NCSC Contract Job Trends

National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring NCSC skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 347 396 500
Rank change year-on-year +49 +104 -123
Contract jobs citing NCSC 370 164 73
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.68% 0.50% 0.19%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 3.90% 2.91% 1.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 254 118 42
10th Percentile £456 £493 £476
25th Percentile £516 £543 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £645 £560
Median % change year-on-year -6.98% +15.18% -17.04%
75th Percentile £688 £700 £713
90th Percentile £775 £738 £771
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £650 £550
% change year-on-year -7.69% +18.18% -21.43%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 14 2
10th Percentile £71.00 £50.13 £62.67
25th Percentile £77.75 £82.69 £65.56
Median hourly rate £87.50 £88.75 £70.75
Median % change year-on-year -1.41% +25.45% -15.17%
75th Percentile £96.00 £91.50 £75.56
90th Percentile - - £78.22
UK excluding London median hourly rate £90.00 £90.00 £70.75
% change year-on-year - +27.21% -15.17%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

NCSC 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 9,492 5,640 5,117
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.49% 17.12% 13.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,999 3,615 3,036
10th Percentile £325 £300 £281
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £606 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £480
% change year-on-year +2.63% -1.04% -4.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 611 270 262
10th Percentile £13.88 £13.60 £12.25
25th Percentile £16.75 £17.05 £15.00
Median hourly rate £33.00 £30.00 £27.09
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% +10.74% -23.97%
75th Percentile £67.50 £59.38 £58.44
90th Percentile £77.00 £80.28 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.98 £28.18 £26.50
% change year-on-year +20.58% +6.34% -26.39%

NCSC
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing NCSC relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

NCSC job vacancy trend in the UK

NCSC
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing NCSC

NCSC
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing NCSC over the 6 months to 16 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for NCSC in the UK

NCSC
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing NCSC

NCSC
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing NCSC over the 6 months to 16 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for NCSC in the UK

NCSC
Top 13 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing NCSC within the UK over the 6 months to 16 September 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 +4 306 £588 -9.50% 310
UK excluding London -17 193 £600 -7.69% 220
Work from Home +26 140 £591 -8.37% 192
London -15 120 £585 -10.00% 120
South East -10 74 £643 -4.74% 49
South West -38 53 £600 -11.11% 28
North West -13 34 £558 +39.38% 40
North of England -48 34 £558 +1.36% 55
Midlands -40 18 £577 -17.64% 31
West Midlands -48 18 £577 -17.64% 24
Scotland -11 17 £738 +47.50% 26
Wales -8 5 £800 +236.13% 7
East of England -33 5 £480 +92.77% 17

