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

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 438 477 637
Rank change year-on-year +39 +160 -70
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 166 58 123
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.24% 0.19% 0.16%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.59% 1.26% 1.26%
Number of salaries quoted 131 36 96
10th Percentile £30,250 £37,625 £29,875
25th Percentile £38,500 £39,750 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £45,750 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +20.22% -8.50% -20.00%
75th Percentile £64,000 £57,500 £69,063
90th Percentile £77,500 £75,750 £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 6,411 4,597 9,779
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.40% 15.15% 12.34%
Number of salaries quoted 4,181 2,351 6,376
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £25,000
25th Percentile £37,500 £35,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £47,143
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +11.36% -5.71%
75th Percentile £67,500 £68,114 £62,500
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £77,500
UK median annual salary £58,750 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +2.17% +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 23 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 23 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 -3 60 £62,750 +51.20% 9
Midlands -5 35 £54,500 +21.11% 10
North of England -4 34 £45,000 -18.18% 6
Yorkshire -11 24 £45,000 -18.18% 3
South West -40 22 £52,500 -8.70% 7
East Midlands -7 18 £58,589 +46.47% 4
West Midlands -6 17 £45,000 -10.00% 6
East of England -8 11 £42,025 -44.70% 5
North West +15 8 £52,925 -3.77% 2
Scotland +16 4 £60,000 +60.00% 2
North East -52 2 £40,000 -46.67% 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 (16.27%) SharePoint
2 22 (13.25%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.60%) CMS
3 1 (0.60%) Site Server
Applications
1 6 (3.61%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.60%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 78 (46.99%) Microsoft 365
2 60 (36.14%) Azure
2 60 (36.14%) Entra ID
3 10 (6.02%) Microsoft Copilot
3 10 (6.02%) Power Automate
4 8 (4.82%) AWS
4 8 (4.82%) SaaS
5 7 (4.22%) Copilot Studio
6 6 (3.61%) OneDrive
7 4 (2.41%) Google Workspace
8 3 (1.81%) Azure Sentinel
8 3 (1.81%) IaaS
8 3 (1.81%) PaaS
8 3 (1.81%) Power Platform
9 2 (1.20%) Microsoft Purview
10 1 (0.60%) Dynamics 365
10 1 (0.60%) Nutanix
10 1 (0.60%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 32 (19.28%) Firewall
2 17 (10.24%) DHCP
2 17 (10.24%) DNS
3 15 (9.04%) VPN
4 14 (8.43%) Wi-Fi
5 11 (6.63%) LAN
5 11 (6.63%) WAN
6 9 (5.42%) VLAN
7 7 (4.22%) Network Security
8 4 (2.41%) SSL
8 4 (2.41%) VoIP
9 3 (1.81%) TCP/IP
10 1 (0.60%) NAS
10 1 (0.60%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (3.61%) SQL Server
2 2 (1.20%) Power BI
3 1 (0.60%) KNIME
Development Applications
1 1 (0.60%) JIRA
General
1 58 (34.94%) Social Skills
2 25 (15.06%) Analytical Skills
3 17 (10.24%) Legal
4 16 (9.64%) Manufacturing
5 11 (6.63%) Organisational Skills
6 10 (6.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 9 (5.42%) Aerospace
7 9 (5.42%) Finance
7 9 (5.42%) Public Sector
8 8 (4.82%) Retail
9 5 (3.01%) Law
10 4 (2.41%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (2.41%) Telecoms
11 3 (1.81%) Aviation
11 3 (1.81%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (1.20%) Banking
12 2 (1.20%) Games
12 2 (1.20%) Social Housing
13 1 (0.60%) Aeronautics
13 1 (0.60%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 33 (19.88%) IT Engineer
1 33 (19.88%) IT Support
2 28 (16.87%) IT Manager
3 25 (15.06%) Security Manager
4 19 (11.45%) Cybersecurity Manager
5 18 (10.84%) IT Support Engineer
5 18 (10.84%) Support Engineer
6 15 (9.04%) Compliance Manager
7 14 (8.43%) IT Operations Manager
7 14 (8.43%) Operations Manager
8 13 (7.83%) Analyst
8 13 (7.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 11 (6.63%) Lead
10 10 (6.02%) Infrastructure Manager
11 9 (5.42%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
