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 17 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 438 409 427
Rank change year-on-year -29 +18 +44
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 257 227 461
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.31% 0.58% 0.55%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.43% 0.62% 0.64%
Number of salaries quoted 172 182 363
10th Percentile £42,500 £45,000 £38,797
25th Percentile £48,604 £57,500 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £67,500 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year -7.41% +3.85% -3.70%
75th Percentile £87,875 £85,000 £82,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £97,500 £95,000
UK median annual salary £65,000 £69,384 £65,000
% change year-on-year -6.32% +6.74% -3.70%

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 60,234 36,782 71,786
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.77% 93.38% 84.92%
Number of salaries quoted 39,612 20,312 53,799
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £41,250 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £73,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,500 £93,750
UK median annual salary £60,000 £59,684 £55,000
% change year-on-year +0.53% +8.52% -9.84%

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 17 May 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 17 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
London -23 114 £81,250 +12.07% 39
South West -6 47 £50,000 -25.93% 14
South East -24 34 £72,500 +3.57% 17
North of England -42 26 £56,000 -8.20% 12
Midlands -40 23 £52,500 -22.22% 7
West Midlands -43 15 £65,000 -3.70% 5
Yorkshire -37 14 £55,000 - 6
East Midlands -28 8 £51,058 +27.65% 2
North West -11 7 £56,000 -8.20% 5
North East -37 5 £75,000 +3.18% 1
East of England -20 4 £30,000 - 3
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 (2.33%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.95%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (1.17%) IIS
4 2 (0.78%) Confluence
5 1 (0.39%) Apache
5 1 (0.39%) Drupal
5 1 (0.39%) nginx
5 1 (0.39%) WordPress
Business Applications
1 1 (0.39%) Magento
1 1 (0.39%) SAP EHS
1 1 (0.39%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 62 (24.12%) AWS
2 57 (22.18%) Azure
3 24 (9.34%) Microsoft 365
4 23 (8.95%) GCP
5 12 (4.67%) Entra ID
6 11 (4.28%) Azure Sentinel
7 10 (3.89%) GitHub
8 6 (2.33%) GitHub Actions
9 5 (1.95%) Microsoft Purview
9 5 (1.95%) SaaS
10 4 (1.56%) Amazon EKS
10 4 (1.56%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.56%) Azure Key Vault
10 4 (1.56%) Mimecast
11 3 (1.17%) Azure DevOps
11 3 (1.17%) OneDrive
12 2 (0.78%) Cloudflare
12 2 (0.78%) Figma
12 2 (0.78%) IaaS
12 2 (0.78%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 42 (16.34%) Firewall
2 26 (10.12%) Network Security
3 20 (7.78%) Wireless
4 17 (6.61%) VPN
5 10 (3.89%) DNS
6 9 (3.50%) TCP/IP
7 8 (3.11%) Internet
8 7 (2.72%) Cisco ISE
9 6 (2.33%) Intrusion Detection
9 6 (2.33%) VLAN
10 4 (1.56%) Cisco Nexus
10 4 (1.56%) HTTPS
11 3 (1.17%) DHCP
11 3 (1.17%) DMARC
11 3 (1.17%) DMZ
11 3 (1.17%) LAN
11 3 (1.17%) SSL
11 3 (1.17%) VoIP
11 3 (1.17%) WAN
