HNC Job Trends in England

Higher National Certificate (HNC)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in England with a requirement for HNC qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 9 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 471 388 430
Rank change year-on-year -83 +42 +266
Permanent jobs citing HNC 203 274 463
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.25% 0.70% 0.55%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.03% 1.71% 1.98%
Number of salaries quoted 137 136 230
10th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £26,750
25th Percentile £37,500 £40,000 £34,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £48,301 £46,000
Median % change year-on-year -12.01% +5.00% +39.39%
75th Percentile £54,875 £54,793 £56,275
90th Percentile £62,500 £57,670 £68,775
UK median annual salary £42,500 £47,683 £45,000
% change year-on-year -10.87% +5.96% +36.36%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
England

HNC falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in England.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 19,717 16,021 23,404
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 24.41% 41.13% 27.86%
Number of salaries quoted 8,270 7,079 15,693
10th Percentile £29,625 £31,250 £28,250
25th Percentile £42,215 £41,250 £38,130
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,790 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.55% +1.44% -6.78%
75th Percentile £77,500 £73,833 £71,250
90th Percentile £92,500 £92,500 £87,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £54,296
% change year-on-year +9.09% +1.30% -7.19%

HNC
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing HNC relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

HNC job vacancy trend in England

HNC
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing HNC.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing HNC

HNC
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing HNC in England over the 6 months to 9 May 2026.

Salary histogram for HNC in England

HNC
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing HNC within the England region over the 6 months to 9 May 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
North of England -105 77 £60,000 +22.78% 31
South East +34 76 £39,280 -3.60% 25
North West -59 41 £60,000 +22.78% 13
North East -16 30 £60,000 +60.00% 7
Midlands -52 22 £42,500 +21.43% 19
East of England -19 18 £37,500 -31.82% 12
West Midlands -45 12 £40,000 +14.29% 11
East Midlands -27 10 £42,500 - 8
London -20 7 £41,250 -12.23% 10
Yorkshire -88 6 £40,000 -30.51% 13
South West -90 3 £35,000 -33.46% 17
HNC
UK

