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

6 months to
7 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 443 488 627
Rank change year-on-year +45 +139 -38
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 173 57 111
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.25% 0.17% 0.15%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.59% 1.20% 1.18%
Number of salaries quoted 134 36 87
10th Percentile £30,550 £36,250 £32,000
25th Percentile £38,500 £39,750 £41,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £41,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +26.51% -17.00% -20.00%
75th Percentile £62,500 £57,500 £69,375
90th Percentile £77,500 £75,750 £83,500
UK median annual salary £57,750 £63,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year -9.06% +10.43% -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 6,672 4,736 9,430
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.46% 14.44% 12.52%
Number of salaries quoted 4,337 2,478 6,139
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £25,000
25th Percentile £37,500 £35,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £51,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -2.91% +8.42% -5.00%
75th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £77,500
UK median annual salary £57,883 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +0.67% +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 7 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 7 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 -2 60 £62,500 +50.60% 10
North of England -16 35 £44,250 -19.55% 8
Midlands +7 34 £53,250 +33.13% 7
Yorkshire -4 25 £45,000 -18.18% 4
South West -43 25 £48,750 -15.22% 8
West Midlands -7 17 £45,000 -10.00% 4
East Midlands -9 17 £58,589 +56.24% 3
East of England -7 13 £35,000 -53.95% 4
North West +2 7 £55,850 +1.55% 4
Scotland +10 6 £60,000 +60.00% 4
North East -47 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 26 (15.03%) SharePoint
2 21 (12.14%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.58%) CMS
3 1 (0.58%) Site Server
Applications
1 7 (4.05%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.58%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.58%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 80 (46.24%) Microsoft 365
2 65 (37.57%) Entra ID
3 63 (36.42%) Azure
4 11 (6.36%) Microsoft Copilot
5 10 (5.78%) Power Automate
6 8 (4.62%) AWS
6 8 (4.62%) SaaS
7 7 (4.05%) Copilot Studio
8 5 (2.89%) Azure Sentinel
9 4 (2.31%) Google Workspace
9 4 (2.31%) OneDrive
9 4 (2.31%) Power Platform
10 3 (1.73%) IaaS
10 3 (1.73%) PaaS
11 2 (1.16%) Microsoft Purview
12 1 (0.58%) Dynamics 365
12 1 (0.58%) Nutanix
12 1 (0.58%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 34 (19.65%) Firewall
2 18 (10.40%) DHCP
2 18 (10.40%) DNS
3 16 (9.25%) VPN
4 14 (8.09%) Wi-Fi
5 12 (6.94%) LAN
5 12 (6.94%) WAN
6 10 (5.78%) VLAN
7 7 (4.05%) Network Security
8 4 (2.31%) SSL
8 4 (2.31%) TCP/IP
8 4 (2.31%) VoIP
9 1 (0.58%) NAS
9 1 (0.58%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (3.47%) SQL Server
2 3 (1.73%) Power BI
3 2 (1.16%) KNIME
General
1 63 (36.42%) Social Skills
2 29 (16.76%) Analytical Skills
3 17 (9.83%) Legal
4 16 (9.25%) Manufacturing
5 10 (5.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 9 (5.20%) Aerospace
6 9 (5.20%) Finance
6 9 (5.20%) Organisational Skills
6 9 (5.20%) Public Sector
7 8 (4.62%) Retail
8 6 (3.47%) Law
9 4 (2.31%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (2.31%) Telecoms
10 3 (1.73%) Aviation
10 3 (1.73%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (1.16%) Banking
11 2 (1.16%) Games
11 2 (1.16%) Social Housing
12 1 (0.58%) Aeronautics
12 1 (0.58%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 35 (20.23%) IT Engineer
1 35 (20.23%) IT Support
2 29 (16.76%) IT Manager
3 22 (12.72%) Security Manager
4 18 (10.40%) IT Support Engineer
4 18 (10.40%) Support Engineer
5 17 (9.83%) Cybersecurity Manager
6 16 (9.25%) Compliance Manager
7 15 (8.67%) Analyst
7 15 (8.67%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 15 (8.67%) IT Operations Manager
7 15 (8.67%) Operations Manager
