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 16 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -11 -1 +9
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 838 774 1,858
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.70% 9.90% 10.08%
As % of the Qualifications category 26.57% 21.03% 31.97%
Number of salaries quoted 624 490 1,366
10th Percentile £40,000 £40,000 £34,500
25th Percentile £52,500 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £59,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +14.41% +7.27% +10.00%
75th Percentile £83,750 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £87,500 £83,750
England median annual salary £67,500 £61,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.76% +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 3,154 3,681 5,812
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 21.47% 47.07% 31.54%
Number of salaries quoted 1,810 1,525 3,646
10th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,500 £38,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £51,020
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% +2.90% -1.89%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,250 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,200 £80,750 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £54,296
% change year-on-year +9.09% +1.30% -9.51%

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 16 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 16 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 -4 392 £75,000 +25.00% 209
Thames Valley +25 293 £67,500 +17.05% 168
Berkshire +18 198 £67,500 +12.50% 114
Surrey -4 80 £57,402 +27.56% 47
Buckinghamshire +32 75 £53,750 -2.27% 38
West Sussex 0 29 £35,000 -6.67% 17
Kent -22 23 £52,500 -14.29% 9
Oxfordshire -9 20 £80,000 +54.59% 19
Sussex - 13 £85,000 - 2
East Sussex -11 4 £70,000 +40.00% 2
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 23 (2.74%) SharePoint
2 6 (0.72%) Confluence
2 6 (0.72%) SAS
3 5 (0.60%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.36%) Apache
5 2 (0.24%) IIS
6 1 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.12%) Apache Qpid
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 20 (2.39%) Microsoft Excel
2 19 (2.27%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (1.31%) Simulink
4 2 (0.24%) 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
1 120 (14.32%) Azure
2 68 (8.11%) AWS
3 46 (5.49%) Microsoft 365
4 35 (4.18%) GCP
5 20 (2.39%) Serverless
6 19 (2.27%) Entra ID
7 18 (2.15%) Power Platform
8 16 (1.91%) Amazon EKS
9 15 (1.79%) Azure DevOps
9 15 (1.79%) OpenShift
10 12 (1.43%) Azure AKS
11 11 (1.31%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (1.31%) PowerApps
12 10 (1.19%) GitHub
13 9 (1.07%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (1.07%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (0.95%) Azure Stack
14 8 (0.95%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.84%) AWS Lambda
16 6 (0.72%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 88 (10.50%) Firewall
2 60 (7.16%) DNS
3 45 (5.37%) WAN
4 34 (4.06%) LAN
5 33 (3.94%) VPN
6 26 (3.10%) BGP
7 25 (2.98%) TCP/IP
8 18 (2.15%) Structured Cabling
9 17 (2.03%) HTTP
10 14 (1.67%) Network Security
11 12 (1.43%) OSPF
12 11 (1.31%) NetScaler
13 10 (1.19%) DHCP
13 10 (1.19%) MQTT
13 10 (1.19%) SSL
14 9 (1.07%) Cisco Firepower
14 9 (1.07%) MPLS
14 9 (1.07%) SAN
14 9 (1.07%) Wireshark
15 8 (0.95%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (2.39%) PostgreSQL
2 17 (2.03%) Power BI
3 11 (1.31%) Relational Database
4 10 (1.19%) SQL Server
5 5 (0.60%) MySQL
5 5 (0.60%) Oracle Database
5 5 (0.60%) Redis
6 4 (0.48%) GIS
