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 24 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 419 408 480
Rank change year-on-year -11 +72 +83
Contract jobs citing Cyber Essentials 133 70 75
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.38% 0.28% 0.20%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.18% 1.85% 1.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 97 33 48
10th Percentile £350 £315 £321
25th Percentile £463 £350 £455
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year - - +7.69%
75th Percentile £580 £630 £638
90th Percentile £675 £638 £654
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £533
% change year-on-year - -1.55% +3.54%
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 6,095 3,776 5,395
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 17.42% 14.88% 14.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,944 2,268 3,521
10th Percentile £331 £263 £313
25th Percentile £413 £375 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £607 £638 £638
90th Percentile £700 £738 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £523
% change year-on-year - -4.31% -0.48%
Number of hourly rates quoted 349 147 323
10th Percentile £15.54 £15.50 £12.28
25th Percentile £18.25 £21.25 £14.52
Median hourly rate £25.50 £31.76 £26.24
Median % change year-on-year -19.71% +21.04% -25.03%
75th Percentile £63.75 £65.00 £48.75
90th Percentile £70.50 £76.34 £71.62
UK median hourly rate £26.11 £30.11 £25.06
% change year-on-year -13.27% +20.14% -22.90%

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 24 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 24 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 24 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 -20 51 £535 +15.68% 27
South East -21 28 £518 -17.20% 42
East of England -8 19 £553 +10.60% 10
North of England -55 14 £540 -10.00% 33
South West -13 10 £500 -16.67% 18
North West -26 7 £540 - 19
Yorkshire -49 7 £504 -16.05% 10
Midlands -63 7 £463 +42.31% 19
West Midlands -57 5 £540 +66.15% 13
East Midlands -33 2 £400 +23.08% 6
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 (4.51%) Microsoft Exchange
1 6 (4.51%) SharePoint
2 3 (2.26%) Confluence
Applications
1 5 (3.76%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.75%) AutoCAD
2 1 (0.75%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.75%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 57 (42.86%) Azure
2 34 (25.56%) Microsoft 365
3 31 (23.31%) AWS
4 25 (18.80%) Entra ID
5 22 (16.54%) Microsoft Purview
6 15 (11.28%) Amazon GuardDuty
7 11 (8.27%) AWS Control Tower
7 11 (8.27%) Azure Sentinel
8 10 (7.52%) Mimecast
9 9 (6.77%) IaaS
9 9 (6.77%) PaaS
9 9 (6.77%) SaaS
10 8 (6.02%) AWS CloudFormation
11 7 (5.26%) AWS CloudTrail
12 6 (4.51%) AWS KMS
12 6 (4.51%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 5 (3.76%) Amazon EKS
13 5 (3.76%) Azure AKS
14 3 (2.26%) OCI
15 2 (1.50%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 25 (18.80%) Firewall
2 22 (16.54%) Network Security
3 20 (15.04%) VPN
4 8 (6.02%) DNS
5 7 (5.26%) DHCP
6 4 (3.01%) BGP
6 4 (3.01%) Cisco ASA
6 4 (3.01%) Cisco IOS
6 4 (3.01%) MPLS
6 4 (3.01%) TACACS
6 4 (3.01%) Wireless
7 3 (2.26%) VLAN
8 2 (1.50%) LAN
8 2 (1.50%) VSAN
8 2 (1.50%) Wi-Fi
9 1 (0.75%) HTTP
9 1 (0.75%) SAN
9 1 (0.75%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.50%) DynamoDB
2 1 (0.75%) Amazon RDS
2 1 (0.75%) Metadata
2 1 (0.75%) MongoDB
2 1 (0.75%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 2 (1.50%) Jenkins
1 2 (1.50%) JIRA
General
1 49 (36.84%) Social Skills
2 20 (15.04%) Finance
3 19 (14.29%) Public Sector
4 8 (6.02%) Organisational Skills
4 8 (6.02%) Presentation Skills
5 6 (4.51%) Aerospace
6 5 (3.76%) Influencing Skills
6 5 (3.76%) Legal
7 4 (3.01%) Analytical Skills
7 4 (3.01%) Aviation
7 4 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 1 (0.75%) Digital Health
8 1 (0.75%) Documentation Skills
8 1 (0.75%) Electronics
8 1 (0.75%) Manufacturing
8 1 (0.75%) Marketing
8 1 (0.75%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 26 (19.55%) Architect
2 23 (17.29%) Security Engineer
3 20 (15.04%) Senior
4 15 (11.28%) Analyst
5 10 (7.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 9 (6.77%) Cybersecurity Engineer
6 9 (6.77%) Security Analyst
7 8 (6.02%) Security Architect
8 7 (5.26%) Consultant
8 7 (5.26%) Lead
8 7 (5.26%) Solutions Architect
8 7 (5.26%) Technical Architect
9 6 (4.51%) Cloud Architect
9 6 (4.51%) Cybersecurity Architect
9 6 (4.51%) DevSecOps Engineer
9 6 (4.51%) Project Manager
9 6 (4.51%) Security Manager
