SC Cleared Job Trends in the South West

Security Check (SC) Clearance
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the South West with a requirement for SC Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 15 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 8 17
Rank change year-on-year -2 +9 -7
Permanent jobs citing SC Cleared 812 389 604
As % of all permanent jobs in the South West 8.11% 11.19% 8.05%
As % of the Qualifications category 33.60% 30.92% 27.58%
Number of salaries quoted 491 193 434
10th Percentile £48,750 £32,000 £37,000
25th Percentile £56,250 £47,500 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £72,500 £57,194 £59,000
Median % change year-on-year +26.76% -3.06% -1.67%
75th Percentile £85,000 £75,000 £70,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £87,250 £83,875
England median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £58,500
% change year-on-year +16.67% +2.56% -2.50%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South West

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 West.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 2,417 1,258 2,190
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South West 24.15% 36.19% 29.19%
Number of salaries quoted 1,296 747 1,279
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,725 £30,000
25th Percentile £47,188 £31,750 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +30.00% -9.09% +4.76%
75th Percentile £82,500 £68,750 £70,250
90th Percentile £100,000 £85,000 £86,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £56,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -1.79% -5.01%

SC Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

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

SC Cleared job vacancy trend in the South West

SC Cleared
Salary Trend in the South West

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

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

SC Cleared
Salary Histogram in the South West

Salary distribution for jobs citing SC Cleared in the South West over the 6 months to 15 September 2026.

Salary histogram for SC Cleared in the South West

SC Cleared
Job Locations in the South West

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 West region over the 6 months to 15 September 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
Gloucestershire 0 270 £75,000 +15.38% 135
Bristol +5 220 £75,000 +25.00% 148
Wiltshire -1 177 £75,000 +36.36% 86
Somerset -7 69 £70,000 +22.81% 38
Dorset +22 48 £70,000 +33.33% 15
Devon -16 23 £70,000 +25.07% 17
SC Cleared
England

