2nd Line Support Job Trends in England

Second Line Support
UK > England

The median Second Line Support salary in England is £32,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 10 January 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 208 371 271
Rank change year-on-year +163 -100 +127
Permanent jobs requiring a 2nd Line Support 556 337 544
As % of all permanent jobs in England 1.06% 0.70% 1.11%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.17% 0.75% 1.17%
Number of salaries quoted 524 234 497
10th Percentile £27,000 £28,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £29,000 £30,000 £28,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £32,000 £33,500 £32,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.48% +3.08% +3.17%
75th Percentile £36,250 £38,750 £38,000
90th Percentile £41,000 £45,000 £43,000
UK median annual salary £32,000 £33,500 £32,000
% change year-on-year -4.48% +4.69% +1.59%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in England. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in England with a recognized job title 47,612 44,722 46,678
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.77% 92.74% 95.18%
Number of salaries quoted 30,053 23,491 36,536
10th Percentile £28,697 £33,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,750 £45,000 £42,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £58,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +2.56% -4.88%
75th Percentile £75,000 £79,600 £77,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £98,474 £97,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%

2nd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring '2nd Line Support' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

2nd Line Support job vacancy trend in England

2nd Line Support
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in England.

Salary distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in England

2nd Line Support
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing 2nd Line Support in England over the 6 months to 10 January 2026.

Salary histogram for 2nd Line Support in England

2nd Line Support
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the England region over the 6 months to 10 January 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East +78 160 £32,750 -2.24% 25
Midlands +113 147 £30,500 -8.27% 9
North of England +67 95 £30,000 - 10
East Midlands +60 91 £30,000 -4.76% 3
South West +41 64 £31,500 -5.97% 5
West Midlands +61 51 £31,500 -10.00% 6
London +14 51 £40,000 +5.26% 5
Yorkshire +18 50 £30,000 - 5
North West +44 43 £30,000 -7.69% 3
East of England +6 39 £33,500 +4.69% 9
North East +7 2 £26,000 -13.33% 2
2nd Line Support
UK

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 10 January 2026, 2nd Line Support job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads across the England region featuring 2nd Line Support in the job title.

1 293 (52.70%) Windows
2 270 (48.56%) Microsoft
3 268 (48.20%) Microsoft 365
4 213 (38.31%) Active Directory
5 186 (33.45%) Problem-Solving
6 163 (29.32%) Azure
6 163 (29.32%) Customer Service
7 155 (27.88%) Windows Server
8 134 (24.10%) Firewall
9 126 (22.66%) DNS
10 118 (21.22%) DHCP
11 112 (20.14%) Mentoring
12 109 (19.60%) VPN
13 108 (19.42%) SLA
14 105 (18.88%) Windows 10
15 96 (17.27%) Continuous Improvement
16 91 (16.37%) Entra ID
17 90 (16.19%) Microsoft Intune
18 89 (16.01%) ITIL
19 83 (14.93%) SQL
20 81 (14.57%) Microsoft Exchange
20 81 (14.57%) TCP/IP
21 69 (12.41%) SharePoint
21 69 (12.41%) VLAN
22 68 (12.23%) Hyper-V
23 67 (12.05%) VMware
24 62 (11.15%) WAN
25 61 (10.97%) LAN
25 61 (10.97%) Microsoft Office
26 57 (10.25%) Security Cleared

