3rd Line Support Job Trends in England

Third Line Support
UK > England

The median Third Line Support salary in England is £46,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 28 September 2026.

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

6 months to
28 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 589 397 567
Rank change year-on-year -192 +170 -50
Permanent jobs requiring a 3rd Line Support 176 253 194
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.17% 0.59% 0.29%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.18% 0.65% 0.30%
Number of salaries quoted 145 247 165
10th Percentile £32,250 £34,600 £32,200
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £46,000 £42,500 £40,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.24% +6.25% -2.44%
75th Percentile £55,000 £48,750 £48,750
90th Percentile £58,750 £57,500 £55,000
UK median annual salary £45,000 £42,500 £40,000
% change year-on-year +5.88% +6.25% -2.44%

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 96,200 38,934 64,354
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.01% 90.45% 95.21%
Number of salaries quoted 67,618 23,126 37,606
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,500
25th Percentile £41,000 £36,250 £40,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,522 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.22% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £75,000 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £95,000 £95,000
UK median annual salary £58,598 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +6.54% - -8.33%

3rd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring '3rd Line Support' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

3rd Line Support job vacancy trend in England

3rd Line Support
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in England.

Salary distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in England

3rd Line Support
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing 3rd Line Support in England over the 6 months to 28 September 2026.

Salary histogram for 3rd Line Support in England

3rd 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 3rd Line Support within the England region over the 6 months to 28 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East -102 40 £50,000 +21.95% 9
North of England -44 38 £35,000 -13.58% 13
Midlands -65 30 £41,750 +8.44% 12
South West -74 27 £48,750 +0.52% 7
London -70 26 £55,000 +10.00% 9
North West -28 17 £31,500 -21.25% 7
West Midlands -42 15 £45,000 +10.43% 5
East of England -45 15 £37,000 -21.28% 1
East Midlands -47 15 £40,000 +3.90% 7
North East - 14 £40,000 - 2
Yorkshire -31 7 £47,500 - 4
3rd Line Support
UK

3rd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 28 September 2026, 3rd 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 3rd Line Support in the job title.

1 110 (62.50%) Microsoft
2 80 (45.45%) Microsoft 365
3 77 (43.75%) Active Directory
4 75 (42.61%) Windows
5 73 (41.48%) Azure
6 64 (36.36%) Entra ID
7 61 (34.66%) Firewall
8 58 (32.95%) Microsoft Exchange
9 53 (30.11%) SharePoint
10 46 (26.14%) Windows Server
11 42 (23.86%) Mentoring
12 40 (22.73%) Microsoft Intune
12 40 (22.73%) Problem-Solving
13 38 (21.59%) DNS
14 37 (21.02%) VMware
14 37 (21.02%) VMware Infrastructure
15 35 (19.89%) Infrastructure Engineering
16 34 (19.32%) DHCP
16 34 (19.32%) VLAN
17 29 (16.48%) Hyper-V
17 29 (16.48%) SaaS
17 29 (16.48%) VPN
18 28 (15.91%) Cisco
18 28 (15.91%) Wireless
19 26 (14.77%) Degree
20 24 (13.64%) Cybersecurity
21 23 (13.07%) SQL
21 23 (13.07%) TCP/IP
22 22 (12.50%) Technical Leadership
23 21 (11.93%) Disaster Recovery

