Security Cleared Job Trends in the South East

Security Clearance
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 9 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 13 11
Rank change year-on-year -10 -2 +10
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 809 774 1,850
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.62% 9.91% 10.28%
As % of the Qualifications category 25.62% 20.83% 32.01%
Number of salaries quoted 599 494 1,360
10th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £34,500
25th Percentile £52,500 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £58,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +16.38% +5.45% +10.00%
75th Percentile £83,750 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £87,500 £83,750
England median annual salary £65,576 £61,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year +6.63% +6.96% -4.17%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

Security 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 3,158 3,716 5,779
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 21.94% 47.56% 32.11%
Number of salaries quoted 1,760 1,515 3,640
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,625 £38,129
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £51,500
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% +1.94% -0.14%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £86,790 £80,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £54,700
% change year-on-year +9.09% +0.55% -8.83%

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in the South East

Security Cleared
Salary Trend in the South East

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

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

Security Cleared
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 9 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Security Cleared in the South East

Security 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 Security Cleared within the South East region over the 6 months to 9 June 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 -4 376 £75,000 +29.31% 204
Thames Valley +21 286 £67,500 +17.05% 142
Berkshire +15 190 £67,500 +12.50% 93
Buckinghamshire +38 76 £55,000 - 35
Surrey -1 74 £57,303 +27.34% 47
West Sussex -3 29 £35,000 -6.67% 10
Kent -21 24 £52,500 -19.23% 14
Oxfordshire -6 20 £80,000 +54.59% 24
Sussex - 12 £85,000 - 2
East Sussex -12 4 £70,000 - 1
Home Counties -2 1 - -
Security Cleared
England

