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 30 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 356 397 493
Rank change year-on-year +41 +96 -96
Contract jobs citing NCSC 334 148 81
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.45% 0.20%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 3.68% 2.67% 1.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 241 100 55
10th Percentile £450 £500 £475
25th Percentile £513 £550 £503
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £644 £600
Median % change year-on-year -6.80% +7.29% -13.51%
75th Percentile £688 £699 £731
90th Percentile £775 £738 £760
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £641 £563
% change year-on-year -6.43% +14.00% -19.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 15 1
10th Percentile £75.00 £46.05 -
25th Percentile £80.95 £71.62 -
Median hourly rate £85.40 £85.00 £80.00
Median % change year-on-year +0.47% +6.25% -3.97%
75th Percentile - £91.50 -
90th Percentile £90.24 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £85.40 £85.75 £80.00
% change year-on-year -0.41% +7.19% -3.97%

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 9,068 5,553 5,469
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.12% 16.92% 13.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,808 3,586 3,387
10th Percentile £337 £281 £300
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £506
Median % change year-on-year - -1.19% -3.62%
75th Percentile £600 £603 £623
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £471 £475
% change year-on-year +6.27% -0.94% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 554 249 343
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.58 £11.15
25th Percentile £19.47 £17.45 £14.49
Median hourly rate £40.00 £27.35 £25.60
Median % change year-on-year +46.25% +6.84% -32.63%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £54.68
90th Percentile £82.25 £83.78 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £24.66 £25.00
% change year-on-year +62.21% -1.36% -28.57%

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 30 July 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 30 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for NCSC in the UK

NCSC
Top 14 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 30 July 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 +18 282 £600 -7.05% 78
UK excluding London -11 179 £600 -6.43% 62
Work from Home +16 125 £600 -6.43% 51
London -11 101 £585 -10.00% 24
South East -6 88 £631 -6.48% 18
South West -24 41 £575 -11.54% 21
North of England -55 24 £656 +7.10% 13
North West -34 21 £662 +13.85% 10
Midlands -53 16 £492 -24.31%
West Midlands -59 16 £492 -24.31%
Scotland -9 9 £663 +35.90% 3
Wales - 4 £800 - 1
East of England -25 3 £450 +80.72% 6
Yorkshire -47 3 £600 -7.69% 1

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 16 (4.79%) Confluence
2 3 (0.90%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.60%) WebLogic
3 2 (0.60%) WebSphere
4 1 (0.30%) SharePoint 2010
4 1 (0.30%) SharePoint 2013
Applications
1 2 (0.60%) PlantUML
2 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 8 (2.40%) Oracle ERP
2 3 (0.90%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
3 2 (0.60%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 119 (35.63%) Azure
2 82 (24.55%) AWS
3 31 (9.28%) Entra ID
4 25 (7.49%) GCP
5 22 (6.59%) Microsoft 365
6 20 (5.99%) SaaS
7 16 (4.79%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (2.69%) Amazon EKS
9 8 (2.40%) Azure AKS
9 8 (2.40%) GitHub
9 8 (2.40%) IaaS
9 8 (2.40%) OCI
9 8 (2.40%) PaaS
10 7 (2.10%) Serverless
10 7 (2.10%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 5 (1.50%) AWS Lambda
11 5 (1.50%) Azure Monitor