11 3 (1.17%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.95%) SQL Server
2 3 (1.17%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.39%) InterSystems Cache
3 1 (0.39%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.39%) Power BI
3 1 (0.39%) Redis
Development Applications
1 19 (7.39%) Burp Suite
2 18 (7.00%) Metasploit
3 6 (2.33%) Bitbucket
4 5 (1.95%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.95%) JIRA
5 2 (0.78%) Git
5 2 (0.78%) NUnit
6 1 (0.39%) Gatling
6 1 (0.39%) IDA Disassembler
6 1 (0.39%) JMeter
6 1 (0.39%) Vagrant
General
1 83 (32.30%) Social Skills
2 71 (27.63%) Finance
3 27 (10.51%) Law
3 27 (10.51%) Public Sector
4 22 (8.56%) Banking
5 21 (8.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 20 (7.78%) Analytical Skills
7 18 (7.00%) Retail
8 8 (3.11%) Legal
9 7 (2.72%) Marketing
9 7 (2.72%) Pharmaceutical
10 5 (1.95%) Telecoms
11 4 (1.56%) Financial Institution
12 3 (1.17%) Back Office
12 3 (1.17%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.78%) Aerospace
13 2 (0.78%) Public Speaking
13 2 (0.78%) Social Housing
14 1 (0.39%) French Language
14 1 (0.39%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 46 (17.90%) Consultant
2 45 (17.51%) Security Consultant
2 45 (17.51%) Senior
3 39 (15.18%) Penetration Tester
3 39 (15.18%) Tester
4 31 (12.06%) Analyst
5 26 (10.12%) Security Manager
6 24 (9.34%) Security Analyst
7 23 (8.95%) Cybersecurity Consultant
8 19 (7.39%) Lead
9 16 (6.23%) Security Engineer
10 15 (5.84%) Security Specialist
10 15 (5.84%) Senior Analyst
10 15 (5.84%) Senior Security Analyst
11 11 (4.28%) Team Leader
12 10 (3.89%) IT Support
12 10 (3.89%) Senior Penetration Tester
12 10 (3.89%) Senior Tester
13 9 (3.50%) Digital Analyst
13 9 (3.50%) Head of Security
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (1.56%) .NET
2 3 (1.17%) .NET Framework
2 3 (1.17%) OAuth
3 2 (0.78%) AngularJS
3 2 (0.78%) ASP.NET
3 2 (0.78%) ASP.NET Core
3 2 (0.78%) Entity Framework
3 2 (0.78%) OAuth2
3 2 (0.78%) OpenAPI
3 2 (0.78%) OpenID
3 2 (0.78%) RESTful
3 2 (0.78%) RxJS
3 2 (0.78%) Swagger
3 2 (0.78%) Vitest
4 1 (0.39%) ARM Templates
4 1 (0.39%) LDAP
4 1 (0.39%) Memcached
Miscellaneous
1 61 (23.74%) Security Posture
2 33 (12.84%) Mobile App
3 29 (11.28%) Cyber Defence
4 25 (9.73%) Cyber Threat
5 15 (5.84%) Management Information System
6 12 (4.67%) Self-Motivation
7 10 (3.89%) Security Operations Centre
8 7 (2.72%) Blog
8 7 (2.72%) Cyber Security Posture
8 7 (2.72%) Data Centre
9 4 (1.56%) Enterprise Software
9 4 (1.56%) Insider Threat
9 4 (1.56%) Onboarding
9 4 (1.56%) Operational Technology
9 4 (1.56%) Public Cloud
10 3 (1.17%) CCTV
10 3 (1.17%) Cloud Native
10 3 (1.17%) Cyberattack
11 2 (0.78%) Analytical Mindset
11 2 (0.78%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 36 (14.01%) Windows
2 31 (12.06%) Linux
3 18 (7.00%) Android
3 18 (7.00%) Apple iOS
4 6 (2.33%) Windows Server
5 4 (1.56%) Unix
6 2 (0.78%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 167 (64.98%) Cybersecurity
2 90 (35.02%) Red Team
3 79 (30.74%) Incident Response
4 55 (21.40%) Application Security
4 55 (21.40%) Offensive Security
4 55 (21.40%) Security Testing
