Cyber Essentials PLUS Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Cyber Essentials PLUS
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Cyber Essentials PLUS skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 446 466 625
Rank change year-on-year +20 +159 -44
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 159 57 128
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.24% 0.19% 0.16%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.55% 1.23% 1.31%
Number of salaries quoted 128 34 100
10th Percentile £30,250 £37,075 £30,775
25th Percentile £38,688 £39,750 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +5.00% -20.00%
75th Percentile £64,625 £57,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £81,250 £71,000 £82,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £63,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +14.55% -15.38%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK excluding London

Cyber Essentials PLUS falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 6,235 4,631 9,785
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.33% 15.62% 12.51%
Number of salaries quoted 4,010 2,320 6,373
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £25,000
25th Percentile £38,563 £35,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £51,428 £52,500 £47,481
Median % change year-on-year -2.04% +10.57% -5.04%
75th Percentile £68,750 £68,216 £62,500
90th Percentile £83,750 £82,500 £76,250
UK median annual salary £59,732 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +3.88% +9.52% -8.70%

Cyber Essentials PLUS
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Cyber Essentials PLUS job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Cyber Essentials PLUS
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Cyber Essentials PLUS.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Cyber Essentials PLUS

Cyber Essentials PLUS
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 14 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Cyber Essentials PLUS in the UK excluding London

Cyber Essentials PLUS
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 Cyber Essentials PLUS within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 14 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
South East -2 60 £62,750 +51.20% 12
Midlands +13 36 £55,000 +22.22% 12
North of England -17 31 £45,000 -28.00% 12
Yorkshire -25 22 £36,000 -34.55% 7
West Midlands -1 19 £52,500 +5.00% 7
South West -38 18 £52,500 -6.67% 10
East Midlands -9 17 £58,589 +46.47% 5
East of England -12 10 £51,012 - 7
North West -4 8 £52,925 -3.77% 4
Scotland +22 4 £60,000 +60.00% 2
North East -45 1 £105,000 +40.00% 2
Cyber Essentials PLUS
UK

