Cyber Essentials Contract Job Trends in England

Cyber Essentials
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Cyber Essentials skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 427 403 482
Rank change year-on-year -24 +79 +86
Contract jobs citing Cyber Essentials 127 74 77
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.37% 0.29% 0.20%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.14% 1.95% 1.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 92 34 48
10th Percentile £334 £316 £393
25th Percentile £455 £369 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £554 £575
Median % change year-on-year -5.19% -3.70% +21.05%
75th Percentile £575 £630 £638
90th Percentile £650 £638 £654
UK median daily rate £525 £550 £550
% change year-on-year -4.55% - +7.21%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 4 9
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - £68.80 £42.25
Median hourly rate £36.00 £78.40 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -54.08% +76.18% -
75th Percentile £79.31 £83.20 £46.75
90th Percentile £94.38 - £47.20
UK median hourly rate £58.00 £83.20 £44.50
% change year-on-year -30.29% +86.97% -

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
England

Cyber Essentials falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 5,937 3,787 5,446
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 17.31% 14.77% 14.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,843 2,237 3,580
10th Percentile £325 £263 £313
25th Percentile £413 £375 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -
75th Percentile £611 £638 £638
90th Percentile £700 £738 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 336 147 308
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.88 £12.00
25th Percentile £18.21 £20.10 £14.50
Median hourly rate £23.60 £30.00 £25.81
Median % change year-on-year -21.35% +16.23% -26.26%
75th Percentile £61.25 £65.00 £50.19
90th Percentile £69.06 £75.00 £73.05
UK median hourly rate £25.77 £27.35 £25.00
% change year-on-year -5.78% +9.40% -23.08%

Cyber Essentials
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Cyber Essentials relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Cyber Essentials job vacancy trend in England

Cyber Essentials
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Essentials.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cyber Essentials in England over the 6 months to 17 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Cyber Essentials in England

Cyber Essentials
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Essentials.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Cyber Essentials in England over the 6 months to 17 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Cyber Essentials in England

Cyber Essentials
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Cyber Essentials within the England region over the 6 months to 17 February 2026. 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London -9 48 £535 +15.68% 30
South East -20 24 £480 -23.20% 50
East of England -11 19 £553 +10.60% 12
North of England -50 14 £540 -10.00% 35
South West -15 10 £500 -16.67% 23
Midlands -60 8 £463 +42.31% 25
North West -23 7 £540 -10.00% 21
Yorkshire -46 7 £504 -16.05% 9
West Midlands -50 5 £540 +66.15% 15
East Midlands -26 3 £463 +42.31% 10
Cyber Essentials
UK