5 54 (21.01%) Mentoring
6 51 (19.84%) Vulnerability Management
7 50 (19.46%) Information Security
8 48 (18.68%) SIEM
9 45 (17.51%) Problem-Solving
10 38 (14.79%) Cloud Security
11 36 (14.01%) Agile
11 36 (14.01%) Security Operations
12 30 (11.67%) Business Strategy
12 30 (11.67%) Business Transformation
13 29 (11.28%) Internal Audit
14 28 (10.89%) Coaching
14 28 (10.89%) Creative Thinking
15 27 (10.51%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 45 (17.51%) Python
2 40 (15.56%) PowerShell
3 30 (11.67%) Bash
4 15 (5.84%) Java
5 14 (5.45%) Go
6 7 (2.72%) Perl
7 6 (2.33%) C#
8 5 (1.95%) C
8 5 (1.95%) C++
8 5 (1.95%) Ruby
9 4 (1.56%) Bicep
9 4 (1.56%) SQL
10 3 (1.17%) Objective-C
10 3 (1.17%) Rust
11 2 (0.78%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.78%) TypeScript
12 1 (0.39%) PHP
Qualifications
1 80 (31.13%) CREST Certified
2 69 (26.85%) OSCP
3 56 (21.79%) CISSP
4 43 (16.73%) Security Cleared
5 38 (14.79%) SC Cleared
6 35 (13.62%) Degree
7 30 (11.67%) CISM
8 27 (10.51%) CEH
8 27 (10.51%) CHECK Team Member
9 24 (9.34%) CHECK Team Leader
10 22 (8.56%) Cisco Certification
11 21 (8.17%) CCSAM
12 16 (6.23%) CompTIA Security+
13 15 (5.84%) CCNA
14 13 (5.06%) CCNP
15 11 (4.28%) DV Cleared
15 11 (4.28%) GIAC
16 10 (3.89%) GPEN
17 8 (3.11%) CISA
17 8 (3.11%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 72 (28.02%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 36 (14.01%) NIST
3 34 (13.23%) GDPR
4 32 (12.45%) Cyber Essentials
5 16 (6.23%) Actionable Recommendations
6 15 (5.84%) PCI DSS
7 14 (5.45%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 10 (3.89%) GRC
8 10 (3.89%) NCSC
9 6 (2.33%) Accessibility
9 6 (2.33%) SOC 2
10 4 (1.56%) QA
11 3 (1.17%) COBIT
11 3 (1.17%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.78%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.39%) Def Stans
13 1 (0.39%) GxP
13 1 (0.39%) HIPAA
13 1 (0.39%) NIST 800
13 1 (0.39%) SLA
System Software
1 30 (11.67%) Active Directory
2 5 (1.95%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (1.17%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.78%) EMC RecoverPoint
5 1 (0.39%) Docker
5 1 (0.39%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 13 (5.06%) Kubernetes
1 13 (5.06%) Nessus
2 11 (4.28%) Microsoft Intune
3 9 (3.50%) Nmap
4 7 (2.72%) Terraform
5 5 (1.95%) Ansible
6 4 (1.56%) CSIRT
7 3 (1.17%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.78%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.78%) SCCM
8 2 (0.78%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.78%) VxRail
9 1 (0.39%) CASB
9 1 (0.39%) Consul
9 1 (0.39%) Packer
9 1 (0.39%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.39%) Puppet
9 1 (0.39%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 59 (22.96%) Microsoft
2 14 (5.45%) Splunk
3 12 (4.67%) Cisco
3 12 (4.67%) Sophos
4 9 (3.50%) Zscaler
5 8 (3.11%) Fortinet
5 8 (3.11%) VMware
6 7 (2.72%) CheckPoint
6 7 (2.72%) CrowdStrike
7 5 (1.95%) TOWER Software
8 4 (1.56%) Okta
8 4 (1.56%) Palo Alto
8 4 (1.56%) Qualys
9 3 (1.17%) Dell
9 3 (1.17%) Veeam
10 2 (0.78%) Darktrace
10 2 (0.78%) DevExpress
10 2 (0.78%) Rapid7
10 2 (0.78%) Tenable
11 1 (0.39%) ServiceNow