HNC Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Higher National Certificate (HNC)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London with a requirement for HNC qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 13 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 271 178 326
Rank change year-on-year -93 +148 +234
Permanent jobs citing HNC 259 650 250
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.65% 1.52% 0.86%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.89% 4.56% 2.55%
Number of salaries quoted 111 116 48
10th Percentile £27,250 £32,500 £29,925
25th Percentile £37,500 £37,285 £38,155
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £50,055 £43,860
Median % change year-on-year -15.09% +14.12% +4.43%
75th Percentile £50,750 £60,265 £64,580
90th Percentile £55,000 £61,250 £105,000
UK median annual salary £44,000 £50,055 £44,560
% change year-on-year -12.10% +12.33% +5.47%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK excluding London

HNC falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 13,683 14,253 9,815
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 34.45% 33.31% 33.77%
Number of salaries quoted 5,165 5,669 6,691
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £28,290
25th Percentile £31,750 £41,263 £37,733
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,683 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.30% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £66,250 £70,000 £65,591
90th Percentile £81,250 £82,500 £78,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £59,125 £57,500
% change year-on-year -6.98% +2.83% -

HNC
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing HNC relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

HNC job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

HNC
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing HNC.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing HNC

HNC
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing HNC in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 13 December 2025.

Salary histogram for HNC in the UK excluding London

HNC
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 HNC within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 13 December 2025. 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
North of England -38 98 £45,750 -8.60% 18
South East +77 74 £40,000 -25.58% 23
North West +4 46 £48,979 -2.15% 9
Midlands -76 31 £40,000 +14.29% 13
North East +15 28 £40,000 +6.67% 2
Yorkshire -56 24 - - 7
Scotland +6 23 £32,000 -44.86% 5
East Midlands -7 19 £34,250 -23.89% 4
East of England -100 18 £47,000 -29.19% 13
West Midlands -60 12 £50,000 +42.86% 9
Northern Ireland -1 9 - - 1
South West -9 5 £38,682 -26.46% 7
Wales +3 1 - - 3
HNC
UK

