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 29 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 444 471 632
Rank change year-on-year +27 +161 -25
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 148 54 111
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.22% 0.19% 0.15%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.40% 1.20% 1.18%
Number of salaries quoted 119 31 98
10th Percentile £30,250 - £30,325
25th Percentile £39,381 £39,750 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - +10.00% -20.00%
75th Percentile £65,000 £58,125 £68,438
90th Percentile £78,250 £73,750 £82,500
UK median annual salary £62,500 £63,250 £55,000
% change year-on-year -1.19% +15.00% -14.06%

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 6,168 4,486 9,375
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.14% 15.70% 13.08%
Number of salaries quoted 3,758 2,224 6,239
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,750 £25,500
25th Percentile £38,563 £36,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £53,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -0.94% +11.58% -5.00%
75th Percentile £67,625 £68,216 £62,500
90th Percentile £83,750 £83,738 £77,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.35% +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 29 May 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 29 May 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 -12 54 £65,000 +18.18% 11
Midlands +1 34 £55,000 +22.22% 11
North of England -22 32 £50,000 -28.57% 4
West Midlands -13 22 £52,500 +5.00% 6
Yorkshire -35 22 £45,000 -29.41% 2
South West -44 16 £52,500 -23.64% 5
East Midlands -24 12 £60,000 +50.00% 5
East of England -12 9 £42,025 - 2
North West +3 8 £52,925 -3.77% 1
Scotland -2 3 £60,000 +60.00% 1
North East -37 2 £105,000 +40.00% 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 23 (15.54%) Microsoft Exchange
1 23 (15.54%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.68%) CMS
Applications
1 4 (2.70%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.68%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.68%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 69 (46.62%) Microsoft 365
2 50 (33.78%) Entra ID
3 45 (30.41%) Azure
4 9 (6.08%) Power Automate
5 8 (5.41%) Microsoft Copilot
5 8 (5.41%) SaaS
6 7 (4.73%) AWS
6 7 (4.73%) Copilot Studio
7 6 (4.05%) OneDrive
8 4 (2.70%) IaaS
8 4 (2.70%) PaaS
9 2 (1.35%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.68%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.68%) Cloud Computing
10 1 (0.68%) Dynamics 365
10 1 (0.68%) GCP
10 1 (0.68%) Microsoft Purview
10 1 (0.68%) Nutanix
10 1 (0.68%) Power Platform
10 1 (0.68%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 29 (19.59%) Firewall
2 15 (10.14%) DHCP
2 15 (10.14%) DNS
2 15 (10.14%) VPN
3 14 (9.46%) Wi-Fi
4 11 (7.43%) LAN
4 11 (7.43%) WAN
5 7 (4.73%) Network Security
6 6 (4.05%) VLAN
7 2 (1.35%) SSL
7 2 (1.35%) VoIP
8 1 (0.68%) TCP/IP
8 1 (0.68%) Wireless
8 1 (0.68%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (4.73%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.68%) KNIME
Development Applications
1 1 (0.68%) Burp Suite
1 1 (0.68%) JIRA
1 1 (0.68%) Metasploit
General
1 49 (33.11%) Social Skills
2 17 (11.49%) Analytical Skills
3 14 (9.46%) Manufacturing
3 14 (9.46%) Organisational Skills
4 13 (8.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 12 (8.11%) Legal
6 10 (6.76%) Finance
7 9 (6.08%) Public Sector
8 8 (5.41%) Aerospace
9 5 (3.38%) Influencing Skills
9 5 (3.38%) Telecoms
10 4 (2.70%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (2.70%) Retail
11 3 (2.03%) Aviation
12 2 (1.35%) Banking
12 2 (1.35%) Games
12 2 (1.35%) Social Housing
13 1 (0.68%) Electronics
13 1 (0.68%) Law
13 1 (0.68%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 30 (20.27%) IT Engineer
1 30 (20.27%) Security Manager
2 28 (18.92%) IT Manager
3 27 (18.24%) IT Support
4 21 (14.19%) Cybersecurity Manager
5 16 (10.81%) IT Support Engineer
5 16 (10.81%) Support Engineer
6 13 (8.78%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 13 (8.78%) IT Operations Manager
6 13 (8.78%) Operations Manager
7 12 (8.11%) Security Assurance Manager
8 10 (6.76%) Compliance Manager
