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 8 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 447 473 631
Rank change year-on-year +26 +158 -50
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 153 58 121
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.23% 0.20% 0.16%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.49% 1.26% 1.26%
Number of salaries quoted 123 35 100
10th Percentile £30,450 £37,350 £30,775
25th Percentile £38,500 £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 £64,000 £57,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £77,500 £73,250 £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 6,133 4,590 9,630
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.21% 15.45% 12.64%
Number of salaries quoted 3,862 2,290 6,330
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,750 £25,000
25th Percentile £38,756 £35,275 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £52,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +10.53% -5.00%
75th Percentile £68,563 £68,114 £62,500
90th Percentile £83,750 £82,500 £76,250
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 8 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 8 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 -10 55 £63,750 +32.12% 14
Midlands +2 37 £55,000 +22.22% 10
North of England -17 32 £45,000 -35.71% 9
Yorkshire -17 22 £36,000 -43.53% 4
West Midlands -11 21 £52,500 +5.00% 7
South West -42 17 £52,500 -6.67% 11
East Midlands -17 16 £58,589 +46.47% 3
East of England -20 9 £42,025 - 8
North West +4 8 £52,925 -3.77% 4
Scotland +5 3 £60,000 +60.00% 6
North East -42 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 28 (18.30%) SharePoint
2 25 (16.34%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.65%) CMS
3 1 (0.65%) Site Server
Applications
1 4 (2.61%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.65%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.65%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 74 (48.37%) Microsoft 365
2 54 (35.29%) Entra ID
3 53 (34.64%) Azure
4 10 (6.54%) AWS
4 10 (6.54%) Power Automate
5 9 (5.88%) Microsoft Copilot
6 7 (4.58%) Copilot Studio
6 7 (4.58%) OneDrive
6 7 (4.58%) SaaS
7 4 (2.61%) Google Workspace
7 4 (2.61%) IaaS
7 4 (2.61%) PaaS
8 3 (1.96%) Azure Sentinel
9 1 (0.65%) Cloud Computing
9 1 (0.65%) Dynamics 365
9 1 (0.65%) GCP
9 1 (0.65%) Microsoft Purview
9 1 (0.65%) Nutanix
9 1 (0.65%) Power Platform
9 1 (0.65%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 31 (20.26%) Firewall
2 19 (12.42%) DHCP
2 19 (12.42%) DNS
3 17 (11.11%) VPN
4 16 (10.46%) Wi-Fi
5 11 (7.19%) LAN
5 11 (7.19%) WAN
6 9 (5.88%) VLAN
7 7 (4.58%) Network Security
8 4 (2.61%) SSL
8 4 (2.61%) VoIP
9 1 (0.65%) NAS
9 1 (0.65%) SAN
9 1 (0.65%) TCP/IP
9 1 (0.65%) Wireless
9 1 (0.65%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (4.58%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.65%) KNIME
Development Applications
1 1 (0.65%) Burp Suite
1 1 (0.65%) JIRA
1 1 (0.65%) Metasploit
General
1 53 (34.64%) Social Skills
2 18 (11.76%) Analytical Skills
3 14 (9.15%) Manufacturing
3 14 (9.15%) Organisational Skills
4 13 (8.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 13 (8.50%) Legal
5 10 (6.54%) Finance
6 9 (5.88%) Public Sector
7 8 (5.23%) Aerospace
8 6 (3.92%) Retail
9 5 (3.27%) Telecoms
10 4 (2.61%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (2.61%) Influencing Skills
11 3 (1.96%) Aviation
12 2 (1.31%) Banking
12 2 (1.31%) Games
12 2 (1.31%) Social Housing
13 1 (0.65%) Electronics
13 1 (0.65%) Law
13 1 (0.65%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 32 (20.92%) IT Engineer
1 32 (20.92%) IT Support
2 28 (18.30%) Security Manager
3 27 (17.65%) IT Manager
4 19 (12.42%) Cybersecurity Manager
5 18 (11.76%) IT Support Engineer
5 18 (11.76%) Support Engineer
6 13 (8.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 13 (8.50%) IT Operations Manager
6 13 (8.50%) Operations Manager
7 11 (7.19%) Analyst
7 11 (7.19%) Compliance Manager
7 11 (7.19%) Security Assurance Manager
8 9 (5.88%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
8 9 (5.88%) Lead
8 9 (5.88%) Senior
9 8 (5.23%) Information Manager
9 8 (5.23%) Information Security Manager