7 3 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
8 2 (0.24%) Metadata
8 2 (0.24%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.24%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.24%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.24%) Oracle Database 12c
9 1 (0.12%) Big Data
9 1 (0.12%) Data Lake
9 1 (0.12%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.12%) Geospatial Data
9 1 (0.12%) SAS Visual Analytics
9 1 (0.12%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 60 (7.16%) Git
2 52 (6.21%) GitLab
3 21 (2.51%) Jenkins
4 19 (2.27%) JIRA
5 14 (1.67%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.31%) SonarQube
7 6 (0.72%) Artifactory
7 6 (0.72%) JUnit
8 5 (0.60%) Cucumber
8 5 (0.60%) Selenium
9 4 (0.48%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 3 (0.36%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.36%) Bitbucket
10 3 (0.36%) JMeter
10 3 (0.36%) Rational DOORS
11 2 (0.24%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.24%) Mockito
11 2 (0.24%) MSTest
11 2 (0.24%) Subversion
12 1 (0.12%) Mocha
General
1 170 (20.29%) Social Skills
2 78 (9.31%) Public Sector
3 74 (8.83%) Finance
4 61 (7.28%) Analytical Skills
5 36 (4.30%) Electronics
6 27 (3.22%) Military
7 24 (2.86%) Aerospace
8 23 (2.74%) Aviation
9 21 (2.51%) Telecoms
10 20 (2.39%) Manufacturing
11 17 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 16 (1.91%) Law
12 16 (1.91%) Organisational Skills
13 15 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
14 12 (1.43%) Banking
15 10 (1.19%) Aeronautics
15 10 (1.19%) Games
16 8 (0.95%) Influencing Skills
17 7 (0.84%) Retail
18 5 (0.60%) French Language
Job Titles
1 133 (15.87%) Senior
2 109 (13.01%) Architect
3 76 (9.07%) Software Engineer
4 67 (8.00%) Developer
5 53 (6.32%) Analyst
6 43 (5.13%) Lead
7 42 (5.01%) Network Engineer
8 37 (4.42%) Security Architect
9 36 (4.30%) Data Engineer
10 35 (4.18%) Applications Architect
11 34 (4.06%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 33 (3.94%) Systems Engineer
13 31 (3.70%) Consultant
14 28 (3.34%) Senior Software Engineer
15 27 (3.22%) Azure Engineer
15 27 (3.22%) Java Developer
16 24 (2.86%) Security Engineer
17 23 (2.74%) DevOps Engineer
17 23 (2.74%) Support Engineer
18 22 (2.63%) SOC Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (3.22%) .NET
2 24 (2.86%) React
3 22 (2.63%) LDAP
3 22 (2.63%) Regular Expression
3 22 (2.63%) REST
4 18 (2.15%) XMPP
5 14 (1.67%) JSON
5 14 (1.67%) Spring
6 12 (1.43%) Elastic Stack
6 12 (1.43%) Kafka
7 9 (1.07%) SOAP
8 8 (0.95%) RabbitMQ
8 8 (0.95%) Spring Boot
8 8 (0.95%) XML
8 8 (0.95%) YAML
9 7 (0.84%) ARM Templates
9 7 (0.84%) RESTful
10 6 (0.72%) Java EE
10 6 (0.72%) JPA
10 6 (0.72%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 28 (3.34%) Algorithms
2 27 (3.22%) Data Centre
2 27 (3.22%) Product Ownership
3 21 (2.51%) PKI
4 20 (2.39%) Onboarding
5 19 (2.27%) Driving Licence
6 18 (2.15%) Cloud Native
6 18 (2.15%) Cyber Defence
7 17 (2.03%) Cyber Threat
7 17 (2.03%) Embedded Systems
8 15 (1.79%) FPGA
9 14 (1.67%) Analytical Mindset
9 14 (1.67%) Robotics
10 13 (1.55%) Security Operations Centre
10 13 (1.55%) Self-Motivation
11 12 (1.43%) Distributed Systems
12 11 (1.31%) Fibre Optics
13 10 (1.19%) Data Structures
14 8 (0.95%) Legacy Systems
14 8 (0.95%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 141 (16.83%) Linux
2 107 (12.77%) Windows
3 67 (8.00%) Windows Server
4 33 (3.94%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 16 (1.91%) Ubuntu
6 14 (1.67%) CentOS
7 9 (1.07%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.72%) Android
8 6 (0.72%) Windows Server 2019
9 3 (0.36%) AIX
9 3 (0.36%) Debian
9 3 (0.36%) Unix
