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

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 473 435 475
Rank change year-on-year -38 +40 +43
Contract jobs citing Cyber Essentials 145 72 66
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.32% 0.26% 0.19%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 1.87% 1.55% 1.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 102 49 46
10th Percentile £427 £309 £225
25th Percentile £463 £425 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £575 £515
Median % change year-on-year -6.09% +11.65% -8.44%
75th Percentile £595 £650 £609
90th Percentile £710 £688 £683
UK median daily rate £540 £600 £525
% change year-on-year -10.00% +14.29% -3.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 3 0
10th Percentile £54.12 £27.93 -
25th Percentile £58.43 £28.52 -
Median hourly rate £63.14 £31.49 -
Median % change year-on-year +100.49% - -
75th Percentile £67.84 £34.16 -
90th Percentile - £34.58 -
UK median hourly rate £63.14 £31.49 -
% change year-on-year +100.49% - -

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 7,769 4,637 4,759
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 17.28% 16.95% 13.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,987 3,031 2,987
10th Percentile £345 £281 £300
25th Percentile £413 £400 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.90% -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £610 £623 £638
90th Percentile £713 £725 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 516 212 318
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.12 £11.03
25th Percentile £19.50 £18.50 £14.00
Median hourly rate £38.72 £31.64 £26.16
Median % change year-on-year +22.38% +20.94% -38.44%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £82.25 £85.70 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £40.00 £28.18 £25.00
% change year-on-year +41.94% +12.72% -35.42%

