BPSS Clearance Job Trends in the South East

Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Clearance
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for BPSS Clearance qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 18 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 116 208 286
Rank change year-on-year +92 +78 +101
Permanent jobs citing BPSS Clearance 187 80 49
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 1.64% 0.98% 0.39%
As % of the Qualifications category 5.75% 2.06% 1.10%
Number of salaries quoted 102 49 31
10th Percentile £39,663 £36,000 £46,750
25th Percentile £48,000 £42,000 £47,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £58,000
Median % change year-on-year - -5.17% -3.33%
75th Percentile £65,000 £62,000 £75,415
90th Percentile £80,000 £70,600 £82,000
England median annual salary £52,500 £56,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -6.25% +1.82% +4.76%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

BPSS Clearance 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 South East.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 3,251 3,883 4,439
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 28.57% 47.50% 35.77%
Number of salaries quoted 1,442 1,591 3,009
10th Percentile £27,810 £32,500 £28,000
25th Percentile £37,657 £46,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% +9.52% +2.24%
75th Percentile £67,500 £75,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £85,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -4.35%

BPSS Clearance
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing BPSS Clearance relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South East.

BPSS Clearance job vacancy trend in the South East

BPSS Clearance
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing BPSS Clearance.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing BPSS Clearance

BPSS Clearance
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing BPSS Clearance in the South East over the 6 months to 18 February 2026.

Salary histogram for BPSS Clearance in the South East

BPSS Clearance
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing BPSS Clearance within the South East region over the 6 months to 18 February 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
Hampshire +54 63 £55,000 +3.68% 23
Kent +15 55 £54,250 -1.36% 5
Isle of Wight 0 27 £75,900 +16.77% 5
Surrey +5 20 £46,078 +8.74% 4
Thames Valley +12 11 £58,728 +67.96% 11
Berkshire 0 6 £55,000 - 6
West Sussex -4 6 £45,998 -17.86% 1
Oxfordshire +11 4 £58,728 +67.96% 3
Sussex - 3 - - 2
East Sussex 0 2 £87,500 - 1
Buckinghamshire - 1 £37,500 - 2
BPSS Clearance
England

