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 27 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 54 36 28
Rank change year-on-year -18 -8 +15
Permanent jobs citing Active Directory 1,805 1,708 3,713
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 3.63% 5.54% 7.29%
As % of the System Software category 61.92% 43.21% 49.04%
Number of salaries quoted 1,280 1,106 3,286
10th Percentile £26,250 £25,625 £24,250
25th Percentile £28,250 £29,000 £27,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £34,000 £37,500 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.33% +7.14% -4.11%
75th Percentile £47,313 £52,500 £48,750
90th Percentile £60,000 £61,250 £57,500
UK median annual salary £37,500 £42,500 £40,000
% change year-on-year -11.76% +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 2,915 3,953 7,572
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 5.86% 12.83% 14.87%
Number of salaries quoted 2,066 2,401 6,330
10th Percentile £26,500 £27,000 £26,000
25th Percentile £30,500 £35,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £51,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +13.33% -5.26%
75th Percentile £62,500 £70,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,500 £85,000 £76,250
UK median annual salary £50,000 £57,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -13.04% +15.00% -9.09%

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 27 February 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 27 February 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 +14 502 £36,000 -15.29% 221
North of England -19 378 £33,500 -10.67% 122
South West +6 288 £32,500 -5.80% 65
Midlands -25 270 £32,000 -13.51% 77
East of England -23 177 £35,340 +8.74% 49
Yorkshire -12 171 £32,500 - 49
North West -14 166 £37,500 -6.25% 66
East Midlands -5 154 £29,500 -4.84% 32
Scotland +6 120 £28,000 -24.32% 25
West Midlands -54 115 £33,500 -16.25% 44
Wales +6 44 £35,000 -28.72% 4
North East -6 41 £31,500 -11.27% 12
Northern Ireland -17 21 £32,000 -39.05% 3
Isle of Man +11 5 £45,000 +91.49% 1
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
1 521 (28.86%) Microsoft Exchange
2 336 (18.61%) SharePoint
3 23 (1.27%) Exchange Server 2003
4 14 (0.78%) Confluence
5 13 (0.72%) Exchange Server 2013
6 12 (0.66%) IIS
7 11 (0.61%) Exchange Server 2007
7 11 (0.61%) Exchange Server 2010
8 5 (0.28%) CMS
9 4 (0.22%) Skype for Business
10 3 (0.17%) Tomcat
10 3 (0.17%) WebLogic
10 3 (0.17%) WebLogic Portal
11 2 (0.11%) Apache
11 2 (0.11%) FactoryTalk
11 2 (0.11%) WinCC
11 2 (0.11%) WordPress
12 1 (0.055%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 284 (15.73%) Microsoft Office
2 39 (2.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (0.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.22%) CATIA
5 3 (0.17%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.055%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 18 (1.00%) Oracle ERP
2 15 (0.83%) Dynamics CRM
3 8 (0.44%) Remedy ITSM
4 6 (0.33%) NetSuite
5 5 (0.28%) Dynamics NAV
6 4 (0.22%) Markit EDM
6 4 (0.22%) Primavera
7 3 (0.17%) Dynamics GP
7 3 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.11%) Alphatax
8 2 (0.11%) Shopify
9 1 (0.055%) Cognos Business Intelligence
9 1 (0.055%) Dynamics AX
9 1 (0.055%) Exchequer
9 1 (0.055%) Sage 200
9 1 (0.055%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 1,276 (70.69%) Microsoft 365
2 1,005 (55.68%) Azure
3 620 (34.35%) Entra ID
4 136 (7.53%) AWS
5 131 (7.26%) OneDrive
6 103 (5.71%) Google Workspace
7 90 (4.99%) SaaS
8 71 (3.93%) Power Platform
9 42 (2.33%) IaaS
10 39 (2.16%) Azure DevOps
11 37 (2.05%) GCP
12 36 (1.99%) Azure Monitor
13 35 (1.94%) PaaS
14 27 (1.50%) PowerApps
15 26 (1.44%) GitHub
15 26 (1.44%) OCI
16 25 (1.39%) Mimecast
16 25 (1.39%) Nutanix
17 23 (1.27%) Azure Logic Apps
17 23 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 649 (35.96%) DNS
2 614 (34.02%) DHCP
3 430 (23.82%) Firewall
4 281 (15.57%) VPN
5 247 (13.68%) TCP/IP
6 191 (10.58%) VLAN
7 176 (9.75%) WAN
8 171 (9.47%) LAN
9 138 (7.65%) Wi-Fi
10 84 (4.65%) VoIP
11 72 (3.99%) Wireless
