Clearly you haven't seen the now 11-page thread.
Here's a link off the Border and Immigration Agency's web site:
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... oughertest
And this is the specific quote:
Jacqui Smith announced three significant changes to support British workers and to be more selective about the migrants coming to the United Kingdom from outside the EEA. From
1 April the Government will:
[...]
- tighten new criteria against which highly skilled migrants seeking entry to the United Kingdom are judged, by raising the qualifications and salary required for tier 1 (General) of the PBS to a Master's degree and a minimum salary of £20,000.
(Emphases mine.)
So yes, it's quite official, not just rumour.
(In practice, I suspect they will just not award enough points for an applicant to be able to make a successful application in the absence of a postgraduate-level degree unless age, previous earnings and UK experience are
all in the applicant's favour, and maybe not even then.)