 3-6 years: £55,000–£75,000
• Senior / 6-10 years: £80,000–£110,000
• Staff / Principal: £115,000–£150,000
• Distinguished / Fellow: £160,000+

To use the salary criterion, your base salary should be materially above the upper end of your level's range — not just at the top of median, but clearly above it.

Product Management

• Associate PM / 0-3 years: £40,000–£60,000
• PM / 3-6 years: £65,000–£90,000
• Senior PM: £90,000–£120,000
• Principal/Director: £125,000–£165,000
• VP Product: £170,000+

Data Science and ML Engineering

• Junior: £40,000–£55,000
• Mid: £60,000–£85,000
• Senior: £90,000–£125,000
• Staff: £130,000–£170,000

Tech leadership (CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering)

• Startup (pre-Series A): highly variable, often below market due to equity
• Scale-up (Series A-C): £120,000–£180,000
• Late-stage / enterprise: £180,000–£250,000+

London premium. Salaries in London are typically 15-25% above the national median for tech roles. The benchmark comparison should be geography-specific — your salary compared to London tech norms if you're based in London.

What "Significantly Above" Means in Practice

The guidance doesn't specify a precise threshold. Based on successful applications, the general principle is that your base salary should be in the top quartile for your role, level, and geography — roughly, above the 75th percentile.

For context: if the Senior Software Engineer median in London is £95,000 and you earn £130,000, that's a clear case. If you earn £105,000, that's above median but may be a borderline claim — not impossible, but requires strong framing.

Total Compensation vs Base Salary

The optional criterion is about salary, which the assessment body interprets as base salary and any guaranteed cash components (guaranteed bonuses, fixed allowances). It does not include:

• Unvested equity or stock options
• Performance bonuses (variable, not guaranteed)
• Benefits in kind (health insurance, gym, etc.)

For large tech companies where total compensation (base + RSUs + bonus) is significantly higher than base: your base salary is the relevant number. If your base is average but your total compensation is exceptional due to equity, the salary criterion is weaker for you.

Documentation

What the assessment body expects:

• A letter from your employer confirming your current base salary (or your final salary at your last position, if that's what you're evidencing)
• The letter should be on company headed paper and signed by someone in HR or People
• Supporting data: two or three published salary benchmarks for your role and level, with the source cited

The combination of employer confirmation plus benchmark comparison is the standard format. Without the benchmark comparison, the assessor can't contextualise whether your salary is above median — even if the number is high, they need to see the comparison.

Founders and Self-Employment

Founders often have lower salaries than employed professionals at their level, particularly early on. For founders, the salary criterion works differently:

• If you pay yourself a salary above the median, document it as above
• If your salary is below median but your equity stake makes total compensation exceptional, this criterion is harder to use
• Some founders can use the criterion if they demonstrate that their company's commercial success validates the value they command — but this requires careful framing

When to Skip This Criterion

If your salary is above average but not clearly in the top quartile, and you have strong evidence for two other optional criteria, it's often better to skip the salary criterion rather than include it as a weak item.

A strong application with two well-evidenced optional criteria outperforms an application that technically cites three optional criteria, two of which are barely above threshold.

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Need help figuring out which optional criteria your profile supports most strongly? The free readiness assessment maps your evidence across all criteria and identifies where your strongest case is.