Cyber Essentials PLUS
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 27 (16.98%) SharePoint
2 23 (14.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.63%) CMS
3 1 (0.63%) Site Server
Applications
1 5 (3.14%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.63%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.63%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 75 (47.17%) Microsoft 365
2 56 (35.22%) Entra ID
3 55 (34.59%) Azure
4 10 (6.29%) Microsoft Copilot
4 10 (6.29%) Power Automate
5 9 (5.66%) AWS
6 8 (5.03%) SaaS
7 7 (4.40%) Copilot Studio
8 6 (3.77%) OneDrive
9 4 (2.52%) Google Workspace
9 4 (2.52%) IaaS
9 4 (2.52%) PaaS
10 3 (1.89%) Azure Sentinel
11 2 (1.26%) Microsoft Purview
11 2 (1.26%) Power Platform
12 1 (0.63%) Cloud Computing
12 1 (0.63%) Dynamics 365
12 1 (0.63%) Nutanix
12 1 (0.63%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 31 (19.50%) Firewall
2 18 (11.32%) DHCP
2 18 (11.32%) DNS
3 15 (9.43%) VPN
3 15 (9.43%) Wi-Fi
4 11 (6.92%) LAN
4 11 (6.92%) WAN
5 9 (5.66%) VLAN
6 8 (5.03%) Network Security
7 4 (2.52%) SSL
7 4 (2.52%) VoIP
8 1 (0.63%) NAS
8 1 (0.63%) SAN
8 1 (0.63%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (3.77%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.63%) KNIME
2 1 (0.63%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 1 (0.63%) JIRA
General
1 54 (33.96%) Social Skills
2 22 (13.84%) Analytical Skills
3 15 (9.43%) Legal
3 15 (9.43%) Manufacturing
4 13 (8.18%) Organisational Skills
5 12 (7.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 9 (5.66%) Aerospace
6 9 (5.66%) Finance
6 9 (5.66%) Public Sector
7 7 (4.40%) Retail
8 4 (2.52%) Documentation Skills
8 4 (2.52%) Influencing Skills
8 4 (2.52%) Telecoms
9 3 (1.89%) Aviation
10 2 (1.26%) Banking
10 2 (1.26%) Games
10 2 (1.26%) Law
10 2 (1.26%) Social Housing
11 1 (0.63%) Aeronautics
11 1 (0.63%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 32 (20.13%) IT Engineer
1 32 (20.13%) IT Support
2 27 (16.98%) IT Manager
2 27 (16.98%) Security Manager
3 19 (11.95%) Cybersecurity Manager
4 18 (11.32%) IT Support Engineer
4 18 (11.32%) Support Engineer
5 13 (8.18%) Analyst
5 13 (8.18%) Compliance Manager
5 13 (8.18%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 13 (8.18%) IT Operations Manager
5 13 (8.18%) Operations Manager
6 10 (6.29%) Lead
6 10 (6.29%) Security Assurance Manager
7 9 (5.66%) Infrastructure Manager
7 9 (5.66%) Senior
8 8 (5.03%) Information Manager
8 8 (5.03%) Information Security Manager
8 8 (5.03%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
8 8 (5.03%) IT Infrastructure Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.63%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 23 (14.47%) Security Posture
2 20 (12.58%) Management Information System
3 18 (11.32%) Driving Licence
4 13 (8.18%) Onboarding
5 12 (7.55%) Analytical Mindset
6 10 (6.29%) Cyber Threat
7 8 (5.03%) Cyber Security Posture
8 6 (3.77%) Replication
9 5 (3.14%) Security Operations Centre
10 3 (1.89%) Data Centre
10 3 (1.89%) Robotics
10 3 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
11 2 (1.26%) AI Agents
11 2 (1.26%) Housing Association
11 2 (1.26%) NHS
12 1 (0.63%) Clustering
12 1 (0.63%) Enterprise Storage
12 1 (0.63%) Private Cloud
12 1 (0.63%) Public Cloud
12 1 (0.63%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 50 (31.45%) Windows
2 19 (11.95%) Windows Server
3 10 (6.29%) Linux
4 8 (5.03%) Mac OS
5 6 (3.77%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.89%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 87 (54.72%) Cybersecurity
2 52 (32.70%) Continuous Improvement
3 46 (28.93%) Risk Management
4 43 (27.04%) Disaster Recovery
5 39 (24.53%) Information Security
6 31 (19.50%) Incident Response
7 28 (17.61%) ITIL
8 22 (13.84%) Problem-Solving
8 22 (13.84%) Service Delivery
9 20 (12.58%) Data Protection
9 20 (12.58%) Project Delivery
9 20 (12.58%) Roadmaps
9 20 (12.58%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 19 (11.95%) Internal Audit
11 18 (11.32%) Business Continuity
11 18 (11.32%) Data Security
11 18 (11.32%) Security Operations
12 16 (10.06%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 16 (10.06%) ITSM
12 16 (10.06%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 9 (5.66%) PowerShell
2 5 (3.14%) C
3 3 (1.89%) SQL
4 2 (1.26%) JavaScript
5 1 (0.63%) Bicep
5 1 (0.63%) XAML
Qualifications
1 27 (16.98%) CISSP
2 25 (15.72%) Degree
3 24 (15.09%) Security Cleared
4 18 (11.32%) CISM
4 18 (11.32%) SC Cleared
5 15 (9.43%) Microsoft Certification
6 14 (8.81%) BPSS Clearance
7 11 (6.92%) CREST Certified
8 8 (5.03%) Cisco Certification
9 5 (3.14%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 5 (3.14%) CCSP
9 5 (3.14%) CompTIA Security+
9 5 (3.14%) DBS Check
9 5 (3.14%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 5 (3.14%) Network+ Certification
10 4 (2.52%) Azure Certification
11 3 (1.89%) CEH
11 3 (1.89%) CRISC
11 3 (1.89%) DV Cleared
11 3 (1.89%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 159 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 102 (64.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 35 (22.01%) GDPR
4 21 (13.21%) NIST
5 19 (11.95%) NCSC
6 17 (10.69%) GRC
7 15 (9.43%) ISO 14001
7 15 (9.43%) ISO 9001
8 12 (7.55%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 11 (6.92%) PCI DSS
9 11 (6.92%) SOC 2
10 9 (5.66%) Actionable Recommendations
10 9 (5.66%) SOC 3
11 3 (1.89%) Def Stans
11 3 (1.89%) ISO 22301
12 2 (1.26%) QA
12 2 (1.26%) SLA
13 1 (0.63%) COBIT
13 1 (0.63%) NIST 800
System Software
1 39 (24.53%) Active Directory
2 9 (5.66%) VMware Infrastructure
3 8 (5.03%) Hyper-V
4 4 (2.52%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (1.89%) vSphere
6 1 (0.63%) Docker
6 1 (0.63%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.63%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 38 (23.90%) Microsoft Intune
2 4 (2.52%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.63%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.63%) Nessus
3 1 (0.63%) Proxmox
3 1 (0.63%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.63%) SCCM
3 1 (0.63%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 82 (51.57%) Microsoft
2 13 (8.18%) Cisco
3 11 (6.92%) VMware
4 8 (5.03%) Meraki
5 5 (3.14%) Google
6 4 (2.52%) Apple
6 4 (2.52%) Datto
6 4 (2.52%) SonicWALL
6 4 (2.52%) Ubiquiti
6 4 (2.52%) Veeam
7 3 (1.89%) Infor
7 3 (1.89%) SAP
7 3 (1.89%) Xero
8 2 (1.26%) Qualys
9 1 (0.63%) ForgeRock
9 1 (0.63%) HubSpot
9 1 (0.63%) Nimble Storage
9 1 (0.63%) Palo Alto
9 1 (0.63%) ServiceNow
9 1 (0.63%) SolarWinds