Penetration Testing Job Trends in England

Penetration Testing
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in England requiring Penetration Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 439 377 395
Rank change year-on-year -62 +18 +80
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 224 250 479
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.32% 0.68% 0.61%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.42% 0.73% 0.71%
Number of salaries quoted 155 195 381
10th Percentile £42,200 £46,600 £38,750
25th Percentile £50,000 £58,750 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £67,500 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year - +3.85% -6.07%
75th Percentile £88,750 £87,500 £82,500
90th Percentile £97,000 £95,000 £95,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £67,500 £62,500
% change year-on-year +3.70% +8.00% -9.68%

All Process & Methodology Skills
England

Penetration Testing falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 53,786 34,133 67,457
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 76.78% 93.22% 86.35%
Number of salaries quoted 33,742 20,386 52,114
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £43,762 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,163 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.06% +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £98,750 £102,500 £95,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -10.57%

Penetration Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Penetration Testing job vacancy trend in England

Penetration Testing
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Penetration Testing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Penetration Testing in England over the 6 months to 31 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Penetration Testing in England

Penetration Testing
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Penetration Testing within the England region over the 6 months to 31 March 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
London -37 98 £77,250 +6.55% 31
South West +3 51 £62,500 -9.09% 23
Midlands -34 26 £52,500 -22.22% 9
South East -55 21 £73,750 +5.36% 22
North of England -65 18 £63,750 +4.51% 14
West Midlands -22 16 £60,000 -11.11% 7
East Midlands -40 10 £51,058 +27.65% 2
Yorkshire -40 7 £60,000 +17.07% 7
North West -35 6 £55,500 -11.20% 7
North East -16 5 £75,000 +12.36%
East of England -27 2 £57,500 - 6
Penetration Testing
UK