Cyber Essentials
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 6 (4.72%) Microsoft Exchange
1 6 (4.72%) SharePoint
2 3 (2.36%) Confluence
Applications
1 5 (3.94%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.79%) AutoCAD
2 1 (0.79%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.79%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 55 (43.31%) Azure
2 31 (24.41%) AWS
2 31 (24.41%) Microsoft 365
3 26 (20.47%) Entra ID
4 21 (16.54%) Microsoft Purview
5 15 (11.81%) Amazon GuardDuty
6 13 (10.24%) Azure Sentinel
7 11 (8.66%) AWS Control Tower
8 9 (7.09%) Mimecast
8 9 (7.09%) SaaS
9 8 (6.30%) AWS CloudFormation
9 8 (6.30%) IaaS
9 8 (6.30%) PaaS
10 7 (5.51%) AWS CloudTrail
11 6 (4.72%) AWS KMS
11 6 (4.72%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 5 (3.94%) Amazon EKS
12 5 (3.94%) Azure AKS
13 3 (2.36%) OCI
14 2 (1.57%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 23 (18.11%) Firewall
2 22 (17.32%) Network Security
3 18 (14.17%) VPN
4 8 (6.30%) DNS
5 7 (5.51%) DHCP
6 4 (3.15%) BGP
6 4 (3.15%) Cisco ASA
6 4 (3.15%) Cisco IOS
6 4 (3.15%) MPLS
6 4 (3.15%) TACACS
7 3 (2.36%) VLAN
8 2 (1.57%) LAN
8 2 (1.57%) Wi-Fi
8 2 (1.57%) Wireless
9 1 (0.79%) HTTP
9 1 (0.79%) SAN
9 1 (0.79%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.57%) DynamoDB
2 1 (0.79%) Amazon RDS
2 1 (0.79%) Metadata
2 1 (0.79%) MongoDB
2 1 (0.79%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 2 (1.57%) Jenkins
1 2 (1.57%) JIRA
General
1 48 (37.80%) Social Skills
2 20 (15.75%) Public Sector
3 19 (14.96%) Finance
4 8 (6.30%) Organisational Skills
4 8 (6.30%) Presentation Skills
5 6 (4.72%) Aerospace
6 5 (3.94%) Influencing Skills
6 5 (3.94%) Legal
7 4 (3.15%) Analytical Skills
7 4 (3.15%) Aviation
7 4 (3.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 1 (0.79%) Digital Health
8 1 (0.79%) Documentation Skills
8 1 (0.79%) Electronics
8 1 (0.79%) Local Government
8 1 (0.79%) Manufacturing
8 1 (0.79%) Marketing
8 1 (0.79%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 23 (18.11%) Security Engineer
2 21 (16.54%) Architect
3 19 (14.96%) Senior
4 15 (11.81%) Analyst
5 10 (7.87%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 9 (7.09%) Cybersecurity Engineer
6 9 (7.09%) Security Analyst
7 8 (6.30%) Lead
7 8 (6.30%) Security Architect
8 7 (5.51%) Consultant
8 7 (5.51%) Security Manager
9 6 (4.72%) Cloud Architect
9 6 (4.72%) Cybersecurity Architect
9 6 (4.72%) DevSecOps Engineer
9 6 (4.72%) Project Manager
9 6 (4.72%) Solutions Architect
10 5 (3.94%) 3rd Line Support
10 5 (3.94%) Infrastructure Security Engineer
10 5 (3.94%) Lead Architect
10 5 (3.94%) Security Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (6.30%) LDAP
2 5 (3.94%) OAuth
3 4 (3.15%) OpenID
3 4 (3.15%) SAML
4 3 (2.36%) Oracle Fusion
5 2 (1.57%) ARM Templates
5 2 (1.57%) AWS CDK
5 2 (1.57%) Node.js
6 1 (0.79%) .NET
6 1 (0.79%) React
6 1 (0.79%) Software Packaging
6 1 (0.79%) STL
6 1 (0.79%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 15 (11.81%) Onboarding
2 14 (11.02%) Security Posture
3 13 (10.24%) Cyber Threat
4 9 (7.09%) Operational Technology
5 7 (5.51%) Cloud Native
5 7 (5.51%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 7 (5.51%) NHS
6 6 (4.72%) SCADA
6 6 (4.72%) Security Operations Centre
7 4 (3.15%) Cloud Security Posture
7 4 (3.15%) Driving Licence
7 4 (3.15%) PKI
8 3 (2.36%) Data Centre
9 2 (1.57%) Cyber Defence
9 2 (1.57%) Cybercrime
9 2 (1.57%) Mobile App
10 1 (0.79%) Analytical Mindset
10 1 (0.79%) Greenfield Project
10 1 (0.79%) Management Information System
10 1 (0.79%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 19 (14.96%) Linux