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 81 (14.57%) Microsoft Exchange
2 69 (12.41%) SharePoint
3 9 (1.62%) IIS
4 6 (1.08%) Confluence
4 6 (1.08%) Exchange Server 2013
5 1 (0.18%) Exchange Server 2007
5 1 (0.18%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 61 (10.97%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.72%) CATIA
5 1 (0.18%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 5 (0.90%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.54%) Remedy ITSM
3 1 (0.18%) Carpe Diem
3 1 (0.18%) Elite 3E
Cloud Services
1 268 (48.20%) Microsoft 365
2 163 (29.32%) Azure
3 91 (16.37%) Entra ID
4 47 (8.45%) SaaS
5 25 (4.50%) AWS
6 23 (4.14%) Google Workspace
7 20 (3.60%) OneDrive
8 3 (0.54%) Amazon EC2
8 3 (0.54%) Azure Sentinel
8 3 (0.54%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 2 (0.36%) Mimecast
9 2 (0.36%) Power Platform
10 1 (0.18%) Datadog
10 1 (0.18%) GCP
10 1 (0.18%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 134 (24.10%) Firewall
2 126 (22.66%) DNS
3 118 (21.22%) DHCP
4 109 (19.60%) VPN
5 81 (14.57%) TCP/IP
6 69 (12.41%) VLAN
7 62 (11.15%) WAN
8 61 (10.97%) LAN
9 51 (9.17%) Remote Desktop
10 48 (8.63%) Wi-Fi
11 32 (5.76%) VoIP
11 32 (5.76%) Wireless
12 8 (1.44%) IPsec
12 8 (1.44%) PBX
12 8 (1.44%) Unified Communications
13 7 (1.26%) Internet
14 6 (1.08%) DECT
14 6 (1.08%) DSL
14 6 (1.08%) Wireshark
15 5 (0.90%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (3.24%) SQL Server
2 12 (2.16%) Amazon RDS
3 7 (1.26%) MySQL
4 3 (0.54%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.36%) Power BI
5 2 (0.36%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.18%) FileMaker
Development Applications
1 21 (3.78%) JIRA
2 1 (0.18%) Git
General
1 274 (49.28%) Social Skills
2 57 (10.25%) Analytical Skills
3 56 (10.07%) Law
4 53 (9.53%) Marketing
5 51 (9.17%) Retail
6 32 (5.76%) Telecoms
7 23 (4.14%) Organisational Skills
8 22 (3.96%) Finance
8 22 (3.96%) Manufacturing
9 18 (3.24%) Legal
10 14 (2.52%) Advertising
11 9 (1.62%) Public Sector
12 7 (1.26%) Electronics
13 5 (0.90%) Games
13 5 (0.90%) Pharmaceutical
14 4 (0.72%) Dutch Language
14 4 (0.72%) French Language
14 4 (0.72%) German Language
14 4 (0.72%) Spanish Language
15 3 (0.54%) Back Office
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (0.90%) LDAP
2 3 (0.54%) Middleware
3 2 (0.36%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 107 (19.24%) Driving Licence
2 63 (11.33%) Onboarding
3 15 (2.70%) Self-Motivation
4 12 (2.16%) Data Centre
5 7 (1.26%) IoT
6 6 (1.08%) EPoS
6 6 (1.08%) iPhone
6 6 (1.08%) Web Conferencing
7 5 (0.90%) PKI
8 4 (0.72%) Client/Server
8 4 (0.72%) Clustering
8 4 (0.72%) Data Protection Act
8 4 (0.72%) Hybrid Cloud
8 4 (0.72%) iSeries
8 4 (0.72%) Management Information System
8 4 (0.72%) Social Media
9 3 (0.54%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (0.54%) Linux Command Line
9 3 (0.54%) Video Conferencing
10 2 (0.36%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 293 (52.70%) Windows
2 155 (27.88%) Windows Server
3 105 (18.88%) Windows 10
4 44 (7.91%) Windows Server 2019
5 36 (6.47%) Mac OS
6 29 (5.22%) Apple iOS
7 27 (4.86%) Android
8 24 (4.32%) Linux
9 22 (3.96%) Windows Server 2016
10 9 (1.62%) Windows Server 2012
11 6 (1.08%) Windows 7
11 6 (1.08%) Windows 8
12 3 (0.54%) AIX
12 3 (0.54%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 186 (33.45%) Problem-Solving
2 163 (29.32%) Customer Service
3 112 (20.14%) Mentoring
4 96 (17.27%) Continuous Improvement
5 89 (16.01%) ITIL
6 48 (8.63%) CRM
7 46 (8.27%) Logistics
7 46 (8.27%) Service Delivery
8 43 (7.73%) ERP
9 41 (7.37%) Data Privacy
9 41 (7.37%) Root Cause Analysis
10 40 (7.19%) Analytical Thinking
10 40 (7.19%) ITSM
11 38 (6.83%) E-Commerce
12 37 (6.65%) Incident Management
12 37 (6.65%) Mobile Device Management
13 32 (5.76%) Cybersecurity
14 30 (5.40%) Service Management
15 28 (5.04%) Remote Monitoring and Management
16 25 (4.50%) Patch Management
Programming Languages
1 83 (14.93%) SQL
2 38 (6.83%) C#
3 33 (5.94%) PowerShell
4 5 (0.90%) Bicep
4 5 (0.90%) VB
5 4 (0.72%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.18%) Python
6 1 (0.18%) VBA
Qualifications
1 57 (10.25%) Security Cleared
2 53 (9.53%) SC Cleared
3 31 (5.58%) Microsoft Certification
4 28 (5.04%) Degree
5 23 (4.14%) MCP
6 16 (2.88%) Azure Certification
7 13 (2.34%) MCSE
8 12 (2.16%) MCSA
9 11 (1.98%) CCNA
9 11 (1.98%) Cisco Certification
10 10 (1.80%) CCA
10 10 (1.80%) Citrix Certification
11 9 (1.62%) Network+ Certification
12 8 (1.44%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 7 (1.26%) AWS Certification
13 7 (1.26%) MCITP
14 6 (1.08%) BPSS Clearance
14 6 (1.08%) Computer Science Degree
15 5 (0.90%) A+ Certification
16 4 (0.72%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 108 (19.42%) SLA
2 34 (6.12%) QA
3 19 (3.42%) Cyber Essentials
3 19 (3.42%) GDPR
4 11 (1.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 4 (0.72%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 4 (0.72%) NIST
6 1 (0.18%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.18%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 213 (38.31%) Active Directory
2 68 (12.23%) Hyper-V
3 49 (8.81%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.44%) Virtual Desktop
5 7 (1.26%) Virtual Machines
6 6 (1.08%) BitLocker
6 6 (1.08%) Firmware
7 4 (0.72%) Docker
7 4 (0.72%) VMware ESXi
7 4 (0.72%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 90 (16.19%) Microsoft Intune
2 28 (5.04%) SCCM
3 21 (3.78%) Jamf Pro
4 17 (3.06%) Autotask
5 9 (1.62%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 5 (0.90%) MaaS360
6 5 (0.90%) WSUS
7 4 (0.72%) Kubernetes
7 4 (0.72%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.54%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.54%) Netcool
8 3 (0.54%) PaperCut
9 1 (0.18%) AirWatch
9 1 (0.18%) EMC NetWorker
Vendors
1 270 (48.56%) Microsoft
2 67 (12.05%) VMware
3 42 (7.55%) Apple
4 39 (7.01%) Cisco
5 20 (3.60%) Datto
5 20 (3.60%) Google
6 19 (3.42%) Samsung
7 16 (2.88%) Meraki
8 15 (2.70%) Citrix
8 15 (2.70%) Sophos
9 11 (1.98%) Veeam
10 10 (1.80%) HP
11 9 (1.62%) ServiceNow
12 8 (1.44%) McAfee
12 8 (1.44%) SolarWinds
13 7 (1.26%) Adobe
13 7 (1.26%) Oracle
13 7 (1.26%) SAP
14 6 (1.08%) ConnectWise
14 6 (1.08%) Fortinet