Careers abroad
How well each South African degree travels to each country, rated 1 to 5. Select a square for the pathway.
23 of 75 degrees
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| Degree | UKUnited Kingdom | IEIreland | NLNetherlands | DEGermany | USUnited States | CACanada | AUAustralia | NZNew Zealand | AEUAE | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering & Built Environment | ||||||||||
| Engineering | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Architecture | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.1 |
| Quantity Surveying | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.1 |
| Medicine & Health | ||||||||||
| Medicine | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.8 |
| Dentistry | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Veterinary Science | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3.7 |
| Nursing | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.0 |
| Pharmacy | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.7 |
| Physiotherapy | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.2 |
| Occupational Therapy | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4.2 |
| Psychology | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3.8 |
| Commerce | ||||||||||
| Chartered Accountancy | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3.8 |
| Actuarial Science | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3.7 |
| Finance & Economics | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.0 |
| Business Management | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.8 |
| Science & Technology | ||||||||||
| Computer Science & IT | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Data Science & Statistics | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Natural Sciences | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Agricultural Science | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4.0 |
| Education, Law & Society | ||||||||||
| Teaching | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Law | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2.9 |
| Social Work | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3.9 |
| Humanities (BA) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.9 |
How the score works
- Recognition (40%) rates the route to practising the profession with the South African qualification: 5 means it is unregulated or accepted as it is, 3 means licensing exams, 1 means starting over.
- Demand (60%) uses one rule for every country: high if the occupation is named on the official shortage, priority or critical-skills list, medium if it is an ordinary skilled occupation eligible for the main work visa, low if the degree leads to no specific skilled occupation. Demand counts for more because, for working abroad, finding a sponsor and a visa is usually the harder part.
- The mobility score is the average across the nine countries. This is our own formula, not an official ranking, and it cannot capture an individual's marks, experience or luck. Use the Recognition and Demand views to see the two ingredients separately.
Demand lists used: UK: Immigration Salary List (Skilled Worker visa) · UK: Temporary Shortage List (Skilled Worker visa) · IE: Critical Skills Occupations List (CSOL) · IE: CSOL full list (DETE .docx download) · NL: UWV Kansrijke beroepen (only version reachable; UWV says it is out of date) · NL: IND highly skilled migrant permit (no occupation list, salary-based) · DE: Make it in Germany: Professions in demand · DE: Make it in Germany: Other professions in demand · US: DOL Schedule A, 20 CFR 656.5 (nurses, physical therapists) · US: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Occupation Finder (projected growth) · CA: Express Entry category-based selection (current categories) · AU: Jobs and Skills Australia Occupation Shortage List (national rating) · AU: Home Affairs skilled occupation list / Core Skills Occupation List · NZ: Green List, Appendix 13 of INZ immigration instructions (Tier 1 / Tier 2) · NZ: Green List roles search · AE: UAE Government portal: Golden visa categories · AE: ICP Golden Residence: priority specialists (computer engineering, electronics, programming, electricity, biotechnology, AI, big data, epidemiology)
A dash means not yet researched, not a poor outcome. Specialist careers sit under a broad field here; each has its own degree guide. Neither rating measures how hard the visa itself is: see each country page. Researched 2026-10-07; confirm with the official source before deciding.