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 18 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 438 403 353
Rank change year-on-year -35 -50 +175
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 166 306 328
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.32% 0.60% 0.76%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.39% 0.67% 0.81%
Number of salaries quoted 141 186 261
10th Percentile £48,165 £45,000 £42,500
25th Percentile £52,500 £56,250 £51,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £61,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +6.56% -12.86%
75th Percentile £87,500 £88,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £65,000 £64,902
% change year-on-year +7.69% +0.15% -6.21%

All Process and 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 42,755 45,713 40,502
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 83.32% 89.63% 93.53%
Number of salaries quoted 25,458 23,249 31,363
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,750 £45,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,900 £80,000 £81,250
90th Percentile £96,250 £100,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -2.60%

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 18 December 2025.

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 18 December 2025. 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 -17 73 £76,000 +1.33% 29
South West +35 30 £76,250 +19.14% 27
Midlands +10 23 £54,000 -6.09% 17
South East +6 22 £58,750 -4.08% 18
West Midlands +22 14 £59,000 +12.38% 15
North of England +7 12 £56,250 -1.10% 18
East Midlands -3 9 £51,058 -11.20% 2
Yorkshire -6 8 £58,750 +11.90% 7
North West +5 4 £55,000 -12.00% 9
East of England +28 1 £85,000 +198.25% 2
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 6 (3.61%) Microsoft Exchange
2 3 (1.81%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.60%) Confluence
Applications
1 7 (4.22%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (4.22%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.60%) GNU Octave
Cloud Services
1 56 (33.73%) Azure
2 30 (18.07%) AWS
3 15 (9.04%) Azure Sentinel
3 15 (9.04%) Slack
4 12 (7.23%) Entra ID
4 12 (7.23%) Microsoft 365
5 11 (6.63%) Microsoft Purview
6 10 (6.02%) GCP
6 10 (6.02%) GitHub
6 10 (6.02%) Power Platform
7 6 (3.61%) GitHub Actions
8 3 (1.81%) IBM Cloud
8 3 (1.81%) Mimecast
8 3 (1.81%) SaaS
9 2 (1.20%) Rubrik
9 2 (1.20%) SecurityScorecard
10 1 (0.60%) Azure Key Vault
10 1 (0.60%) Dynamics 365
10 1 (0.60%) Power Automate
10 1 (0.60%) Tessian
Communications & Networking
1 38 (22.89%) Firewall
2 27 (16.27%) Network Security
3 15 (9.04%) TCP/IP
4 13 (7.83%) VPN
5 9 (5.42%) Wireshark
6 8 (4.82%) Intrusion Detection
6 8 (4.82%) Wi-Fi
7 7 (4.22%) Wireless
8 5 (3.01%) HTTP
8 5 (3.01%) VLAN
9 4 (2.41%) DNS
9 4 (2.41%) Ethernet
10 3 (1.81%) BGP
10 3 (1.81%) Cisco ISE
10 3 (1.81%) Modbus
10 3 (1.81%) OSPF
11 2 (1.20%) Cisco Nexus
11 2 (1.20%) ICMP
11 2 (1.20%) Internet
11 2 (1.20%) Spanning Tree
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (6.02%) Power BI
2 7 (4.22%) Tableau
3 2 (1.20%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.60%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 17 (10.24%) JIRA
2 15 (9.04%) Burp Suite
3 14 (8.43%) Metasploit
4 6 (3.61%) Jenkins
5 2 (1.20%) IDA Disassembler
6 1 (0.60%) Git
6 1 (0.60%) GitLab
General
1 69 (41.57%) Social Skills
2 29 (17.47%) Finance
3 20 (12.05%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (10.84%) Influencing Skills
5 16 (9.64%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 16 (9.64%) Presentation Skills
6 9 (5.42%) Banking
7 8 (4.82%) Retail
8 6 (3.61%) Law
9 5 (3.01%) Manufacturing
10 4 (2.41%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (2.41%) Electronics
10 4 (2.41%) Marketing
10 4 (2.41%) Public Sector
11 3 (1.81%) Legal
11 3 (1.81%) Military
12 2 (1.20%) Aerospace
12 2 (1.20%) Mandarin Language
12 2 (1.20%) Public Speaking
12 2 (1.20%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 42 (25.30%) Security Engineer
2 30 (18.07%) Analyst
3 26 (15.66%) Security Analyst
4 22 (13.25%) Senior
5 17 (10.24%) Cybersecurity Engineer
6 16 (9.64%) Tester
7 15 (9.04%) IT Manager
7 15 (9.04%) Penetration Tester
7 15 (9.04%) Senior Security Engineer
8 14 (8.43%) Consultant
8 14 (8.43%) Security Consultant
9 11 (6.63%) Cybersecurity Consultant
10 10 (6.02%) Security Manager
11 9 (5.42%) Applications Engineer
12 8 (4.82%) Auditor
12 8 (4.82%) Cybersecurity Analyst
12 8 (4.82%) Information Analyst
12 8 (4.82%) Information Security Analyst
