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 31 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 453 494 584
Rank change year-on-year +41 +90 -29
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 176 58 98
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.24% 0.17% 0.16%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.47% 1.19% 1.24%
Number of salaries quoted 136 40 75
10th Percentile £30,125 £32,500 £32,500
25th Percentile £38,500 £36,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £51,250 £41,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +23.49% -17.00% -20.00%
75th Percentile £61,563 £57,500 £69,920
90th Percentile £81,250 £73,150 £84,000
UK median annual salary £57,500 £65,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year -11.54% - -

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 7,126 4,894 7,918
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.56% 14.30% 12.66%
Number of salaries quoted 4,574 2,591 4,810
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £25,500
25th Percentile £38,750 £35,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -5.26%
75th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £82,500 £80,000 £77,500
UK median annual salary £57,500 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +4.55% -4.35%

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 31 July 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 31 July 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 -9 62 £45,000 +8.43% 17
North of England +4 40 £45,000 -18.18% 6
Midlands -21 28 £56,295 +60.84% 11
Yorkshire -9 27 £45,000 -18.18% 1
South West -40 27 £52,500 -10.64% 8
West Midlands -10 14 £48,750 +50.00% 6
East Midlands -14 14 £58,589 +67.40% 5
East of England -8 12 £35,000 -53.95% 3
North West +11 10 £47,500 -13.64% 4
Scotland +13 7 £60,000 +60.00% 1
North East -49 3 £40,000 -46.67% 1
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 22 (12.50%) SharePoint
2 20 (11.36%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.57%) Confluence
3 1 (0.57%) Site Server
Applications
1 8 (4.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.57%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.57%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 82 (46.59%) Microsoft 365
2 69 (39.20%) Azure
3 68 (38.64%) Entra ID
4 12 (6.82%) Microsoft Copilot
5 10 (5.68%) Power Automate
6 9 (5.11%) AWS
7 7 (3.98%) Azure Sentinel
7 7 (3.98%) Copilot Studio
7 7 (3.98%) Google Workspace
7 7 (3.98%) SaaS
8 5 (2.84%) Power Platform
9 3 (1.70%) IaaS
9 3 (1.70%) Microsoft Purview
9 3 (1.70%) PaaS
10 1 (0.57%) Dynamics 365
10 1 (0.57%) Mimecast
10 1 (0.57%) Nutanix
10 1 (0.57%) OneDrive
10 1 (0.57%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 35 (19.89%) Firewall
2 19 (10.80%) DHCP
2 19 (10.80%) DNS
3 18 (10.23%) VPN
4 15 (8.52%) Wi-Fi
5 14 (7.95%) VLAN
6 13 (7.39%) WAN
7 12 (6.82%) LAN
8 8 (4.55%) Network Security
8 8 (4.55%) SSL
9 7 (3.98%) VoIP
10 5 (2.84%) TCP/IP
11 2 (1.14%) SAN
12 1 (0.57%) IPsec
12 1 (0.57%) NAS
12 1 (0.57%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (2.27%) Power BI
2 3 (1.70%) SQL Server
3 2 (1.14%) KNIME
Development Applications
1 1 (0.57%) JIRA
General
1 64 (36.36%) Social Skills
2 28 (15.91%) Analytical Skills
3 21 (11.93%) Legal
4 13 (7.39%) Finance
4 13 (7.39%) Manufacturing
5 11 (6.25%) Public Sector
6 9 (5.11%) Aerospace
7 8 (4.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 8 (4.55%) Law
7 8 (4.55%) Retail
8 7 (3.98%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (2.27%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (2.27%) Telecoms
10 3 (1.70%) Aviation
10 3 (1.70%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (1.14%) Social Housing
12 1 (0.57%) Aeronautics
12 1 (0.57%) Banking
12 1 (0.57%) Games
12 1 (0.57%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 37 (21.02%) IT Support
2 33 (18.75%) IT Engineer
3 30 (17.05%) IT Manager
4 19 (10.80%) Support Engineer
5 18 (10.23%) IT Support Engineer
6 16 (9.09%) Analyst
6 16 (9.09%) Compliance Manager
6 16 (9.09%) Security Manager
7 15 (8.52%) Operations Manager
8 14 (7.95%) IT Operations Manager
