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

6 months to
11 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 431 481 647
Rank change year-on-year +50 +166 -65
Permanent jobs citing Cyber Essentials PLUS 154 58 123
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.23% 0.20% 0.16%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.50% 1.25% 1.27%
Number of salaries quoted 123 35 100
10th Percentile £30,250 £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% -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 6,165 4,626 9,696
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.29% 15.71% 12.55%
Number of salaries quoted 3,939 2,303 6,344
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,750 £25,000
25th Percentile £38,750 £35,250 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £52,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +10.53% -5.00%
75th Percentile £68,750 £68,568 £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 11 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 11 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 -1 58 £63,750 +53.61% 13
Midlands +13 35 £53,250 +18.33% 10
North of England -4 32 £45,000 -35.71% 11
Yorkshire -21 23 £40,500 -36.47% 6
West Midlands -3 19 £52,500 +5.00% 6
South West -38 17 £52,500 -6.67% 8
East Midlands -8 16 £58,589 +46.47% 4
East of England -8 9 £42,025 - 5
North West +15 8 £52,925 -3.77% 4
Scotland +15 3 £60,000 +60.00% 1
North East -45 1 £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 27 (17.53%) SharePoint
2 23 (14.94%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.65%) CMS
3 1 (0.65%) Site Server
Applications
1 5 (3.25%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.65%) Dynamics CRM
1 1 (0.65%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 73 (47.40%) Microsoft 365
2 54 (35.06%) Entra ID
3 53 (34.42%) Azure
4 10 (6.49%) Microsoft Copilot
4 10 (6.49%) Power Automate
5 9 (5.84%) AWS
6 8 (5.19%) SaaS
7 7 (4.55%) Copilot Studio
8 6 (3.90%) OneDrive
9 4 (2.60%) Google Workspace
9 4 (2.60%) IaaS
9 4 (2.60%) PaaS
10 3 (1.95%) Azure Sentinel
11 2 (1.30%) Microsoft Purview
11 2 (1.30%) Power Platform
12 1 (0.65%) Cloud Computing
12 1 (0.65%) Dynamics 365
12 1 (0.65%) GCP
12 1 (0.65%) Nutanix
12 1 (0.65%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 31 (20.13%) Firewall
2 18 (11.69%) DHCP
2 18 (11.69%) DNS
3 16 (10.39%) VPN
4 15 (9.74%) Wi-Fi
5 11 (7.14%) LAN
5 11 (7.14%) WAN
6 9 (5.84%) VLAN
7 7 (4.55%) Network Security
8 4 (2.60%) SSL
8 4 (2.60%) 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 6 (3.90%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.65%) KNIME
2 1 (0.65%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 1 (0.65%) Burp Suite
1 1 (0.65%) JIRA
1 1 (0.65%) Metasploit
General
1 52 (33.77%) Social Skills
2 20 (12.99%) Analytical Skills
3 15 (9.74%) Legal
3 15 (9.74%) Manufacturing
4 13 (8.44%) Organisational Skills
5 12 (7.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 10 (6.49%) Finance
7 9 (5.84%) Public Sector
8 8 (5.19%) Aerospace
9 6 (3.90%) Retail
10 5 (3.25%) Telecoms
11 4 (2.60%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (2.60%) Influencing Skills
12 3 (1.95%) Aviation
13 2 (1.30%) Banking
13 2 (1.30%) Games
13 2 (1.30%) Law
13 2 (1.30%) Social Housing
14 1 (0.65%) Electronics
14 1 (0.65%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 32 (20.78%) IT Engineer
1 32 (20.78%) IT Support
2 27 (17.53%) IT Manager
2 27 (17.53%) Security Manager
3 19 (12.34%) Cybersecurity Manager
4 18 (11.69%) IT Support Engineer
4 18 (11.69%) Support Engineer
5 13 (8.44%) Compliance Manager
5 13 (8.44%) IT Operations Manager
5 13 (8.44%) Operations Manager
6 12 (7.79%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 11 (7.14%) Analyst
8 10 (6.49%) Security Assurance Manager
9 9 (5.84%) Infrastructure Manager
9 9 (5.84%) Lead
9 9 (5.84%) Senior
10 8 (5.19%) Information Manager
10 8 (5.19%) Information Security Manager
10 8 (5.19%) IT Infrastructure Engineer