9 9 (6.08%) Analyst
9 9 (6.08%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
10 8 (5.41%) Information Manager
10 8 (5.41%) Information Security Manager
10 8 (5.41%) Infrastructure Manager
10 8 (5.41%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
10 8 (5.41%) Lead
10 8 (5.41%) Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.68%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 22 (14.86%) Security Posture
2 18 (12.16%) Management Information System
3 16 (10.81%) Driving Licence
4 14 (9.46%) Onboarding
5 9 (6.08%) Analytical Mindset
5 9 (6.08%) Cyber Threat
6 7 (4.73%) Cyber Security Posture
7 6 (4.05%) Replication
7 6 (4.05%) Security Operations Centre
8 3 (2.03%) Robotics
9 2 (1.35%) AI Agents
9 2 (1.35%) Housing Association
9 2 (1.35%) NHS
10 1 (0.68%) Data Centre
10 1 (0.68%) Educational Technology
10 1 (0.68%) Enterprise Software
10 1 (0.68%) Mobile App
10 1 (0.68%) Private Cloud
10 1 (0.68%) Public Cloud
10 1 (0.68%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 46 (31.08%) Windows
2 15 (10.14%) Windows Server
3 9 (6.08%) Linux
4 6 (4.05%) Mac OS
5 3 (2.03%) Windows 10
5 3 (2.03%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.68%) Android
6 1 (0.68%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (52.70%) Cybersecurity
2 54 (36.49%) Continuous Improvement
3 39 (26.35%) Disaster Recovery
3 39 (26.35%) Information Security
3 39 (26.35%) Risk Management
4 30 (20.27%) Incident Response
5 26 (17.57%) ITIL
6 22 (14.86%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 20 (13.51%) Service Delivery
8 19 (12.84%) Business Continuity
9 18 (12.16%) Roadmaps
10 17 (11.49%) Security Operations
11 16 (10.81%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 16 (10.81%) Internal Audit
12 15 (10.14%) Data Security
12 15 (10.14%) Penetration Testing
12 15 (10.14%) Problem-Solving
13 14 (9.46%) Data Protection
13 14 (9.46%) IT Strategy
13 14 (9.46%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 9 (6.08%) PowerShell
2 4 (2.70%) C
3 2 (1.35%) JavaScript
3 2 (1.35%) SQL
4 1 (0.68%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 23 (15.54%) CISSP
2 20 (13.51%) Security Cleared
3 18 (12.16%) Degree
4 15 (10.14%) BPSS Clearance
4 15 (10.14%) CISM
5 14 (9.46%) CREST Certified
5 14 (9.46%) SC Cleared
6 13 (8.78%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (3.38%) Azure Certification
7 5 (3.38%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (2.03%) AWS Certification
8 3 (2.03%) CEH
8 3 (2.03%) Computer Science Degree
8 3 (2.03%) CRISC
8 3 (2.03%) DBS Check
8 3 (2.03%) DV Cleared
8 3 (2.03%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
8 3 (2.03%) Network+ Certification
9 2 (1.35%) AAT
9 2 (1.35%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 148 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 97 (65.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 37 (25.00%) GDPR
4 21 (14.19%) NIST
5 19 (12.84%) NCSC
6 17 (11.49%) GRC
7 13 (8.78%) SOC 2
8 12 (8.11%) ISO 14001
8 12 (8.11%) ISO 9001
9 11 (7.43%) PCI DSS
9 11 (7.43%) SOC 3
10 9 (6.08%) Actionable Recommendations
10 9 (6.08%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 4 (2.70%) ISO 22301
12 3 (2.03%) Def Stans
13 2 (1.35%) QA
14 1 (0.68%) COBIT
14 1 (0.68%) NIST 800
14 1 (0.68%) SLA
System Software
1 34 (22.97%) Active Directory
2 4 (2.70%) Hyper-V
2 4 (2.70%) Virtual Machines
2 4 (2.70%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.68%) Docker
3 1 (0.68%) Microsoft Virtual Server
3 1 (0.68%) Virtual Servers
3 1 (0.68%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 33 (22.30%) Microsoft Intune
2 2 (1.35%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.68%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.68%) Nessus
3 1 (0.68%) Nmap
3 1 (0.68%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.68%) SCCM
Vendors
1 77 (52.03%) Microsoft
2 12 (8.11%) Cisco
3 9 (6.08%) Meraki
4 6 (4.05%) VMware
5 4 (2.70%) SAP
5 4 (2.70%) Ubiquiti
6 3 (2.03%) Google
6 3 (2.03%) Infor
6 3 (2.03%) Xero
7 2 (1.35%) Apple
7 2 (1.35%) Datto
7 2 (1.35%) Palo Alto
7 2 (1.35%) Qualys
7 2 (1.35%) SonicWALL
7 2 (1.35%) Veeam
8 1 (0.68%) Autodesk
8 1 (0.68%) LogicMonitor
8 1 (0.68%) Nimble Storage
8 1 (0.68%) Okta
8 1 (0.68%) Tenable