SC Cleared Job Trends in the South East

Security Check (SC) Clearance
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for SC Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 19 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 36 31 31
Rank change year-on-year -5 0 +3
Permanent jobs citing SC Cleared 640 544 995
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 4.03% 6.31% 6.11%
As % of the Qualifications category 19.16% 15.18% 19.37%
Number of salaries quoted 513 302 781
10th Percentile £41,000 £40,000 £35,000
25th Percentile £52,625 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £58,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +20.69% +5.45% -
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £68,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £85,000 £83,750
England median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +16.67% +9.09% -12.00%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

SC Cleared 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 3,340 3,583 5,136
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 21.04% 41.54% 31.54%
Number of salaries quoted 1,975 1,622 3,286
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,681 £37,500 £39,493
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% +0.96% -0.95%
75th Percentile £75,900 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.33%

SC Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

SC Cleared job vacancy trend in the South East

SC Cleared
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing SC Cleared.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing SC Cleared

SC Cleared
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing SC Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 19 July 2026.

Salary histogram for SC Cleared in the South East

SC Cleared
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 SC Cleared within the South East region over the 6 months to 19 July 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 -7 331 £75,000 +25.00% 100
Thames Valley +36 193 £67,500 +8.00% 62
Berkshire +8 115 £75,000 +15.38% 37
Surrey +11 72 £55,000 +46.67% 37
Buckinghamshire +27 60 £55,000 - 21
Oxfordshire -3 18 £82,500 +26.92% 5
West Sussex -12 15 £60,000 +60.00% 10
Kent -17 15 £52,500 -12.50% 2
Sussex -2 9 £85,000 +61.90% 5
Middlesex - 2 £65,000 -
SC Cleared
England