12 55 (3.05%) Network Security
13 54 (2.99%) Remote Desktop
14 46 (2.55%) Broadband
14 46 (2.55%) SAN
15 27 (1.50%) SD-WAN
16 20 (1.11%) Internet
17 17 (0.94%) Unified Communications
18 16 (0.89%) Ethernet
19 15 (0.83%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 114 (6.32%) Amazon RDS
2 64 (3.55%) SQL Server
3 36 (1.99%) Power BI
4 26 (1.44%) Oracle Database
5 23 (1.27%) Oracle Database 10g
6 18 (1.00%) MySQL
7 15 (0.83%) PostgreSQL
8 11 (0.61%) Azure SQL Database
9 9 (0.50%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 8 (0.44%) GIS
11 6 (0.33%) Data Warehouse
11 6 (0.33%) Relational Database
12 4 (0.22%) DTS
13 3 (0.17%) Data Mining
13 3 (0.17%) Oracle Discoverer
13 3 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
14 2 (0.11%) NoSQL
15 1 (0.055%) Cognos Connection
15 1 (0.055%) Cognos Event Studio
15 1 (0.055%) Cognos Framework Manager
Development Applications
1 75 (4.16%) JIRA
2 23 (1.27%) Jenkins
3 21 (1.16%) Git
3 21 (1.16%) Oracle Forms
4 7 (0.39%) GitLab
5 5 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 4 (0.22%) LabVIEW
7 3 (0.17%) Oracle APEX
7 3 (0.17%) Subversion
8 2 (0.11%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.055%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.055%) Metasploit
General
1 856 (47.42%) Social Skills
2 214 (11.86%) Analytical Skills
3 156 (8.64%) Organisational Skills
4 149 (8.25%) Finance
5 78 (4.32%) Manufacturing
6 66 (3.66%) Retail
7 64 (3.55%) Documentation Skills
8 58 (3.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 57 (3.16%) Law
10 44 (2.44%) Legal
11 38 (2.11%) Advertising
12 37 (2.05%) Public Sector
13 36 (1.99%) Games
14 27 (1.50%) Telecoms
15 20 (1.11%) Marketing
16 12 (0.66%) French Language
16 12 (0.66%) Swedish Language
17 9 (0.50%) Local Government
18 8 (0.44%) Aerospace
19 4 (0.22%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 703 (38.95%) IT Support
2 480 (26.59%) Support Engineer
3 394 (21.83%) IT Engineer
4 340 (18.84%) IT Support Engineer
5 235 (13.02%) Analyst
6 175 (9.70%) 2nd Line Support
7 170 (9.42%) Support Analyst
8 169 (9.36%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 166 (9.20%) Support Technician
10 142 (7.87%) Senior
11 137 (7.59%) IT Analyst
12 134 (7.42%) Systems Engineer
13 119 (6.59%) IT Support Analyst
14 114 (6.32%) IT Technician
15 111 (6.15%) IT Support Technician
16 102 (5.65%) 3rd Line Support
17 94 (5.21%) 2nd Line Engineer
18 93 (5.15%) 1st Line Support
19 85 (4.71%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
20 69 (3.82%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (3.21%) SOAP
2 53 (2.94%) SAML
3 49 (2.71%) OAuth
3 49 (2.71%) OpenID
4 46 (2.55%) LDAP
5 45 (2.49%) REST
6 40 (2.22%) GraphQL
7 26 (1.44%) JSON
7 26 (1.44%) XML
8 23 (1.27%) RESTful
9 18 (1.00%) .NET
10 13 (0.72%) ARM Templates
11 12 (0.66%) CSS
11 12 (0.66%) HTML
11 12 (0.66%) React
12 9 (0.50%) .NET Framework
12 9 (0.50%) OAuth2
13 6 (0.33%) Web Services
14 5 (0.28%) FreeSWITCH
15 4 (0.22%) Razor View Engine
Miscellaneous
1 275 (15.24%) Driving Licence
2 121 (6.70%) Onboarding
3 102 (5.65%) Legacy Systems
4 82 (4.54%) Self-Motivation
5 68 (3.77%) Enterprise Software
6 43 (2.38%) Cyberattack
7 42 (2.33%) Cyber Threat
8 40 (2.22%) Hybrid Cloud
9 35 (1.94%) Cloud Native
10 33 (1.83%) Management Information System
11 30 (1.66%) Data Centre
11 30 (1.66%) Replication
12 22 (1.22%) Public Cloud
13 20 (1.11%) CMDB
14 17 (0.94%) iPad
14 17 (0.94%) Video Conferencing
15 16 (0.89%) Client/Server
16 15 (0.83%) Clustering
17 13 (0.72%) Linux Command Line
17 13 (0.72%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 1,277 (70.75%) Windows
2 778 (43.10%) Windows Server
3 283 (15.68%) Windows 10
4 216 (11.97%) Linux
5 151 (8.37%) Windows Server 2016
6 96 (5.32%) Mac OS
7 74 (4.10%) Android
8 73 (4.04%) Apple iOS
9 60 (3.32%) Windows Server 2019
10 41 (2.27%) Windows 7
11 34 (1.88%) Windows Server 2008
11 34 (1.88%) Windows Server 2012
12 28 (1.55%) Unix
13 23 (1.27%) HPUX
13 23 (1.27%) Solaris
13 23 (1.27%) Windows Server 2003
14 11 (0.61%) Windows 8
15 9 (0.50%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