8 11 (6.36%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
8 11 (6.36%) Lead
9 10 (5.78%) Support Technician
10 9 (5.20%) IT Security Engineer
10 9 (5.20%) IT Support Technician
10 9 (5.20%) IT Technician
10 9 (5.20%) Security Engineer
10 9 (5.20%) Senior
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.58%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 30 (17.34%) Security Posture
2 21 (12.14%) Management Information System
3 20 (11.56%) Driving Licence
4 16 (9.25%) Analytical Mindset
5 14 (8.09%) Onboarding
6 13 (7.51%) Cyber Threat
7 8 (4.62%) Cyber Security Posture
8 4 (2.31%) Data Centre
8 4 (2.31%) Replication
8 4 (2.31%) Security Operations Centre
8 4 (2.31%) Self-Motivation
9 3 (1.73%) Robotics
10 2 (1.16%) AI Agents
10 2 (1.16%) Housing Association
10 2 (1.16%) NHS
10 2 (1.16%) Private Cloud
11 1 (0.58%) Clustering
11 1 (0.58%) Enterprise Software
11 1 (0.58%) Enterprise Storage
11 1 (0.58%) PMI
Operating Systems
1 58 (33.53%) Windows
2 24 (13.87%) Windows Server
3 14 (8.09%) Linux
4 8 (4.62%) Mac OS
5 7 (4.05%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.73%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 92 (53.18%) Cybersecurity
2 55 (31.79%) Continuous Improvement
3 53 (30.64%) Risk Management
4 44 (25.43%) Disaster Recovery
5 40 (23.12%) Information Security
6 34 (19.65%) Incident Response
7 33 (19.08%) ITIL
8 28 (16.18%) Problem-Solving
8 28 (16.18%) Project Delivery
9 24 (13.87%) Roadmaps
9 24 (13.87%) Service Delivery
10 23 (13.29%) Data Protection
10 23 (13.29%) Internal Audit
11 22 (12.72%) ITSM
12 21 (12.14%) Service Management
13 20 (11.56%) Data Security
13 20 (11.56%) Vulnerability Management
14 18 (10.40%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 18 (10.40%) Security Management
14 18 (10.40%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 8 (4.62%) PowerShell
2 5 (2.89%) C
3 3 (1.73%) SQL
4 2 (1.16%) Bicep
4 2 (1.16%) JavaScript
4 2 (1.16%) XAML
Qualifications
1 27 (15.61%) CISSP
1 27 (15.61%) Degree
2 24 (13.87%) Security Cleared
3 18 (10.40%) CISM
3 18 (10.40%) SC Cleared
4 16 (9.25%) Microsoft Certification
5 13 (7.51%) BPSS Clearance
6 8 (4.62%) Cisco Certification
7 7 (4.05%) CREST Certified
8 6 (3.47%) CompTIA Security+
8 6 (3.47%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 5 (2.89%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 5 (2.89%) CCSP
9 5 (2.89%) DBS Check
9 5 (2.89%) Network+ Certification
10 4 (2.31%) Azure Certification
11 3 (1.73%) CRISC
11 3 (1.73%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
12 2 (1.16%) AAT
12 2 (1.16%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 173 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 109 (63.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 32 (18.50%) GDPR
4 19 (10.98%) NIST
5 18 (10.40%) ISO 14001
5 18 (10.40%) ISO 9001
6 16 (9.25%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 15 (8.67%) GRC
8 14 (8.09%) NCSC
9 12 (6.94%) PCI DSS
10 9 (5.20%) Actionable Recommendations
10 9 (5.20%) SOC 2
11 5 (2.89%) SOC 3
12 3 (1.73%) Def Stans
12 3 (1.73%) ISO 22301
13 2 (1.16%) QA
13 2 (1.16%) SLA
14 1 (0.58%) COBIT
14 1 (0.58%) NIST 800
System Software
1 44 (25.43%) Active Directory
2 12 (6.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 8 (4.62%) Hyper-V
4 3 (1.73%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (1.73%) vSphere
5 2 (1.16%) Docker
6 1 (0.58%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.58%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 43 (24.86%) Microsoft Intune
2 4 (2.31%) Jamf Pro
3 2 (1.16%) Kubernetes
3 2 (1.16%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.58%) Nessus
4 1 (0.58%) Proxmox
4 1 (0.58%) RSA Archer
4 1 (0.58%) SCCM
4 1 (0.58%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 89 (51.45%) Microsoft
2 12 (6.94%) Cisco
2 12 (6.94%) VMware
3 9 (5.20%) Meraki
4 7 (4.05%) Veeam
5 4 (2.31%) Apple
5 4 (2.31%) Datto
5 4 (2.31%) Google
5 4 (2.31%) SonicWALL
5 4 (2.31%) Ubiquiti
6 3 (1.73%) Infor
6 3 (1.73%) SAP
6 3 (1.73%) Xero
7 2 (1.16%) Qualys
8 1 (0.58%) ForgeRock
8 1 (0.58%) Fortinet
8 1 (0.58%) HubSpot
8 1 (0.58%) Nimble Storage
8 1 (0.58%) ServiceNow
8 1 (0.58%) SolarWinds