SC Cleared
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 12 (1.88%) SharePoint
2 7 (1.09%) SAS
3 5 (0.78%) Apache
4 3 (0.47%) nginx
5 2 (0.31%) Confluence
6 1 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.16%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.16%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 22 (3.44%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (2.34%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (0.94%) Simulink
4 3 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.16%) Mathcad
Business Applications
1 1 (0.16%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.16%) Siebel CRM
1 1 (0.16%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 103 (16.09%) Azure
2 61 (9.53%) AWS
3 48 (7.50%) Microsoft 365
4 31 (4.84%) GCP
5 20 (3.13%) Serverless
6 18 (2.81%) Entra ID
7 16 (2.50%) Power Platform
8 13 (2.03%) OpenShift
9 11 (1.72%) Amazon EKS
9 11 (1.72%) Azure Sentinel
9 11 (1.72%) PowerApps
10 9 (1.41%) Amazon EC2
10 9 (1.41%) Azure AKS
11 8 (1.25%) Azure DevOps
11 8 (1.25%) GitHub
12 6 (0.94%) Amazon ECS
12 6 (0.94%) AWS Lambda
13 5 (0.78%) Cloudflare
13 5 (0.78%) GitHub Actions
13 5 (0.78%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 50 (7.81%) Firewall
2 33 (5.16%) WAN
3 27 (4.22%) TCP/IP
4 25 (3.91%) DNS
5 23 (3.59%) LAN
6 22 (3.44%) VPN
7 16 (2.50%) ATM
8 14 (2.19%) BGP
8 14 (2.19%) HTTP
9 11 (1.72%) MQTT
10 10 (1.56%) SSL
10 10 (1.56%) Structured Cabling
10 10 (1.56%) VLAN
11 9 (1.41%) Network Security
12 6 (0.94%) MPLS
12 6 (0.94%) SNMP
12 6 (0.94%) VoIP
13 5 (0.78%) Cisco Firepower
13 5 (0.78%) Internet
14 4 (0.63%) Software-Defined Radio
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (2.97%) PostgreSQL
2 16 (2.50%) Power BI
3 10 (1.56%) Relational Database
4 7 (1.09%) SQL Server
5 6 (0.94%) MySQL
6 4 (0.63%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.63%) GIS
6 4 (0.63%) Redis
7 3 (0.47%) Metadata
8 1 (0.16%) Big Data
8 1 (0.16%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.16%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.16%) Geospatial Data
8 1 (0.16%) MongoDB
8 1 (0.16%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.16%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.16%) SAS Visual Analytics
8 1 (0.16%) Siebel EIM
8 1 (0.16%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 44 (6.88%) Git
2 32 (5.00%) GitLab
3 16 (2.50%) Visual Studio Code
4 13 (2.03%) Jenkins
5 12 (1.88%) JIRA
6 10 (1.56%) SonarQube
7 5 (0.78%) Artifactory
7 5 (0.78%) JUnit
7 5 (0.78%) Rational DOORS
8 4 (0.63%) Cucumber
8 4 (0.63%) JMeter
8 4 (0.63%) Selenium
9 2 (0.31%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.31%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.31%) Mockito
9 2 (0.31%) MSTest
9 2 (0.31%) Visual Studio
10 1 (0.16%) LabVIEW
10 1 (0.16%) LoadRunner
10 1 (0.16%) Mocha
General
1 133 (20.78%) Social Skills
2 64 (10.00%) Public Sector
3 52 (8.13%) Analytical Skills
4 37 (5.78%) Finance
5 36 (5.63%) Electronics
6 23 (3.59%) Aerospace
7 22 (3.44%) Aviation
8 21 (3.28%) Military
9 20 (3.13%) Organisational Skills
10 16 (2.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 14 (2.19%) Law
11 14 (2.19%) Manufacturing
12 9 (1.41%) Aeronautics
13 8 (1.25%) Advertising
14 6 (0.94%) Retail
14 6 (0.94%) Telecoms
15 5 (0.78%) French Language
15 5 (0.78%) Legal
16 4 (0.63%) Games
17 2 (0.31%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 103 (16.09%) Senior
2 81 (12.66%) Software Engineer
3 62 (9.69%) Architect
4 53 (8.28%) Developer
5 40 (6.25%) Analyst
6 34 (5.31%) Systems Engineer
7 30 (4.69%) Data Engineer
8 29 (4.53%) Consultant
9 27 (4.22%) Azure Engineer
9 27 (4.22%) Lead
10 26 (4.06%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 25 (3.91%) Senior Software Engineer
12 21 (3.28%) Java Developer
12 21 (3.28%) SC Cleared Software Engineer
13 19 (2.97%) Senior Developer
14 18 (2.81%) Platform Engineer
14 18 (2.81%) Solutions Architect
15 17 (2.66%) DevOps Engineer
15 17 (2.66%) Security Consultant
16 15 (2.34%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.59%) .NET
2 16 (2.50%) REST
3 14 (2.19%) Spring
4 13 (2.03%) Kafka
4 13 (2.03%) React
5 11 (1.72%) Elastic Stack
6 8 (1.25%) Spring Boot
7 7 (1.09%) RabbitMQ
7 7 (1.09%) Web Services
7 7 (1.09%) YAML
8 6 (0.94%) HTML
8 6 (0.94%) Java EE
8 6 (0.94%) JPA
8 6 (0.94%) JSON
8 6 (0.94%) Middleware
8 6 (0.94%) SOAP
9 5 (0.78%) AngularJS
9 5 (0.78%) Loki
10 4 (0.63%) RESTful
10 4 (0.63%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 29 (4.53%) Driving Licence
2 28 (4.38%) Product Ownership