Security 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 22 (2.72%) SharePoint
2 6 (0.74%) Confluence
2 6 (0.74%) SAS
3 4 (0.49%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.37%) Apache
5 1 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.12%) Apache Qpid
5 1 (0.12%) IIS
5 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 19 (2.35%) Microsoft Excel
1 19 (2.35%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.36%) Simulink
3 2 (0.25%) Lectora
Business Applications
1 1 (0.12%) Primavera
1 1 (0.12%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.12%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.12%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.12%) SAP S/4HANA
1 1 (0.12%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 118 (14.59%) Azure
2 70 (8.65%) AWS
3 41 (5.07%) Microsoft 365
4 37 (4.57%) GCP
5 20 (2.47%) Serverless
6 18 (2.22%) Power Platform
7 16 (1.98%) Amazon EKS
8 14 (1.73%) Azure DevOps
8 14 (1.73%) Entra ID
8 14 (1.73%) OpenShift
9 11 (1.36%) Amazon EC2
9 11 (1.36%) Azure AKS
10 10 (1.24%) Dynamics 365
10 10 (1.24%) PowerApps
11 9 (1.11%) GitHub
12 8 (0.99%) Azure Stack
13 7 (0.87%) AWS Lambda
13 7 (0.87%) Azure Sentinel
13 7 (0.87%) GitHub Actions
14 6 (0.74%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 82 (10.14%) Firewall
2 56 (6.92%) DNS
3 44 (5.44%) WAN
4 33 (4.08%) LAN
5 32 (3.96%) VPN
6 26 (3.21%) BGP
7 20 (2.47%) TCP/IP
8 18 (2.22%) Structured Cabling
9 16 (1.98%) HTTP
10 14 (1.73%) Network Security
11 12 (1.48%) OSPF
12 11 (1.36%) NetScaler
13 10 (1.24%) DHCP
13 10 (1.24%) MQTT
14 9 (1.11%) Cisco Firepower
14 9 (1.11%) MPLS
14 9 (1.11%) SAN
14 9 (1.11%) SSL
14 9 (1.11%) Wireshark
15 8 (0.99%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.22%) PostgreSQL
2 16 (1.98%) Power BI
3 10 (1.24%) Relational Database
3 10 (1.24%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.62%) Oracle Database
5 4 (0.49%) GIS
5 4 (0.49%) MySQL
5 4 (0.49%) Redis
6 3 (0.37%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.25%) Metadata
7 2 (0.25%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.25%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database 11g
7 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database 12c
8 1 (0.12%) Big Data
8 1 (0.12%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.12%) Geospatial Data
8 1 (0.12%) SAS Visual Analytics
8 1 (0.12%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 61 (7.54%) Git
2 53 (6.55%) GitLab
3 20 (2.47%) Jenkins
4 19 (2.35%) JIRA
5 14 (1.73%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.36%) SonarQube
7 6 (0.74%) Artifactory
8 5 (0.62%) Cucumber
8 5 (0.62%) JUnit
8 5 (0.62%) Selenium
9 4 (0.49%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 3 (0.37%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.37%) Bitbucket
10 3 (0.37%) JMeter
10 3 (0.37%) Rational DOORS
10 3 (0.37%) Visual Studio
11 2 (0.25%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.25%) Mockito
11 2 (0.25%) MSTest
11 2 (0.25%) Subversion
General
1 166 (20.52%) Social Skills
2 77 (9.52%) Public Sector
3 75 (9.27%) Finance
4 60 (7.42%) Analytical Skills
5 37 (4.57%) Electronics
6 26 (3.21%) Military
7 23 (2.84%) Aerospace
8 22 (2.72%) Aviation
9 20 (2.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 19 (2.35%) Law
10 19 (2.35%) Manufacturing
11 17 (2.10%) Telecoms
12 15 (1.85%) Documentation Skills
12 15 (1.85%) Organisational Skills
13 11 (1.36%) Banking
14 10 (1.24%) Aeronautics
15 9 (1.11%) Games
16 8 (0.99%) Influencing Skills
16 8 (0.99%) Retail
17 5 (0.62%) French Language
Job Titles
1 128 (15.82%) Senior
2 107 (13.23%) Architect
3 68 (8.41%) Software Engineer
4 67 (8.28%) Developer
5 49 (6.06%) Analyst
6 43 (5.32%) Lead
7 42 (5.19%) Network Engineer
8 36 (4.45%) Security Architect
9 35 (4.33%) Applications Architect
9 35 (4.33%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 33 (4.08%) Data Engineer
11 31 (3.83%) Systems Engineer
12 28 (3.46%) Consultant
13 27 (3.34%) Java Developer
14 26 (3.21%) Azure Engineer
15 24 (2.97%) Senior Software Engineer
16 23 (2.84%) DevOps Engineer
16 23 (2.84%) Support Engineer
17 21 (2.60%) IT Engineer
17 21 (2.60%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.71%) .NET
2 23 (2.84%) React
3 22 (2.72%) REST
4 20 (2.47%) LDAP
4 20 (2.47%) Regular Expression
5 16 (1.98%) XMPP
6 15 (1.85%) Spring
7 12 (1.48%) Elastic Stack
7 12 (1.48%) JSON
7 12 (1.48%) Kafka
8 9 (1.11%) SOAP
9 8 (0.99%) RabbitMQ
9 8 (0.99%) RESTful
10 7 (0.87%) ARM Templates
10 7 (0.87%) Spring Boot
10 7 (0.87%) YAML
11 6 (0.74%) AngularJS
11 6 (0.74%) Java EE
11 6 (0.74%) JPA