NCSC
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 20 (5.41%) Confluence
2 5 (1.35%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.81%) Apache
3 3 (0.81%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.27%) nginx
4 1 (0.27%) SharePoint 2010
4 1 (0.27%) SharePoint 2013
4 1 (0.27%) Traefik
Applications
1 2 (0.54%) Microsoft Excel
1 2 (0.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.27%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 10 (2.70%) Oracle ERP
2 4 (1.08%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
3 2 (0.54%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.54%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 119 (32.16%) Azure
2 93 (25.14%) AWS
3 28 (7.57%) Entra ID
4 26 (7.03%) GCP
5 23 (6.22%) SaaS
6 20 (5.41%) Azure DevOps
7 18 (4.86%) Microsoft 365
8 11 (2.97%) GitHub
8 11 (2.97%) IaaS
9 10 (2.70%) OCI
9 10 (2.70%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 9 (2.43%) PaaS
11 8 (2.16%) Amazon EKS
11 8 (2.16%) AWS CloudFormation
12 7 (1.89%) Azure Sentinel
12 7 (1.89%) GitHub Actions
13 6 (1.62%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 6 (1.62%) Amazon ECS
14 5 (1.35%) Azure Key Vault
14 5 (1.35%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 28 (7.57%) Network Security
2 25 (6.76%) Firewall
3 18 (4.86%) DNS
4 16 (4.32%) VPN
5 10 (2.70%) TCP/IP
6 8 (2.16%) WAN
7 7 (1.89%) LAN
8 6 (1.62%) DHCP
8 6 (1.62%) SD-WAN
8 6 (1.62%) VLAN
9 5 (1.35%) Cisco Firepower
9 5 (1.35%) Cisco Nexus
9 5 (1.35%) X.509
10 4 (1.08%) 5G
10 4 (1.08%) BIG-IP
10 4 (1.08%) Cisco ASA
10 4 (1.08%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
10 4 (1.08%) IPsec
10 4 (1.08%) MPLS
10 4 (1.08%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (3.51%) Geospatial Data
2 7 (1.89%) Metadata
3 5 (1.35%) Data Lake
4 3 (0.81%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
5 2 (0.54%) Amazon Redshift
5 2 (0.54%) Azure SQL Database
5 2 (0.54%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.54%) DynamoDB
5 2 (0.54%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.54%) Parquet
6 1 (0.27%) Big Data
6 1 (0.27%) BigQuery
6 1 (0.27%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.27%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.27%) SAP HANA
6 1 (0.27%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 23 (6.22%) JIRA
2 14 (3.78%) Git
3 11 (2.97%) MSI
4 10 (2.70%) GitLab
4 10 (2.70%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.54%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 118 (31.89%) Public Sector
2 96 (25.95%) Social Skills
3 26 (7.03%) Analytical Skills
4 24 (6.49%) Finance
4 24 (6.49%) Military
5 18 (4.86%) Telecoms
6 14 (3.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 14 (3.78%) Influencing Skills
6 14 (3.78%) Local Government
7 12 (3.24%) Aerospace
8 11 (2.97%) Law
9 10 (2.70%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (2.43%) Police
11 6 (1.62%) Manufacturing
11 6 (1.62%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (1.08%) Legal
13 3 (0.81%) Back Office
14 2 (0.54%) Presentation Skills
15 1 (0.27%) Public Speaking
15 1 (0.27%) Retail
Job Titles
1 121 (32.70%) Architect
2 61 (16.49%) Security Architect
3 48 (12.97%) Lead
4 40 (10.81%) Consultant
5 34 (9.19%) Senior
6 28 (7.57%) Security Manager
7 27 (7.30%) Technical Architect
8 23 (6.22%) Security Consultant
9 21 (5.68%) Cybersecurity Manager
10 15 (4.05%) Cybersecurity Consultant
10 15 (4.05%) Lead Architect
11 14 (3.78%) Security Engineer
12 13 (3.51%) Analyst
12 13 (3.51%) Developer
12 13 (3.51%) Penetration Tester
12 13 (3.51%) Tester
13 12 (3.24%) Senior Architect
13 12 (3.24%) Solutions Architect
14 11 (2.97%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 11 (2.97%) SOC Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (14.32%) Terraform
2 17 (4.59%) .NET
2 17 (4.59%) REST
3 16 (4.32%) RESTful
4 13 (3.51%) GeoJSON
5 12 (3.24%) .NET Framework
6 11 (2.97%) .NET Core
6 11 (2.97%) ATL
6 11 (2.97%) COM
6 11 (2.97%) CSS
6 11 (2.97%) CSS3
6 11 (2.97%) HTML
6 11 (2.97%) HTML5
6 11 (2.97%) MFC
6 11 (2.97%) OAuth
6 11 (2.97%) SAML
6 11 (2.97%) WPF
7 10 (2.70%) OpenID
8 8 (2.16%) LDAP
9 6 (1.62%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 34 (9.19%) Security Operations Centre
2 33 (8.92%) Cloud Native
2 33 (8.92%) Management Information System
2 33 (8.92%) Onboarding
3 26 (7.03%) Security Posture
4 24 (6.49%) PKI
5 21 (5.68%) Cyber Threat
5 21 (5.68%) Legacy Systems
6 20 (5.41%) CSOC
6 20 (5.41%) Operational Technology
