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 17 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 17 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 347 | 377 | 482 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +30 | +105 | -117 |
| Contract jobs citing NCSC | 396 | 192 | 78 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.72% | 0.58% | 0.21% |
| As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category | 4.00% | 3.27% | 1.55% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 280 | 134 | 42 |
| 10th Percentile | £456 | £500 | £476 |
| 25th Percentile | £520 | £550 | £500 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £600 | £650 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -7.69% | +23.81% | -21.96% |
| 75th Percentile | £688 | £700 | £648 |
| 90th Percentile | £800 | £750 | £771 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £600 | £650 | £550 |
| % change year-on-year | -7.69% | +18.18% | -18.24% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 16 | 17 | 3 |
| 10th Percentile | £71.00 | £39.66 | - |
| 25th Percentile | £81.43 | £82.50 | £60.75 |
| Median hourly rate | £85.40 | £86.50 | £61.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -1.27% | +40.66% | -26.26% |
| 75th Percentile | £96.00 | £91.50 | £71.12 |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | £76.45 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £85.40 | £87.00 | £61.50 |
| % change year-on-year | -1.84% | +41.47% | -26.26% |
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.
| 6 months to 17 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills | 9,909 | 5,867 | 5,039 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 17.93% | 17.62% | 13.45% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 6,202 | 3,747 | 2,930 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £300 | £275 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £400 | £398 |
| 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 | 738 | 283 | 238 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.69 | £13.60 | £13.26 |
| 25th Percentile | £16.49 | £16.61 | £17.53 |
| Median hourly rate | £31.46 | £30.00 | £27.92 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.87% | +7.45% | -22.04% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £60.63 | £63.25 |
| 90th Percentile | £74.27 | £80.00 | £70.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £32.40 | £25.00 | £27.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +29.58% | -9.09% | -26.67% |
NCSC Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing NCSC relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
NCSC Daily Rate Trend
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 17 October 2026.
NCSC Hourly Rate Trend
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 17 October 2026.
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 17 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 | -2 | 323 | £600 | -7.77% | 202 |
| UK excluding London | -21 | 203 | £600 | -7.69% | 138 |
| Work from Home | +13 | 149 | £585 | -10.00% | 137 |
| London | -22 | 127 | £595 | -8.46% | 78 |
| South West | -28 | 61 | £600 | -11.11% | 24 |
| South East | -16 | 59 | £738 | +18.47% | 31 |
| North of England | -28 | 54 | £585 | +6.36% | 29 |
| North West | 0 | 50 | £568 | +42.00% | 18 |
| Midlands | -35 | 20 | £585 | -16.43% | 15 |
| West Midlands | -36 | 20 | £585 | -16.43% | 8 |
| Scotland | -8 | 18 | £800 | +45.45% | 19 |
| Wales | -10 | 5 | £800 | +236.13% | 9 |
| East of England | -36 | 5 | £510 | +104.82% | 7 |
| North East | - | 4 | £675 | - | 9 |
NCSC 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 | 34.6% | 137 |
| 2 | NIST | 33.6% | 133 |
| 3 | GDPR | 12.4% | 49 |
| 4 | GRC | 11.4% | 45 |
| 5 | Cyber Essentials | 7.8% | 31 |
| 5 | JSP 440 | 7.8% | 31 |
| 7 | Data Quality | 5.8% | 23 |
| 8 | Cyber Essentials PLUS | 5.1% | 20 |
| 8 | NIST 800 | 5.1% | 20 |
| 10 | Accessibility | 3.0% | 12 |
| 11 | WCAG | 2.8% | 11 |
| 12 | HMG Security Policy Framework | 2.5% | 10 |
| 13 | QA | 1.8% | 7 |
| 14 | Government Security Classifications | 1.5% | 6 |
| 14 | SLA | 1.5% | 6 |
| 16 | Actionable Recommendations | 1.3% | 5 |
| 16 | Def Stans | 1.3% | 5 |
| 16 | ISO/IEC 27005 | 1.3% | 5 |
| 16 | PCI DSS | 1.3% | 5 |
| 20 | COBIT | 1.0% | 4 |