Penetration Testing Contracts in the Thames Valley

Penetration Testing
South East > Thames Valley

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the Thames Valley requiring Penetration Testing skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Penetration Testing over the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 91 119 138
Rank change year-on-year +28 +19 +20
Contract jobs citing Penetration Testing 11 26 13
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 0.73% 0.97% 0.44%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.78% 1.11% 0.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 8 3 4
10th Percentile - £423 £499
25th Percentile £500 £458 £545
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £664 £530 £648
Median % change year-on-year +25.28% -18.15% +16.93%
75th Percentile £727 £545 £753
90th Percentile £756 - £781
South East median daily rate £658 £530 £573
% change year-on-year +24.06% -7.42% -10.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 0
Median hourly rate - £83.50 -
South East median hourly rate £52.50 £83.50 -
% change year-on-year -37.13% - -

All Process and Methodology Skills
Thames Valley

Penetration Testing falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the Thames Valley.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 1,403 2,340 2,682
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 92.85% 87.12% 91.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 851 1,306 1,860
10th Percentile £300 £213 £320
25th Percentile £413 £369 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - +5.26%
75th Percentile £605 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
South East median daily rate £500 £500 £508
% change year-on-year - -1.53% +1.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 170 62
10th Percentile £14.20 £15.30 £18.60
25th Percentile £14.54 £19.48 £24.86
Median hourly rate £32.05 £45.00 £51.25
Median % change year-on-year -28.78% -12.20% +192.86%
75th Percentile £62.44 £64.57 £66.21
90th Percentile £78.03 £85.65 £79.19
South East median hourly rate £28.00 £47.50 £50.00
% change year-on-year -41.05% -5.00% +122.22%

Penetration Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Job postings citing Penetration Testing as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Job vacancy trend for Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley

Penetration Testing
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley.

Daily rate trend for Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley

Penetration Testing
Daily Rate Histogram in the Thames Valley

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley

Penetration Testing
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley.

Hourly rate trend for Penetration Testing in the Thames Valley

Penetration Testing
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 Testing within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 1 May 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 +17 11 £664 +25.28% 18
Penetration Testing
South East

Penetration Testing
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the Thames Valley by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Cloud Services
1 2 (18.18%) Azure
2 1 (9.09%) Entra ID
Development Applications
1 3 (27.27%) Burp Suite
1 3 (27.27%) Metasploit
2 1 (9.09%) MSI
General
1 3 (27.27%) Social Skills
2 2 (18.18%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (9.09%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 6 (54.55%) Auditor
1 6 (54.55%) Security Auditor
2 3 (27.27%) Penetration Tester
2 3 (27.27%) Tester
3 1 (9.09%) Administrator
3 1 (9.09%) Information Assurance Specialist
3 1 (9.09%) Information Security Specialist
3 1 (9.09%) Information Specialist
3 1 (9.09%) Linux Administrator
3 1 (9.09%) Security Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (9.09%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 2 (18.18%) Data Protection Act
2 1 (9.09%) Cyber Threat
2 1 (9.09%) Management Information System
2 1 (9.09%) Operational Technology
2 1 (9.09%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 2 (18.18%) Linux
2 1 (9.09%) Kali Linux
2 1 (9.09%) Windows
2 1 (9.09%) Windows 10
2 1 (9.09%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (72.73%) Security Testing
2 6 (54.55%) Agile
2 6 (54.55%) Containerisation
3 4 (36.36%) Regulatory Compliance
4 3 (27.27%) Computer Science
4 3 (27.27%) Data Protection
4 3 (27.27%) Information Security
4 3 (27.27%) Problem-Solving
5 2 (18.18%) Cloud Security
5 2 (18.18%) Cryptography
5 2 (18.18%) Cybersecurity
5 2 (18.18%) Ethical Hacking
5 2 (18.18%) OWASP
5 2 (18.18%) Reverse Engineering
5 2 (18.18%) Scenario Testing
6 1 (9.09%) Application Packaging
6 1 (9.09%) Cyber Assurance
6 1 (9.09%) Incident Response
6 1 (9.09%) Release Management
6 1 (9.09%) Vulnerability Assessment
Programming Languages
1 2 (18.18%) C
1 2 (18.18%) C++
1 2 (18.18%) Java
1 2 (18.18%) Python
1 2 (18.18%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 5 (45.45%) SC Cleared
1 5 (45.45%) Security Cleared
2 3 (27.27%) Computer Science Degree
2 3 (27.27%) Degree
2 3 (27.27%) Master's Degree
3 2 (18.18%) GPEN
3 2 (18.18%) GWAPT
3 2 (18.18%) OSCE
3 2 (18.18%) OSCP
4 1 (9.09%) CEH
4 1 (9.09%) CISA
4 1 (9.09%) CISM
4 1 (9.09%) CISSP
4 1 (9.09%) CompTIA Security+
4 1 (9.09%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (54.55%) NCSC
2 2 (18.18%) GDPR
2 2 (18.18%) HIPAA
2 2 (18.18%) PCI DSS
3 1 (9.09%) Actionable Recommendations
3 1 (9.09%) NIST
3 1 (9.09%) NIST 800
System Software
1 2 (18.18%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 1 (9.09%) SCCM
Vendors
1 2 (18.18%) Microsoft