2 15 (11.81%) Windows
3 10 (7.87%) Windows Server
4 6 (4.72%) Ubuntu
5 2 (1.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 2 (1.57%) Windows 10
5 2 (1.57%) Windows Server 2012
6 1 (0.79%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 63 (49.61%) Cybersecurity
2 30 (23.62%) Data Loss Prevention
3 25 (19.69%) Cloud Security
4 22 (17.32%) Migration
5 21 (16.54%) Incident Response
5 21 (16.54%) Information Security
6 19 (14.96%) Security Operations
7 18 (14.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 18 (14.17%) Threat Detection
8 17 (13.39%) Zero Trust
9 16 (12.60%) ITIL
9 16 (12.60%) Risk Management
9 16 (12.60%) SIEM
10 15 (11.81%) ITSM
11 14 (11.02%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 14 (11.02%) Roadmaps
12 13 (10.24%) Continuous Improvement
12 13 (10.24%) Threat Modelling
12 13 (10.24%) TOGAF
13 12 (9.45%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 15 (11.81%) PowerShell
2 9 (7.09%) Kusto Query Language
2 9 (7.09%) Python
3 4 (3.15%) PHP
4 3 (2.36%) Bash
4 3 (2.36%) SQL
5 2 (1.57%) Bicep
6 1 (0.79%) C#
6 1 (0.79%) Go
6 1 (0.79%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.79%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 37 (29.13%) Security Cleared
2 33 (25.98%) SC Cleared
3 21 (16.54%) CISSP
4 16 (12.60%) Degree
5 14 (11.02%) CISM
6 8 (6.30%) CompTIA Security+
7 7 (5.51%) AWS Certification
8 6 (4.72%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 6 (4.72%) DV Cleared
8 6 (4.72%) Microsoft Certification
9 4 (3.15%) APMG
9 4 (3.15%) Azure Certification
9 4 (3.15%) Cisco Certification
9 4 (3.15%) GIAC
9 4 (3.15%) SSCP
10 3 (2.36%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (2.36%) GSEC
10 3 (2.36%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
11 2 (1.57%) CISMP
11 2 (1.57%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 75 (59.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 56 (44.09%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 44 (34.65%) NIST
4 33 (25.98%) GDPR
5 23 (18.11%) NCSC
6 9 (7.09%) GRC
7 7 (5.51%) PCI DSS
8 5 (3.94%) Def Stans
9 4 (3.15%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 3 (2.36%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 3 (2.36%) SLA
11 2 (1.57%) IASME
11 2 (1.57%) ISO 22301
11 2 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 2 (1.57%) NIST 800
11 2 (1.57%) SOC 2
12 1 (0.79%) ISO 31000
12 1 (0.79%) JSP 440
System Software
1 12 (9.45%) Active Directory
2 8 (6.30%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (4.72%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (3.94%) VMware ESXi
5 4 (3.15%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (1.57%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.79%) Firmware
7 1 (0.79%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 20 (15.75%) Microsoft Intune
2 10 (7.87%) Terraform
3 9 (7.09%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (4.72%) AirWatch
4 6 (4.72%) Kubernetes
5 4 (3.15%) PingFederate
5 4 (3.15%) vCenter Server
6 3 (2.36%) SCCM
6 3 (2.36%) SCOM
7 2 (1.57%) Ansible
7 2 (1.57%) Nessus
8 1 (0.79%) CASB
8 1 (0.79%) CSIRT
8 1 (0.79%) Grafana
8 1 (0.79%) QRadar
8 1 (0.79%) WSUS
Vendors
1 52 (40.94%) Microsoft
2 19 (14.96%) Cisco
3 16 (12.60%) VMware
4 10 (7.87%) CrowdStrike
5 9 (7.09%) CyberArk
6 8 (6.30%) ServiceNow
7 7 (5.51%) Netskope
7 7 (5.51%) Palo Alto
8 6 (4.72%) Citrix
8 6 (4.72%) CloudEndure
8 6 (4.72%) Tenable
9 5 (3.94%) Barracuda Networks
10 4 (3.15%) CheckPoint
10 4 (3.15%) Fortinet
10 4 (3.15%) Ping Identity
11 3 (2.36%) Computacenter
11 3 (2.36%) Oracle
11 3 (2.36%) Splunk
12 2 (1.57%) LogRhythm
12 2 (1.57%) Qualys