SC Cleared
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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 64 (7.88%) Microsoft Exchange
2 19 (2.34%) Confluence
3 10 (1.23%) Apache Spark
4 8 (0.99%) SharePoint
5 7 (0.86%) OpenStack
6 6 (0.74%) Apache
7 2 (0.25%) nginx
8 1 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.12%) Site Server
Applications
1 19 (2.34%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (0.86%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (0.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.49%) Windchill
5 3 (0.37%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.25%) InDesign
7 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (0.49%) Workday HCM
2 3 (0.37%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.12%) Primavera
3 1 (0.12%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 212 (26.11%) Azure
2 99 (12.19%) Microsoft 365
3 89 (10.96%) AWS
4 39 (4.80%) GCP
5 28 (3.45%) OpenShift
6 27 (3.33%) Azure DevOps
6 27 (3.33%) Entra ID
7 19 (2.34%) AWS CloudFormation
8 17 (2.09%) Serverless
9 13 (1.60%) GitHub
10 12 (1.48%) Azure Data Factory
11 10 (1.23%) PaaS
11 10 (1.23%) SaaS
12 9 (1.11%) AWS Lambda
12 9 (1.11%) Azure AKS
12 9 (1.11%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 9 (1.11%) Slack
13 8 (0.99%) Power Platform
14 5 (0.62%) Azure Sentinel
15 4 (0.49%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 66 (8.13%) DHCP
1 66 (8.13%) DNS
2 14 (1.72%) VPN
3 13 (1.60%) Network Security
4 12 (1.48%) 4G
4 12 (1.48%) Broadband
4 12 (1.48%) Firewall
5 10 (1.23%) Software-Defined Radio
6 5 (0.62%) LAN
6 5 (0.62%) WAN
6 5 (0.62%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (0.49%) AMQP
7 4 (0.49%) ATM
7 4 (0.49%) VLAN
7 4 (0.49%) Wireless
8 3 (0.37%) 3GPP
8 3 (0.37%) Ethernet
8 3 (0.37%) LoRaWAN
8 3 (0.37%) LTE
8 3 (0.37%) TETRA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 66 (8.13%) Amazon RDS
2 14 (1.72%) Elasticsearch
2 14 (1.72%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.35%) Data Warehouse
4 10 (1.23%) Hadoop
5 9 (1.11%) Big Data
6 8 (0.99%) Power BI
7 7 (0.86%) Geospatial Data
8 5 (0.62%) Metadata
8 5 (0.62%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.49%) Cloudera CDH
9 4 (0.49%) OLAP
9 4 (0.49%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 4 (0.49%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 4 (0.49%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 3 (0.37%) Data Lake
10 3 (0.37%) GIS
10 3 (0.37%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.37%) ZAP BI
11 2 (0.25%) MariaDB
Development Applications
1 29 (3.57%) JIRA
2 24 (2.96%) Git
3 13 (1.60%) GitLab
3 13 (1.60%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.11%) Rational DOORS
5 7 (0.86%) Cypress.io
5 7 (0.86%) MSI
6 6 (0.74%) Selenium
7 5 (0.62%) JUnit
8 4 (0.49%) Postman
9 3 (0.37%) JMeter
9 3 (0.37%) NUnit
9 3 (0.37%) Snyk
9 3 (0.37%) SonarQube
10 2 (0.25%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 2 (0.25%) Bitbucket
10 2 (0.25%) Burp Suite
10 2 (0.25%) git-flow
10 2 (0.25%) Gradle
10 2 (0.25%) Mockito
General
1 197 (24.26%) Social Skills
2 120 (14.78%) Public Sector
3 95 (11.70%) Analytical Skills
4 68 (8.37%) Finance
5 47 (5.79%) Aerospace
6 41 (5.05%) Military
7 31 (3.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (2.34%) Telecoms
9 17 (2.09%) Organisational Skills
10 15 (1.85%) Legal
11 13 (1.60%) Retail
12 7 (0.86%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
13 6 (0.74%) Documentation Skills
13 6 (0.74%) Environmental Health
14 5 (0.62%) Electronics
14 5 (0.62%) Local Government
14 5 (0.62%) Marketing
15 4 (0.49%) Aviation
15 4 (0.49%) Avionics
Job Titles
1 126 (15.52%) Systems Engineer
2 103 (12.68%) Architect
3 85 (10.47%) Software Engineer
4 81 (9.98%) Senior
5 76 (9.36%) Consultant
6 54 (6.65%) Developer
7 43 (5.30%) DevOps Engineer
8 42 (5.17%) Cloud Engineer
9 41 (5.05%) Lead
10 38 (4.68%) Solutions Architect
11 33 (4.06%) Security Consultant
12 28 (3.45%) Data Engineer
13 26 (3.20%) Security Architect
14 25 (3.08%) Auditor
15 24 (2.96%) Analyst
16 23 (2.83%) C++ Software Engineer
16 23 (2.83%) Software Developer
17 20 (2.46%) Azure Architect
17 20 (2.46%) Security Auditor
18 19 (2.34%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 74 (9.11%) Terraform
2 18 (2.22%) REST
3 16 (1.97%) Node.js
3 16 (1.97%) RESTful
4 15 (1.85%) Kafka
5 14 (1.72%) .NET
5 14 (1.72%) AngularJS
6 13 (1.60%) Keycloak
6 13 (1.60%) LDAP
6 13 (1.60%) React
6 13 (1.60%) SailPoint
7 10 (1.23%) .NET Core
7 10 (1.23%) CSS
7 10 (1.23%) HTML
8 8 (0.99%) CSS3
8 8 (0.99%) Elastic Stack
8 8 (0.99%) HTML5
9 7 (0.86%) .NET Framework
9 7 (0.86%) Apache NiFi
9 7 (0.86%) GeoJSON
Miscellaneous
1 75 (9.24%) Legacy Systems
2 57 (7.02%) Cloud Native
3 22 (2.71%) Onboarding
4 20 (2.46%) Hybrid Cloud