HNC
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 6 (2.96%) FactoryTalk
2 5 (2.46%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 31 (15.27%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (6.90%) AutoCAD
3 10 (4.93%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (4.93%) SOLIDWORKS
4 2 (0.99%) EPLAN
4 2 (0.99%) Solid Edge
5 1 (0.49%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.49%) PTC Creo
5 1 (0.49%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 8 (3.94%) SAP ERP
1 8 (3.94%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 6 (2.96%) Google Docs
1 6 (2.96%) Google Sheets
1 6 (2.96%) Google Workspace
2 2 (0.99%) Power Platform
3 1 (0.49%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 6 (2.96%) Ethernet
1 6 (2.96%) Profibus
2 4 (1.97%) DHCP
2 4 (1.97%) DNS
2 4 (1.97%) RFID
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (2.46%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.99%) Power BI
3 1 (0.49%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 6 (2.96%) JIRA
2 5 (2.46%) LabVIEW
3 1 (0.49%) Rational DOORS
General
1 61 (30.05%) Manufacturing
2 58 (28.57%) Social Skills
3 27 (13.30%) Electronics
4 23 (11.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 20 (9.85%) Analytical Skills
6 18 (8.87%) Finance
7 17 (8.37%) Organisational Skills
8 13 (6.40%) Advertising
9 10 (4.93%) Aerospace
10 7 (3.45%) Marketing
10 7 (3.45%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (2.96%) Military
12 5 (2.46%) Aviation
12 5 (2.46%) Telecoms
13 4 (1.97%) Aeronautics
13 4 (1.97%) Avionics
13 4 (1.97%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (1.48%) Legal
15 2 (0.99%) Games
16 1 (0.49%) Retail
Job Titles
1 41 (20.20%) Support Engineer
1 41 (20.20%) Technical Engineer
1 41 (20.20%) Technical Support
1 41 (20.20%) Technical Support Engineer
2 30 (14.78%) Systems Engineer
3 15 (7.39%) Senior
3 15 (7.39%) Support Manager
4 13 (6.40%) Electrical Engineer
5 11 (5.42%) Analyst
5 11 (5.42%) Control Systems Engineer
5 11 (5.42%) Project Engineer
5 11 (5.42%) Project Manager
6 9 (4.43%) Electronics Engineer
6 9 (4.43%) Lead
6 9 (4.43%) Manufacturing Engineer
6 9 (4.43%) Support Analyst
6 9 (4.43%) Systems Manager
6 9 (4.43%) Systems Support
6 9 (4.43%) Systems Support Manager
6 9 (4.43%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.49%) Flash
1 1 (0.49%) STL
Miscellaneous
1 46 (22.66%) Driving Licence
2 16 (7.88%) SCADA
3 14 (6.90%) Renewable Energy
4 12 (5.91%) Robotics
5 10 (4.93%) Management Information System
6 9 (4.43%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (2.96%) Replication
8 2 (0.99%) CCTV
9 1 (0.49%) Analogue Electronics
9 1 (0.49%) Low-Code
9 1 (0.49%) Verilog
9 1 (0.49%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 6 (2.96%) Windows
1 6 (2.96%) Windows 10
1 6 (2.96%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 46 (22.66%) Problem-Solving
2 32 (15.76%) Project Management
3 24 (11.82%) Validation
4 21 (10.34%) Stakeholder Management
5 20 (9.85%) CRM
6 19 (9.36%) Customer Service
6 19 (9.36%) Mentoring
7 17 (8.37%) Mathematics
8 16 (7.88%) Data Analysis
9 15 (7.39%) Commercial Awareness
9 15 (7.39%) Continuous Improvement
9 15 (7.39%) Decision-Making
9 15 (7.39%) ERP
10 14 (6.90%) Time Management
11 13 (6.40%) B2B
11 13 (6.40%) B2B Sales
11 13 (6.40%) Business Development
11 13 (6.40%) Customer Experience
11 13 (6.40%) Data Entry
11 13 (6.40%) Telesales
Programming Languages
1 7 (3.45%) SQL
2 6 (2.96%) Ladder Logic
3 2 (0.99%) C++
3 2 (0.99%) Python
4 1 (0.49%) C
4 1 (0.49%) JavaScript
4 1 (0.49%) VB
4 1 (0.49%) VBA
Qualifications
1 91 (44.83%) HND
2 88 (43.35%) Degree
3 41 (20.20%) BPSS Clearance
4 28 (13.79%) Security Cleared
5 22 (10.84%) SC Cleared
6 15 (7.39%) DV Cleared
6 15 (7.39%) Microsoft Certification
6 15 (7.39%) Microsoft Certified Professional
7 7 (3.45%) RIBA
8 6 (2.96%) A+ Certification
9 5 (2.46%) Master's Degree
10 4 (1.97%) MCSA
11 3 (1.48%) NVQ Level 3
12 2 (0.99%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (5.42%) GDPR
2 6 (2.96%) Accessibility
2 6 (2.96%) HAZOP
2 6 (2.96%) ISO 9001
3 4 (1.97%) QA
4 3 (1.48%) PCI DSS
5 1 (0.49%) Def Stans
System Software
1 15 (7.39%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.46%) XenApp
3 2 (0.99%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 6 (2.96%) Wonderware InTouch
2 4 (1.97%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 29 (14.29%) Microsoft
2 12 (5.91%) Allen-Bradley
2 12 (5.91%) Siemens
3 11 (5.42%) SAP
4 10 (4.93%) Salesforce
5 9 (4.43%) Wonderware
6 6 (2.96%) Citrix
6 6 (2.96%) Google
6 6 (2.96%) Rockwell
7 4 (1.97%) EMC
7 4 (1.97%) Veeam
7 4 (1.97%) VMware
8 2 (0.99%) Logitech
8 2 (0.99%) Yealink
9 1 (0.49%) Keysight