3 21 (3.28%) Cloud Native
3 21 (3.28%) Onboarding
4 18 (2.81%) Algorithms
4 18 (2.81%) Robotics
5 17 (2.66%) Embedded Systems
6 16 (2.50%) Data Centre
7 15 (2.34%) Self-Motivation
8 14 (2.19%) Cyber Defence
9 12 (1.88%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (1.88%) FPGA
10 11 (1.72%) Cyber Threat
10 11 (1.72%) Distributed Systems
11 10 (1.56%) Security Operations Centre
12 9 (1.41%) Fibre Optics
13 8 (1.25%) PKI
14 7 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
14 7 (1.09%) Management Information System
15 6 (0.94%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 95 (14.84%) Linux
2 63 (9.84%) Windows
3 31 (4.84%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.41%) Ubuntu
5 8 (1.25%) CentOS
5 8 (1.25%) Windows Server 2016
6 4 (0.63%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.47%) AIX
7 3 (0.47%) Android
8 2 (0.31%) Debian
8 2 (0.31%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.31%) Unix
8 2 (0.31%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.16%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 109 (17.03%) Software Engineering
2 108 (16.88%) Agile
3 76 (11.88%) CI/CD
4 72 (11.25%) Problem-Solving
5 71 (11.09%) Cybersecurity
6 62 (9.69%) DevOps
7 56 (8.75%) Continuous Improvement
8 51 (7.97%) ITIL
9 48 (7.50%) Decision-Making
10 45 (7.03%) Stakeholder Management
11 42 (6.56%) AI
12 40 (6.25%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 39 (6.09%) Microservices
14 38 (5.94%) Scrum
15 36 (5.63%) Mentoring
16 34 (5.31%) Computer Science
17 33 (5.16%) Analytics
18 32 (5.00%) Infrastructure as Code
19 30 (4.69%) Site Reliability Engineering
20 29 (4.53%) Containerisation
Programming Languages
1 102 (15.94%) Python
2 45 (7.03%) C++
3 39 (6.09%) Java
4 36 (5.63%) C#
5 28 (4.38%) PowerShell
5 28 (4.38%) SQL
6 24 (3.75%) C
7 17 (2.66%) Bash
8 14 (2.19%) Rust
9 13 (2.03%) JavaScript
10 11 (1.72%) MATLAB
10 11 (1.72%) VBA
11 9 (1.41%) Ada
12 8 (1.25%) Embedded C
12 8 (1.25%) Embedded C++
12 8 (1.25%) PL/SQL
12 8 (1.25%) TypeScript
13 7 (1.09%) Search Processing Language
14 5 (0.78%) Kusto Query Language
15 4 (0.63%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 640 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 131 (20.47%) DV Cleared
3 116 (18.13%) Degree
4 27 (4.22%) HNC
5 25 (3.91%) BPSS Clearance
6 23 (3.59%) Master's Degree
7 14 (2.19%) GIAC
8 13 (2.03%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (2.03%) CISSP
9 11 (1.72%) CompTIA Security+
9 11 (1.72%) GCIA
10 10 (1.56%) CREST Certified
11 8 (1.25%) CISM
11 8 (1.25%) GCIH
11 8 (1.25%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 8 (1.25%) OSCP
12 7 (1.09%) Azure Certification
12 7 (1.09%) CompTIA CySA+
12 7 (1.09%) GCED
12 7 (1.09%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 15 (2.34%) SLA
3 14 (2.19%) ISO 9001
4 12 (1.88%) QA
5 11 (1.72%) PMO
6 10 (1.56%) NCSC
7 9 (1.41%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 9 (1.41%) NIST
8 8 (1.25%) Def Stans
8 8 (1.25%) GDPR
9 6 (0.94%) Accessibility
10 5 (0.78%) NEBOSH
11 4 (0.63%) JSP 440
12 3 (0.47%) GRC
12 3 (0.47%) ISO 22301
13 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.31%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.31%) WCAG
14 1 (0.16%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 47 (7.34%) Docker
2 16 (2.50%) Active Directory
3 15 (2.34%) VMware Infrastructure
4 12 (1.88%) Firmware
5 6 (0.94%) VMware ESXi
5 6 (0.94%) vSphere
6 5 (0.78%) Embedded Firmware
7 3 (0.47%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.47%) Squid
7 3 (0.47%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.16%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 55 (8.59%) Kubernetes
2 43 (6.72%) Terraform
3 33 (5.16%) Ansible
4 16 (2.50%) Grafana
5 15 (2.34%) Kibana
5 15 (2.34%) Prometheus
6 13 (2.03%) Microsoft Intune
7 7 (1.09%) Nessus
8 6 (0.94%) Graylog
8 6 (0.94%) Puppet
8 6 (0.94%) vCenter Server
9 5 (0.78%) Argo
9 5 (0.78%) Endace
9 5 (0.78%) Kustomize
10 4 (0.63%) Packer
10 4 (0.63%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.47%) Istio
11 3 (0.47%) Netcool
11 3 (0.47%) Podman
11 3 (0.47%) SCCM
Vendors
1 86 (13.44%) Microsoft
2 25 (3.91%) Cisco
3 24 (3.75%) Oracle
4 23 (3.59%) VMware
5 19 (2.97%) ServiceNow
5 19 (2.97%) Splunk
6 13 (2.03%) Google
7 11 (1.72%) Red Hat
7 11 (1.72%) Tenable
8 9 (1.41%) AppDynamics
8 9 (1.41%) IBM
9 8 (1.25%) CrowdStrike
9 8 (1.25%) EMC
9 8 (1.25%) Palo Alto
10 7 (1.09%) Carbon Black
10 7 (1.09%) LogRhythm
10 7 (1.09%) NVIDIA
11 6 (0.94%) CheckPoint
11 6 (0.94%) Juniper
12 5 (0.78%) Veeam