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 5 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 356 405 492
Rank change year-on-year +49 +87 -104
Contract jobs citing NCSC 333 146 80
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.44% 0.20%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 3.65% 2.62% 1.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 240 99 54
10th Percentile £450 £500 £475
25th Percentile £513 £550 £501
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £645 £600
Median % change year-on-year -6.98% +7.50% -11.11%
75th Percentile £688 £699 £734
90th Percentile £775 £738 £764
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £643 £563
% change year-on-year -6.61% +14.22% -16.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 14 1
10th Percentile £69.95 £43.60 -
25th Percentile £77.75 £82.50 -
Median hourly rate £83.65 £85.75 £80.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.45% +7.19% -3.97%
75th Percentile £85.40 £91.50 -
90th Percentile £89.03 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £85.40 £86.50 £80.00
% change year-on-year -1.27% +8.13% -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 9,117 5,573 5,325
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.14% 16.94% 13.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,858 3,591 3,291
10th Percentile £331 £282 £291
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £505
Median % change year-on-year - -0.99% -3.81%
75th Percentile £600 £606 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £495 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +4.21% - -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 559 250 326
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.59 £11.26
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.38 £14.49
Median hourly rate £40.00 £26.93 £25.77
Median % change year-on-year +48.56% +4.50% -34.64%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £55.00
90th Percentile £81.97 £83.59 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £24.66 £25.30
% change year-on-year +62.21% -2.53% -29.23%

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 5 August 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 5 August 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 5 August 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 +3 282 £589 -8.68% 109
UK excluding London -28 176 £600 -6.61% 84
Work from Home +18 126 £600 -6.80% 76
London +7 104 £575 -11.54% 37
South East -10 83 £631 -6.48% 18
South West -33 43 £530 -18.46% 32
North of England -46 23 £656 +7.10% 18
North West -34 21 £662 +13.85% 16
Midlands -50 16 £492 -24.31% 3
West Midlands -51 16 £492 -24.31% 2
Scotland -7 9 £663 +35.90% 6
East of England -24 4 £480 +92.77% 4
Wales - 4 £800 - 2
Yorkshire -47 2 £600 -7.69%

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 19 (5.71%) 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
1 121 (36.34%) Azure
2 83 (24.92%) AWS
3 31 (9.31%) Entra ID
4 25 (7.51%) GCP
5 22 (6.61%) Microsoft 365
6 20 (6.01%) SaaS
7 19 (5.71%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (2.70%) Amazon EKS
8 9 (2.70%) GitHub
9 8 (2.40%) Azure AKS
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 6 (1.80%) GitHub Actions
12 5 (1.50%) AWS Lambda
12 5 (1.50%) Azure Monitor
12 5 (1.50%) Power Platform
13 4 (1.20%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 32 (9.61%) Network Security
2 31 (9.31%) Firewall
3 18 (5.41%) VPN
4 16 (4.80%) DNS
5 11 (3.30%) WAN
6 9 (2.70%) BGP
6 9 (2.70%) IPsec
6 9 (2.70%) LAN
6 9 (2.70%) TCP/IP
7 8 (2.40%) OSPF
7 8 (2.40%) SD-WAN
7 8 (2.40%) VLAN
8 7 (2.10%) MPLS
9 6 (1.80%) Cisco Nexus
9 6 (1.80%) VSAN
10 5 (1.50%) 4G
10 5 (1.50%) 5G
10 5 (1.50%) Cisco Firepower
11 4 (1.20%) Cisco ASA
11 4 (1.20%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (3.90%) 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 22 (6.61%) JIRA
2 15 (4.50%) Git
3 11 (3.30%) MSI
4 3 (0.90%) GitLab
4 3 (0.90%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.90%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 104 (31.23%) Public Sector
2 87 (26.13%) Social Skills
3 21 (6.31%) Finance
4 19 (5.71%) Telecoms
5 17 (5.11%) Analytical Skills
6 14 (4.20%) Military
7 10 (3.00%) Influencing Skills
8 9 (2.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 8 (2.40%) Law
9 8 (2.40%) Local Government
9 8 (2.40%) Police
10 7 (2.10%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (1.80%) Aerospace
11 6 (1.80%) Legal
12 4 (1.20%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (0.90%) Manufacturing
14 2 (0.60%) Banking
15 1 (0.30%) Back Office
15 1 (0.30%) Pharmaceutical
15 1 (0.30%) Retail
Job Titles
1 119 (35.74%) Architect
2 60 (18.02%) Security Architect
3 42 (12.61%) Lead
4 31 (9.31%) Technical Architect
5 27 (8.11%) Consultant
6 24 (7.21%) Senior
