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 3 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 439 486 457
Rank change year-on-year +47 -29 -21
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 358 166 311
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.34% 0.38% 0.47%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.47% 0.43% 0.57%
Number of salaries quoted 234 142 173
10th Percentile £39,050 £46,825 £42,750
25th Percentile £46,743 £52,500 £52,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £68,750 £65,000 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.77% - +8.33%
75th Percentile £89,000 £85,000 £85,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £90,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £68,442 £65,000
% change year-on-year +2.28% +5.30% +4.00%

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 76,481 38,519 54,833
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.55% 89.12% 82.39%
Number of salaries quoted 53,828 21,783 29,723
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £32,500
25th Percentile £42,000 £36,532 £42,608
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -2.44%
75th Percentile £80,000 £76,250 £78,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £97,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £58,700
% change year-on-year +9.09% -6.30% -2.17%

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 3 October 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 3 October 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 +11 169 £82,500 +10.00% 162
South East +4 75 £67,500 +12.50% 63
South West -34 49 £50,000 -27.27% 45
Midlands -34 28 £46,743 -17.99% 45
North of England -62 25 £55,000 -4.35% 76
West Midlands -34 16 £67,500 +24.21% 28
Yorkshire -42 16 £55,000 - 23
East Midlands -30 12 £46,743 -23.68% 17
East of England - 10 £51,250 - 23
North West -33 6 £62,500 -6.98% 39
North East -61 3 £75,000 -0.76% 15
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 9 (2.51%) Microsoft Exchange
2 8 (2.23%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.40%) Confluence
4 3 (0.84%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.56%) IIS
Applications
1 2 (0.56%) Spreadsheet
2 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.28%) FLEXCUBE
1 1 (0.28%) SAP EHS
1 1 (0.28%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 84 (23.46%) AWS
2 73 (20.39%) Azure
3 32 (8.94%) Microsoft 365
4 23 (6.42%) GCP
5 18 (5.03%) Entra ID
6 13 (3.63%) SaaS
7 7 (1.96%) Microsoft Purview
7 7 (1.96%) Mimecast
8 6 (1.68%) Amazon Bedrock
8 6 (1.68%) Cloud Computing
9 5 (1.40%) Amazon ECS
9 5 (1.40%) GitHub
9 5 (1.40%) Power Platform
10 4 (1.12%) Azure Sentinel
10 4 (1.12%) Nutanix
10 4 (1.12%) OneDrive
11 3 (0.84%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 3 (0.84%) Amazon Kinesis
11 3 (0.84%) Cloudflare
11 3 (0.84%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 86 (24.02%) Firewall
2 39 (10.89%) Wi-Fi
3 37 (10.34%) Cisco Nexus
4 33 (9.22%) Internet
5 29 (8.10%) LAN
5 29 (8.10%) WAN
6 27 (7.54%) Network Security
7 17 (4.75%) VPN
8 11 (3.07%) TCP/IP
8 11 (3.07%) Wireless
9 9 (2.51%) DNS
10 7 (1.96%) Cisco ASA
10 7 (1.96%) Wireshark
11 6 (1.68%) Cisco ISE
12 5 (1.40%) Intrusion Detection
12 5 (1.40%) VLAN
13 4 (1.12%) Cisco Firepower
13 4 (1.12%) DHCP
13 4 (1.12%) Kerberos
13 4 (1.12%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.07%) SQL Server
2 4 (1.12%) MongoDB
2 4 (1.12%) Power BI
3 3 (0.84%) Hadoop
