Penetration Tester Contract Job Trends in the Thames Valley

Penetration Tester
South East > Thames Valley

The median Penetration Tester daily rate in the Thames Valley is £413, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 10 October 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 107 - 129
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs requiring a Penetration Tester 8 0 16
As % of all contract jobs in the Thames Valley 0.47% - 0.60%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.52% - 0.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 8 0 0
10th Percentile £395 - -
25th Percentile £404 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £413 - -
75th Percentile £425 - -
90th Percentile £453 - -
South East median daily rate £413 - -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Thames Valley

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the Thames Valley. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the Thames Valley with a recognized job title 1,539 1,984 2,520
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.53% 91.51% 94.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 977 1,118 1,700
10th Percentile £250 £263 £214
25th Percentile £393 £403 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £588 £608 £619
90th Percentile £663 £675 £700
South East median daily rate £500 £503 £500
% change year-on-year -0.50% +0.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 94 90 89
10th Percentile £14.75 £18.50 £15.80
25th Percentile £15.91 £26.38 £21.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £58.30 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -56.86% +16.60% +166.67%
75th Percentile £55.00 £64.73 £67.75
90th Percentile £85.98 £94.13 £75.67
South East median hourly rate £24.00 £59.25 £51.66
% change year-on-year -59.49% +14.68% +106.64%

Penetration Tester
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Penetration Tester' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Penetration Tester job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

Penetration Tester
Daily Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Penetration Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Penetration Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley

Penetration Tester
Hourly Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Penetration Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Penetration Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley

Penetration Tester
Contract Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Penetration Tester within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 10 October 2025. 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
Berkshire - 8 £413 - 7
Penetration Tester
South East

Penetration Tester Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley

For the 6 months to 10 October 2025, Penetration Tester contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Thames Valley region featuring Penetration Tester in the job title.

1 7 (87.50%) Penetration Testing
2 6 (75.00%) Ethical Hacking
2 6 (75.00%) CEH
2 6 (75.00%) Nmap
2 6 (75.00%) Linux
2 6 (75.00%) Python
2 6 (75.00%) Wireshark
2 6 (75.00%) SC Cleared
2 6 (75.00%) Security Cleared
2 6 (75.00%) PowerShell
2 6 (75.00%) OWASP
2 6 (75.00%) Metasploit
2 6 (75.00%) Test Automation
2 6 (75.00%) Bash
2 6 (75.00%) GPEN
2 6 (75.00%) OSCP
2 6 (75.00%) Burp Suite
2 6 (75.00%) Kali Linux
2 6 (75.00%) Red Team
2 6 (75.00%) Social Skills
2 6 (75.00%) MITRE ATT&CK
3 5 (62.50%) Analytical Skills
4 2 (25.00%) Cybersecurity
5 1 (12.50%) Vulnerability Management
5 1 (12.50%) Actionable Insight
5 1 (12.50%) Resource Allocation
5 1 (12.50%) PMO
5 1 (12.50%) NIST
5 1 (12.50%) Public Sector
5 1 (12.50%) Confluence

Penetration Tester Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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 1 (12.50%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (12.50%) Microsoft Project
Communications & Networking
1 6 (75.00%) Wireshark
Development Applications
1 6 (75.00%) Burp Suite
1 6 (75.00%) Metasploit
2 1 (12.50%) JIRA
General
1 6 (75.00%) Social Skills
2 5 (62.50%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (12.50%) Public Sector
Operating Systems
1 6 (75.00%) Kali Linux
1 6 (75.00%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (87.50%) Penetration Testing
2 6 (75.00%) Ethical Hacking
2 6 (75.00%) MITRE ATT&CK
2 6 (75.00%) OWASP
2 6 (75.00%) Red Team
2 6 (75.00%) Test Automation
3 2 (25.00%) Cybersecurity
4 1 (12.50%) Actionable Insight
4 1 (12.50%) PRINCE2
4 1 (12.50%) Project Management
4 1 (12.50%) Resource Allocation
4 1 (12.50%) Risk Assessment
4 1 (12.50%) Stakeholder Management
4 1 (12.50%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 6 (75.00%) Bash
1 6 (75.00%) PowerShell
1 6 (75.00%) Python
Qualifications
1 6 (75.00%) CEH
1 6 (75.00%) GPEN
1 6 (75.00%) OSCP
1 6 (75.00%) SC Cleared
1 6 (75.00%) Security Cleared
2 1 (12.50%) CISM
2 1 (12.50%) CISSP
2 1 (12.50%) Degree
2 1 (12.50%) PMI Certification
2 1 (12.50%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (12.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 1 (12.50%) NIST
1 1 (12.50%) PMO
Systems Management
1 6 (75.00%) Nmap