7 21 (6.31%) Security Manager
8 17 (5.11%) Security Consultant
9 16 (4.80%) Cybersecurity Manager
9 16 (4.80%) Lead Architect
10 15 (4.50%) Analyst
10 15 (4.50%) Developer
11 14 (4.20%) Solutions Architect
11 14 (4.20%) Technical Leader
12 13 (3.90%) Security Engineer
13 11 (3.30%) Network Architect
13 11 (3.30%) Penetration Tester
13 11 (3.30%) Tester
14 9 (2.70%) Information Manager
14 9 (2.70%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (5.11%) .NET
2 15 (4.50%) REST
3 13 (3.90%) GeoJSON
3 13 (3.90%) RESTful
4 12 (3.60%) .NET Framework
5 11 (3.30%) .NET Core
5 11 (3.30%) ATL
5 11 (3.30%) COM
5 11 (3.30%) CSS
5 11 (3.30%) CSS3
5 11 (3.30%) HTML
5 11 (3.30%) HTML5
5 11 (3.30%) MFC
5 11 (3.30%) WPF
6 10 (3.00%) OAuth
6 10 (3.00%) OpenID
6 10 (3.00%) SAML
7 7 (2.10%) LDAP
8 5 (1.50%) OAuth2
8 5 (1.50%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 35 (10.51%) Cloud Native
2 30 (9.01%) Onboarding
3 27 (8.11%) Security Operations Centre
4 24 (7.21%) Management Information System
5 20 (6.01%) Cyber Threat
5 20 (6.01%) Operational Technology
6 19 (5.71%) Security Posture
7 18 (5.41%) Legacy Systems
8 16 (4.80%) Data Centre
8 16 (4.80%) PKI
9 15 (4.50%) CSOC
9 15 (4.50%) Hybrid Cloud
10 13 (3.90%) Public Cloud
11 12 (3.60%) SCADA
12 10 (3.00%) Product Ownership
13 9 (2.70%) Private Cloud
14 6 (1.80%) Enterprise Software
15 5 (1.50%) Cyber Defence
15 5 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
15 5 (1.50%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 28 (8.41%) Windows
2 22 (6.61%) Linux
3 7 (2.10%) Mac OS
3 7 (2.10%) Windows Server
4 5 (1.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (1.20%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.90%) VMS
7 2 (0.60%) Android
7 2 (0.60%) Unix
8 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.30%) CentOS
8 1 (0.30%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 149 (44.74%) Cybersecurity
2 81 (24.32%) Cloud Security
3 74 (22.22%) CI/CD
4 73 (21.92%) Agile
5 67 (20.12%) Incident Response
6 63 (18.92%) Infrastructure as Code
6 63 (18.92%) Security Architecture
7 60 (18.02%) Risk Management
8 54 (16.22%) DevOps
8 54 (16.22%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 53 (15.92%) Stakeholder Management
10 52 (15.62%) Continuous Improvement
11 49 (14.71%) Zero Trust
12 47 (14.11%) Vulnerability Management
13 44 (13.21%) SIEM
14 43 (12.91%) Security Operations
14 43 (12.91%) TOGAF
15 41 (12.31%) Identity Access Management
15 41 (12.31%) Threat Modelling
16 39 (11.71%) DevSecOps
Programming Languages
1 28 (8.41%) Bicep
2 26 (7.81%) Python
3 12 (3.60%) C#
3 12 (3.60%) PowerShell
4 11 (3.30%) JavaScript
4 11 (3.30%) SQL
4 11 (3.30%) TypeScript
5 7 (2.10%) Java
6 3 (0.90%) Bash
7 2 (0.60%) Groovy
7 2 (0.60%) Kusto Query Language
7 2 (0.60%) Objective-C
7 2 (0.60%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.30%) C
Qualifications
1 247 (74.17%) Security Cleared
2 199 (59.76%) SC Cleared
3 75 (22.52%) DV Cleared
4 47 (14.11%) CISSP
5 40 (12.01%) CISM
6 31 (9.31%) Cisco Certification
7 22 (6.61%) Degree
8 18 (5.41%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 12 (3.60%) AWS Certification
9 12 (3.60%) Azure Certification
10 11 (3.30%) CCNP
10 11 (3.30%) CHECK Team Leader
11 10 (3.00%) CEH
11 10 (3.00%) CESG Certified Professional
11 10 (3.00%) CHECK Team Member
11 10 (3.00%) CompTIA Security+
12 9 (2.70%) CCSP
12 9 (2.70%) GIAC
13 8 (2.40%) CRISC
14 7 (2.10%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 99 (29.73%) NIST
2 86 (25.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 48 (14.41%) GDPR
4 38 (11.41%) Cyber Essentials
5 24 (7.21%) NIST 800
6 23 (6.91%) JSP 440
7 20 (6.01%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 16 (4.80%) GRC
9 15 (4.50%) Accessibility
9 15 (4.50%) Government Security Classifications
10 11 (3.30%) WCAG
11 10 (3.00%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 10 (3.00%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 9 (2.70%) COBIT
12 9 (2.70%) RMADS
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 (8.71%) Active Directory
2 21 (6.31%) Docker
3 16 (4.80%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (4.20%) 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 48 (14.41%) Terraform
2 45 (13.51%) Kubernetes
3 9 (2.70%) 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%) CASB
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%) McAfee ePO
8 1 (0.30%) QRadar
8 1 (0.30%) vCenter Server
8 1 (0.30%) VxRail
Vendors
1 79 (23.72%) Microsoft
2 25 (7.51%) VMware
3 17 (5.11%) Cisco
4 13 (3.90%) Palo Alto
4 13 (3.90%) ServiceNow
5 9 (2.70%) Google
6 8 (2.40%) Oracle
7 6 (1.80%) SAP
7 6 (1.80%) Splunk
8 5 (1.50%) Apple
8 5 (1.50%) F5
8 5 (1.50%) SolarWinds
9 4 (1.20%) Fortinet
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%) Juniper
11 2 (0.60%) OneLogin
11 2 (0.60%) Tenable