Urgent Skilled Worker advice needed before Graduate visa expires

[Bunmi763]

My Graduate visa expires on 1 October 2026, and I urgently need advice about switching to the Skilled Worker route.

I have worked since March 2025 as a Senior Accountant/Budget Analyst, earning over £50000. I hold a BSc in Economics and an MSc in Business Analytics with Distinction. I am an ACCA student but not yet professionally qualified.

My employer previously intended to sponsor me but now says SOC 2421 cannot be used because I am not a chartered/certified accountant. It considers my role to fall under medium-skilled SOC 3533. Because new medium-skilled workers generally cannot bring dependants, my employer says it cannot sponsor me under its family policy.

However, my role was originally advertised as Budget Analyst. My duties include managing a large budget portfolio, forecasting, financial modelling, variance and performance analysis, management reporting, Power BI dashboards, business partnering, project cash-flow analysis and advising senior stakeholders.

An independent solicitor suggested that the role might fit a higher-skilled analytical code such as SOC 2422 if the job description accurately reflects my substantive duties.

Could you please advise:

1. Does SOC 2421 expressly require completed professional accountancy certification?
2. Could my genuine duties properly fit SOC 2422, SOC 2431 or another higher-skilled code?
3. Can my employer update the job description to reflect the work I already perform?
4. Can my husband and one-year-old daughter remain as dependants under any available route?
5. What other in-country options could preserve my residence and right to work before 1 October?