The number of tech vacancies is now 42 per cent higher than it was before the pandemic, with one in eight jobs in the UK now defined as being in the tech sector.

That's according to a report from the Digital Economy Council and Tech Nation, the government-backed industry lobby group.

The main issue in this sector is the skills gap, with the UK's tech sector being hit particularly hard by the disparity between demand for skilled workers and available talent in the UK.

That's why the sector is looking overseas to recruit. The skilled worker list on the government website lists a large number of IT vacancies.

The opportunities to build a successful career in the UK for overseas workers are increasing, with reports of 46 per cent of tech workers in the UK coming from overseas, mostly settling in the South-East and London.

Jobs on the skilled workers' list include:

• IT specialist jobs

• IT project and programme managers

• IT business analysts

• Programme development professionals

• Web designers and development professionals

• IT telecoms professionals

To come to the UK on this type of visa, workers need to satisfy a certain number of requirements, including speaking, reading, writing and understanding English to a certain level by passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT).

Andy Harrison of LanguageCert, which offers an exam to test the four skills, said: "Our goal is to help people get the right English language qualifications to help them start their new lives in the UK and help the UK tech sector go from strength to strength, with highly skilled workers who will help fill the skills gap in the IT sector."