7 14 (3.78%) Hybrid Cloud
7 14 (3.78%) SCADA
8 11 (2.97%) Private Cloud
8 11 (2.97%) Public Cloud
9 9 (2.43%) Data Centre
10 6 (1.62%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (1.35%) Cyber Defence
11 5 (1.35%) Distributed Systems
11 5 (1.35%) NHS
11 5 (1.35%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 29 (7.84%) Windows
2 17 (4.59%) Linux
3 10 (2.70%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.89%) Mac OS
5 6 (1.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (1.08%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.81%) Unix
8 2 (0.54%) Android
8 2 (0.54%) CentOS
8 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.27%) Apple iOS
9 1 (0.27%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 186 (50.27%) Cybersecurity
2 90 (24.32%) Incident Response
3 81 (21.89%) Risk Management
4 79 (21.35%) Cloud Security
5 77 (20.81%) Continuous Improvement
5 77 (20.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 76 (20.54%) Security Architecture
6 76 (20.54%) Stakeholder Management
7 75 (20.27%) Vulnerability Management
8 73 (19.73%) CI/CD
9 71 (19.19%) Agile
10 62 (16.76%) Infrastructure as Code
11 59 (15.95%) Security Operations
12 57 (15.41%) Zero Trust
13 55 (14.86%) SIEM
14 53 (14.32%) DevOps
15 51 (13.78%) Threat Modelling
16 49 (13.24%) Technical Leadership
17 48 (12.97%) Decision-Making
17 48 (12.97%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 29 (7.84%) Bicep
2 27 (7.30%) Python
3 15 (4.05%) PowerShell
4 12 (3.24%) C#
5 11 (2.97%) JavaScript
5 11 (2.97%) TypeScript
6 8 (2.16%) Bash
7 5 (1.35%) Java
8 4 (1.08%) SQL
9 3 (0.81%) Kusto Query Language
10 2 (0.54%) Go
10 2 (0.54%) Groovy
10 2 (0.54%) Objective-C
10 2 (0.54%) Search Processing Language
11 1 (0.27%) C
Qualifications
1 292 (78.92%) Security Cleared
2 228 (61.62%) SC Cleared
3 91 (24.59%) DV Cleared
4 62 (16.76%) CISSP
5 53 (14.32%) CISM
6 32 (8.65%) Cisco Certification
7 24 (6.49%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 19 (5.14%) Degree
9 15 (4.05%) AWS Certification
10 14 (3.78%) Azure Certification
11 13 (3.51%) CHECK Team Leader
11 13 (3.51%) CRISC
12 12 (3.24%) CCSP
12 12 (3.24%) CHECK Team Member
13 11 (2.97%) CEH
13 11 (2.97%) CompTIA Security+
14 10 (2.70%) GIAC
15 9 (2.43%) Microsoft Certification
16 7 (1.89%) CCNP
16 7 (1.89%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 123 (33.24%) NIST
2 117 (31.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 48 (12.97%) GDPR
4 37 (10.00%) Cyber Essentials
5 33 (8.92%) GRC
6 30 (8.11%) JSP 440
7 27 (7.30%) NIST 800
8 22 (5.95%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 20 (5.41%) Data Quality
10 14 (3.78%) Accessibility
11 11 (2.97%) WCAG
12 10 (2.70%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 8 (2.16%) COBIT
13 8 (2.16%) Government Security Classifications
14 7 (1.89%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
14 7 (1.89%) PCI DSS
14 7 (1.89%) QA
15 6 (1.62%) Def Stans
15 6 (1.62%) SLA
16 5 (1.35%) RMADS
System Software
1 30 (8.11%) Active Directory
2 20 (5.41%) Docker
3 15 (4.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (2.97%) VMware NSX
5 6 (1.62%) Hyper-V
6 4 (1.08%) Firmware
6 4 (1.08%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.54%) KVM
7 2 (0.54%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 2 (0.54%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.54%) Virtual Servers
7 2 (0.54%) vSphere
8 1 (0.27%) UAG
Systems Management
1 52 (14.05%) Kubernetes
2 10 (2.70%) Ansible
3 8 (2.16%) Jamf Pro
4 7 (1.89%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 6 (1.62%) Prometheus
6 5 (1.35%) Grafana
6 5 (1.35%) Microsoft Intune
7 3 (0.81%) Istio
7 3 (0.81%) QRadar
7 3 (0.81%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.54%) CSIRT
8 2 (0.54%) SCCM
9 1 (0.27%) CloudForms
9 1 (0.27%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
9 1 (0.27%) Consul
9 1 (0.27%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.27%) HAProxy
9 1 (0.27%) McAfee ePO
9 1 (0.27%) Rancher
9 1 (0.27%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 89 (24.05%) Microsoft
2 23 (6.22%) VMware
3 18 (4.86%) ServiceNow
4 13 (3.51%) Oracle
5 10 (2.70%) Palo Alto
5 10 (2.70%) Splunk
6 9 (2.43%) Cisco
6 9 (2.43%) Google
7 6 (1.62%) Apple
7 6 (1.62%) SAP
8 4 (1.08%) F5
8 4 (1.08%) OneLogin
8 4 (1.08%) SolarWinds
8 4 (1.08%) Sparx
9 3 (0.81%) Cribl.io
9 3 (0.81%) Qualys
10 2 (0.54%) Northgate
10 2 (0.54%) Red Hat
10 2 (0.54%) Tenable
10 2 (0.54%) Zscaler