11 5 (1.50%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (1.50%) Power Platform
12 4 (1.20%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 31 (9.28%) Firewall
1 31 (9.28%) Network Security
2 18 (5.39%) VPN
3 16 (4.79%) DNS
4 11 (3.29%) WAN
5 10 (2.99%) BGP
5 10 (2.99%) TCP/IP
6 9 (2.69%) IPsec
6 9 (2.69%) LAN
6 9 (2.69%) OSPF
6 9 (2.69%) VLAN
7 8 (2.40%) MPLS
7 8 (2.40%) SD-WAN
8 6 (1.80%) Cisco Nexus
8 6 (1.80%) VSAN
9 5 (1.50%) Cisco ASA
9 5 (1.50%) Cisco Firepower
10 4 (1.20%) 4G
10 4 (1.20%) 5G
10 4 (1.20%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.29%) Geospatial Data
2 6 (1.80%) Azure SQL Database
3 3 (0.90%) Amazon RDS
3 3 (0.90%) Metadata
3 3 (0.90%) Oracle Reports
3 3 (0.90%) Power BI
4 2 (0.60%) Amazon Redshift
4 2 (0.60%) DynamoDB
4 2 (0.60%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.30%) Big Data
5 1 (0.30%) BigQuery
5 1 (0.30%) Data Lake
5 1 (0.30%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.30%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.30%) SAP HANA
5 1 (0.30%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 19 (5.69%) JIRA
2 13 (3.89%) Git
3 9 (2.69%) MSI
4 3 (0.90%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.60%) GitLab
5 2 (0.60%) Jenkins
General
1 106 (31.74%) Public Sector
2 91 (27.25%) Social Skills
3 21 (6.29%) Finance
4 19 (5.69%) Telecoms
5 17 (5.09%) Analytical Skills
6 14 (4.19%) Military
7 10 (2.99%) Influencing Skills
8 9 (2.69%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 8 (2.40%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (2.40%) Law
9 8 (2.40%) Local Government
9 8 (2.40%) Police
10 6 (1.80%) Legal
11 5 (1.50%) Aerospace
12 4 (1.20%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (0.90%) Manufacturing
14 2 (0.60%) Banking
15 1 (0.30%) Aviation
15 1 (0.30%) Pharmaceutical
15 1 (0.30%) Retail
Job Titles
1 119 (35.63%) Architect
2 59 (17.66%) Security Architect
3 41 (12.28%) Lead
4 32 (9.58%) Technical Architect
5 30 (8.98%) Consultant
6 25 (7.49%) Senior
7 20 (5.99%) Security Manager
8 19 (5.69%) Security Consultant
9 16 (4.79%) Lead Architect
10 15 (4.49%) Analyst
10 15 (4.49%) Cybersecurity Manager
11 14 (4.19%) Solutions Architect
11 14 (4.19%) Technical Leader
12 13 (3.89%) Developer
12 13 (3.89%) Security Engineer
12 13 (3.89%) Tester
13 12 (3.59%) Penetration Tester
14 11 (3.29%) Network Architect
15 9 (2.69%) Information Manager
15 9 (2.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (4.49%) .NET
2 13 (3.89%) REST
3 11 (3.29%) GeoJSON
3 11 (3.29%) RESTful
4 10 (2.99%) .NET Framework
4 10 (2.99%) OAuth
4 10 (2.99%) OpenID
4 10 (2.99%) SAML
5 9 (2.69%) .NET Core
5 9 (2.69%) ATL
5 9 (2.69%) COM
5 9 (2.69%) CSS
5 9 (2.69%) CSS3
5 9 (2.69%) HTML
5 9 (2.69%) HTML5
5 9 (2.69%) MFC
5 9 (2.69%) WPF
6 7 (2.10%) LDAP
7 5 (1.50%) OAuth2
7 5 (1.50%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 32 (9.58%) Cloud Native
2 28 (8.38%) Onboarding
3 26 (7.78%) Security Operations Centre
4 25 (7.49%) Management Information System
5 20 (5.99%) Cyber Threat
6 19 (5.69%) Operational Technology
7 18 (5.39%) Security Posture
8 16 (4.79%) Data Centre
8 16 (4.79%) Legacy Systems
8 16 (4.79%) PKI
9 15 (4.49%) CSOC
10 14 (4.19%) Hybrid Cloud
11 13 (3.89%) Public Cloud
12 12 (3.59%) SCADA
13 10 (2.99%) Product Ownership
14 9 (2.69%) Private Cloud
15 6 (1.80%) Enterprise Software
16 5 (1.50%) Cyber Defence
16 5 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
16 5 (1.50%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 25 (7.49%) Windows
2 21 (6.29%) Linux
3 7 (2.10%) Mac OS
4 6 (1.80%) Windows Server
5 5 (1.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (1.20%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.90%) VMS
8 2 (0.60%) Android
8 2 (0.60%) Unix
