Active Directory Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Microsoft Active Directory
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Active Directory skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 54 37 37
Rank change year-on-year -17 0 -4
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 2,181 1,911 3,081
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 2.81% 5.50% 5.19%
As % of the System Software category 50.15% 43.95% 51.43%
Number of salaries quoted 1,677 1,531 2,302
10th Percentile £26,750 £26,000 £24,705
25th Percentile £29,500 £28,250 £28,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £37,500 £35,000 £37,500
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% -6.67% +2.74%
75th Percentile £50,443 £47,500 £50,000
90th Percentile £65,500 £60,000 £60,000
UK median annual salary £40,000 £37,500 £40,000
% change year-on-year +6.67% -6.25% -

All System Software Skills
UK excluding London

Active Directory falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring system software skills in the UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 4,349 4,348 5,991
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 5.60% 12.51% 10.09%
Number of salaries quoted 3,272 2,557 4,391
10th Percentile £28,500 £26,500 £26,250
25th Percentile £33,750 £30,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £42,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +17.65% -10.53% -2.06%
75th Percentile £67,500 £62,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £73,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £49,425 £50,000
% change year-on-year +11.28% -1.15% -10.71%

Active Directory
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Active Directory relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Active Directory job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Active Directory
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Active Directory.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Active Directory

Active Directory
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Active Directory in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 16 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Active Directory in the UK excluding London

Active Directory
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Active Directory within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 16 August 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
South East -7 516 £42,500 +6.25% 204
North of England -15 511 £33,475 +7.98% 134
Midlands -31 374 £38,600 +18.77% 84
South West -23 294 £37,500 +8.70% 67
North West +56 273 £35,000 - 79
East of England 0 247 £35,000 +4.48% 71
East Midlands -15 193 £37,500 +19.05% 29
West Midlands -41 181 £42,500 +11.84% 55
Yorkshire -32 180 £31,000 +3.33% 40
Scotland +70 109 £32,000 +3.23% 20
Wales -23 68 £45,000 +18.13% 10
Northern Ireland -15 67 £40,000 -23.81% 13
North East -62 58 £40,000 +29.03% 20
Isle of Man 0 3 £45,000 +30.43%
Active Directory
UK

Active Directory
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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
1 643 (29.48%) Microsoft Exchange
2 466 (21.37%) SharePoint
3 51 (2.34%) IIS
4 18 (0.83%) Confluence
5 13 (0.60%) Skype for Business
6 7 (0.32%) Apache
7 4 (0.18%) Exchange Server 2013
8 3 (0.14%) nginx
8 3 (0.14%) SAS
9 2 (0.092%) CMS
9 2 (0.092%) Exchange Server 2007
