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

6 months to
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 495 464 520
Rank change year-on-year -31 +56 +40
Contract jobs citing Cyber Essentials 158 67 68
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.31% 0.22% 0.16%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 1.84% 1.36% 1.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 115 43 43
10th Percentile £385 £340 £177
25th Percentile £463 £459 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.27% +4.76% -3.67%
75th Percentile £575 £675 £600
90th Percentile £669 £708 £660
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £550 £500
% change year-on-year -4.55% +10.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 3 0
10th Percentile £53.40 £27.93 -
25th Percentile £56.64 £28.52 -
Median hourly rate £63.14 £31.49 -
Median % change year-on-year +100.49% - -
75th Percentile £67.84 £58.34 -
90th Percentile - £73.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £63.14 £31.49 -
% change year-on-year +100.49% - -

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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 8,584 4,943 5,966
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.87% 16.34% 13.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,498 3,166 3,714
10th Percentile £340 £275 £280
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year - -1.96% -2.86%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £723 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £475
% change year-on-year +6.38% -1.05% -2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 522 201 432
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.09 £11.06
25th Percentile £19.24 £18.50 £13.30
Median hourly rate £36.07 £31.64 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year +14.00% +32.94% -36.53%
75th Percentile £67.50 £65.00 £50.27
90th Percentile £82.22 £83.41 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.50 £31.57 £19.50
% change year-on-year +25.14% +61.87% -45.07%

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 job vacancy trend in the UK

Cyber Essentials
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Essentials.

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 26 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Cyber Essentials in the UK

Cyber Essentials
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Essentials.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Essentials

Cyber Essentials
Top 15 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 26 June 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 -33 150 £540 -1.82% 101
UK excluding London -64 84 £525 -4.55% 96
London -24 68 £550 -4.35% 20
Work from Home -27 47 £525 - 51
South East -25 42 £525 -4.55% 37
North of England -58 14 £540 -6.09% 15
South West -28 9 £538 +13.16% 14
East of England -26 8 £438 +75.70% 12
Yorkshire -41 8 £540 -6.09% 9
West Midlands -54 6 £540 - 6
Midlands -61 6 £540 +35.00% 15
North West -41 5 £540 +140.00% 5
Scotland -11 4 £350 -36.32% 3
North East -31 1 £500 -35.48% 3
Wales - 1 - - 2

