Higher National Certificate (HNC)
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies with a requirement for HNC qualifications. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months to 27 April 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
27 Apr 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 455 700 799
Rank change year-on-year +245 +99 -98
Permanent jobs citing HNC 506 276 458
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.52% 0.26% 0.30%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.85% 0.80% 1.10%
Number of salaries quoted 258 117 154
10th Percentile £27,500 £27,750 £27,217
25th Percentile £35,000 £30,265 £31,162
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £33,000 £40,500
Median % change year-on-year +36.36% -18.52% +1.25%
75th Percentile £56,275 £44,500 £53,750
90th Percentile £68,750 £56,000 £62,629
UK excluding London median annual salary £45,000 £35,000 £40,000
% change year-on-year +28.57% -12.50% -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

HNC is in the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies with a requirement for academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 27,286 34,290 41,595
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 27.83% 32.76% 26.99%
Number of salaries quoted 17,237 15,306 18,961
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £31,000
25th Percentile £38,500 £41,750 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,000 £58,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -6.90% +5.45% -
75th Percentile £71,000 £77,500 £73,750
90th Percentile £87,500 £95,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,296 £50,000
% change year-on-year -0.59% +0.59% -

HNC
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing HNC as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for HNC in the UK

HNC
Salary Trend

3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing HNC.

Salary trend for HNC in the UK

HNC
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing HNC over the 6 months to 27 April 2024.

Salary histogram for HNC in the UK

HNC
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing HNC within the UK over the 6 months to 27 April 2024. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +295 468 £46,000 +39.39% 704
UK excluding London +186 451 £45,000 +28.57% 709
North of England +154 133 £42,500 +41.67% 178
South East +69 110 £52,550 +50.14% 193
North West +65 70 £35,000 +16.67% 92
South West +50 67 £40,000 +0.29% 91
Work from Home +79 60 £42,500 +21.43% 131
Midlands +20 60 £47,500 +20.53% 129
East of England +55 59 £38,500 +35.09% 74
Yorkshire +140 58 £52,750 +85.09% 69
London +119 37 £62,500 +89.39% 74
West Midlands +13 30 £42,500 - 86
East Midlands +7 26 £47,500 +20.53% 43
Scotland -76 13 £47,313 +27.43% 68
Wales +19 7 £45,000 - 14
North East +2 5 £41,500 +3.90% 24
Northern Ireland - 2 £34,628 - 3