11 9 (5.42%) IT Infrastructure Manager
11 9 (5.42%) Security Assurance Manager
11 9 (5.42%) Senior
12 8 (4.82%) IT Security Engineer
12 8 (4.82%) Senior IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.60%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 26 (15.66%) Security Posture
2 20 (12.05%) Management Information System
3 18 (10.84%) Driving Licence
4 14 (8.43%) Analytical Mindset
4 14 (8.43%) Onboarding
5 11 (6.63%) Cyber Threat
6 8 (4.82%) Cyber Security Posture
7 6 (3.61%) Replication
8 4 (2.41%) Security Operations Centre
8 4 (2.41%) Self-Motivation
9 3 (1.81%) Data Centre
9 3 (1.81%) Robotics
10 2 (1.20%) AI Agents
10 2 (1.20%) Housing Association
10 2 (1.20%) NHS
11 1 (0.60%) Clustering
11 1 (0.60%) Enterprise Software
11 1 (0.60%) Enterprise Storage
11 1 (0.60%) PMI
11 1 (0.60%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 55 (33.13%) Windows
2 22 (13.25%) Windows Server
3 11 (6.63%) Linux
4 8 (4.82%) Mac OS
5 7 (4.22%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.81%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (54.22%) Cybersecurity
2 54 (32.53%) Continuous Improvement
3 50 (30.12%) Risk Management
4 42 (25.30%) Disaster Recovery
5 38 (22.89%) Information Security
6 31 (18.67%) Incident Response
7 29 (17.47%) ITIL
8 24 (14.46%) Problem-Solving
8 24 (14.46%) Project Delivery
9 23 (13.86%) Roadmaps
10 22 (13.25%) Data Protection
10 22 (13.25%) Service Delivery
11 21 (12.65%) Internal Audit
12 20 (12.05%) Data Security
13 19 (11.45%) ITSM
14 18 (10.84%) IT Strategy
14 18 (10.84%) Service Management
14 18 (10.84%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 17 (10.24%) Business Continuity
15 17 (10.24%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 9 (5.42%) PowerShell
2 5 (3.01%) C
3 4 (2.41%) SQL
4 2 (1.20%) JavaScript
5 1 (0.60%) Bicep
5 1 (0.60%) XAML
Qualifications
1 26 (15.66%) CISSP
2 25 (15.06%) Degree
3 24 (14.46%) Security Cleared
4 18 (10.84%) SC Cleared
5 17 (10.24%) CISM
6 14 (8.43%) Microsoft Certification
7 13 (7.83%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (5.42%) CREST Certified
9 8 (4.82%) Cisco Certification
10 6 (3.61%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 5 (3.01%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 5 (3.01%) CCSP
11 5 (3.01%) CompTIA Security+
11 5 (3.01%) DBS Check
11 5 (3.01%) Network+ Certification
12 3 (1.81%) Azure Certification
12 3 (1.81%) CRISC
12 3 (1.81%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
13 2 (1.20%) CEH
13 2 (1.20%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 166 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 106 (63.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 33 (19.88%) GDPR
4 19 (11.45%) NIST
5 17 (10.24%) GRC
5 17 (10.24%) ISO 14001
5 17 (10.24%) ISO 9001
6 16 (9.64%) NCSC
7 14 (8.43%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 10 (6.02%) PCI DSS
9 9 (5.42%) Actionable Recommendations
9 9 (5.42%) SOC 2
10 7 (4.22%) SOC 3
11 3 (1.81%) Def Stans
11 3 (1.81%) ISO 22301
12 2 (1.20%) QA
12 2 (1.20%) SLA
13 1 (0.60%) COBIT
13 1 (0.60%) NIST 800
System Software
1 42 (25.30%) Active Directory
2 11 (6.63%) VMware Infrastructure
3 8 (4.82%) Hyper-V
4 3 (1.81%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (1.81%) vSphere
5 1 (0.60%) Docker
5 1 (0.60%) Microsoft Virtual Server
5 1 (0.60%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 41 (24.70%) Microsoft Intune
2 4 (2.41%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.60%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.60%) Nessus
3 1 (0.60%) Proxmox
3 1 (0.60%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.60%) SCCM
3 1 (0.60%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 85 (51.20%) Microsoft
2 13 (7.83%) VMware
3 12 (7.23%) Cisco
4 7 (4.22%) Meraki
5 6 (3.61%) Veeam
6 4 (2.41%) Apple
6 4 (2.41%) Datto
6 4 (2.41%) Google
6 4 (2.41%) SonicWALL
6 4 (2.41%) Ubiquiti
7 3 (1.81%) Infor
7 3 (1.81%) SAP
7 3 (1.81%) Xero
8 2 (1.20%) Qualys
9 1 (0.60%) Autodesk
9 1 (0.60%) ForgeRock
9 1 (0.60%) Fortinet
9 1 (0.60%) Nimble Storage
9 1 (0.60%) ServiceNow
9 1 (0.60%) SolarWinds