Penetration Testing
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 3 (1.34%) Confluence
1 3 (1.34%) Microsoft Exchange
2 2 (0.89%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.45%) Apache
3 1 (0.45%) Drupal
3 1 (0.45%) IIS
3 1 (0.45%) nginx
3 1 (0.45%) WordPress
Applications
1 3 (1.34%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (1.34%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.45%) Magento
Cloud Services
1 60 (26.79%) Azure
2 47 (20.98%) AWS
3 17 (7.59%) GCP
4 14 (6.25%) GitHub
4 14 (6.25%) Microsoft 365
5 12 (5.36%) Azure Sentinel
6 10 (4.46%) GitHub Actions
6 10 (4.46%) Microsoft Purview
7 9 (4.02%) Entra ID
8 5 (2.23%) Power Platform
9 4 (1.79%) Mimecast
9 4 (1.79%) Slack
10 3 (1.34%) SaaS
11 2 (0.89%) Amazon EKS
11 2 (0.89%) AWS CloudFormation
11 2 (0.89%) Azure DevOps
11 2 (0.89%) Azure Key Vault
11 2 (0.89%) Dynamics 365
11 2 (0.89%) Rubrik
12 1 (0.45%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 41 (18.30%) Firewall
2 24 (10.71%) Network Security
3 20 (8.93%) Wireless
4 15 (6.70%) VPN
5 13 (5.80%) DNS
5 13 (5.80%) TCP/IP
6 8 (3.57%) Intrusion Detection
7 7 (3.13%) Cisco ISE
7 7 (3.13%) VLAN
8 6 (2.68%) Wi-Fi
9 5 (2.23%) HTTP
10 4 (1.79%) Cisco Nexus
10 4 (1.79%) HTTPS
10 4 (1.79%) Wireshark
11 3 (1.34%) DHCP
11 3 (1.34%) DMARC
11 3 (1.34%) Ethernet
11 3 (1.34%) Internet
11 3 (1.34%) Modbus
11 3 (1.34%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (2.23%) Power BI
2 3 (1.34%) SQL Server
2 3 (1.34%) Tableau
3 1 (0.45%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.45%) InterSystems Cache
3 1 (0.45%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.45%) Redis
Development Applications
1 21 (9.38%) Burp Suite
1 21 (9.38%) Metasploit
2 11 (4.91%) JIRA
3 9 (4.02%) Jenkins
4 5 (2.23%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.89%) Git
5 2 (0.89%) IDA Disassembler
6 1 (0.45%) Gatling
6 1 (0.45%) GitLab
6 1 (0.45%) JMeter
6 1 (0.45%) NUnit
6 1 (0.45%) Vagrant
General
1 75 (33.48%) Social Skills
2 66 (29.46%) Finance
3 20 (8.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 19 (8.48%) Analytical Skills
5 17 (7.59%) Law
6 16 (7.14%) Retail
7 15 (6.70%) Banking
8 14 (6.25%) Public Sector
9 9 (4.02%) Legal
10 7 (3.13%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (2.68%) Marketing
12 5 (2.23%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (1.79%) Telecoms
14 3 (1.34%) Aerospace
14 3 (1.34%) Electronics
14 3 (1.34%) Manufacturing
14 3 (1.34%) Military
15 2 (0.89%) Documentation Skills
15 2 (0.89%) Financial Institution
15 2 (0.89%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 42 (18.75%) Consultant
2 41 (18.30%) Security Consultant
3 38 (16.96%) Analyst
4 29 (12.95%) Security Analyst
5 27 (12.05%) Senior
6 24 (10.71%) Security Engineer
6 24 (10.71%) Tester
7 23 (10.27%) Penetration Tester
7 23 (10.27%) Security Manager
8 22 (9.82%) Cybersecurity Consultant
9 18 (8.04%) Security Specialist
10 14 (6.25%) Lead
11 12 (5.36%) Applications Engineer
11 12 (5.36%) Senior Analyst
11 12 (5.36%) Senior Security Analyst
12 11 (4.91%) IT Manager
13 9 (4.02%) Digital Analyst
13 9 (4.02%) Senior Digital Analyst
14 7 (3.13%) Head of Security
14 7 (3.13%) Threat Intelligence Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.34%) .NET
2 2 (0.89%) .NET Framework
3 1 (0.45%) AngularJS
3 1 (0.45%) ARM Templates
3 1 (0.45%) ASP.NET
3 1 (0.45%) ASP.NET Core
3 1 (0.45%) Entity Framework
3 1 (0.45%) JSON
3 1 (0.45%) LDAP
3 1 (0.45%) Memcached
3 1 (0.45%) OAuth
3 1 (0.45%) OAuth2
3 1 (0.45%) OpenAPI
3 1 (0.45%) OpenID
3 1 (0.45%) RESTful
3 1 (0.45%) RxJS
3 1 (0.45%) Swagger
3 1 (0.45%) Vitest
3 1 (0.45%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 63 (28.13%) Security Posture
2 27 (12.05%) Cyber Defence
3 26 (11.61%) Mobile App
4 21 (9.38%) Cyber Threat
5 16 (7.14%) Management Information System
6 7 (3.13%) Data Centre
6 7 (3.13%) Insider Threat
7 6 (2.68%) Blog
7 6 (2.68%) Operational Technology
7 6 (2.68%) Self-Motivation
8 5 (2.23%) Analytical Mindset
8 5 (2.23%) PKI
9 4 (1.79%) Cyber Security Posture