10 5 (3.76%) Information Security Analyst
10 5 (3.76%) Lead Architect
10 5 (3.76%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (6.02%) LDAP
2 5 (3.76%) OAuth
3 4 (3.01%) OpenID
3 4 (3.01%) SAML
4 3 (2.26%) Oracle Fusion
5 2 (1.50%) ARM Templates
5 2 (1.50%) AWS CDK
5 2 (1.50%) Node.js
6 1 (0.75%) .NET
6 1 (0.75%) React
6 1 (0.75%) Software Packaging
6 1 (0.75%) STL
6 1 (0.75%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 15 (11.28%) Onboarding
2 14 (10.53%) Security Posture
3 13 (9.77%) Cyber Threat
4 10 (7.52%) Operational Technology
5 7 (5.26%) Cloud Native
5 7 (5.26%) Cyber Kill Chain
5 7 (5.26%) NHS
6 6 (4.51%) PKI
6 6 (4.51%) SCADA
6 6 (4.51%) Security Operations Centre
7 5 (3.76%) Hybrid Cloud
8 4 (3.01%) Cloud Security Posture
8 4 (3.01%) Driving Licence
9 3 (2.26%) Data Centre
9 3 (2.26%) Public Cloud
10 2 (1.50%) BYOD
10 2 (1.50%) Cyber Defence
10 2 (1.50%) Cybercrime
10 2 (1.50%) Mobile App
11 1 (0.75%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 21 (15.79%) Linux
2 15 (11.28%) Windows
3 10 (7.52%) Windows Server
4 6 (4.51%) Ubuntu
5 2 (1.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 2 (1.50%) Windows 10
5 2 (1.50%) Windows Server 2012
6 1 (0.75%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (48.87%) Cybersecurity
2 31 (23.31%) Data Loss Prevention
3 24 (18.05%) Cloud Security
3 24 (18.05%) Migration
4 22 (16.54%) Information Security
5 20 (15.04%) Incident Response
6 18 (13.53%) Security Operations
6 18 (13.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 18 (13.53%) Threat Detection
6 18 (13.53%) Zero Trust
7 17 (12.78%) ITIL
8 16 (12.03%) Risk Management
8 16 (12.03%) Roadmaps
8 16 (12.03%) TOGAF
9 15 (11.28%) ITSM
10 14 (10.53%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 14 (10.53%) SIEM
11 13 (9.77%) Continuous Improvement
11 13 (9.77%) Threat Modelling
12 12 (9.02%) Security Architecture
Programming Languages
1 15 (11.28%) PowerShell
2 9 (6.77%) Kusto Query Language
2 9 (6.77%) Python
3 4 (3.01%) PHP
4 3 (2.26%) Bash
4 3 (2.26%) SQL
5 2 (1.50%) Bicep
6 1 (0.75%) C#
6 1 (0.75%) Go
6 1 (0.75%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.75%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 41 (30.83%) Security Cleared
2 37 (27.82%) SC Cleared
3 20 (15.04%) CISSP
4 15 (11.28%) Degree
5 13 (9.77%) CISM
6 8 (6.02%) CompTIA Security+
7 7 (5.26%) AWS Certification
7 7 (5.26%) DV Cleared
8 6 (4.51%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 6 (4.51%) Microsoft Certification
9 5 (3.76%) Azure Certification
10 4 (3.01%) APMG
10 4 (3.01%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (3.01%) GIAC
10 4 (3.01%) SSCP
10 4 (3.01%) TOGAF Certification
11 3 (2.26%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (2.26%) GSEC
12 2 (1.50%) CCNA
12 2 (1.50%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 75 (56.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 56 (42.11%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 49 (36.84%) NIST
4 34 (25.56%) GDPR
5 27 (20.30%) NCSC
6 9 (6.77%) GRC
7 7 (5.26%) PCI DSS
8 5 (3.76%) Def Stans
9 4 (3.01%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 3 (2.26%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 3 (2.26%) SLA
11 2 (1.50%) IASME
11 2 (1.50%) ISO 22301
11 2 (1.50%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 2 (1.50%) NIST 800
11 2 (1.50%) SOC 2
12 1 (0.75%) ISO 31000
12 1 (0.75%) JSP 440
System Software
1 12 (9.02%) Active Directory
2 9 (6.77%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (4.51%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (3.76%) VMware ESXi
5 4 (3.01%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (1.50%) Hyper-V
6 2 (1.50%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.75%) Firmware
7 1 (0.75%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 20 (15.04%) Microsoft Intune
2 10 (7.52%) Terraform
3 9 (6.77%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (5.26%) AirWatch
5 6 (4.51%) Kubernetes
6 4 (3.01%) PingFederate
6 4 (3.01%) vCenter Server
7 3 (2.26%) SCCM
7 3 (2.26%) SCOM
8 2 (1.50%) Ansible
8 2 (1.50%) Nessus
9 1 (0.75%) CASB
9 1 (0.75%) Grafana
9 1 (0.75%) WSUS
Vendors
1 54 (40.60%) Microsoft
2 21 (15.79%) Cisco
3 18 (13.53%) VMware
4 11 (8.27%) CrowdStrike
5 10 (7.52%) CyberArk
6 9 (6.77%) Palo Alto
7 8 (6.02%) Netskope
7 8 (6.02%) ServiceNow
8 6 (4.51%) Citrix
8 6 (4.51%) CloudEndure
8 6 (4.51%) Tenable
9 5 (3.76%) Barracuda Networks
10 4 (3.01%) CheckPoint
10 4 (3.01%) Ping Identity
11 3 (2.26%) Computacenter
11 3 (2.26%) Fortinet
11 3 (2.26%) Oracle
12 2 (1.50%) Qualys
12 2 (1.50%) Sophos
12 2 (1.50%) Splunk