Cyber Essentials
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 22 (13.92%) SharePoint
2 10 (6.33%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (1.90%) Confluence
4 1 (0.63%) Anypoint
Applications
1 9 (5.70%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (2.53%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.63%) AutoCAD
3 1 (0.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.63%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (1.27%) NetSuite
2 1 (0.63%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 73 (46.20%) Azure
2 69 (43.67%) Microsoft 365
3 35 (22.15%) Entra ID
4 28 (17.72%) Microsoft Purview
5 19 (12.03%) Mimecast
6 11 (6.96%) SaaS
7 10 (6.33%) Azure Sentinel
8 9 (5.70%) IaaS
8 9 (5.70%) PaaS
9 7 (4.43%) AWS
10 6 (3.80%) GitHub
11 4 (2.53%) Azure Logic Apps
11 4 (2.53%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (1.90%) Azure DevOps
12 3 (1.90%) Azure Event Grid
12 3 (1.90%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 3 (1.90%) Azure Key Vault
12 3 (1.90%) Azure Service Bus
12 3 (1.90%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (1.90%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 23 (14.56%) Firewall
2 19 (12.03%) VPN
3 14 (8.86%) Network Security
4 6 (3.80%) DNS
4 6 (3.80%) Wi-Fi
5 5 (3.16%) BGP
5 5 (3.16%) DHCP
5 5 (3.16%) VSAN
6 4 (2.53%) Cisco ASA
6 4 (2.53%) Cisco IOS
6 4 (2.53%) MPLS
6 4 (2.53%) TACACS
6 4 (2.53%) VLAN
6 4 (2.53%) Wireless
7 3 (1.90%) DMZ
7 3 (1.90%) LAN
7 3 (1.90%) SAN
8 2 (1.27%) NAS
8 2 (1.27%) SSL
8 2 (1.27%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.90%) Azure SQL Database
1 3 (1.90%) Metadata
2 1 (0.63%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 1 (0.63%) MSI
General
1 73 (46.20%) Social Skills
2 27 (17.09%) Public Sector
3 20 (12.66%) Finance
4 13 (8.23%) Analytical Skills
5 7 (4.43%) Local Government
5 7 (4.43%) Organisational Skills
6 4 (2.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 4 (2.53%) Legal
7 3 (1.90%) Aerospace
7 3 (1.90%) Documentation Skills
7 3 (1.90%) Influencing Skills
8 1 (0.63%) Financial Institution
8 1 (0.63%) Military
8 1 (0.63%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 28 (17.72%) Security Engineer
2 19 (12.03%) Architect
2 19 (12.03%) Senior
3 16 (10.13%) Cybersecurity Engineer
3 16 (10.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 15 (9.49%) Security Specialist
5 14 (8.86%) Analyst
5 14 (8.86%) Cybersecurity Specialist
6 10 (6.33%) Security Analyst
7 9 (5.70%) IT Engineer
8 8 (5.06%) Security Manager
8 8 (5.06%) Technical Architect
9 7 (4.43%) Project Manager
9 7 (4.43%) Solutions Architect
10 6 (3.80%) Cybersecurity Manager
10 6 (3.80%) Lead
10 6 (3.80%) Senior Architect
10 6 (3.80%) Senior IT Engineer
11 5 (3.16%) Governance Manager
11 5 (3.16%) Infrastructure Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (2.53%) LDAP
1 4 (2.53%) OAuth
2 3 (1.90%) 802.1X
3 2 (1.27%) Microsoft Graph
4 1 (0.63%) JSON
4 1 (0.63%) JWT
4 1 (0.63%) Middleware
4 1 (0.63%) Model Context Protocol
4 1 (0.63%) OAuth2
4 1 (0.63%) OpenAPI
4 1 (0.63%) OpenID
4 1 (0.63%) Oracle Fusion
4 1 (0.63%) RAML
4 1 (0.63%) RESTful
4 1 (0.63%) SAML
4 1 (0.63%) Software Packaging
4 1 (0.63%) STL
4 1 (0.63%) Swagger
4 1 (0.63%) XML
4 1 (0.63%) XML Schema
Miscellaneous
1 16 (10.13%) Operational Technology
2 12 (7.59%) Hybrid Cloud
2 12 (7.59%) Onboarding
3 10 (6.33%) PKI
4 8 (5.06%) Cloud Native
4 8 (5.06%) Management Information System
4 8 (5.06%) SCADA
5 7 (4.43%) BYOD
6 6 (3.80%) Cyber Defence
6 6 (3.80%) Security Operations Centre
6 6 (3.80%) Security Posture
7 5 (3.16%) Driving Licence
7 5 (3.16%) NHS
7 5 (3.16%) Public Cloud
8 4 (2.53%) Analytical Mindset
9 3 (1.90%) Cyber Threat
9 3 (1.90%) Taxonomies
10 2 (1.27%) Cybercrime