9 2 (0.092%) Exchange Server 2010
10 1 (0.046%) Drupal
10 1 (0.046%) HCL Domino
10 1 (0.046%) HCL Notes
10 1 (0.046%) Site Server
10 1 (0.046%) WordPress
Applications
1 155 (7.11%) Microsoft Office
2 43 (1.97%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (0.73%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.18%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 3 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.092%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.046%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.046%) Revit
Business Applications
1 15 (0.69%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (0.41%) Dynamics NAV
3 7 (0.32%) Remedy ITSM
4 6 (0.28%) Raiser’s Edge
5 5 (0.23%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 4 (0.18%) Exchequer
6 4 (0.18%) NetSuite
6 4 (0.18%) Payment Gateway
6 4 (0.18%) Primavera
6 4 (0.18%) Shopify
7 3 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
8 2 (0.092%) Dynamics GP
8 2 (0.092%) Sage 200
8 2 (0.092%) SAP S/4HANA
8 2 (0.092%) Teamcenter
9 1 (0.046%) Dynamics AX
9 1 (0.046%) Magento
9 1 (0.046%) Oracle Payables
9 1 (0.046%) Sage 50
9 1 (0.046%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 1,510 (69.23%) Microsoft 365
2 1,226 (56.21%) Azure
3 954 (43.74%) Entra ID
4 157 (7.20%) AWS
5 153 (7.02%) OneDrive
6 105 (4.81%) SaaS
7 75 (3.44%) Power Platform
8 70 (3.21%) IaaS
9 63 (2.89%) Mimecast
10 55 (2.52%) PaaS
11 48 (2.20%) Azure DevOps
12 40 (1.83%) Microsoft Purview
13 37 (1.70%) Azure Sentinel
14 33 (1.51%) Power Automate
15 30 (1.38%) Serverless
16 27 (1.24%) Azure Monitor
16 27 (1.24%) GCP
17 25 (1.15%) Google Workspace
17 25 (1.15%) PowerApps
18 22 (1.01%) Azure ExpressRoute
Communications & Networking
1 699 (32.05%) DNS
2 581 (26.64%) DHCP
3 526 (24.12%) Firewall
4 366 (16.78%) VPN
5 254 (11.65%) TCP/IP
6 212 (9.72%) Wi-Fi
7 205 (9.40%) WAN
8 202 (9.26%) VLAN
9 200 (9.17%) LAN
10 135 (6.19%) Wireless
11 128 (5.87%) VoIP
12 94 (4.31%) Network Security
13 83 (3.81%) SAN
14 46 (2.11%) Remote Desktop
15 29 (1.33%) Internet
16 27 (1.24%) NAS
16 27 (1.24%) SSL
17 17 (0.78%) WLAN
18 16 (0.73%) Structured Cabling
18 16 (0.73%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 102 (4.68%) SQL Server
2 99 (4.54%) Amazon RDS
3 33 (1.51%) Azure SQL Database
4 30 (1.38%) Power BI
5 21 (0.96%) PostgreSQL
6 20 (0.92%) MySQL
7 7 (0.32%) Relational Database
8 6 (0.28%) Crystal Reports
9 5 (0.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
10 4 (0.18%) Neo4j
11 3 (0.14%) Oracle Database
12 2 (0.092%) BusinessObjects
12 2 (0.092%) Data Lake
12 2 (0.092%) KNIME
13 1 (0.046%) Geospatial Data
13 1 (0.046%) GIS
13 1 (0.046%) InterSystems Cache
13 1 (0.046%) RDBMS
13 1 (0.046%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 75 (3.44%) JIRA
2 29 (1.33%) Git
3 9 (0.41%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.28%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.23%) GitLab
6 2 (0.092%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.092%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.092%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.092%) git-flow
6 2 (0.092%) Metasploit
6 2 (0.092%) NUnit
6 2 (0.092%) Terragrunt
7 1 (0.046%) Carbide.c++
7 1 (0.046%) JMeter
7 1 (0.046%) Ranorex
7 1 (0.046%) Selenium
7 1 (0.046%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.046%) Subversion
7 1 (0.046%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.046%) Vagrant