3rd 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 58 (32.95%) Microsoft Exchange
2 53 (30.11%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.57%) Confluence
3 1 (0.57%) Exchange Server 2007
3 1 (0.57%) Exchange Server 2010
3 1 (0.57%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 1 (0.57%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 5 (2.84%) Fidessa
2 3 (1.70%) Remedy ITSM
3 1 (0.57%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 80 (45.45%) Microsoft 365
2 73 (41.48%) Azure
3 64 (36.36%) Entra ID
4 29 (16.48%) SaaS
5 10 (5.68%) Mimecast
6 9 (5.11%) Google Workspace
7 4 (2.27%) AWS
7 4 (2.27%) Power Automate
8 3 (1.70%) OneDrive
8 3 (1.70%) Power Platform
9 2 (1.14%) Azure Stack
10 1 (0.57%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 61 (34.66%) Firewall
2 38 (21.59%) DNS
3 34 (19.32%) DHCP
3 34 (19.32%) VLAN
4 29 (16.48%) VPN
5 28 (15.91%) Wireless
6 23 (13.07%) TCP/IP
7 15 (8.52%) LAN
7 15 (8.52%) WAN
8 10 (5.68%) Wi-Fi
9 8 (4.55%) Network Security
9 8 (4.55%) SD-WAN
10 6 (3.41%) VoIP
11 5 (2.84%) FIX Connectivity
12 4 (2.27%) DMZ
12 4 (2.27%) Wireshark
13 3 (1.70%) ICMP
13 3 (1.70%) Remote Desktop
13 3 (1.70%) SAN
14 1 (0.57%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (9.09%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 14 (7.95%) JIRA
2 1 (0.57%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 73 (41.48%) Social Skills
2 14 (7.95%) Legal
3 11 (6.25%) Analytical Skills
4 9 (5.11%) Documentation Skills
5 8 (4.55%) Finance
6 5 (2.84%) Banking
6 5 (2.84%) Manufacturing
7 3 (1.70%) Telecoms
8 2 (1.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.57%) Law
9 1 (0.57%) Organisational Skills
9 1 (0.57%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (0.57%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (5.68%) .NET
2 5 (2.84%) FIX Protocol
3 3 (1.70%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 18 (10.23%) Onboarding
2 11 (6.25%) Driving Licence
2 11 (6.25%) Self-Motivation
3 10 (5.68%) Video Conferencing
4 7 (3.98%) Enterprise Software
5 5 (2.84%) Eurex
6 4 (2.27%) Cyber Threat
7 1 (0.57%) Clustering
7 1 (0.57%) CMDB
7 1 (0.57%) Hybrid Cloud
7 1 (0.57%) iPhone
7 1 (0.57%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 75 (42.61%) Windows
2 46 (26.14%) Windows Server
3 17 (9.66%) Linux
4 10 (5.68%) Windows Server 2012
4 10 (5.68%) Windows Server 2016
5 9 (5.11%) Mac OS
6 8 (4.55%) Windows Server 2019
7 5 (2.84%) CentOS
7 5 (2.84%) Rocky
7 5 (2.84%) Solaris
7 5 (2.84%) Ubuntu
7 5 (2.84%) Unix
8 2 (1.14%) Android
8 2 (1.14%) Apple iOS
8 2 (1.14%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.57%) VMS
9 1 (0.57%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 42 (23.86%) Mentoring
2 40 (22.73%) Problem-Solving
3 35 (19.89%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 24 (13.64%) Cybersecurity
5 22 (12.50%) Technical Leadership
6 21 (11.93%) Disaster Recovery
6 21 (11.93%) Project Delivery
7 16 (9.09%) Continuous Improvement
7 16 (9.09%) Root Cause Analysis
8 15 (8.52%) Change Management
8 15 (8.52%) ITIL
9 14 (7.95%) Business Continuity
9 14 (7.95%) Customer Service
9 14 (7.95%) Incident Management
9 14 (7.95%) ITSM
10 13 (7.39%) Remote Monitoring and Management
10 13 (7.39%) Server Management
11 12 (6.82%) Identity Management
12 11 (6.25%) Proactive Maintenance
13 10 (5.68%) Cloud Security
Programming Languages
1 23 (13.07%) SQL
2 14 (7.95%) PowerShell
3 10 (5.68%) C#
4 9 (5.11%) R
5 7 (3.98%) Bash
5 7 (3.98%) Python
5 7 (3.98%) T-SQL
6 5 (2.84%) JavaScript
6 5 (2.84%) Perl
6 5 (2.84%) Ruby
7 4 (2.27%) COBOL
7 4 (2.27%) Java
Qualifications
1 26 (14.77%) Degree
2 16 (9.09%) CCNA
2 16 (9.09%) Cisco Certification
2 16 (9.09%) Microsoft Certification
3 13 (7.39%) Azure Certification
4 4 (2.27%) AWS Certification
4 4 (2.27%) MCSA
4 4 (2.27%) Microsoft Certified Professional
5 3 (1.70%) CCNP
6 1 (0.57%) SC Cleared
6 1 (0.57%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (7.95%) Cyber Essentials
2 12 (6.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (1.70%) PCI DSS
3 3 (1.70%) SLA
4 1 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
System Software
1 77 (43.75%) Active Directory
2 37 (21.02%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (16.48%) Hyper-V
4 9 (5.11%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (1.70%) Firmware
6 1 (0.57%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.57%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 40 (22.73%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (7.39%) Autotask
3 9 (5.11%) Jamf Pro
4 4 (2.27%) Iperf
5 1 (0.57%) Nessus
5 1 (0.57%) SCCM
5 1 (0.57%) WSUS
Vendors
1 110 (62.50%) Microsoft
2 37 (21.02%) VMware
3 28 (15.91%) Cisco
4 17 (9.66%) Fortinet
4 17 (9.66%) SonicWALL
5 12 (6.82%) Meraki
6 10 (5.68%) HP
6 10 (5.68%) Sophos
6 10 (5.68%) Veeam
7 9 (5.11%) Aruba
7 9 (5.11%) CrowdStrike
7 9 (5.11%) Datto
7 9 (5.11%) Google
7 9 (5.11%) Palo Alto
7 9 (5.11%) Ubiquiti
8 7 (3.98%) WatchGuard
9 5 (2.84%) Patsystems
9 5 (2.84%) Reuters
9 5 (2.84%) ServiceNow
9 5 (2.84%) Trayport