11 6 (0.74%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 29 (3.58%) Product Ownership
2 28 (3.46%) Algorithms
3 26 (3.21%) Data Centre
4 20 (2.47%) Cloud Native
4 20 (2.47%) Onboarding
5 19 (2.35%) PKI
6 18 (2.22%) Driving Licence
7 17 (2.10%) Cyber Defence
7 17 (2.10%) Embedded Systems
8 16 (1.98%) Cyber Threat
9 15 (1.85%) FPGA
10 14 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
10 14 (1.73%) Robotics
11 13 (1.61%) Distributed Systems
12 12 (1.48%) Self-Motivation
13 11 (1.36%) Security Operations Centre
14 10 (1.24%) Data Structures
14 10 (1.24%) Fibre Optics
15 9 (1.11%) Security Posture
16 8 (0.99%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 133 (16.44%) Linux
2 100 (12.36%) Windows
3 64 (7.91%) Windows Server
4 31 (3.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 16 (1.98%) Ubuntu
6 14 (1.73%) CentOS
7 9 (1.11%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (0.87%) Android
9 6 (0.74%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.37%) AIX
10 3 (0.37%) Debian
10 3 (0.37%) Unix
11 1 (0.12%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.12%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 145 (17.92%) Agile
2 106 (13.10%) CI/CD
3 100 (12.36%) Software Engineering
4 96 (11.87%) DevOps
5 83 (10.26%) Continuous Improvement
5 83 (10.26%) Problem-Solving
6 74 (9.15%) Cybersecurity
7 52 (6.43%) SIEM
8 50 (6.18%) Infrastructure as Code
9 49 (6.06%) Platform Engineering
10 48 (5.93%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 47 (5.81%) Containerisation
12 46 (5.69%) AI
12 46 (5.69%) Mentoring
13 45 (5.56%) Validation
14 44 (5.44%) Decision-Making
14 44 (5.44%) Scrum
15 42 (5.19%) Computer Science
16 39 (4.82%) ITIL
16 39 (4.82%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 120 (14.83%) Python
2 59 (7.29%) Java
3 51 (6.30%) C++
4 37 (4.57%) C#
5 33 (4.08%) PowerShell
5 33 (4.08%) SQL
6 32 (3.96%) C
7 23 (2.84%) JavaScript
8 21 (2.60%) Bash
9 18 (2.22%) Rust
10 16 (1.98%) MATLAB
10 16 (1.98%) TypeScript
11 13 (1.61%) Embedded C
11 13 (1.61%) Embedded C++
12 11 (1.36%) Go
13 10 (1.24%) PL/SQL
13 10 (1.24%) Shell Script
13 10 (1.24%) VBA
14 8 (0.99%) PHP
15 6 (0.74%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 510 (63.04%) SC Cleared
2 294 (36.34%) DV Cleared
3 125 (15.45%) Degree
4 25 (3.09%) HNC
5 20 (2.47%) Master's Degree
6 16 (1.98%) BPSS Clearance
6 16 (1.98%) Computer Science Degree
7 15 (1.85%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (1.61%) CCNP
9 12 (1.48%) CISSP
9 12 (1.48%) CREST Certified
10 10 (1.24%) CompTIA Security+
11 9 (1.11%) CRISC
11 9 (1.11%) OSCP
12 8 (0.99%) APMP
12 8 (0.99%) GIAC
12 8 (0.99%) MBA
13 7 (0.87%) CCNA
13 7 (0.87%) GCIA
13 7 (0.87%) GCIH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (2.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 18 (2.22%) SLA
2 16 (1.98%) GDPR
2 16 (1.98%) QA
3 13 (1.61%) NCSC
4 12 (1.48%) PMO
5 11 (1.36%) NIST
6 10 (1.24%) ISO 9001
7 9 (1.11%) Def Stans
8 7 (0.87%) Accessibility
9 6 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 5 (0.62%) NEBOSH
11 4 (0.49%) JSP 440
12 3 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.25%) GRC
13 2 (0.25%) ISO 22301
13 2 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 2 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.25%) NIST 800
System Software
1 64 (7.91%) Docker
2 56 (6.92%) Active Directory
3 31 (3.83%) vSphere
4 24 (2.97%) Firmware
5 20 (2.47%) VMware NSX
6 17 (2.10%) VMware Infrastructure
7 7 (0.87%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.62%) Embedded Firmware
9 4 (0.49%) Hyper-V
10 3 (0.37%) VMware ESXi
11 2 (0.25%) UAG
12 1 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.12%) Terminal Server
12 1 (0.12%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 77 (9.52%) Kubernetes
2 59 (7.29%) Terraform
3 50 (6.18%) Ansible
4 15 (1.85%) vCenter Server
5 14 (1.73%) Grafana
5 14 (1.73%) Prometheus
6 13 (1.61%) Kibana
7 9 (1.11%) Podman
8 8 (0.99%) Nessus
9 7 (0.87%) Nagios
9 7 (0.87%) Puppet
9 7 (0.87%) vRealize
10 5 (0.62%) Docker Swarm
10 5 (0.62%) Endace
10 5 (0.62%) Graylog
10 5 (0.62%) Microsoft Intune
10 5 (0.62%) Packer
10 5 (0.62%) QRadar
11 4 (0.49%) Kustomize
11 4 (0.49%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 107 (13.23%) Microsoft
2 57 (7.05%) VMware
3 33 (4.08%) Cisco
4 30 (3.71%) Splunk
5 28 (3.46%) Oracle
5 28 (3.46%) Red Hat
6 17 (2.10%) ServiceNow
7 15 (1.85%) McAfee
8 12 (1.48%) Citrix
8 12 (1.48%) Google
8 12 (1.48%) Juniper
9 11 (1.36%) Tenable
10 10 (1.24%) CheckPoint
10 10 (1.24%) NVIDIA
11 9 (1.11%) AppDynamics
11 9 (1.11%) SolarWinds
12 8 (0.99%) EMC
12 8 (0.99%) IBM
12 8 (0.99%) NetApp
13 7 (0.87%) LogRhythm