HNC
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 5 (0.99%) Office Communications Server
2 4 (0.79%) Moodle
3 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.40%) WinCC
4 1 (0.20%) JBoss
4 1 (0.20%) WebSphere
Applications
1 82 (16.21%) AutoCAD
2 52 (10.28%) Microsoft Office
3 49 (9.68%) Microsoft Excel
4 30 (5.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 18 (3.56%) Revit
6 10 (1.98%) Microsoft Project
7 4 (0.79%) EPLAN
7 4 (0.79%) Solid Edge
7 4 (0.79%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.20%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.20%) Simulink
8 1 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.20%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 10 (1.98%) NEC Housing
2 6 (1.19%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 12 (2.37%) Microsoft 365
2 7 (1.38%) AWS
2 7 (1.38%) IaaS
3 6 (1.19%) Azure
3 6 (1.19%) Azure DevOps
3 6 (1.19%) PaaS
3 6 (1.19%) SaaS
4 5 (0.99%) Google Workspace
5 2 (0.40%) Dynamics 365
6 1 (0.20%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 18 (3.56%) Internet
2 13 (2.57%) Ethernet
3 11 (2.17%) LAN
4 9 (1.78%) Firewall
4 9 (1.78%) Network Security
5 5 (0.99%) OSPF
5 5 (0.99%) SMS
5 5 (0.99%) TCP/IP
5 5 (0.99%) WAN
5 5 (0.99%) Wireless
6 4 (0.79%) DHCP
6 4 (0.79%) DNS
6 4 (0.79%) Multicast
7 3 (0.59%) Remote Desktop
7 3 (0.59%) RS-232
8 2 (0.40%) DMZ
8 2 (0.40%) RS-422
8 2 (0.40%) RS-485
9 1 (0.20%) Intranet
9 1 (0.20%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (4.94%) Data Vault
2 10 (1.98%) SQL Server
3 7 (1.38%) EDMS
4 5 (0.99%) Relational Database
5 4 (0.79%) QlikView
6 2 (0.40%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Analysis Services
7 1 (0.20%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.20%) MySQL
7 1 (0.20%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.20%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.20%) Power BI
7 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Analysis Services
7 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 1 (0.20%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 14 (2.77%) Visual Studio
2 12 (2.37%) JIRA
3 6 (1.19%) Postman
3 6 (1.19%) SoapUI
4 5 (0.99%) Rational DOORS
5 4 (0.79%) Git
6 3 (0.59%) Subversion
7 2 (0.40%) Team Foundation Server
8 1 (0.20%) ClearCase
General
1 170 (33.60%) Social Skills
2 114 (22.53%) Legal
3 111 (21.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 74 (14.62%) Manufacturing
5 65 (12.85%) Finance
6 55 (10.87%) Aerospace
7 52 (10.28%) Local Government
8 48 (9.49%) Retail
9 42 (8.30%) Telecoms
10 39 (7.71%) Analytical Skills
11 35 (6.92%) Electronics
12 31 (6.13%) Publishing
13 22 (4.35%) Automotive
14 20 (3.95%) Military
15 18 (3.56%) Presentation Skills
16 15 (2.96%) Marketing
17 14 (2.77%) Law
18 12 (2.37%) Public Sector
19 11 (2.17%) Organisational Skills
20 8 (1.58%) Police
Job Titles
1 93 (18.38%) Project Manager
2 52 (10.28%) Senior
3 42 (8.30%) Coordinator
3 42 (8.30%) Technical Coordinator
3 42 (8.30%) Technical Engineer
4 41 (8.10%) Systems Engineer
5 34 (6.72%) Support Engineer
5 34 (6.72%) Technical Support
6 31 (6.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 30 (5.93%) Technical Support Engineer
8 26 (5.14%) Author
8 26 (5.14%) Technical Author
9 24 (4.74%) Technical Manager
10 20 (3.95%) Software Engineer
11 19 (3.75%) Senior Systems Engineer
12 16 (3.16%) Lead
12 16 (3.16%) Principal Engineer
13 15 (2.96%) Manufacturing Engineer
13 15 (2.96%) Quantity Surveyor
13 15 (2.96%) Technical Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (6.13%) XML
2 16 (3.16%) .NET
3 8 (1.58%) MFC
4 7 (1.38%) .NET Framework
5 6 (1.19%) .NET Core
5 6 (1.19%) ASP.NET
5 6 (1.19%) JSON
5 6 (1.19%) RESTful
5 6 (1.19%) SOAP
5 6 (1.19%) WCF
5 6 (1.19%) Web Services
5 6 (1.19%) XML Schema
6 4 (0.79%) Akka
6 4 (0.79%) DAO