General
1 995 (45.62%) Social Skills
2 258 (11.83%) Analytical Skills
3 149 (6.83%) Legal
4 132 (6.05%) Finance
5 85 (3.90%) Organisational Skills
6 83 (3.81%) Manufacturing
7 82 (3.76%) Law
8 75 (3.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 63 (2.89%) Public Sector
10 59 (2.71%) Retail
11 45 (2.06%) Telecoms
12 41 (1.88%) Documentation Skills
13 33 (1.51%) Aerospace
14 30 (1.38%) Advertising
15 14 (0.64%) Automotive
16 13 (0.60%) Local Government
17 9 (0.41%) Influencing Skills
18 8 (0.37%) Games
19 7 (0.32%) Aviation
20 5 (0.23%) Banking
Job Titles
1 782 (35.86%) IT Support
2 530 (24.30%) Support Engineer
3 508 (23.29%) IT Engineer
4 416 (19.07%) IT Support Engineer
5 350 (16.05%) Analyst
6 265 (12.15%) Senior
7 226 (10.36%) Support Analyst
8 215 (9.86%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 205 (9.40%) IT Technician
10 202 (9.26%) Support Technician
11 180 (8.25%) IT Support Technician
12 163 (7.47%) Systems Engineer
13 148 (6.79%) 2nd Line Support
14 145 (6.65%) IT Analyst
15 128 (5.87%) IT Support Analyst
16 94 (4.31%) Architect
17 92 (4.22%) 2nd Line Engineer
18 84 (3.85%) Administrator
19 83 (3.81%) 3rd Line Support
20 77 (3.53%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (2.25%) LDAP
2 31 (1.42%) SAML
3 28 (1.28%) OpenID
4 26 (1.19%) OAuth
5 23 (1.05%) Regular Expression
6 19 (0.87%) XMPP
7 13 (0.60%) .NET
8 12 (0.55%) Microsoft Graph
8 12 (0.55%) ModSecurity
9 11 (0.50%) ARM Templates
10 10 (0.46%) HTML
11 9 (0.41%) REST
12 7 (0.32%) JSON
12 7 (0.32%) JSON Schema
12 7 (0.32%) OAuth2
12 7 (0.32%) Web Services
12 7 (0.32%) XML
13 6 (0.28%) Middleware
14 5 (0.23%) ODBC
14 5 (0.23%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 299 (13.71%) Driving Licence
2 189 (8.67%) Onboarding
3 124 (5.69%) Self-Motivation
4 95 (4.36%) Legacy Systems
5 81 (3.71%) Hybrid Cloud
6 69 (3.16%) Data Centre
7 67 (3.07%) Management Information System
8 49 (2.25%) PKI
9 45 (2.06%) Clustering
10 44 (2.02%) Cloud Native
11 43 (1.97%) Enterprise Software
12 41 (1.88%) Security Posture
13 36 (1.65%) CCTV
13 36 (1.65%) Replication
14 34 (1.56%) Public Cloud
15 19 (0.87%) Social Media
16 18 (0.83%) CMDB
17 17 (0.78%) Video Conferencing
18 16 (0.73%) Client/Server
18 16 (0.73%) Enterprise Storage
Operating Systems
1 1,549 (71.02%) Windows
2 895 (41.04%) Windows Server
3 289 (13.25%) Windows 10
4 277 (12.70%) Linux
5 161 (7.38%) Windows Server 2016
6 142 (6.51%) Mac OS
7 86 (3.94%) Windows Server 2019
8 77 (3.53%) Apple iOS
9 62 (2.84%) Android
10 45 (2.06%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 24 (1.10%) VMS
12 19 (0.87%) Ubuntu
12 19 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
13 8 (0.37%) CentOS
14 7 (0.32%) Windows 7
15 6 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
16 5 (0.23%) CoreOS
16 5 (0.23%) Debian
17 4 (0.18%) Mac OS X
17 4 (0.18%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 748 (34.30%) Problem-Solving
2 539 (24.71%) Customer Service
3 492 (22.56%) ITIL
4 437 (20.04%) Continuous Improvement
5 412 (18.89%) Cybersecurity
6 343 (15.73%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 265 (12.15%) Mentoring
8 262 (12.01%) Disaster Recovery
9 206 (9.45%) ITSM
10 186 (8.53%) Project Delivery
11 182 (8.34%) Service Delivery
12 180 (8.25%) Identity Access Management
13 165 (7.57%) Migration
14 137 (6.28%) Customer Experience
14 137 (6.28%) Service Management
