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Public relations professionals (SOC 2493) plan and deliver PR campaigns, media relations and stakeholder communications for an employer or agency clients, working to strategy set by more senior communications leadership rather than setting it themselves.
Where this code sits against the going rate table
SOC 2493 is an RQF Level 3+ eligible occupation for the Skilled Worker route, so sponsorship turns on meeting the occupation's going rate or the general salary floor, whichever is higher — see our going rates guide. Some candidates — for example those under 26, recent graduates, or still in a recognised professional qualification — may qualify for the new entrant going rate discount; the exact conditions are set out on GOV.UK and should be checked against the individual's circumstances before you rely on the reduced rate. Note that new entrant status is time-limited rather than permanent — it typically applies only for a set early stretch of someone's sponsored employment — so sponsors extending a Certificate of Sponsorship for the same worker further into their career need to re-check whether the discount still applies at renewal, rather than carrying it forward by default.
Agency and consultancy roles need extra care
A significant share of PR professionals work for agencies delivering services to multiple clients rather than for a single in-house employer, and this arrangement needs handling carefully under sponsorship rules. The sponsoring agency, not the end client, must retain genuine day-to-day control over the worker — setting their tasks, managing their performance and directing their work — even where the worker spends significant time embedded at a client's offices or working on client-branded campaigns. A sponsorship arrangement that functions mainly as supplying labour to a client, with the client actually directing the work day to day, risks falling foul of the restrictions on contracted-out labour that apply to the Skilled Worker route. Agencies sponsoring PR professionals should be able to show clear evidence of who actually manages and supervises the worker, and freelance or self-employed PR practitioners cannot be sponsored at all — the role has to be genuine direct employment.
Don't stretch this code to cover generalist marketing
A common misclassification risk is using SOC 2493 for a role that is mostly general marketing, content or social media coordination with only incidental PR duties. The job description assigned on the certificate of sponsorship needs to genuinely reflect PR and media-relations work, not a marketing assistant role dressed up to fit an eligible code — this kind of mismatch is exactly what surfaces in a compliance visit. In practice, genuine PR work involves media relations, press office duties, reputation management and stakeholder communications; if a candidate's actual day-to-day is closer to running paid social campaigns, SEO content or brand marketing, a different occupation code is likely the honest fit, even if the job title on the offer letter says 'PR'.
Onboarding checks still apply
Once the role is filled, standard right to work verification applies regardless of occupation code — see our share code checking guide for how to verify a new hire correctly and keep the evidence your sponsor licence requires. This is worth building into the same onboarding checklist as the job-match evidence discussed below, since both need to be completed and filed before, or very shortly after, the worker's first day, not retrofitted later once a compliance question arises.
Keeping evidence of genuine PR duties over time
Job roles drift, and PR professionals are no exception — someone hired to run media relations and press office work can gradually pick up unrelated marketing or admin tasks as a business grows or reorganises, without anyone deciding that on purpose. Sponsors should periodically check that the role a sponsored PR professional is actually doing still matches the duties on their certificate of sponsorship, and keep a record of that check — a short annual review note, an updated job description, or evidence from a line manager confirming the role's current scope. This matters because a caseworker assessing compliance isn't only looking at the job description filed at the point of sponsorship; they can and do ask what the worker is actually doing now. Storing job descriptions, campaign records and any updated duties alongside the rest of the sponsorship file in secure document storage makes that evidence easy to produce rather than something assembled from memory.
FAQs
Can a graduate PR professional qualify for the reduced new entrant salary rate?
Potentially, if they meet GOV.UK's new entrant criteria (such as being under 26 or newly qualified) — this isn't automatic for every junior hire, so check eligibility before relying on the lower figure.
How is SOC 2493 different from SOC 1133?
2493 covers professionals executing PR and communications work; 1133 covers directors who set the strategy those professionals deliver. The distinction is about seniority and decision-making scope, not job title.
Can a PR agency sponsor a worker who spends most of their time at a client's office?
Only if the agency genuinely retains day-to-day control over the worker's tasks and performance. If the arrangement functions more like supplying staff for the client to direct, it risks breaching the restrictions on contracted-out labour that apply to Skilled Worker sponsorship.
What if a sponsored PR professional's role shifts mostly into general marketing after a year or two?
Review the current duties against the certificate of sponsorship and the SOC 2493 occupation description. If the role has genuinely moved away from PR and media relations work, a different occupation code, and potentially a new certificate of sponsorship, may be needed to keep the sponsorship accurate.
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