10 2 (1.27%) Data Centre
10 2 (1.27%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 26 (16.46%) Windows
2 23 (14.56%) Linux
3 14 (8.86%) Windows Server
4 7 (4.43%) Unix
5 6 (3.80%) Ubuntu
6 2 (1.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (1.27%) VMS
6 2 (1.27%) Windows Server 2012
6 2 (1.27%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.63%) Android
7 1 (0.63%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.63%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 101 (63.92%) Cybersecurity
2 34 (21.52%) Data Loss Prevention
3 32 (20.25%) Information Security
4 30 (18.99%) Risk Management
5 29 (18.35%) SIEM
5 29 (18.35%) Vulnerability Management
6 26 (16.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 21 (13.29%) CI/CD
8 20 (12.66%) Incident Response
9 19 (12.03%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 19 (12.03%) ITSM
9 19 (12.03%) Risk Register
9 19 (12.03%) Zero Trust
10 17 (10.76%) Risk Assessment
10 17 (10.76%) Security Architecture
10 17 (10.76%) Security Operations
11 16 (10.13%) RBAC
12 15 (9.49%) Roadmaps
13 14 (8.86%) Change Control
13 14 (8.86%) Remediation Plan
Programming Languages
1 17 (10.76%) PowerShell
2 11 (6.96%) Python
3 6 (3.80%) Bash
4 5 (3.16%) Kusto Query Language
4 5 (3.16%) SQL
5 4 (2.53%) PHP
Qualifications
1 45 (28.48%) Security Cleared
2 42 (26.58%) SC Cleared
3 21 (13.29%) CISSP
4 20 (12.66%) Degree
5 15 (9.49%) CISM
6 11 (6.96%) Cisco Certification
6 11 (6.96%) DV Cleared
7 10 (6.33%) GIAC
8 9 (5.70%) CESG Certified Professional
9 8 (5.06%) SSCP
10 7 (4.43%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 7 (4.43%) CRISC
10 7 (4.43%) GSEC
11 6 (3.80%) Azure Certification
11 6 (3.80%) Microsoft Certification
12 5 (3.16%) CompTIA Security+
12 5 (3.16%) MCSE
12 5 (3.16%) SANS
13 4 (2.53%) APMG
13 4 (2.53%) CCNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 87 (55.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 62 (39.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 56 (35.44%) NIST
4 31 (19.62%) NCSC
5 27 (17.09%) GDPR
6 20 (12.66%) PCI DSS
7 18 (11.39%) GRC
8 12 (7.59%) ISO 31000
9 10 (6.33%) NIST 800
10 7 (4.43%) IASME
10 7 (4.43%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 4 (2.53%) Def Stans
11 4 (2.53%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 3 (1.90%) Government Security Classifications
12 3 (1.90%) ISO 22301
12 3 (1.90%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 3 (1.90%) SLA
13 2 (1.27%) COBIT
14 1 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
14 1 (0.63%) JSP 440
System Software
1 27 (17.09%) Active Directory
2 19 (12.03%) VMware Infrastructure
3 7 (4.43%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (3.16%) Hyper-V
4 5 (3.16%) VMware NSX
5 3 (1.90%) Docker
6 2 (1.27%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (1.27%) vSphere
7 1 (0.63%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 24 (15.19%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (8.23%) Kubernetes
3 7 (4.43%) vCenter Server
4 6 (3.80%) AirWatch
4 6 (3.80%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (3.16%) Nessus
6 4 (2.53%) Terraform
7 3 (1.90%) Ansible
7 3 (1.90%) FortiGate
7 3 (1.90%) Podman
7 3 (1.90%) SCCM
7 3 (1.90%) SCOM
8 2 (1.27%) PaperCut
9 1 (0.63%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 82 (51.90%) Microsoft
2 26 (16.46%) Cisco
3 22 (13.92%) VMware
4 17 (10.76%) CrowdStrike
5 14 (8.86%) CyberArk
5 14 (8.86%) Netskope
6 12 (7.59%) ServiceNow
7 7 (4.43%) Palo Alto
8 6 (3.80%) Tenable
9 4 (2.53%) Zscaler
10 3 (1.90%) Atlassian
10 3 (1.90%) Citrix
11 2 (1.27%) Barracuda Networks
11 2 (1.27%) Oracle
11 2 (1.27%) Qualys
11 2 (1.27%) Snow
11 2 (1.27%) Sophos
12 1 (0.63%) Fortinet
12 1 (0.63%) Freshdesk
12 1 (0.63%) Planon