10 1 (0.12%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.12%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 142 (16.95%) Agile
2 108 (12.89%) CI/CD
3 107 (12.77%) Software Engineering
4 96 (11.46%) DevOps
5 85 (10.14%) Cybersecurity
6 83 (9.90%) Continuous Improvement
7 82 (9.79%) Problem-Solving
8 59 (7.04%) SIEM
9 52 (6.21%) Infrastructure as Code
10 49 (5.85%) Mentoring
10 49 (5.85%) Platform Engineering
11 48 (5.73%) Decision-Making
11 48 (5.73%) Validation
12 47 (5.61%) AI
12 47 (5.61%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 46 (5.49%) Containerisation
14 45 (5.37%) ITIL
15 42 (5.01%) Scrum
16 40 (4.77%) Computer Science
17 38 (4.53%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 128 (15.27%) Python
2 59 (7.04%) Java
3 54 (6.44%) C++
4 36 (4.30%) PowerShell
5 34 (4.06%) C#
6 33 (3.94%) C
7 32 (3.82%) SQL
8 24 (2.86%) JavaScript
9 23 (2.74%) Bash
10 19 (2.27%) Rust
11 17 (2.03%) TypeScript
12 16 (1.91%) MATLAB
13 13 (1.55%) Embedded C
13 13 (1.55%) Embedded C++
14 12 (1.43%) Shell Script
15 11 (1.31%) Go
15 11 (1.31%) VBA
16 10 (1.19%) PL/SQL
17 8 (0.95%) PHP
18 7 (0.84%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 532 (63.48%) SC Cleared
2 307 (36.63%) DV Cleared
3 127 (15.16%) Degree
4 25 (2.98%) HNC
5 22 (2.63%) Master's Degree
6 20 (2.39%) BPSS Clearance
7 17 (2.03%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (1.79%) CISSP
8 15 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
9 13 (1.55%) CCNP
9 13 (1.55%) CREST Certified
10 12 (1.43%) CompTIA Security+
11 11 (1.31%) GIAC
12 10 (1.19%) CRISC
13 9 (1.07%) GCIA
13 9 (1.07%) OSCP
14 8 (0.95%) APMP
14 8 (0.95%) CCNA
14 8 (0.95%) GCIH
14 8 (0.95%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.51%) SLA
2 19 (2.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (1.91%) GDPR
4 15 (1.79%) QA
5 14 (1.67%) NCSC
6 12 (1.43%) PMO
7 11 (1.31%) NIST
8 10 (1.19%) ISO 9001
9 9 (1.07%) Def Stans
10 7 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 6 (0.72%) Accessibility
12 5 (0.60%) NEBOSH
13 4 (0.48%) JSP 440
14 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
15 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 2 (0.24%) GRC
15 2 (0.24%) ISO 22301
15 2 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 15288
15 2 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 27005
15 2 (0.24%) NIST 800
System Software
1 64 (7.64%) Docker
2 58 (6.92%) Active Directory
3 33 (3.94%) vSphere
4 24 (2.86%) Firmware
5 20 (2.39%) VMware NSX
6 17 (2.03%) VMware Infrastructure
7 8 (0.95%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.60%) Embedded Firmware
9 4 (0.48%) Hyper-V
10 3 (0.36%) VMware ESXi
11 2 (0.24%) UAG
12 1 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.12%) Terminal Server
12 1 (0.12%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 77 (9.19%) Kubernetes
2 60 (7.16%) Terraform
3 50 (5.97%) Ansible
4 15 (1.79%) Grafana
4 15 (1.79%) Prometheus
5 14 (1.67%) Kibana
6 13 (1.55%) vCenter Server
7 9 (1.07%) Podman
8 8 (0.95%) Microsoft Intune
8 8 (0.95%) Nessus
9 7 (0.84%) Nagios
9 7 (0.84%) Puppet
9 7 (0.84%) vRealize
10 6 (0.72%) Graylog
11 5 (0.60%) Argo
11 5 (0.60%) Docker Swarm
11 5 (0.60%) Endace
11 5 (0.60%) Kustomize
11 5 (0.60%) Packer
11 5 (0.60%) QRadar
Vendors
1 113 (13.48%) Microsoft
2 58 (6.92%) VMware
3 34 (4.06%) Cisco
4 31 (3.70%) Splunk
5 30 (3.58%) Red Hat
6 28 (3.34%) Oracle
7 20 (2.39%) ServiceNow
8 15 (1.79%) McAfee
9 12 (1.43%) Citrix
9 12 (1.43%) Juniper
10 11 (1.31%) Google
10 11 (1.31%) Tenable
11 10 (1.19%) CheckPoint
11 10 (1.19%) NVIDIA
12 9 (1.07%) AppDynamics
13 8 (0.95%) CrowdStrike
13 8 (0.95%) EMC
13 8 (0.95%) IBM
13 8 (0.95%) NetApp
14 7 (0.84%) SolarWinds