12 8 (4.82%) IT Auditor
12 8 (4.82%) Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (3.01%) JSON
2 1 (0.60%) Elastic Stack
2 1 (0.60%) ModSecurity
2 1 (0.60%) PyTorch
2 1 (0.60%) TensorFlow
2 1 (0.60%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 26 (15.66%) Management Information System
1 26 (15.66%) Security Posture
2 14 (8.43%) Cyber Threat
3 12 (7.23%) Security Operations Centre
4 10 (6.02%) Cyber Defence
4 10 (6.02%) Operational Technology
5 9 (5.42%) Self-Motivation
6 7 (4.22%) Analytical Mindset
6 7 (4.22%) Mobile App
6 7 (4.22%) PKI
7 6 (3.61%) Cyber Kill Chain
7 6 (3.61%) SCADA
8 5 (3.01%) Cloud Native
8 5 (3.01%) Enterprise Software
9 4 (2.41%) Insider Threat
9 4 (2.41%) Linux Command Line
10 3 (1.81%) Cyberattack
10 3 (1.81%) Data Centre
10 3 (1.81%) Renewable Energy
10 3 (1.81%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 26 (15.66%) Linux
2 22 (13.25%) Windows
3 7 (4.22%) Unix
4 6 (3.61%) Windows Server
5 5 (3.01%) Kali Linux
6 4 (2.41%) Android
6 4 (2.41%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.60%) Debian
7 1 (0.60%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.60%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.60%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 92 (55.42%) Cybersecurity
2 64 (38.55%) Incident Response
3 49 (29.52%) SIEM
4 45 (27.11%) Vulnerability Management
5 36 (21.69%) Information Security
6 34 (20.48%) Red Team
6 34 (20.48%) Vulnerability Assessment
7 33 (19.88%) Vulnerability Scanning
8 32 (19.28%) Problem-Solving
8 32 (19.28%) Security Operations
9 28 (16.87%) DevOps
10 27 (16.27%) Application Security
10 27 (16.27%) Vulnerability Remediation
11 24 (14.46%) Threat Modelling
12 23 (13.86%) Cloud Security
13 22 (13.25%) CI/CD
14 21 (12.65%) SDLC
14 21 (12.65%) Security Testing
14 21 (12.65%) Technology Transformation
15 20 (12.05%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 57 (34.34%) Python
2 34 (20.48%) Bash
3 33 (19.88%) PowerShell
4 17 (10.24%) Go
5 10 (6.02%) SQL
6 7 (4.22%) C
6 7 (4.22%) C++
6 7 (4.22%) R
7 6 (3.61%) C#
8 5 (3.01%) JavaScript
8 5 (3.01%) Perl
9 3 (1.81%) Java
10 2 (1.20%) Ruby
11 1 (0.60%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.60%) Scala
Qualifications
1 48 (28.92%) CISSP
2 39 (23.49%) Degree
3 35 (21.08%) Security Cleared
4 29 (17.47%) SC Cleared
5 27 (16.27%) Cisco Certification
5 27 (16.27%) OSCP
6 23 (13.86%) CREST Certified
7 18 (10.84%) CCNA
8 16 (9.64%) CompTIA Security+
8 16 (9.64%) SANS
9 15 (9.04%) GIAC
10 13 (7.83%) DV Cleared
11 12 (7.23%) CISA
11 12 (7.23%) GCIA
11 12 (7.23%) GCIH
12 11 (6.63%) CCNP
12 11 (6.63%) CEH
13 9 (5.42%) CHECK Team Member
14 8 (4.82%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 8 (4.82%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 74 (44.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 55 (33.13%) NIST
3 28 (16.87%) Cyber Essentials
4 21 (12.65%) Accessibility
5 15 (9.04%) GDPR
6 6 (3.61%) NCSC
7 5 (3.01%) NIST 800
8 4 (2.41%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (2.41%) GRC
8 4 (2.41%) QA
9 3 (1.81%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 3 (1.81%) ITGC
9 3 (1.81%) PCI DSS
9 3 (1.81%) RMADS
10 2 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 1 (0.60%) COBIT
11 1 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.60%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.60%) SOC 2
System Software
1 15 (9.04%) Virtual Machines
2 9 (5.42%) Active Directory
3 6 (3.61%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (2.41%) VMware ESXi
5 3 (1.81%) Firmware
5 3 (1.81%) Hyper-V
6 2 (1.20%) EMC RecoverPoint
6 2 (1.20%) pfSense
6 2 (1.20%) Squid
Systems Management
1 12 (7.23%) Nmap
2 9 (5.42%) Nessus
3 8 (4.82%) QRadar
4 5 (3.01%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (2.41%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (1.81%) ArcSight ESM
6 3 (1.81%) Kubernetes
6 3 (1.81%) Proxmox
7 2 (1.20%) Cisco CUCM
7 2 (1.20%) Terraform
7 2 (1.20%) VxRail
8 1 (0.60%) Ansible
8 1 (0.60%) CASB
8 1 (0.60%) CSIRT
8 1 (0.60%) Kibana
8 1 (0.60%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.60%) SCCM
8 1 (0.60%) ZENworks
Vendors
1 51 (30.72%) Microsoft
2 17 (10.24%) Tenable
3 15 (9.04%) ServiceNow
4 14 (8.43%) Cisco
5 11 (6.63%) Splunk
6 8 (4.82%) VMware
7 7 (4.22%) Oracle
8 6 (3.61%) Fortinet
9 5 (3.01%) Palo Alto
10 4 (2.41%) CheckPoint
10 4 (2.41%) Qualys
10 4 (2.41%) Zscaler
11 3 (1.81%) ArcSight
11 3 (1.81%) CyberArk
11 3 (1.81%) IBM
11 3 (1.81%) LogLogic
11 3 (1.81%) LogRhythm
11 3 (1.81%) McAfee
12 2 (1.20%) LogicMonitor
12 2 (1.20%) Okta