3 3 (0.84%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.56%) Amazon Aurora
4 2 (0.56%) Amazon RDS
4 2 (0.56%) Azure SQL Database
4 2 (0.56%) KNIME
5 1 (0.28%) Data Lake
5 1 (0.28%) Data Vault
5 1 (0.28%) Electronic Patient Records
5 1 (0.28%) Power Query
5 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.28%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 32 (8.94%) Burp Suite
2 27 (7.54%) Metasploit
3 13 (3.63%) JIRA
4 4 (1.12%) Snyk
4 4 (1.12%) Yeoman
5 3 (0.84%) GitLab
5 3 (0.84%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.84%) Maven
5 3 (0.84%) Team Foundation Server
6 2 (0.56%) Git
7 1 (0.28%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.28%) Gatling
7 1 (0.28%) IDA Disassembler
7 1 (0.28%) JUnit
7 1 (0.28%) Postman
7 1 (0.28%) Selenium
General
1 116 (32.40%) Social Skills
2 54 (15.08%) Finance
3 50 (13.97%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (7.82%) Law
5 25 (6.98%) Public Sector
6 21 (5.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 20 (5.59%) Retail
8 13 (3.63%) Aerospace
8 13 (3.63%) Banking
9 12 (3.35%) Influencing Skills
10 10 (2.79%) Telecoms
11 8 (2.23%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.96%) Presentation Skills
13 6 (1.68%) Legal
13 6 (1.68%) Marketing
14 5 (1.40%) Pharmaceutical
15 3 (0.84%) Financial Institution
15 3 (0.84%) Military
15 3 (0.84%) Public Speaking
15 3 (0.84%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 101 (28.21%) Senior
2 72 (20.11%) Tester
3 71 (19.83%) Penetration Tester
4 50 (13.97%) Analyst
5 45 (12.57%) Lead
6 43 (12.01%) Security Analyst
7 42 (11.73%) Security Engineer
8 36 (10.06%) Senior Analyst
9 30 (8.38%) Senior Security Analyst
10 28 (7.82%) Senior Security Engineer
11 27 (7.54%) Cybersecurity Analyst
12 26 (7.26%) Consultant
13 25 (6.98%) Cybersecurity Engineer
13 25 (6.98%) Senior Cybersecurity Analyst
14 21 (5.87%) Network Analyst
14 21 (5.87%) Security Consultant
14 21 (5.87%) Senior Network Analyst
15 20 (5.59%) Architect
16 18 (5.03%) Security Manager
16 18 (5.03%) Security Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (1.96%) Terraform
2 4 (1.12%) LDAP
2 4 (1.12%) OAuth
3 3 (0.84%) Kafka
3 3 (0.84%) OpenID
4 2 (0.56%) .NET
4 2 (0.56%) RESTful
4 2 (0.56%) Ruby on Rails
5 1 (0.28%) CSS
5 1 (0.28%) HTML
5 1 (0.28%) LangChain
5 1 (0.28%) Lightning Web Components
5 1 (0.28%) LlamaIndex
5 1 (0.28%) OAuth2
5 1 (0.28%) Playwright
5 1 (0.28%) PySpark
5 1 (0.28%) PyTorch
5 1 (0.28%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 70 (19.55%) Security Posture
2 30 (8.38%) Management Information System
3 24 (6.70%) Cyber Threat
4 18 (5.03%) Self-Motivation
5 17 (4.75%) Onboarding
6 15 (4.19%) Security Operations Centre
7 14 (3.91%) Mobile App
7 14 (3.91%) Operational Technology
8 12 (3.35%) Cyber Defence
9 11 (3.07%) Cloud Native
10 10 (2.79%) Cyber Security Posture
11 7 (1.96%) NHS
11 7 (1.96%) PKI
12 6 (1.68%) Cyberattack
13 5 (1.40%) Data Centre
13 5 (1.40%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 5 (1.40%) Distributed Systems
13 5 (1.40%) Insider Threat
14 4 (1.12%) Cloud Security Posture
14 4 (1.12%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 47 (13.13%) Windows
2 38 (10.61%) Linux
3 16 (4.47%) Windows Server
4 15 (4.19%) Android
4 15 (4.19%) Apple iOS
5 8 (2.23%) Mac OS
6 5 (1.40%) Kali Linux
7 4 (1.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.84%) Unix
9 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 276 (77.09%) Cybersecurity
