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

6 months to
3 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 457 437 388
Rank change year-on-year -20 -49 +132
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 154 316 317
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.32% 0.56% 0.71%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.39% 0.64% 0.75%
Number of salaries quoted 136 190 267
10th Percentile £47,750 £46,457 £42,500
25th Percentile £52,000 £56,250 £51,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +8.33% -14.29%
75th Percentile £85,813 £87,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £65,000 £62,500
% change year-on-year +7.69% +4.00% -9.68%

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 39,846 49,142 41,990
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 83.96% 86.43% 93.61%
Number of salaries quoted 24,939 25,605 32,387
10th Percentile £28,250 £35,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £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 £75,000 £80,000 £81,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -

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 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 3 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 -27 70 £75,000 - 41
South West +30 27 £80,000 +25.00% 31
South East +22 23 £58,750 -2.08% 39
Midlands +34 18 £53,000 -7.83% 37
West Midlands +22 11 £54,000 +2.86% 27
North of England +1 10 £56,250 -6.25% 46
Yorkshire +4 8 £56,250 +7.14% 16
East Midlands +21 7 £51,058 -11.20% 9
North West +12 2 £57,500 -8.00% 25
East of England +39 1 £85,000 +198.25% 14
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 (3.90%) Microsoft Exchange
2 3 (1.95%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.65%) Confluence
Applications
1 7 (4.55%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (4.55%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.65%) GNU Octave
Cloud Services
1 54 (35.06%) Azure
2 22 (14.29%) AWS
3 15 (9.74%) Entra ID
3 15 (9.74%) Slack
4 13 (8.44%) Azure Sentinel
5 12 (7.79%) Microsoft 365
6 11 (7.14%) Microsoft Purview
7 10 (6.49%) GitHub
7 10 (6.49%) Power Platform
8 6 (3.90%) GitHub Actions
9 5 (3.25%) GCP
10 4 (2.60%) Azure Key Vault
11 3 (1.95%) Azure Logic Apps
11 3 (1.95%) IBM Cloud
11 3 (1.95%) Mimecast
11 3 (1.95%) PaaS
11 3 (1.95%) SaaS
12 2 (1.30%) Azure DevOps
12 2 (1.30%) Azure Stack
12 2 (1.30%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 46 (29.87%) Firewall
2 30 (19.48%) Network Security
3 15 (9.74%) TCP/IP
4 13 (8.44%) VPN
5 8 (5.19%) Intrusion Detection
5 8 (5.19%) Wi-Fi
5 8 (5.19%) Wireshark
6 6 (3.90%) Wireless
7 5 (3.25%) HTTP
7 5 (3.25%) VLAN
8 4 (2.60%) BGP
8 4 (2.60%) DNS
8 4 (2.60%) Ethernet
8 4 (2.60%) OSPF
9 3 (1.95%) Cisco ISE
9 3 (1.95%) Modbus
9 3 (1.95%) Spanning Tree
10 2 (1.30%) Cisco Nexus
10 2 (1.30%) ICMP
10 2 (1.30%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (6.49%) Power BI
2 7 (4.55%) Tableau
3 2 (1.30%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.65%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 17 (11.04%) JIRA
2 12 (7.79%) Burp Suite
3 11 (7.14%) Metasploit
4 6 (3.90%) Jenkins
5 2 (1.30%) IDA Disassembler
6 1 (0.65%) Git
6 1 (0.65%) GitLab
General
1 69 (44.81%) Social Skills
2 25 (16.23%) Finance
3 20 (12.99%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (11.69%) Influencing Skills
5 16 (10.39%) Presentation Skills
6 13 (8.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 6 (3.90%) Banking
8 5 (3.25%) Manufacturing
8 5 (3.25%) Retail
9 4 (2.60%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (2.60%) Electronics
9 4 (2.60%) Law
9 4 (2.60%) Public Sector
10 3 (1.95%) Mandarin Language
10 3 (1.95%) Military
11 2 (1.30%) Legal
11 2 (1.30%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.65%) Advertising
12 1 (0.65%) Aerospace
12 1 (0.65%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 44 (28.57%) Security Engineer
2 32 (20.78%) Analyst
3 28 (18.18%) Security Analyst
4 21 (13.64%) Senior
5 17 (11.04%) Cybersecurity Engineer
6 15 (9.74%) Senior Security Engineer
7 13 (8.44%) IT Manager
8 11 (7.14%) Consultant
8 11 (7.14%) Security Consultant
9 10 (6.49%) Tester
10 9 (5.84%) Network Engineer
10 9 (5.84%) Penetration Tester
11 8 (5.19%) Applications Engineer
11 8 (5.19%) Cybersecurity Analyst
11 8 (5.19%) Cybersecurity Consultant
11 8 (5.19%) Information Analyst
11 8 (5.19%) Information Security Analyst
11 8 (5.19%) Vulnerability Management Engineer
12 7 (4.55%) Internal Audit Manager
12 7 (4.55%) Internal Auditor