9 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
9 1 (0.30%) CentOS
9 1 (0.30%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 151 (45.21%) Cybersecurity
2 78 (23.35%) Cloud Security
3 74 (22.16%) Agile
4 71 (21.26%) CI/CD
5 66 (19.76%) Incident Response
6 61 (18.26%) Infrastructure as Code
6 61 (18.26%) Risk Management
6 61 (18.26%) Security Architecture
7 54 (16.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 53 (15.87%) Stakeholder Management
9 52 (15.57%) Continuous Improvement
9 52 (15.57%) DevOps
10 46 (13.77%) Zero Trust
11 45 (13.47%) Vulnerability Management
12 43 (12.87%) SIEM
12 43 (12.87%) TOGAF
13 42 (12.57%) Security Operations
14 40 (11.98%) Identity Access Management
14 40 (11.98%) Threat Modelling
15 36 (10.78%) DevSecOps
Programming Languages
1 25 (7.49%) Bicep
2 24 (7.19%) Python
3 11 (3.29%) PowerShell
3 11 (3.29%) SQL
4 10 (2.99%) C#
5 9 (2.69%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.69%) TypeScript
6 7 (2.10%) Java
7 3 (0.90%) Bash
8 2 (0.60%) Groovy
8 2 (0.60%) Kusto Query Language
8 2 (0.60%) Objective-C
8 2 (0.60%) Search Processing Language
9 1 (0.30%) C
Qualifications
1 245 (73.35%) Security Cleared
2 197 (58.98%) SC Cleared
3 76 (22.75%) DV Cleared
4 45 (13.47%) CISSP
5 39 (11.68%) CISM
6 30 (8.98%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (6.29%) Degree
8 16 (4.79%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 13 (3.89%) CCNP
10 12 (3.59%) AWS Certification
10 12 (3.59%) Azure Certification
10 12 (3.59%) CHECK Team Leader
11 11 (3.29%) CHECK Team Member
12 10 (2.99%) CESG Certified Professional
13 9 (2.69%) CEH
13 9 (2.69%) CompTIA Security+
13 9 (2.69%) GIAC
14 8 (2.40%) CCSP
15 7 (2.10%) BPSS Clearance
15 7 (2.10%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 101 (30.24%) NIST
2 85 (25.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 48 (14.37%) GDPR
4 36 (10.78%) Cyber Essentials
5 26 (7.78%) NIST 800
6 23 (6.89%) JSP 440
7 19 (5.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 16 (4.79%) GRC
9 15 (4.49%) Government Security Classifications
10 13 (3.89%) Accessibility
11 10 (2.99%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 10 (2.99%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 9 (2.69%) COBIT
12 9 (2.69%) RMADS
12 9 (2.69%) WCAG
13 8 (2.40%) Data Quality
14 7 (2.10%) ISO/IEC 20000
14 7 (2.10%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 7 (2.10%) PCI DSS
15 6 (1.80%) QA
System Software
1 29 (8.68%) Active Directory
2 19 (5.69%) Docker
3 15 (4.49%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (4.19%) VMware NSX
5 5 (1.50%) Hyper-V
6 4 (1.20%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.90%) vSphere
8 2 (0.60%) KVM
9 1 (0.30%) UAG
Systems Management
1 45 (13.47%) Terraform
2 43 (12.87%) Kubernetes
3 9 (2.69%) Ansible
4 7 (2.10%) Jamf Pro
5 6 (1.80%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 3 (0.90%) Istio
6 3 (0.90%) Microsoft Intune
7 2 (0.60%) CSIRT
7 2 (0.60%) FortiGate
7 2 (0.60%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.60%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.30%) Cisco Prime
8 1 (0.30%) CloudForms
8 1 (0.30%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 1 (0.30%) FreeIPA
8 1 (0.30%) Grafana
8 1 (0.30%) Iperf
8 1 (0.30%) QRadar
8 1 (0.30%) vCenter Server
8 1 (0.30%) VxRail
Vendors
1 77 (23.05%) Microsoft
2 25 (7.49%) VMware
3 17 (5.09%) Cisco
4 13 (3.89%) Palo Alto
5 12 (3.59%) ServiceNow
6 9 (2.69%) Google
7 8 (2.40%) Oracle
8 6 (1.80%) SAP
8 6 (1.80%) SolarWinds
8 6 (1.80%) Splunk
9 5 (1.50%) Apple
9 5 (1.50%) F5
9 5 (1.50%) Fortinet
10 3 (0.90%) CheckPoint
10 3 (0.90%) Citrix
10 3 (0.90%) Sparx
10 3 (0.90%) Zscaler
11 2 (0.60%) Cribl.io
11 2 (0.60%) OneLogin
11 2 (0.60%) Tenable