Cyber Essentials Contract Job Trends
Cyber Essentials
UK
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Cyber Essentials skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 18 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 512 | 443 | 488 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -69 | +45 | -8 |
| Contract jobs citing Cyber Essentials | 177 | 123 | 86 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.32% | 0.37% | 0.23% |
| As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category | 1.79% | 2.09% | 1.71% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 120 | 92 | 44 |
| 10th Percentile | £373 | £333 | £360 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £455 | £475 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £568 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -11.89% | +8.10% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £650 | £600 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £686 | £667 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £495 | £500 | £505 |
| % change year-on-year | -1.00% | -0.99% | -0.98% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| 10th Percentile | £55.56 | £28.32 | £70.24 |
| 25th Percentile | £58.43 | £29.51 | £72.40 |
| Median hourly rate | £71.00 | £32.74 | £78.40 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +116.89% | -58.25% | +76.18% |
| 75th Percentile | - | £93.75 | £82.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £76.60 | £94.50 | £82.72 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £71.00 | £31.49 | - |
| % change year-on-year | +125.47% | - | - |
All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK
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.
| 6 months to 18 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills | 9,863 | 5,888 | 5,020 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 17.94% | 17.68% | 13.41% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 6,175 | 3,764 | 2,919 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £300 | £275 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £400 | £393 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £507 | £500 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +1.40% | - | -4.76% |
| 75th Percentile | £613 | £613 | £625 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £713 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £480 | £475 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | +1.05% | - | -5.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 735 | 287 | 236 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.69 | £13.60 | £13.26 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.53 | £16.50 | £17.18 |
| Median hourly rate | £32.00 | £30.00 | £27.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +6.67% | +9.09% | -25.17% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £60.00 | £62.59 |
| 90th Percentile | £74.29 | £80.00 | £70.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £32.40 | £25.00 | £27.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +29.58% | -9.09% | -29.03% |
Cyber Essentials Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Cyber Essentials relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Cyber Essentials Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Essentials.
Cyber Essentials Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cyber Essentials over the 6 months to 18 October 2026.
Cyber Essentials Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Essentials.
Cyber Essentials Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Cyber Essentials over the 6 months to 18 October 2026.
Cyber Essentials Top 18 Contract Job Locations
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 UK over the 6 months to 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -65 | 153 | £500 | -11.89% | 292 |
| UK excluding London | -72 | 88 | £495 | -1.00% | 199 |
| London | -69 | 71 | £550 | -12.00% | 103 |
| Work from Home | -65 | 58 | £500 | -9.09% | 160 |
| South East | -26 | 41 | £440 | -16.98% | 49 |
| North of England | -41 | 23 | £450 | +24.14% | 49 |
| North West | -38 | 13 | £450 | +38.46% | 24 |
| Midlands | -46 | 10 | £500 | +8.11% | 34 |
| Yorkshire | -24 | 8 | £540 | +44.00% | 19 |
| West Midlands | -47 | 8 | £475 | -13.64% | 24 |
| South West | -45 | 4 | £615 | +29.47% | 23 |
| Scotland | -32 | 3 | £544 | +8.75% | 13 |
| Channel Islands | -4 | 2 | £600 | -17.24% | |
| Wales | -12 | 2 | - | - | 9 |
| East Midlands | -22 | 2 | £500 | +8.11% | 10 |
| East of England | -35 | 2 | £510 | -7.78% | 18 |
| North East | -39 | 2 | £500 | -23.08% | 7 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 1 | £550 | - | 6 |
Cyber Essentials Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Quality Assurance & Compliance
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ISO/IEC 27001 | 66.1% | 117 |
| 2 | Cyber Essentials PLUS | 52.0% | 92 |
| 3 | NIST | 38.4% | 68 |
| 4 | NCSC | 17.5% | 31 |
| 5 | GRC | 16.4% | 29 |
| 6 | GDPR | 15.8% | 28 |
| 7 | PCI DSS | 6.8% | 12 |
| 8 | ISO 31000 | 5.1% | 9 |
| 9 | PMO | 3.4% | 6 |
| 10 | SLA | 2.8% | 5 |
| 11 | Government Security Classifications | 2.3% | 4 |
| 11 | ISO/IEC 27005 | 2.3% | 4 |
| 13 | Def Stans | 1.7% | 3 |
| 14 | Actionable Recommendations | 1.1% | 2 |
| 14 | HMG Security Policy Framework | 1.1% | 2 |
| 14 | IASME | 1.1% | 2 |
| 14 | NIST 800 | 1.1% | 2 |
| 14 | QA | 1.1% | 2 |
| 19 | 21 CFR Part 11 | 0.6% | 1 |
| 19 | Data Quality | 0.6% | 1 |