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (3.25%) JSON
2 1 (0.65%) Elastic Stack
2 1 (0.65%) ModSecurity
2 1 (0.65%) PyTorch
2 1 (0.65%) TensorFlow
2 1 (0.65%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 27 (17.53%) Management Information System
2 22 (14.29%) Security Posture
3 14 (9.09%) Cyber Threat
3 14 (9.09%) Security Operations Centre
4 9 (5.84%) Cyber Defence
5 8 (5.19%) Operational Technology
6 7 (4.55%) PKI
6 7 (4.55%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (3.90%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (3.90%) Cyber Kill Chain
7 6 (3.90%) SCADA
8 5 (3.25%) Cloud Native
8 5 (3.25%) Data Centre
8 5 (3.25%) Enterprise Software
9 4 (2.60%) Linux Command Line
10 3 (1.95%) Cyberattack
10 3 (1.95%) Insider Threat
10 3 (1.95%) Mobile App
10 3 (1.95%) Renewable Energy
10 3 (1.95%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 24 (15.58%) Windows
2 23 (14.94%) Linux
3 7 (4.55%) Unix
4 6 (3.90%) Windows Server
5 5 (3.25%) Kali Linux
6 3 (1.95%) VMS
7 1 (0.65%) Android
7 1 (0.65%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.65%) Debian
7 1 (0.65%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.65%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.65%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.65%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 84 (54.55%) Cybersecurity
2 66 (42.86%) Incident Response
3 50 (32.47%) SIEM
4 46 (29.87%) Vulnerability Management
5 36 (23.38%) Vulnerability Assessment
6 33 (21.43%) Vulnerability Scanning
7 32 (20.78%) Security Operations
8 30 (19.48%) DevOps
9 29 (18.83%) Information Security
10 28 (18.18%) Problem-Solving
11 27 (17.53%) Vulnerability Remediation
12 24 (15.58%) Red Team
13 22 (14.29%) CI/CD
14 21 (13.64%) Application Security
14 21 (13.64%) Technology Transformation
15 20 (12.99%) ITIL
16 19 (12.34%) Cloud Security
16 19 (12.34%) Threat Modelling
17 18 (11.69%) SDLC
18 17 (11.04%) Data Loss Prevention
Programming Languages
1 51 (33.12%) Python
2 34 (22.08%) PowerShell
3 30 (19.48%) Bash
4 15 (9.74%) Go
5 13 (8.44%) SQL
6 7 (4.55%) R
7 6 (3.90%) C
7 6 (3.90%) C++
8 5 (3.25%) C#
8 5 (3.25%) JavaScript
9 2 (1.30%) Perl
10 1 (0.65%) Java
10 1 (0.65%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.65%) Scala
Qualifications
1 41 (26.62%) CISSP
2 40 (25.97%) Degree
3 34 (22.08%) Security Cleared
4 28 (18.18%) SC Cleared
5 24 (15.58%) Cisco Certification
6 21 (13.64%) OSCP
7 17 (11.04%) CCNA
7 17 (11.04%) CREST Certified
7 17 (11.04%) SANS
8 15 (9.74%) CompTIA Security+
9 13 (8.44%) DV Cleared
9 13 (8.44%) GIAC
10 12 (7.79%) GCIA
11 11 (7.14%) CCNP
12 9 (5.84%) CISA
12 9 (5.84%) GCIH
13 8 (5.19%) CEH
13 8 (5.19%) CHECK Team Member
14 7 (4.55%) CHECK Team Leader
14 7 (4.55%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 71 (46.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 55 (35.71%) NIST
3 28 (18.18%) Cyber Essentials
4 21 (13.64%) Accessibility
5 18 (11.69%) GDPR
6 6 (3.90%) NCSC
7 5 (3.25%) NIST 800
8 4 (2.60%) QA
9 3 (1.95%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (1.95%) GRC
9 3 (1.95%) ITGC
9 3 (1.95%) RMADS
10 2 (1.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (1.30%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 2 (1.30%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.65%) COBIT
11 1 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.65%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.65%) SOC 2
System Software
1 15 (9.74%) Virtual Machines
2 9 (5.84%) Active Directory
3 6 (3.90%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (2.60%) VMware ESXi
5 3 (1.95%) Firmware
5 3 (1.95%) Hyper-V
6 2 (1.30%) EMC RecoverPoint
6 2 (1.30%) pfSense
6 2 (1.30%) Squid
Systems Management
1 9 (5.84%) Nmap
2 8 (5.19%) QRadar
3 7 (4.55%) Nessus
4 5 (3.25%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (2.60%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (1.95%) ArcSight ESM
6 3 (1.95%) Proxmox
7 2 (1.30%) Cisco CUCM
7 2 (1.30%) Terraform
7 2 (1.30%) VxRail
8 1 (0.65%) Ansible
8 1 (0.65%) CASB
8 1 (0.65%) Kibana
8 1 (0.65%) Kubernetes
8 1 (0.65%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.65%) SCCM
8 1 (0.65%) ZENworks
Vendors
1 54 (35.06%) Microsoft
2 17 (11.04%) Tenable
3 15 (9.74%) ServiceNow
4 13 (8.44%) Cisco
5 11 (7.14%) Splunk
6 8 (5.19%) VMware
7 7 (4.55%) Oracle
8 6 (3.90%) Fortinet
9 5 (3.25%) Palo Alto
10 4 (2.60%) CheckPoint
10 4 (2.60%) Zscaler
11 3 (1.95%) ArcSight
11 3 (1.95%) CyberArk
11 3 (1.95%) IBM
11 3 (1.95%) LogLogic
11 3 (1.95%) LogRhythm
11 3 (1.95%) McAfee
11 3 (1.95%) Qualys
12 2 (1.30%) LogicMonitor
12 2 (1.30%) Okta