15 133 (6.10%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 131 (6.01%) Collaborative Working
17 130 (5.96%) Vulnerability Remediation
18 124 (5.69%) AI
19 118 (5.41%) Kalman Filter
Programming Languages
1 335 (15.36%) PowerShell
2 197 (9.03%) SQL
3 67 (3.07%) Python
4 59 (2.71%) Bash
5 49 (2.25%) Bicep
6 29 (1.33%) R
7 13 (0.60%) Ruby
8 12 (0.55%) Kusto Query Language
8 12 (0.55%) VBA
9 9 (0.41%) C#
10 7 (0.32%) Java
10 7 (0.32%) Shell Script
11 6 (0.28%) Korn
11 6 (0.28%) T-SQL
12 5 (0.23%) PHP
13 3 (0.14%) VB.NET
14 2 (0.092%) C
14 2 (0.092%) VBScript
15 1 (0.046%) JavaScript
15 1 (0.046%) VB
Qualifications
1 313 (14.35%) Security Cleared
2 216 (9.90%) SC Cleared
3 205 (9.40%) Degree
4 186 (8.53%) Microsoft Certification
5 118 (5.41%) Azure Certification
6 103 (4.72%) DV Cleared
7 96 (4.40%) A+ Certification
8 95 (4.36%) Network+ Certification
9 75 (3.44%) CISM
9 75 (3.44%) CISSP
10 65 (2.98%) Cisco Certification
11 58 (2.66%) DBS Check
12 57 (2.61%) CCNA
13 34 (1.56%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 23 (1.05%) Computer Science Degree
15 22 (1.01%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 19 (0.87%) AWS Certification
16 19 (0.87%) CompTIA Security+
16 19 (0.87%) MCSA
17 15 (0.69%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 222 (10.18%) Cyber Essentials
2 169 (7.75%) SLA
3 127 (5.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 96 (4.40%) PCI DSS
5 54 (2.48%) GDPR
6 51 (2.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 27 (1.24%) NIST
8 20 (0.92%) QA
9 13 (0.60%) Accessibility
9 13 (0.60%) Data Quality
10 11 (0.50%) NCSC
11 6 (0.28%) SOC 2
12 4 (0.18%) GRC
13 3 (0.14%) ISAE 3402
13 3 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 2 (0.092%) ITGC
14 2 (0.092%) PMO
15 1 (0.046%) ISO 9001
15 1 (0.046%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 504 (23.11%) Hyper-V
2 380 (17.42%) VMware Infrastructure
3 91 (4.17%) vSphere
4 81 (3.71%) Terminal Server
5 67 (3.07%) Virtual Desktop
6 51 (2.34%) Virtual Machines
7 39 (1.79%) VMware ESXi
8 38 (1.74%) Docker
9 20 (0.92%) Firmware
10 19 (0.87%) Virtual Servers
11 14 (0.64%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 12 (0.55%) VMware NSX
13 11 (0.50%) Citrix Hypervisor
14 10 (0.46%) BitLocker
15 6 (0.28%) DFS Replication
16 5 (0.23%) NDS
17 4 (0.18%) Squid
17 4 (0.18%) XenApp
18 3 (0.14%) VMware Server
19 2 (0.092%) Xen
Systems Management
1 580 (26.59%) Microsoft Intune
2 114 (5.23%) SCCM
3 74 (3.39%) Terraform
4 54 (2.48%) Single Sign-On
5 36 (1.65%) Ansible
6 34 (1.56%) Kubernetes
7 32 (1.47%) FortiGate
8 27 (1.24%) Jamf Pro
9 26 (1.19%) WSUS
10 23 (1.05%) vCenter Server
11 18 (0.83%) Proxmox
12 17 (0.78%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 16 (0.73%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
14 15 (0.69%) Failover Clustering
15 13 (0.60%) ZABBIX
16 11 (0.50%) Microsoft Clustering
17 10 (0.46%) SCOM
18 6 (0.28%) Grafana
18 6 (0.28%) Prometheus
19 5 (0.23%) VxRail
Vendors
1 1,784 (81.80%) Microsoft
2 564 (25.86%) VMware
3 200 (9.17%) Veeam
4 162 (7.43%) Cisco
5 103 (4.72%) SolarWinds
6 97 (4.45%) Splunk
7 88 (4.03%) Nimble Storage
8 80 (3.67%) Brocade
8 80 (3.67%) Tanium
9 76 (3.48%) Meraki
10 75 (3.44%) Apple
11 73 (3.35%) CyberArk
12 71 (3.26%) Citrix
13 69 (3.16%) ServiceNow
14 50 (2.29%) SonicWALL
15 49 (2.25%) HP
16 48 (2.20%) Dell
17 47 (2.15%) Fortinet
18 45 (2.06%) Red Hat
19 40 (1.83%) CrowdStrike