9 13 (7.39%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 12 (6.82%) Cybersecurity Manager
10 12 (6.82%) Lead
10 12 (6.82%) Senior
11 11 (6.25%) IT Technician
11 11 (6.25%) Senior IT Support
11 11 (6.25%) Support Technician
12 10 (5.68%) IT Support Technician
13 9 (5.11%) IT Security Engineer
13 9 (5.11%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.57%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 29 (16.48%) Security Posture
2 25 (14.20%) Management Information System
3 22 (12.50%) Driving Licence
4 17 (9.66%) Onboarding
5 16 (9.09%) Analytical Mindset
6 10 (5.68%) Cyber Threat
7 5 (2.84%) Cyber Security Posture
7 5 (2.84%) Self-Motivation
8 4 (2.27%) Data Centre
9 3 (1.70%) Robotics
10 2 (1.14%) AI Agents
10 2 (1.14%) BYOD
10 2 (1.14%) Culture of Ownership
10 2 (1.14%) Housing Association
10 2 (1.14%) Private Cloud
10 2 (1.14%) Security Operations Centre
11 1 (0.57%) Clustering
11 1 (0.57%) Enterprise Software
11 1 (0.57%) Enterprise Storage
11 1 (0.57%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 57 (32.39%) Windows
2 27 (15.34%) Windows Server
3 15 (8.52%) Linux
4 12 (6.82%) Mac OS
5 9 (5.11%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.70%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 91 (51.70%) Cybersecurity
2 57 (32.39%) Risk Management
3 55 (31.25%) Continuous Improvement
4 45 (25.57%) Disaster Recovery
5 42 (23.86%) Information Security
6 35 (19.89%) Incident Response
6 35 (19.89%) ITIL
7 33 (18.75%) Project Delivery
8 31 (17.61%) Problem-Solving
9 26 (14.77%) Service Management
10 25 (14.20%) ITSM
10 25 (14.20%) Service Delivery
11 24 (13.64%) Data Protection
11 24 (13.64%) Roadmaps
12 23 (13.07%) Security Management
13 22 (12.50%) Internal Audit
13 22 (12.50%) ISMS
13 22 (12.50%) Vulnerability Management
14 21 (11.93%) Data Security
15 20 (11.36%) Information Security Management
Programming Languages
1 6 (3.41%) C
1 6 (3.41%) PowerShell
2 5 (2.84%) SQL
3 2 (1.14%) Bicep
3 2 (1.14%) JavaScript
3 2 (1.14%) XAML
Qualifications
1 34 (19.32%) Degree
2 27 (15.34%) CISSP
3 19 (10.80%) Security Cleared
4 18 (10.23%) Microsoft Certification
5 17 (9.66%) CISM
6 14 (7.95%) CompTIA Security+
6 14 (7.95%) SC Cleared
7 8 (4.55%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (4.55%) DBS Check
7 8 (4.55%) Network+ Certification
8 7 (3.98%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (3.41%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 4 (2.27%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 4 (2.27%) Azure Certification
10 4 (2.27%) CCSP
10 4 (2.27%) CREST Certified
11 3 (1.70%) CEH
12 2 (1.14%) AAT
12 2 (1.14%) CCNP
12 2 (1.14%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 176 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 107 (60.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 29 (16.48%) GDPR
4 21 (11.93%) ISO 9001
5 19 (10.80%) ISO 14001
6 17 (9.66%) NIST
7 16 (9.09%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 11 (6.25%) GRC
9 10 (5.68%) NCSC
10 9 (5.11%) PCI DSS
11 8 (4.55%) SOC 2
12 6 (3.41%) Actionable Recommendations
13 5 (2.84%) SLA
14 3 (1.70%) Def Stans
15 2 (1.14%) QA
15 2 (1.14%) SOC 3
16 1 (0.57%) COBIT
16 1 (0.57%) NIST 800
System Software
1 46 (26.14%) Active Directory
2 16 (9.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (6.82%) Hyper-V
4 3 (1.70%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (1.70%) vSphere
5 2 (1.14%) Docker
5 2 (1.14%) Firmware
6 1 (0.57%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.57%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 47 (26.70%) Microsoft Intune
2 8 (4.55%) Jamf Pro
3 3 (1.70%) Single Sign-On
4 2 (1.14%) Kubernetes
4 2 (1.14%) Nessus
4 2 (1.14%) Proxmox
5 1 (0.57%) FortiGate
5 1 (0.57%) SCCM
5 1 (0.57%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 95 (53.98%) Microsoft
2 16 (9.09%) VMware
3 14 (7.95%) Cisco
4 10 (5.68%) Veeam
5 8 (4.55%) Meraki
6 7 (3.98%) Apple
6 7 (3.98%) Datto
6 7 (3.98%) Google
6 7 (3.98%) SonicWALL
7 4 (2.27%) Ubiquiti
8 3 (1.70%) SAP
9 2 (1.14%) Fortinet
9 2 (1.14%) Qualys
9 2 (1.14%) Tenable
9 2 (1.14%) Xero
10 1 (0.57%) LogicMonitor
10 1 (0.57%) Nimble Storage
10 1 (0.57%) Palo Alto
10 1 (0.57%) SolarWinds
10 1 (0.57%) Splunk