2 134 (37.43%) Vulnerability Management
3 91 (25.42%) Security Testing
4 90 (25.14%) Incident Response
5 89 (24.86%) SIEM
6 81 (22.63%) Security Operations
7 78 (21.79%) Information Security
8 73 (20.39%) Cloud Security
9 69 (19.27%) Red Team
10 68 (18.99%) Problem-Solving
11 55 (15.36%) Continuous Improvement
12 53 (14.80%) Offensive Security
13 52 (14.53%) Application Security
14 50 (13.97%) Disaster Recovery
15 49 (13.69%) Stakeholder Management
16 48 (13.41%) Vulnerability Assessment
16 48 (13.41%) Vulnerability Remediation
17 47 (13.13%) Threat Detection
17 47 (13.13%) Threat Intelligence
18 46 (12.85%) Business Continuity
Programming Languages
1 32 (8.94%) Python
2 26 (7.26%) PowerShell
3 16 (4.47%) Java
4 8 (2.23%) Go
4 8 (2.23%) SQL
5 5 (1.40%) JavaScript
5 5 (1.40%) Ruby
6 3 (0.84%) Bicep
6 3 (0.84%) C
6 3 (0.84%) C#
6 3 (0.84%) C++
6 3 (0.84%) Perl
7 2 (0.56%) Bash
7 2 (0.56%) PHP
8 1 (0.28%) Apex Code
8 1 (0.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 1 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.28%) Rust
Qualifications
1 70 (19.55%) CISSP
2 56 (15.64%) Security Cleared
3 49 (13.69%) CISM
4 48 (13.41%) CREST Certified
5 38 (10.61%) SC Cleared
6 36 (10.06%) OSCP
7 30 (8.38%) Degree
8 27 (7.54%) CHECK Team Member
9 18 (5.03%) Cisco Certification
10 16 (4.47%) CEH
11 14 (3.91%) CompTIA Security+
12 13 (3.63%) CHECK Team Leader
12 13 (3.63%) Computer Science Degree
13 11 (3.07%) AWS Certification
13 11 (3.07%) CISA
13 11 (3.07%) GIAC
14 10 (2.79%) CCNP
14 10 (2.79%) Cyber Scheme
14 10 (2.79%) DV Cleared
15 8 (2.23%) (ISC)2 CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 104 (29.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 67 (18.72%) NIST
3 45 (12.57%) Cyber Essentials
4 44 (12.29%) GDPR
5 27 (7.54%) GRC
6 20 (5.59%) PCI DSS
7 18 (5.03%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 11 (3.07%) NCSC
8 11 (3.07%) SOC 2
9 7 (1.96%) Def Stans
9 7 (1.96%) NIST 800
9 7 (1.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 5 (1.40%) QA
11 4 (1.12%) SLA
12 3 (0.84%) Accessibility
12 3 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 2 (0.56%) COBIT
13 2 (0.56%) IASME
13 2 (0.56%) ISO 22301
13 2 (0.56%) PERC
System Software
1 31 (8.66%) Active Directory
2 8 (2.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (1.40%) Docker
4 4 (1.12%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.56%) EMC RecoverPoint
5 2 (0.56%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 2 (0.56%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 28 (7.82%) Nmap
2 22 (6.15%) Kubernetes
3 20 (5.59%) Nessus
4 5 (1.40%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (1.12%) Microsoft Intune
5 4 (1.12%) Red Hat Satellite
6 3 (0.84%) Progress Chef
6 3 (0.84%) SCCM
6 3 (0.84%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
7 2 (0.56%) VxRail
8 1 (0.28%) CASB
8 1 (0.28%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 1 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.28%) Network Intrusion Detection System
8 1 (0.28%) OpenVAS
8 1 (0.28%) QRadar
Vendors
1 71 (19.83%) Microsoft
2 50 (13.97%) Cisco
2 50 (13.97%) Qualys
3 48 (13.41%) Palo Alto
4 37 (10.34%) Aruba
5 16 (4.47%) Splunk
6 15 (4.19%) CrowdStrike
7 14 (3.91%) Tenable
8 13 (3.63%) Rapid7
9 8 (2.23%) VMware
10 6 (1.68%) ServiceNow
10 6 (1.68%) Veracode
11 5 (1.40%) Fortinet
11 5 (1.40%) Oracle
12 4 (1.12%) CyberArk
12 4 (1.12%) Ivanti
12 4 (1.12%) Red Hat
12 4 (1.12%) Sophos
12 4 (1.12%) Zscaler
13 3 (0.84%) Okta