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 3 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
3 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 492 425 454
Rank change year-on-year -67 +29 -2
Contract jobs citing Cyber Essentials 153 94 70
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.33% 0.34% 0.22%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 1.84% 1.93% 1.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 107 67 38
10th Percentile £374 £325 £277
25th Percentile £433 £428 £466
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £575 £500
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +15.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £597
90th Percentile £725 £688 £636
UK median daily rate £500 £575 £511
% change year-on-year -13.04% +12.48% -2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 4 0
10th Percentile £56.28 £28.12 -
25th Percentile £58.43 £29.02 -
Median hourly rate £67.07 £32.11 -
Median % change year-on-year +108.85% - -
75th Percentile £71.00 £49.89 -
90th Percentile £75.20 £76.96 -
UK median hourly rate £67.07 £32.11 -
% change year-on-year +108.85% - -

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 8,301 4,874 4,269
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 17.84% 17.39% 13.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,188 3,178 2,486
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -3.85% -3.70%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £713 £763
UK median daily rate £509 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +1.80% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 636 235 204
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.13 £12.24
25th Percentile £17.09 £17.96 £17.18
Median hourly rate £32.40 £32.74 £34.47
Median % change year-on-year -1.04% -5.02% -12.77%
75th Percentile £65.00 £63.75 £67.50
90th Percentile £74.25 £82.90 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £32.40 £31.49 £27.50
% change year-on-year +2.87% +14.51% -22.68%

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 3 October 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 3 October 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 3 October 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 -43 75 £550 -11.58% 128
South East -33 39 £440 -16.98% 78
North of England -59 22 £450 +28.57% 62
North West -42 13 £450 +50.00% 37
Midlands -52 8 £525 +13.51% 40
Yorkshire - 8 £540 - 20
West Midlands -37 6 £550 - 27
East of England -31 3 £510 +104.82% 19
South West -40 3 £615 +75.71% 29
East Midlands -23 2 £500 +8.11% 13
North East -46 1 £500 -29.82% 7
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 14 (9.15%) SharePoint
2 6 (3.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.65%) Confluence
Applications
1 4 (2.61%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.96%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (1.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.65%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (1.31%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 72 (47.06%) Azure
2 70 (45.75%) Microsoft 365
3 48 (31.37%) Entra ID
4 13 (8.50%) Microsoft Purview
4 13 (8.50%) SaaS
5 12 (7.84%) Azure Sentinel
6 11 (7.19%) GitHub
7 9 (5.88%) AWS
8 8 (5.23%) Mimecast
8 8 (5.23%) Power Platform
9 7 (4.58%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (4.58%) GitHub Actions
9 7 (4.58%) IaaS
10 6 (3.92%) PaaS
11 5 (3.27%) Microsoft Copilot
12 4 (2.61%) Azure Logic Apps
13 3 (1.96%) Azure Event Grid
13 3 (1.96%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 3 (1.96%) Azure Monitor
13 3 (1.96%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 16 (10.46%) Firewall
2 14 (9.15%) Network Security
3 12 (7.84%) VPN
4 6 (3.92%) DNS
5 5 (3.27%) Intranet
5 5 (3.27%) WAN
6 4 (2.61%) DHCP
6 4 (2.61%) VLAN
6 4 (2.61%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (1.96%) DMZ
7 3 (1.96%) LAN
7 3 (1.96%) Wireless
8 2 (1.31%) NAS
8 2 (1.31%) Remote Desktop
8 2 (1.31%) SAN
8 2 (1.31%) SSL
8 2 (1.31%) TCP/IP
9 1 (0.65%) Cisco ISE
9 1 (0.65%) Intrusion Detection
9 1 (0.65%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.96%) Azure SQL Database
2 2 (1.31%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.65%) Data Lake
3 1 (0.65%) Data Warehouse
3 1 (0.65%) Metadata
3 1 (0.65%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 3 (1.96%) GitLab
1 3 (1.96%) Jenkins
2 2 (1.31%) JIRA
3 1 (0.65%) Git
3 1 (0.65%) MSI
3 1 (0.65%) Visual Studio
General
1 70 (45.75%) Social Skills
2 27 (17.65%) Public Sector
3 24 (15.69%) Analytical Skills
4 12 (7.84%) Finance
5 7 (4.58%) Legal
5 7 (4.58%) Local Government
6 6 (3.92%) Organisational Skills
7 5 (3.27%) Aerospace
7 5 (3.27%) Documentation Skills
8 4 (2.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 2 (1.31%) Manufacturing
9 2 (1.31%) Military
9 2 (1.31%) Telecoms
10 1 (0.65%) Automotive
10 1 (0.65%) Banking
10 1 (0.65%) Financial Institution
10 1 (0.65%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.65%) Law
10 1 (0.65%) Retail
Job Titles