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 July 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
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 July 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 68 £564 -9.83% 52
South East -31 42 £525 -4.55% 41
North of England -59 14 £540 -6.09% 29
Midlands -48 10 £540 -16.92% 21
West Midlands -54 9 £540 - 10
Yorkshire -39 8 £540 -6.09% 9
South West -40 8 £538 +53.57% 13
North West -43 5 £540 +87.83% 18
East Midlands -14 1 - - 11
East of England -24 1 £400 +60.64% 6
North East -36 1 £500 -29.82% 2
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 19 (13.10%) SharePoint
2 6 (4.14%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (2.07%) Confluence
4 1 (0.69%) Anypoint
Applications
1 7 (4.83%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (2.76%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (1.38%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 67 (46.21%) Azure
2 61 (42.07%) Microsoft 365
3 32 (22.07%) Entra ID
4 23 (15.86%) Microsoft Purview
5 14 (9.66%) Mimecast
6 12 (8.28%) SaaS
7 9 (6.21%) Azure Sentinel
8 8 (5.52%) IaaS
8 8 (5.52%) PaaS
9 7 (4.83%) AWS
9 7 (4.83%) GitHub
10 4 (2.76%) Azure Logic Apps
11 3 (2.07%) Azure DevOps
11 3 (2.07%) Azure Event Grid
11 3 (2.07%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 3 (2.07%) Azure Monitor
11 3 (2.07%) Azure Service Bus
11 3 (2.07%) GitHub Actions
11 3 (2.07%) Serverless
12 2 (1.38%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 20 (13.79%) Firewall
2 14 (9.66%) VPN
3 13 (8.97%) Network Security
4 5 (3.45%) VSAN
5 4 (2.76%) Wi-Fi
5 4 (2.76%) Wireless
6 3 (2.07%) BGP
6 3 (2.07%) Cisco ASA
6 3 (2.07%) Cisco IOS
6 3 (2.07%) DHCP
6 3 (2.07%) DMZ
6 3 (2.07%) DNS
6 3 (2.07%) LAN
6 3 (2.07%) MPLS
6 3 (2.07%) TACACS
6 3 (2.07%) VLAN
7 2 (1.38%) NAS
7 2 (1.38%) SAN
7 2 (1.38%) SSL
7 2 (1.38%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (2.07%) Azure SQL Database
1 3 (2.07%) Metadata
2 1 (0.69%) Data Lake
2 1 (0.69%) Data Warehouse
2 1 (0.69%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 1 (0.69%) MSI
General
1 68 (46.90%) Social Skills
2 29 (20.00%) Public Sector
3 17 (11.72%) Finance
4 14 (9.66%) Analytical Skills
5 8 (5.52%) Local Government
6 7 (4.83%) Organisational Skills
7 6 (4.14%) Legal
8 5 (3.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (2.07%) Influencing Skills
10 2 (1.38%) Aerospace
10 2 (1.38%) Documentation Skills
10 2 (1.38%) Telecoms
11 1 (0.69%) Financial Institution
11 1 (0.69%) Law
11 1 (0.69%) Manufacturing
11 1 (0.69%) Military
Job Titles
1 21 (14.48%) Security Engineer
2 19 (13.10%) Architect
3 15 (10.34%) Security Specialist
4 14 (9.66%) Cybersecurity Specialist
5 13 (8.97%) Cybersecurity Engineer
5 13 (8.97%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 13 (8.97%) Senior
6 12 (8.28%) Analyst
7 11 (7.59%) Lead
8 10 (6.90%) Security Analyst
9 9 (6.21%) Security Manager
10 7 (4.83%) Solutions Architect
11 6 (4.14%) Cybersecurity Manager
11 6 (4.14%) IT Engineer
11 6 (4.14%) Project Manager
11 6 (4.14%) Security Architect
11 6 (4.14%) Senior Architect
11 6 (4.14%) Technical Architect
12 5 (3.45%) Governance Manager
12 5 (3.45%) Information Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (2.07%) 802.1X
1 3 (2.07%) LDAP
1 3 (2.07%) OAuth
2 2 (1.38%) EDI
2 2 (1.38%) Microsoft Graph
3 1 (0.69%) JSON
3 1 (0.69%) JWT
3 1 (0.69%) Middleware
3 1 (0.69%) OAuth2
3 1 (0.69%) OpenAPI
3 1 (0.69%) OpenID
3 1 (0.69%) RAML
3 1 (0.69%) RESTful
3 1 (0.69%) SAML
3 1 (0.69%) STL
3 1 (0.69%) Swagger
3 1 (0.69%) XML
3 1 (0.69%) XML Schema
Miscellaneous
1 14 (9.66%) Onboarding
1 14 (9.66%) Operational Technology
2 12 (8.28%) Hybrid Cloud
3 8 (5.52%) PKI
3 8 (5.52%) Security Operations Centre
4 7 (4.83%) BYOD
4 7 (4.83%) Cyber Defence
4 7 (4.83%) Management Information System
4 7 (4.83%) Security Posture
5 6 (4.14%) Cloud Native
5 6 (4.14%) SCADA
6 5 (3.45%) Analytical Mindset
6 5 (3.45%) Public Cloud
7 3 (2.07%) Cyber Threat
7 3 (2.07%) Driving Licence
7 3 (2.07%) Taxonomies
8 2 (1.38%) CESG
8 2 (1.38%) Data Centre
8 2 (1.38%) Data Protection Act
8 2 (1.38%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 27 (18.62%) Windows
2 22 (15.17%) Linux
3 12 (8.28%) Windows Server
4 7 (4.83%) Unix
5 5 (3.45%) Ubuntu
6 4 (2.76%) Windows 10
7 2 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (1.38%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (1.38%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.69%) Android
8 1 (0.69%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (65.52%) Cybersecurity
2 33 (22.76%) Information Security
2 33 (22.76%) Vulnerability Management
3 31 (21.38%) Risk Management
3 31 (21.38%) SIEM
4 30 (20.69%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 27 (18.62%) Data Loss Prevention
6 23 (15.86%) Incident Response
7 22 (15.17%) CI/CD
8 20 (13.79%) Security Operations
9 19 (13.10%) ITSM
9 19 (13.10%) Risk Register
10 18 (12.41%) Security Architecture
11 17 (11.72%) RBAC
11 17 (11.72%) Risk Assessment
12 15 (10.34%) Change Control
12 15 (10.34%) Containerisation
12 15 (10.34%) Continuous Improvement
12 15 (10.34%) Roadmaps
12 15 (10.34%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 13 (8.97%) PowerShell
2 7 (4.83%) Python
3 6 (4.14%) Bash
4 5 (3.45%) SQL
5 3 (2.07%) PHP
6 1 (0.69%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 43 (29.66%) Security Cleared
2 41 (28.28%) SC Cleared
3 26 (17.93%) CISSP
4 19 (13.10%) CISM
5 14 (9.66%) Cisco Certification
6 13 (8.97%) Degree
6 13 (8.97%) DV Cleared
7 10 (6.90%) CESG Certified Professional
8 9 (6.21%) GIAC
9 8 (5.52%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 7 (4.83%) CRISC
10 7 (4.83%) SSCP
11 6 (4.14%) GSEC
12 5 (3.45%) Azure Certification
12 5 (3.45%) CCNA
12 5 (3.45%) CompTIA Security+
12 5 (3.45%) SANS
13 4 (2.76%) MCSE
13 4 (2.76%) Microsoft Certification
13 4 (2.76%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 91 (62.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 65 (44.83%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 54 (37.24%) NIST
4 34 (23.45%) NCSC
5 29 (20.00%) GDPR
6 19 (13.10%) GRC
6 19 (13.10%) PCI DSS
7 12 (8.28%) ISO 31000
8 10 (6.90%) NIST 800
9 7 (4.83%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 6 (4.14%) IASME
10 6 (4.14%) SLA
11 4 (2.76%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 4 (2.76%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 3 (2.07%) Government Security Classifications
12 3 (2.07%) ISO 22301
13 2 (1.38%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (1.38%) COBIT
13 2 (1.38%) Def Stans
14 1 (0.69%) JSP 440
System Software
1 25 (17.24%) Active Directory
2 16 (11.03%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (4.14%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (3.45%) VMware NSX
5 4 (2.76%) Docker
5 4 (2.76%) Hyper-V
6 2 (1.38%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (1.38%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 19 (13.10%) Microsoft Intune
2 14 (9.66%) Kubernetes
3 6 (4.14%) vCenter Server
4 5 (3.45%) Nessus
4 5 (3.45%) Terraform
5 4 (2.76%) Ansible
5 4 (2.76%) Podman
5 4 (2.76%) Single Sign-On
6 3 (2.07%) AirWatch
6 3 (2.07%) FortiGate
6 3 (2.07%) SCCM
7 2 (1.38%) QRadar
7 2 (1.38%) SCOM
8 1 (0.69%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 76 (52.41%) Microsoft
2 24 (16.55%) Cisco
3 17 (11.72%) VMware
4 13 (8.97%) CrowdStrike
4 13 (8.97%) ServiceNow
5 11 (7.59%) CyberArk
5 11 (7.59%) Netskope
6 6 (4.14%) Tenable
7 4 (2.76%) Atlassian
7 4 (2.76%) Palo Alto
7 4 (2.76%) Zscaler
8 3 (2.07%) Citrix
9 2 (1.38%) Oracle
9 2 (1.38%) Snow
9 2 (1.38%) Sophos
9 2 (1.38%) Splunk
10 1 (0.69%) Freshdesk
10 1 (0.69%) MuleSoft
10 1 (0.69%) OneTrust
10 1 (0.69%) Planon