5 17 (2.09%) Blog
6 15 (1.85%) Embedded Systems
6 15 (1.85%) Management Information System
6 15 (1.85%) Security Posture
6 15 (1.85%) Self-Motivation
7 14 (1.72%) Data Centre
8 10 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
9 8 (0.99%) CMDB
9 8 (0.99%) Cyber Threat
10 7 (0.86%) Algorithms
10 7 (0.86%) Operational Technology
10 7 (0.86%) Product Ownership
11 6 (0.74%) Driving Licence
11 6 (0.74%) Fibre Optics
11 6 (0.74%) Mobile App
12 5 (0.62%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 118 (14.53%) Linux
2 106 (13.05%) Windows
3 66 (8.13%) Windows Server
4 63 (7.76%) Windows Server 2016
5 25 (3.08%) Android
6 19 (2.34%) Unix
6 19 (2.34%) Windows 10
7 5 (0.62%) CentOS
7 5 (0.62%) Embedded Linux
8 4 (0.49%) Debian
8 4 (0.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (0.49%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.25%) Rocky
9 2 (0.25%) VMS
10 1 (0.12%) Apple iOS
10 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 143 (17.61%) DevOps
2 125 (15.39%) Software Engineering
3 119 (14.66%) Problem-Solving
4 111 (13.67%) Cybersecurity
5 110 (13.55%) Agile
6 92 (11.33%) CI/CD
7 86 (10.59%) Continuous Improvement
8 75 (9.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 70 (8.62%) Infrastructure as Code
9 70 (8.62%) Migration
10 66 (8.13%) Customer Experience
11 65 (8.00%) Vulnerability Remediation
11 65 (8.00%) Vulnerability Scanning
12 64 (7.88%) Customer Service
12 64 (7.88%) Kalman Filter
13 63 (7.76%) Email Filtering
13 63 (7.76%) Web Filtering
14 62 (7.64%) Validation
15 61 (7.51%) Containerisation
16 49 (6.03%) Verification and Validation
Programming Languages
1 82 (10.10%) Python
2 61 (7.51%) C++
3 41 (5.05%) Java
4 38 (4.68%) JavaScript
5 25 (3.08%) Bash
6 22 (2.71%) Go
6 22 (2.71%) SQL
7 19 (2.34%) C#
8 17 (2.09%) Bicep
9 15 (1.85%) TypeScript
10 13 (1.60%) Rust
11 11 (1.35%) PowerShell
12 9 (1.11%) C
13 8 (0.99%) Kusto Query Language
14 6 (0.74%) Scala
15 4 (0.49%) Kotlin
16 3 (0.37%) Ada
16 3 (0.37%) Ada 95
16 3 (0.37%) Objective-C
17 1 (0.12%) Fortran
Qualifications
1 812 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 238 (29.31%) DV Cleared
3 57 (7.02%) Degree
4 33 (4.06%) BPSS Clearance
5 31 (3.82%) CISSP
6 28 (3.45%) CISM
7 21 (2.59%) Azure Certification
7 21 (2.59%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
8 19 (2.34%) AWS Certification
9 12 (1.48%) A+ Certification
10 11 (1.35%) CRISC
11 10 (1.23%) PMI Certification
12 9 (1.11%) Chartered Engineer
12 9 (1.11%) OSCP
12 9 (1.11%) PMP
13 8 (0.99%) TOGAF Certification
14 7 (0.86%) Computer Science Degree
15 6 (0.74%) CEH
15 6 (0.74%) CREST Certified
15 6 (0.74%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 71 (8.74%) Cyber Essentials
2 69 (8.50%) PCI DSS
3 60 (7.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 39 (4.80%) NCSC
5 35 (4.31%) Accessibility
6 33 (4.06%) NIST
7 31 (3.82%) QA
8 21 (2.59%) JSP 440
9 16 (1.97%) Def Stans
10 14 (1.72%) Actionable Recommendations
11 13 (1.60%) SLA
12 11 (1.35%) GRC
13 10 (1.23%) ISO 9001
14 9 (1.11%) WCAG
15 7 (0.86%) Data Quality
15 7 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 20000
15 7 (0.86%) NIST 800
16 6 (0.74%) GDPR
17 4 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 15288
17 4 (0.49%) PMO
System Software
1 98 (12.07%) Active Directory
2 65 (8.00%) Hyper-V
3 63 (7.76%) Terminal Server
4 42 (5.17%) Docker
5 13 (1.60%) VMware Infrastructure
6 10 (1.23%) NDS
7 5 (0.62%) Firmware
8 3 (0.37%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.12%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 1 (0.12%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 1 (0.12%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.12%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 67 (8.25%) Kubernetes
2 42 (5.17%) Ansible
3 10 (1.23%) Puppet
4 7 (0.86%) Grafana
4 7 (0.86%) Microsoft Intune
5 6 (0.74%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.37%) SCCM
6 3 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.25%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.25%) Nagios
7 2 (0.25%) Nessus
7 2 (0.25%) Netcool
7 2 (0.25%) Nmap
7 2 (0.25%) Proxmox
7 2 (0.25%) Tivoli
7 2 (0.25%) ZABBIX
8 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.12%) Packer
8 1 (0.12%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.12%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 147 (18.10%) Microsoft
2 79 (9.73%) VMware
3 65 (8.00%) SolarWinds
3 65 (8.00%) Splunk
4 63 (7.76%) Brocade
4 63 (7.76%) Nimble Storage
4 63 (7.76%) Tanium
4 63 (7.76%) Veeam
5 14 (1.72%) Thales
6 13 (1.60%) CyberArk
6 13 (1.60%) ForgeRock
6 13 (1.60%) Okta
6 13 (1.60%) OpenText
6 13 (1.60%) Red Hat
7 12 (1.48%) Starlink
8 10 (1.23%) Google
8 10 (1.23%) NetIQ
9 7 (0.86%) Oracle
10 6 (0.74%) Atlassian
11 4 (0.49%) SaltStack