1 17 (11.11%) Analyst
1 17 (11.11%) Senior
2 15 (9.80%) Architect
2 15 (9.80%) Lead
3 14 (9.15%) Security Specialist
4 13 (8.50%) Security Analyst
5 12 (7.84%) Cybersecurity Engineer
5 12 (7.84%) Security Engineer
6 11 (7.19%) Cybersecurity Specialist
6 11 (7.19%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 10 (6.54%) Consultant
8 9 (5.88%) IT Manager
9 8 (5.23%) Solutions Architect
10 7 (4.58%) Security Manager
11 6 (3.92%) Cloud Engineer
11 6 (3.92%) IT Analyst
11 6 (3.92%) IT Engineer
12 5 (3.27%) Cybersecurity Analyst
12 5 (3.27%) Governance Manager
12 5 (3.27%) IT Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (4.58%) Terraform
2 3 (1.96%) 802.1X
2 3 (1.96%) ARM Templates
3 2 (1.31%) EDI
3 2 (1.31%) Microsoft Graph
3 2 (1.31%) SAML
3 2 (1.31%) Software Packaging
4 1 (0.65%) LDAP
4 1 (0.65%) OAuth
4 1 (0.65%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 18 (11.76%) Operational Technology
2 16 (10.46%) Security Posture
3 13 (8.50%) Management Information System
3 13 (8.50%) Onboarding
4 11 (7.19%) Cyber Threat
4 11 (7.19%) Security Operations Centre
5 9 (5.88%) Cyber Defence
6 7 (4.58%) Hybrid Cloud
7 6 (3.92%) SCADA
8 5 (3.27%) Cloud Native
9 3 (1.96%) Analytical Mindset
9 3 (1.96%) BYOD
9 3 (1.96%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (1.96%) Driving Licence
10 2 (1.31%) CESG
10 2 (1.31%) Data Centre
10 2 (1.31%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (1.31%) Legacy Systems
10 2 (1.31%) NHS
11 1 (0.65%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 39 (25.49%) Windows
2 17 (11.11%) Linux
3 15 (9.80%) Windows Server
4 7 (4.58%) Unix
4 7 (4.58%) Windows 10
5 2 (1.31%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.65%) Android
6 1 (0.65%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 107 (69.93%) Cybersecurity
2 52 (33.99%) Vulnerability Management
3 37 (24.18%) Risk Management
4 36 (23.53%) SIEM
4 36 (23.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 33 (21.57%) Incident Response
6 32 (20.92%) Information Security
7 30 (19.61%) Security Operations
8 27 (17.65%) Stakeholder Management
9 26 (16.99%) RBAC
10 25 (16.34%) Security Architecture
11 24 (15.69%) Continuous Improvement
12 22 (14.38%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
12 22 (14.38%) Problem-Solving
12 22 (14.38%) Threat Intelligence
13 20 (13.07%) Project Delivery
14 19 (12.42%) Cloud Security
14 19 (12.42%) Incident Management
14 19 (12.42%) Remediation Plan
15 18 (11.76%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 21 (13.73%) PowerShell
2 7 (4.58%) Python
3 6 (3.92%) Bash
4 3 (1.96%) Bicep
4 3 (1.96%) SQL
5 1 (0.65%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 45 (29.41%) Security Cleared
2 44 (28.76%) SC Cleared
3 34 (22.22%) CISSP
4 25 (16.34%) CISM
5 17 (11.11%) Cisco Certification
6 14 (9.15%) Degree
7 11 (7.19%) (ISC)2 CCSP
7 11 (7.19%) CRISC
8 10 (6.54%) CESG Certified Professional
8 10 (6.54%) GIAC
9 9 (5.88%) Azure Certification
10 8 (5.23%) Microsoft Certification
11 7 (4.58%) DV Cleared
12 6 (3.92%) CompTIA Security+
13 5 (3.27%) CCNA
13 5 (3.27%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
13 5 (3.27%) OSCP
13 5 (3.27%) SANS
13 5 (3.27%) TOGAF Certification
14 4 (2.61%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 97 (63.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 77 (50.33%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 58 (37.91%) NIST
4 26 (16.99%) NCSC
5 23 (15.03%) GRC
6 19 (12.42%) GDPR
7 14 (9.15%) PCI DSS
8 9 (5.88%) ISO 31000
9 6 (3.92%) NIST 800
9 6 (3.92%) PMO
10 5 (3.27%) SLA
11 4 (2.61%) Def Stans
11 4 (2.61%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 3 (1.96%) Government Security Classifications
12 3 (1.96%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 2 (1.31%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (1.31%) COBIT
13 2 (1.31%) IASME
14 1 (0.65%) Data Quality
14 1 (0.65%) JSP 440
System Software
1 37 (24.18%) Active Directory
2 11 (7.19%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (2.61%) Docker
3 4 (2.61%) Hyper-V
4 3 (1.96%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (1.31%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (1.31%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (1.31%) vSphere
6 1 (0.65%) Firmware
6 1 (0.65%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 21 (13.73%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (7.84%) Kubernetes
3 6 (3.92%) Ansible
3 6 (3.92%) SCCM
4 3 (1.96%) FortiGate
4 3 (1.96%) Nessus
4 3 (1.96%) Podman
4 3 (1.96%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (1.96%) vCenter Server
5 2 (1.31%) QRadar
Vendors
1 82 (53.59%) Microsoft
2 16 (10.46%) ServiceNow
3 15 (9.80%) VMware
4 13 (8.50%) Cisco
5 7 (4.58%) CrowdStrike
5 7 (4.58%) Tenable
6 5 (3.27%) CyberArk
6 5 (3.27%) Netskope
6 5 (3.27%) Zscaler
7 4 (2.61%) Fortinet
7 4 (2.61%) Splunk
8 3 (1.96%) Atlassian
8 3 (1.96%) Citrix
8 3 (1.96%) Palo Alto
8 3 (1.96%) Qualys
8 3 (1.96%) Rapid7
9 2 (1.31%) F5
9 2 (1.31%) Google
9 2 (1.31%) Oracle
9 2 (1.31%) Sophos
369 Cyber Essentials jobs in England