10 8 (5.19%) IT Infrastructure Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.65%) SAP CAF
Miscellaneous
1 22 (14.29%) Security Posture
2 19 (12.34%) Driving Licence
2 19 (12.34%) Management Information System
3 14 (9.09%) Onboarding
4 12 (7.79%) Analytical Mindset
5 9 (5.84%) Cyber Threat
6 7 (4.55%) Cyber Security Posture
7 6 (3.90%) Replication
8 5 (3.25%) Security Operations Centre
9 3 (1.95%) Robotics
10 2 (1.30%) AI Agents
10 2 (1.30%) Housing Association
10 2 (1.30%) NHS
10 2 (1.30%) Self-Motivation
11 1 (0.65%) Clustering
11 1 (0.65%) Enterprise Software
11 1 (0.65%) Enterprise Storage
11 1 (0.65%) Mobile App
11 1 (0.65%) Private Cloud
11 1 (0.65%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 51 (33.12%) Windows
2 19 (12.34%) Windows Server
3 11 (7.14%) Linux
4 8 (5.19%) Mac OS
5 6 (3.90%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.95%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.65%) Android
7 1 (0.65%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 83 (53.90%) Cybersecurity
2 50 (32.47%) Continuous Improvement
3 44 (28.57%) Risk Management
4 42 (27.27%) Disaster Recovery
5 37 (24.03%) Information Security
6 29 (18.83%) Incident Response
7 26 (16.88%) ITIL
8 21 (13.64%) Service Delivery
9 20 (12.99%) Problem-Solving
10 19 (12.34%) Data Protection
10 19 (12.34%) Internal Audit
10 19 (12.34%) Project Delivery
10 19 (12.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 18 (11.69%) Business Continuity
11 18 (11.69%) Data Security
11 18 (11.69%) Roadmaps
12 17 (11.04%) Security Operations
13 16 (10.39%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 16 (10.39%) ITSM
13 16 (10.39%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 8 (5.19%) PowerShell
2 5 (3.25%) C
3 3 (1.95%) SQL
4 2 (1.30%) JavaScript
5 1 (0.65%) Bicep
5 1 (0.65%) XAML
Qualifications
1 25 (16.23%) CISSP
2 23 (14.94%) Degree
2 23 (14.94%) Security Cleared
3 17 (11.04%) SC Cleared
4 16 (10.39%) CISM
5 15 (9.74%) Microsoft Certification
6 14 (9.09%) BPSS Clearance
7 12 (7.79%) CREST Certified
8 7 (4.55%) Cisco Certification
9 5 (3.25%) CompTIA Security+
9 5 (3.25%) DBS Check
9 5 (3.25%) Network+ Certification
10 4 (2.60%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 4 (2.60%) Azure Certification
10 4 (2.60%) CCSP
10 4 (2.60%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 3 (1.95%) CEH
11 3 (1.95%) CRISC
11 3 (1.95%) DV Cleared
11 3 (1.95%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 154 (100.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 98 (63.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 35 (22.73%) GDPR
4 20 (12.99%) NIST
5 18 (11.69%) NCSC
6 17 (11.04%) GRC
7 15 (9.74%) ISO 14001
7 15 (9.74%) ISO 9001
8 12 (7.79%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 11 (7.14%) SOC 2
10 10 (6.49%) PCI DSS
11 9 (5.84%) Actionable Recommendations
11 9 (5.84%) SOC 3
12 3 (1.95%) Def Stans
12 3 (1.95%) ISO 22301
13 2 (1.30%) QA
14 1 (0.65%) COBIT
14 1 (0.65%) NIST 800
14 1 (0.65%) SLA
System Software
1 38 (24.68%) Active Directory
2 7 (4.55%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (3.90%) Hyper-V
4 4 (2.60%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (1.30%) vSphere
6 1 (0.65%) Docker
6 1 (0.65%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.65%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 36 (23.38%) Microsoft Intune
2 4 (2.60%) Jamf Pro
3 2 (1.30%) Nessus
4 1 (0.65%) Kubernetes
4 1 (0.65%) Nmap
4 1 (0.65%) Proxmox
4 1 (0.65%) RSA Archer
4 1 (0.65%) SCCM
4 1 (0.65%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 79 (51.30%) Microsoft
2 13 (8.44%) Cisco
3 9 (5.84%) VMware
4 8 (5.19%) Meraki
5 5 (3.25%) Google
6 4 (2.60%) Apple
6 4 (2.60%) Datto
6 4 (2.60%) SAP
6 4 (2.60%) SonicWALL
6 4 (2.60%) Ubiquiti
6 4 (2.60%) Veeam
7 3 (1.95%) Infor
7 3 (1.95%) Qualys
7 3 (1.95%) Xero
8 2 (1.30%) Palo Alto
9 1 (0.65%) LogicMonitor
9 1 (0.65%) Nimble Storage
9 1 (0.65%) Okta
9 1 (0.65%) SolarWinds
9 1 (0.65%) Tenable