SANS Job Trends in the North of England

SANS Institute
England > North of England

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the North of England with a requirement for SANS qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 3 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 257 277 260
Rank change year-on-year +20 -17 +123
Permanent jobs citing SANS 4 10 12
As % of all permanent jobs in the North of England 0.038% 0.11% 0.16%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.095% 0.29% 0.66%
Number of salaries quoted 1 7 12
10th Percentile - £53,750 -
25th Percentile £62,500 £63,125 £51,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £75,000 £56,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.33% +32.74% -1.74%
75th Percentile £67,500 - £57,625
90th Percentile - - £61,225
England median annual salary £87,500 £66,250 £70,000
% change year-on-year +32.08% -5.36% -3.45%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
North of England

SANS falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the North of England.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 4,194 3,444 1,832
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North of England 39.82% 36.74% 23.92%
Number of salaries quoted 1,214 1,215 1,202
10th Percentile £27,325 £31,250 £29,000
25th Percentile £28,250 £40,386 £38,734
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £43,500 £50,055 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.09% -4.66% -
75th Percentile £60,000 £66,250 £66,250
90th Percentile £77,500 £79,600 £75,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -

SANS
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

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

SANS job vacancy trend in the North of England

SANS
Salary Trend in the North of England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing SANS.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing SANS

SANS
Job Locations in the North of England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing SANS within the North of England region over the 6 months to 3 January 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
Yorkshire -8 3 - -
North West +34 1 £65,000 +1.96%
SANS
England

SANS
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North of 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:

Communications & Networking
1 4 (100.00%) Network Security
2 1 (25.00%) Firewall
2 1 (25.00%) TCP/IP
General
1 3 (75.00%) Analytical Skills
1 3 (75.00%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 3 (75.00%) Analyst
1 3 (75.00%) Cyber Defence Analyst
1 3 (75.00%) Cybersecurity Analyst
1 3 (75.00%) Security Analyst
2 1 (25.00%) Cybersecurity Engineer
2 1 (25.00%) Security Engineer
2 1 (25.00%) Senior
2 1 (25.00%) Senior Security Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 3 (75.00%) Cyber Defence
1 3 (75.00%) Cyber Kill Chain
1 3 (75.00%) Operational Technology
2 1 (25.00%) Security Operations Centre
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
1 4 (100.00%) SIEM
2 3 (75.00%) Continuous Improvement
2 3 (75.00%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
2 3 (75.00%) Incident Response
2 3 (75.00%) MITRE ATT&CK
2 3 (75.00%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (75.00%) Root Cause Analysis
2 3 (75.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 3 (75.00%) Threat Intelligence
3 1 (25.00%) ITIL
3 1 (25.00%) Penetration Testing
3 1 (25.00%) Security Operations
Qualifications
1 3 (75.00%) GIAC
2 1 (25.00%) CCNA
2 1 (25.00%) CCNP
2 1 (25.00%) Cisco Certification
2 1 (25.00%) CISSP
2 1 (25.00%) CompTIA Security+
2 1 (25.00%) GCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (75.00%) NIST
2 1 (25.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 1 (25.00%) ISO/IEC 27001