BPSS Clearance
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 3 (1.60%) Confluence
1 3 (1.60%) WordPress
2 2 (1.07%) CMS
3 1 (0.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.53%) SharePoint
Applications
1 26 (13.90%) Simulink
2 14 (7.49%) CATIA
3 4 (2.14%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (1.60%) Microsoft Office
5 1 (0.53%) GNU Octave
5 1 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.53%) PTC Creo
5 1 (0.53%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.53%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 4 (2.14%) Oracle ERP
1 4 (2.14%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.53%) Oracle 11i
2 1 (0.53%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 3 (1.60%) SaaS
2 2 (1.07%) Azure
2 2 (1.07%) Cloud Computing
2 2 (1.07%) Power Platform
3 1 (0.53%) Google Workspace
3 1 (0.53%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 3 (1.60%) SAN
2 2 (1.07%) Wireless
3 1 (0.53%) Profibus
3 1 (0.53%) SNA
3 1 (0.53%) Software-Defined Radio
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.07%) Power BI
2 1 (0.53%) Oracle Database
2 1 (0.53%) Oracle Database 12c
2 1 (0.53%) RDBMS
2 1 (0.53%) Relational Database
2 1 (0.53%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.53%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 61 (32.62%) Rational DOORS
2 20 (10.70%) JIRA
3 3 (1.60%) Apache Continuum
4 1 (0.53%) Bitbucket
General
1 44 (23.53%) Electronics
2 23 (12.30%) Military
2 23 (12.30%) Social Skills
3 15 (8.02%) Aerospace
4 14 (7.49%) Analytical Skills
5 10 (5.35%) Finance
6 9 (4.81%) Public Sector
7 8 (4.28%) Manufacturing
8 7 (3.74%) Avionics
9 5 (2.67%) Automotive
9 5 (2.67%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (2.14%) Influencing Skills
10 4 (2.14%) Police
11 3 (1.60%) Agriculture
11 3 (1.60%) Brand Awareness
11 3 (1.60%) Legal
11 3 (1.60%) Marketing
12 2 (1.07%) Italian Language
12 2 (1.07%) Japanese Language
12 2 (1.07%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 95 (50.80%) Systems Engineer
2 56 (29.95%) Senior
3 39 (20.86%) Principal Engineer
4 33 (17.65%) Senior Systems Engineer
5 31 (16.58%) Principal Systems Engineer
6 22 (11.76%) Lead
7 12 (6.42%) Hardware Engineer
8 11 (5.88%) Senior Hardware Engineer
8 11 (5.88%) Team Leader
9 10 (5.35%) Electrical Engineer
9 10 (5.35%) Lead Systems Engineer
10 9 (4.81%) Analyst
11 7 (3.74%) Architect
11 7 (3.74%) Commissioning Engineer
11 7 (3.74%) Software Architect
12 5 (2.67%) Principal Hardware Engineer
12 5 (2.67%) Senior Manager
13 4 (2.14%) Project Manager
13 4 (2.14%) Systems Manager
13 4 (2.14%) Systems Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (5.35%) OLE
2 7 (3.74%) Middleware
3 4 (2.14%) Oracle Fusion
4 2 (1.07%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 28 (14.97%) Management Information System
2 7 (3.74%) Algorithms
3 5 (2.67%) Analogue Electronics
4 3 (1.60%) Analytical Mindset
4 3 (1.60%) Augmented Reality
4 3 (1.60%) Data Centre
4 3 (1.60%) Manufacturing Execution System
4 3 (1.60%) Smartphone
4 3 (1.60%) Virtual Team
5 2 (1.07%) Acoustics
5 2 (1.07%) FPGA
5 2 (1.07%) PMI
6 1 (0.53%) e-Learning
6 1 (0.53%) Product Ownership
6 1 (0.53%) Replication
6 1 (0.53%) Satnav
6 1 (0.53%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 4 (2.14%) Linux
2 3 (1.60%) Windows
3 1 (0.53%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 94 (50.27%) Systems Engineering
2 44 (23.53%) Agile
3 34 (18.18%) Physics
4 33 (17.65%) Requirements Management
4 33 (17.65%) Validation
5 30 (16.04%) Cybersecurity
6 29 (15.51%) Technical Leadership
7 28 (14.97%) Software Engineering
8 26 (13.90%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
9 25 (13.37%) Mathematics
10 24 (12.83%) Problem-Solving
10 24 (12.83%) Systems Thinking
11 23 (12.30%) Coaching
12 22 (11.76%) Verification and Validation
12 22 (11.76%) Waterfall
13 19 (10.16%) Information Assurance
13 19 (10.16%) Mentoring
14 16 (8.56%) Computer Science
14 16 (8.56%) Continuous Improvement
14 16 (8.56%) SysML
Programming Languages
1 42 (22.46%) MATLAB
2 6 (3.21%) Python
3 5 (2.67%) C
4 2 (1.07%) Ada
4 2 (1.07%) Ada 95
4 2 (1.07%) JavaScript
4 2 (1.07%) SQL
4 2 (1.07%) VBA
5 1 (0.53%) C++
5 1 (0.53%) T-SQL
5 1 (0.53%) VB
Qualifications
1 98 (52.41%) Degree
2 26 (13.90%) Chartered Engineer
3 17 (9.09%) HNC
4 16 (8.56%) Security Cleared
5 13 (6.95%) Computer Science Degree
6 11 (5.88%) SC Cleared
7 5 (2.67%) Cisco Certification
7 5 (2.67%) HND
8 3 (1.60%) A+ Certification
8 3 (1.60%) CCNA
8 3 (1.60%) MCSE
8 3 (1.60%) Microsoft Certification
8 3 (1.60%) Network+ Certification
9 2 (1.07%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 2 (1.07%) CISM
9 2 (1.07%) CISSP
9 2 (1.07%) Master's Degree
9 2 (1.07%) PMI Certification
10 1 (0.53%) ACCA
10 1 (0.53%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (18.72%) ISO/IEC 15288
2 20 (10.70%) ISO/IEC 12207
3 5 (2.67%) GDPR
4 3 (1.60%) HAZOP
4 3 (1.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (1.07%) QA
6 1 (0.53%) Def Stans
6 1 (0.53%) DO-254
6 1 (0.53%) GRC
6 1 (0.53%) IEC 61131
6 1 (0.53%) IEC 61508
6 1 (0.53%) ISO 9001
6 1 (0.53%) NIST
6 1 (0.53%) NIST 800
6 1 (0.53%) PMO
Systems Management
1 4 (2.14%) BMC PATROL
2 3 (1.60%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 27 (14.44%) IBM
2 25 (13.37%) Siemens
3 9 (4.81%) Microsoft
4 8 (4.28%) Oracle
5 5 (2.67%) Mentor Graphics
6 3 (1.60%) Dell
6 3 (1.60%) HubSpot
6 3 (1.60%) Salesforce
7 1 (0.53%) ANSYS
7 1 (0.53%) Atlassian
7 1 (0.53%) EMC
7 1 (0.53%) Keysight
7 1 (0.53%) Red Hat