15 9 (0.50%) VMS
16 7 (0.39%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 661 (36.62%) Problem-Solving
2 560 (31.02%) Customer Service
3 410 (22.71%) ITIL
4 256 (14.18%) Cybersecurity
5 232 (12.85%) Mentoring
6 216 (11.97%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 210 (11.63%) Continuous Improvement
8 180 (9.97%) ITSM
9 165 (9.14%) Migration
10 158 (8.75%) Service Delivery
11 144 (7.98%) Disaster Recovery
12 134 (7.42%) Vulnerability Remediation
13 132 (7.31%) Coaching
14 124 (6.87%) Incident Management
15 116 (6.43%) Kalman Filter
16 114 (6.32%) Web Filtering
17 111 (6.15%) Customer Experience
18 102 (5.65%) Agile
19 101 (5.60%) Email Filtering
20 100 (5.54%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 306 (16.95%) PowerShell
2 133 (7.37%) SQL
3 83 (4.60%) Bash
4 59 (3.27%) Python
5 50 (2.77%) T-SQL
6 22 (1.22%) Perl
7 21 (1.16%) PL/SQL
8 20 (1.11%) Java
8 20 (1.11%) JavaScript
8 20 (1.11%) Shell Script
9 16 (0.89%) C#
10 8 (0.44%) R
10 8 (0.44%) VB
11 7 (0.39%) Bicep
12 5 (0.28%) VBA
13 2 (0.11%) Groovy
13 2 (0.11%) TypeScript
14 1 (0.055%) Korn
14 1 (0.055%) VB.NET
14 1 (0.055%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 241 (13.35%) Security Cleared
2 195 (10.80%) SC Cleared
3 167 (9.25%) Degree
4 159 (8.81%) Microsoft Certification
5 68 (3.77%) DV Cleared
6 50 (2.77%) DBS Check
7 45 (2.49%) Azure Certification
8 41 (2.27%) Cisco Certification
9 37 (2.05%) A+ Certification
10 34 (1.88%) CCNA
11 32 (1.77%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 29 (1.61%) MCSE
13 21 (1.16%) ITIL Certification
13 21 (1.16%) Network+ Certification
14 17 (0.94%) HNC
14 17 (0.94%) HND
14 17 (0.94%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 13 (0.72%) MCSA
16 12 (0.66%) CCNP
17 10 (0.55%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 162 (8.98%) Cyber Essentials
2 138 (7.65%) SLA
3 104 (5.76%) PCI DSS
4 85 (4.71%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 53 (2.94%) NIST
6 45 (2.49%) GDPR
7 40 (2.22%) NCSC
8 21 (1.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 14 (0.78%) QA
10 9 (0.50%) Accessibility
11 8 (0.44%) Data Quality
12 5 (0.28%) PMO
13 4 (0.22%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 4 (0.22%) GxP
13 4 (0.22%) ISO 22301
13 4 (0.22%) ITGC
13 4 (0.22%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 2 (0.11%) Disclosure Scotland
15 1 (0.055%) GRC
15 1 (0.055%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 376 (20.83%) Hyper-V
2 250 (13.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 98 (5.43%) Terminal Server
4 47 (2.60%) Virtual Desktop
5 42 (2.33%) VMware ESXi
6 41 (2.27%) vSphere
7 23 (1.27%) Virtual Machines
8 16 (0.89%) Docker
9 13 (0.72%) BitLocker
10 11 (0.61%) Firmware
11 10 (0.55%) VMware Workstation
12 9 (0.50%) VMware NSX
13 7 (0.39%) XenApp
14 6 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
15 5 (0.28%) DFS Replication
16 4 (0.22%) Terminal Services
17 3 (0.17%) Lustre
17 3 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
18 2 (0.11%) Citrix Hypervisor
19 1 (0.055%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 370 (20.50%) Microsoft Intune
2 138 (7.65%) SCCM
3 51 (2.83%) Terraform
4 46 (2.55%) Single Sign-On
5 45 (2.49%) vCenter Server
6 30 (1.66%) Jamf Pro
7 20 (1.11%) Ansible
8 19 (1.05%) Autotask
9 17 (0.94%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 17 (0.94%) FortiGate
10 16 (0.89%) Kubernetes
10 16 (0.89%) WSUS
11 11 (0.61%) SCOM
11 11 (0.61%) ZABBIX
12 9 (0.50%) Backup Exec
12 9 (0.50%) Failover Clustering
13 8 (0.44%) Nagios
14 7 (0.39%) Proxmox
14 7 (0.39%) SCVMM
15 6 (0.33%) SmoothWall
Vendors
1 1,315 (72.85%) Microsoft
2 487 (26.98%) VMware
3 185 (10.25%) Veeam
4 139 (7.70%) SolarWinds
5 118 (6.54%) Nimble Storage
6 111 (6.15%) Splunk
7 100 (5.54%) Cisco
7 100 (5.54%) Tanium
8 96 (5.32%) Brocade
9 89 (4.93%) Apple
10 86 (4.76%) Citrix
11 83 (4.60%) Google
12 75 (4.16%) ServiceNow
13 63 (3.49%) HP
14 48 (2.66%) Oracle
15 47 (2.60%) Dell
16 33 (1.83%) Meraki
17 24 (1.33%) SonicWALL
18 22 (1.22%) Dell Compellent
19 21 (1.16%) Fortinet