9 8 (5.23%) Infrastructure Manager
9 8 (5.23%) Infrastructure Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.65%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 21 (13.73%) Security Posture
2 20 (13.07%) Driving Licence
2 20 (13.07%) Management Information System
3 15 (9.80%) Onboarding
4 10 (6.54%) Analytical Mindset
5 9 (5.88%) Cyber Threat
6 7 (4.58%) Cyber Security Posture
6 7 (4.58%) Replication
7 5 (3.27%) Security Operations Centre
8 3 (1.96%) Robotics
9 2 (1.31%) AI Agents
9 2 (1.31%) Housing Association
9 2 (1.31%) NHS
9 2 (1.31%) Self-Motivation
10 1 (0.65%) Enterprise Software
10 1 (0.65%) Enterprise Storage
10 1 (0.65%) Mobile App
10 1 (0.65%) Private Cloud
10 1 (0.65%) Public Cloud
10 1 (0.65%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 50 (32.68%) Windows
2 18 (11.76%) Windows Server
3 10 (6.54%) Linux
4 8 (5.23%) Mac OS
5 5 (3.27%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.96%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.65%) Android
7 1 (0.65%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (54.25%) Cybersecurity
2 53 (34.64%) Continuous Improvement
3 42 (27.45%) Disaster Recovery
4 40 (26.14%) Risk Management
5 39 (25.49%) Information Security
6 29 (18.95%) Incident Response
7 28 (18.30%) ITIL
8 22 (14.38%) Service Delivery
9 21 (13.73%) Problem-Solving
10 20 (13.07%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 19 (12.42%) Business Continuity
11 19 (12.42%) Roadmaps
12 18 (11.76%) Data Protection
13 17 (11.11%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 17 (11.11%) Internal Audit
13 17 (11.11%) Project Delivery
14 16 (10.46%) Data Security
14 16 (10.46%) Security Operations
14 16 (10.46%) Service Management
15 15 (9.80%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 9 (5.88%) PowerShell
2 4 (2.61%) C
3 2 (1.31%) JavaScript
3 2 (1.31%) SQL
4 1 (0.65%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 25 (16.34%) CISSP
2 24 (15.69%) Degree
3 23 (15.03%) Security Cleared
4 17 (11.11%) CISM
4 17 (11.11%) Microsoft Certification
4 17 (11.11%) SC Cleared
5 15 (9.80%) BPSS Clearance
6 13 (8.50%) CREST Certified
7 7 (4.58%) Cisco Certification
8 5 (3.27%) Azure Certification
8 5 (3.27%) DBS Check
8 5 (3.27%) Network+ Certification
9 4 (2.61%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 4 (2.61%) CCSP
9 4 (2.61%) CompTIA Security+
9 4 (2.61%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 3 (1.96%) AWS Certification
10 3 (1.96%) CEH
10 3 (1.96%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (1.96%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 153 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 98 (64.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 35 (22.88%) GDPR
4 22 (14.38%) NIST
5 18 (11.76%) GRC
5 18 (11.76%) NCSC
6 13 (8.50%) ISO 14001
6 13 (8.50%) ISO 9001
7 12 (7.84%) SOC 2
8 10 (6.54%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 10 (6.54%) PCI DSS
8 10 (6.54%) SOC 3
9 9 (5.88%) Actionable Recommendations
10 4 (2.61%) ISO 22301
11 3 (1.96%) Def Stans
12 2 (1.31%) QA
13 1 (0.65%) COBIT
13 1 (0.65%) NIST 800
13 1 (0.65%) SLA
System Software
1 39 (25.49%) Active Directory
2 7 (4.58%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (3.92%) Hyper-V
4 4 (2.61%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (1.31%) vSphere
6 1 (0.65%) Docker
6 1 (0.65%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.65%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 36 (23.53%) Microsoft Intune
2 4 (2.61%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.65%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.65%) Nessus
3 1 (0.65%) Nmap
3 1 (0.65%) Proxmox
3 1 (0.65%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.65%) SCCM
3 1 (0.65%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 80 (52.29%) Microsoft
2 14 (9.15%) Cisco
3 9 (5.88%) Meraki
3 9 (5.88%) VMware
4 5 (3.27%) Google
5 4 (2.61%) Apple
5 4 (2.61%) Datto
5 4 (2.61%) SAP
5 4 (2.61%) SonicWALL
5 4 (2.61%) Ubiquiti
5 4 (2.61%) Veeam
6 3 (1.96%) Infor
6 3 (1.96%) Xero
7 2 (1.31%) Palo Alto
7 2 (1.31%) Qualys
8 1 (0.65%) Autodesk
8 1 (0.65%) ForgeRock
8 1 (0.65%) LogicMonitor
8 1 (0.65%) Okta
8 1 (0.65%) Tenable