HNC
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 10 (3.86%) SugarCRM
2 4 (1.54%) SharePoint
3 3 (1.16%) CMS
4 2 (0.77%) WinCC
Applications
1 32 (12.36%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (4.63%) AutoCAD
3 7 (2.70%) SOLIDWORKS
4 5 (1.93%) Microsoft Excel
4 5 (1.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (1.16%) Navisworks
5 3 (1.16%) Revit
5 3 (1.16%) Siemens NX
6 2 (0.77%) Simulink
7 1 (0.39%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.39%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.39%) CATIA
7 1 (0.39%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.39%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 3 (1.16%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.39%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 14 (5.41%) Microsoft 365
2 11 (4.25%) Power Platform
3 4 (1.54%) Azure
4 3 (1.16%) AWS
5 1 (0.39%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 10 (3.86%) Modbus
1 10 (3.86%) TCP/IP
2 9 (3.47%) Ethernet
2 9 (3.47%) MQTT
2 9 (3.47%) VPN
3 8 (3.09%) DNS
3 8 (3.09%) Wi-Fi
4 5 (1.93%) Firewall
5 4 (1.54%) Network Security
6 3 (1.16%) SMS
7 1 (0.39%) Profibus
7 1 (0.39%) Remote Desktop
7 1 (0.39%) RS-232
7 1 (0.39%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (4.25%) Power BI
2 8 (3.09%) SQL Server
3 4 (1.54%) Tableau
4 2 (0.77%) Data Vault
Development Applications
1 2 (0.77%) Rational DOORS
2 1 (0.39%) Bitbucket
2 1 (0.39%) JIRA
2 1 (0.39%) LabVIEW
General
1 73 (28.19%) Manufacturing
2 71 (27.41%) Social Skills
3 54 (20.85%) Finance
4 26 (10.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 23 (8.88%) Advertising
5 23 (8.88%) Pharmaceutical
6 21 (8.11%) Electronics
7 18 (6.95%) Avionics
8 17 (6.56%) Marketing
9 14 (5.41%) Aviation
10 12 (4.63%) Analytical Skills
11 11 (4.25%) Presentation Skills
12 10 (3.86%) Influencing Skills
12 10 (3.86%) Organisational Skills
13 7 (2.70%) Documentation Skills
13 7 (2.70%) Telecoms
14 6 (2.32%) Military
15 5 (1.93%) Law
16 4 (1.54%) Retail
17 2 (0.77%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 56 (21.62%) Support Engineer
1 56 (21.62%) Technical Support
2 55 (21.24%) Technical Support Engineer
3 54 (20.85%) Technical Engineer
4 49 (18.92%) Systems Engineer
5 45 (17.37%) Automation Engineer
6 42 (16.22%) Senior
7 22 (8.49%) Lead
8 17 (6.56%) Senior Systems Engineer
9 15 (5.79%) Manufacturing Engineer
10 14 (5.41%) Test Engineer
11 13 (5.02%) Analyst
12 12 (4.63%) Electrical Engineer
12 12 (4.63%) Project Manager
13 11 (4.25%) Coordinator
13 11 (4.25%) Project Engineer
14 10 (3.86%) Integration Engineer
15 9 (3.47%) Business Support Analyst
15 9 (3.47%) Business Systems Analyst
15 9 (3.47%) Principal Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (3.47%) EDI
2 4 (1.54%) .NET
2 4 (1.54%) CSS
3 3 (1.16%) Itk
4 2 (0.77%) XML
5 1 (0.39%) Node-RED
Miscellaneous
1 52 (20.08%) Driving Licence
2 38 (14.67%) Management Information System
3 34 (13.13%) Operational Technology
4 27 (10.42%) SCADA
5 25 (9.65%) FMCG
5 25 (9.65%) Manufacturing Execution System
5 25 (9.65%) Renewable Energy
6 17 (6.56%) Robotics
7 13 (5.02%) Data Centre
8 12 (4.63%) Fibre Optics
8 12 (4.63%) Self-Motivation
9 11 (4.25%) IoT
10 9 (3.47%) Biopharmaceutical
10 9 (3.47%) Industry 4.0
11 8 (3.09%) LIMS
12 4 (1.54%) Industrial Internet of Things
12 4 (1.54%) Onboarding
13 2 (0.77%) Optoelectronics
13 2 (0.77%) Verilog
13 2 (0.77%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 14 (5.41%) Windows
2 9 (3.47%) Linux
2 9 (3.47%) Mac OS
3 4 (1.54%) Windows Server
4 1 (0.39%) Android
4 1 (0.39%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.39%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (25.10%) Problem-Solving
2 62 (23.94%) Continuous Improvement
3 43 (16.60%) Customer Service
4 35 (13.51%) Cybersecurity
5 34 (13.13%) Budgeting
5 34 (13.13%) Quality Management
6 29 (11.20%) Customer Requirements
7 27 (10.42%) Energy Management
8 24 (9.27%) Data Collection
9 21 (8.11%) Business Development
9 21 (8.11%) ERP
10 20 (7.72%) Business Intelligence
10 20 (7.72%) Project Delivery
10 20 (7.72%) Validation
11 19 (7.34%) Performance Metrics
12 18 (6.95%) Commercial Awareness
13 17 (6.56%) Asset Management
13 17 (6.56%) Mathematics
14 15 (5.79%) Data Management
14 15 (5.79%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 12 (4.63%) SQL
2 11 (4.25%) Python
3 6 (2.32%) JavaScript
4 5 (1.93%) C#
5 4 (1.54%) PowerShell
6 3 (1.16%) Tcl
7 2 (0.77%) VBA
8 1 (0.39%) C
8 1 (0.39%) C++
8 1 (0.39%) Ladder Logic
8 1 (0.39%) VB
Qualifications
1 126 (48.65%) Degree
2 119 (45.95%) HND
3 46 (17.76%) BPSS Clearance
4 10 (3.86%) Chartered Engineer
4 10 (3.86%) Security Cleared
5 9 (3.47%) City & Guilds
5 9 (3.47%) SC Cleared
6 8 (3.09%) DBS Check
7 6 (2.32%) RIBA
8 4 (1.54%) NVQ Level 4
9 2 (0.77%) Master's Degree
9 2 (0.77%) NVQ Level 3
10 1 (0.39%) DV Cleared
10 1 (0.39%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (2.70%) Accessibility
2 6 (2.32%) SLA
3 4 (1.54%) Cyber Essentials
4 3 (1.16%) COSHH
4 3 (1.16%) ISO 19650
5 2 (0.77%) Def Stans
5 2 (0.77%) GDPR
5 2 (0.77%) HAZOP
5 2 (0.77%) IEC 61508
5 2 (0.77%) QA
6 1 (0.39%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.39%) GxP
6 1 (0.39%) ISO 9001
6 1 (0.39%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 17 (6.56%) VMware Infrastructure
2 9 (3.47%) Active Directory
3 8 (3.09%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (1.93%) Firmware
5 4 (1.54%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.39%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 15 (5.79%) Functional Safety
2 5 (1.93%) Cisco CUCM
3 2 (0.77%) BMC PATROL
4 1 (0.39%) Grafana
4 1 (0.39%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.39%) SCCM
Vendors
1 52 (20.08%) Microsoft
2 41 (15.83%) Siemens
3 33 (12.74%) Rockwell
4 17 (6.56%) VMware
5 10 (3.86%) Adobe
6 9 (3.47%) AVEVA
7 6 (2.32%) EMC
8 5 (1.93%) Cisco
9 4 (1.54%) EXASOL
10 3 (1.16%) Autodesk
11 1 (0.39%) Apple
11 1 (0.39%) Atlassian
11 1 (0.39%) NCR
11 1 (0.39%) Remedy
11 1 (0.39%) SAP
11 1 (0.39%) ServiceNow