7 2 (0.40%) EDI
8 1 (0.20%) Node-RED
8 1 (0.20%) Yocto
Miscellaneous
1 63 (12.45%) Management Information System
2 57 (11.26%) Housing Association
3 43 (8.50%) Driving Licence
4 34 (6.72%) Self-Motivation
5 18 (3.56%) Onboarding
6 11 (2.17%) IoT
7 10 (1.98%) Mobile App
8 8 (1.58%) Fibre Optics
8 8 (1.58%) FMCG
9 7 (1.38%) Data Structures
10 6 (1.19%) CCTV
10 6 (1.19%) Distributed Applications
11 5 (0.99%) Operational Technology
11 5 (0.99%) SCADA
12 4 (0.79%) Analogue Electronics
12 4 (0.79%) EPoS
12 4 (0.79%) Linux Command Line
12 4 (0.79%) Robotics
13 3 (0.59%) Acoustics
13 3 (0.59%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 45 (8.89%) Windows
2 23 (4.55%) Linux
2 23 (4.55%) Windows 10
3 17 (3.36%) Windows Server 2016
3 17 (3.36%) Windows Server 2019
4 16 (3.16%) Windows 7
4 16 (3.16%) Windows Server 2012
5 8 (1.58%) Windows Server
6 5 (0.99%) VMS
7 2 (0.40%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.40%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.40%) Unix
8 1 (0.20%) Debian
8 1 (0.20%) Fedora
8 1 (0.20%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 127 (25.10%) Problem-Solving
2 115 (22.73%) Agile
3 84 (16.60%) Time Management
4 83 (16.40%) Project Management
5 61 (12.06%) Mathematics
6 59 (11.66%) Continuous Improvement
7 57 (11.26%) Customer Service
8 44 (8.70%) Decision-Making
8 44 (8.70%) Project Delivery
9 38 (7.51%) Mentoring
10 35 (6.92%) Document Management
11 34 (6.72%) Cybersecurity
12 32 (6.32%) Collaborative Working
13 29 (5.73%) Software Engineering
14 28 (5.53%) ITIL
15 27 (5.34%) Computer Science
16 26 (5.14%) CAD
16 26 (5.14%) Stakeholder Management
17 25 (4.94%) Data Analysis
17 25 (4.94%) Impact Assessments
Programming Languages
1 29 (5.73%) C#
2 24 (4.74%) Python
3 21 (4.15%) SQL
4 17 (3.36%) PowerShell
5 16 (3.16%) Java
6 13 (2.57%) C
7 10 (1.98%) VB
8 8 (1.58%) Assembly Language
9 6 (1.19%) JavaScript
10 3 (0.59%) C++
10 3 (0.59%) Embedded C
10 3 (0.59%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.40%) Bash
12 1 (0.20%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 276 (54.55%) Degree
2 274 (54.15%) HND
3 56 (11.07%) Security Cleared
4 16 (3.16%) SC Cleared
5 10 (1.98%) DV Cleared
6 8 (1.58%) Chartered Engineer
7 7 (1.38%) MRICS
8 6 (1.19%) RIBA
9 5 (0.99%) Cisco Certification
9 5 (0.99%) Computer Science Degree
10 4 (0.79%) APMP
11 3 (0.59%) BPSS Clearance
12 2 (0.40%) DBS Check
12 2 (0.40%) MCSE
12 2 (0.40%) Microsoft Certification
13 1 (0.20%) CCNP
13 1 (0.20%) MCSA
13 1 (0.20%) NVQ Level 3
13 1 (0.20%) NVQ Level 4
13 1 (0.20%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (4.94%) QA
2 24 (4.74%) NEBOSH
3 12 (2.37%) SLA
4 9 (1.78%) ISO 9001
5 4 (0.79%) COSHH
5 4 (0.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 2 (0.40%) ISO 14001
6 2 (0.40%) NCSC
6 2 (0.40%) NIST
6 2 (0.40%) PMO
7 1 (0.20%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.20%) GDPR
7 1 (0.20%) ISO 13485
7 1 (0.20%) MISRA
System Software
1 22 (4.35%) Active Directory
2 19 (3.75%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (0.79%) Firmware
4 2 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.40%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 16 (3.16%) SCCM
2 8 (1.58%) Functional Safety
3 3 (0.59%) Failover Clustering
3 3 (0.59%) Microsoft Clustering
4 2 (0.40%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
4 2 (0.40%) Wonderware InTouch
5 1 (0.20%) BMC PATROL
Vendors
1 91 (17.98%) Microsoft
2 36 (7.11%) SAP
3 22 (4.35%) VMware
4 17 (3.36%) Siemens
5 14 (2.77%) NEC
6 13 (2.57%) Google
7 8 (1.58%) Allen-Bradley
7 8 (1.58%) Oracle
8 6 (1.19%) Cisco
9 5 (0.99%) Thales
10 4 (0.79%) Citrix
10 4 (0.79%) Sage
11 3 (0.59%) Apple
11 3 (0.59%) AVEVA
11 3 (0.59%) Dell
11 3 (0.59%) Epicor
11 3 (0.59%) Rockwell
12 2 (0.40%) Altera
12 2 (0.40%) EMC
12 2 (0.40%) Lattice Semiconductor