9 4 (1.79%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.79%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.34%) Cloud Native
10 3 (1.34%) Public Cloud
10 3 (1.34%) Renewable Energy
10 3 (1.34%) SCADA
10 3 (1.34%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 30 (13.39%) Linux
2 28 (12.50%) Windows
3 10 (4.46%) Android
3 10 (4.46%) Apple iOS
4 7 (3.13%) Unix
5 4 (1.79%) Windows Server
6 1 (0.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (58.04%) Cybersecurity
2 77 (34.38%) Incident Response
3 76 (33.93%) Red Team
4 54 (24.11%) Application Security
5 47 (20.98%) Information Security
5 47 (20.98%) Offensive Security
5 47 (20.98%) Problem-Solving
6 45 (20.09%) Mentoring
6 45 (20.09%) SIEM
7 43 (19.20%) Agile
8 42 (18.75%) Vulnerability Management
9 33 (14.73%) Security Testing
10 31 (13.84%) Business Strategy
10 31 (13.84%) Internal Audit
10 31 (13.84%) Security Operations
10 31 (13.84%) Threat Modelling
11 29 (12.95%) Business Transformation
12 28 (12.50%) Cloud Security
12 28 (12.50%) Coaching
12 28 (12.50%) Creative Thinking
Programming Languages
1 54 (24.11%) Python
2 41 (18.30%) PowerShell
3 38 (16.96%) Bash
4 13 (5.80%) Go
5 11 (4.91%) Java
6 9 (4.02%) C
6 9 (4.02%) C++
7 6 (2.68%) C#
7 6 (2.68%) Perl
7 6 (2.68%) SQL
8 4 (1.79%) Ruby
9 3 (1.34%) R
10 2 (0.89%) Bicep
10 2 (0.89%) Objective-C
10 2 (0.89%) Rust
11 1 (0.45%) JavaScript
11 1 (0.45%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.45%) PHP
11 1 (0.45%) Scala
11 1 (0.45%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 73 (32.59%) CREST Certified
2 63 (28.13%) OSCP
3 53 (23.66%) CISSP
4 47 (20.98%) Degree
5 44 (19.64%) Security Cleared
6 37 (16.52%) SC Cleared
7 28 (12.50%) CEH
7 28 (12.50%) Cisco Certification
8 25 (11.16%) CHECK Team Member
9 20 (8.93%) CCSAM
9 20 (8.93%) CHECK Team Leader
10 19 (8.48%) CCNA
10 19 (8.48%) CISM
11 18 (8.04%) DV Cleared
12 17 (7.59%) CompTIA Security+
12 17 (7.59%) GIAC
13 12 (5.36%) GPEN
14 11 (4.91%) CCNP
14 11 (4.91%) CISA
14 11 (4.91%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 73 (32.59%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 46 (20.54%) NIST
3 30 (13.39%) GDPR
4 25 (11.16%) Cyber Essentials
5 18 (8.04%) Actionable Recommendations
6 14 (6.25%) Accessibility
7 13 (5.80%) PCI DSS
8 11 (4.91%) NCSC
9 10 (4.46%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 6 (2.68%) GRC
11 3 (1.34%) ITGC
11 3 (1.34%) NIST 800
11 3 (1.34%) RMADS
11 3 (1.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 2 (0.89%) COBIT
12 2 (0.89%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.89%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.89%) SOC 2
13 1 (0.45%) GxP
13 1 (0.45%) HIPAA
System Software
1 22 (9.82%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.23%) Virtual Machines
2 5 (2.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (1.34%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.89%) EMC RecoverPoint
4 2 (0.89%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.45%) Docker
5 1 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 13 (5.80%) Nessus
2 12 (5.36%) Nmap
3 11 (4.91%) Kubernetes
4 7 (3.13%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (2.23%) Ansible
5 5 (2.23%) Terraform
6 4 (1.79%) CSIRT
7 3 (1.34%) ArcSight ESM
7 3 (1.34%) FortiGate
7 3 (1.34%) QRadar
7 3 (1.34%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.89%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.89%) VxRail
9 1 (0.45%) Consul
9 1 (0.45%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.45%) Packer
9 1 (0.45%) Puppet
9 1 (0.45%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 56 (25.00%) Microsoft
2 14 (6.25%) Cisco
3 13 (5.80%) Splunk
4 9 (4.02%) Sophos
5 8 (3.57%) VMware
5 8 (3.57%) Zscaler
6 7 (3.13%) CheckPoint
7 6 (2.68%) Fortinet
8 5 (2.23%) Qualys
8 5 (2.23%) ServiceNow
8 5 (2.23%) Tenable
8 5 (2.23%) TOWER Software
9 4 (1.79%) CrowdStrike
9 4 (1.79%) Okta
9 4 (1.79%) Oracle
10 3 (1.34%) ArcSight
10 3 (1.34%) CyberArk
10 3 (1.34%) Dell
10 3 (1.34%) McAfee
10 3 (1.34%) Veeam