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 6 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 192 262 195
Rank change year-on-year +70 -67 +152
Permanent jobs citing HNC 796 329 658
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.92% 0.95% 1.27%
As % of the Qualifications category 5.53% 2.56% 4.53%
Number of salaries quoted 446 141 99
10th Percentile £32,500 £31,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £38,750 £37,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £42,500 £50,055
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% -15.09% +16.62%
75th Percentile £54,381 £51,240 £58,943
90th Percentile £63,750 £55,000 £60,265
UK median annual salary £45,000 £44,000 £50,055
% change year-on-year +2.27% -12.10% +19.58%

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 14,399 12,831 14,518
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 16.61% 36.98% 27.99%
Number of salaries quoted 8,036 4,942 6,045
10th Percentile £30,250 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £42,000 £32,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,500 £47,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +18.95% -9.52% -
75th Percentile £75,000 £65,000 £69,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £82,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -0.86%

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 6 October 2026.

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 6 October 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
North of England -7 222 £42,750 -10.00% 186
South East +71 200 £46,250 +15.63% 170
North West +28 126 £42,000 -14.25% 90
Midlands +26 125 £45,500 +13.75% 138
East of England +47 102 £50,000 +6.38% 103
South West -1 85 £43,000 -18.25% 77
East Midlands +18 74 £50,264 +52.32% 57
West Midlands +3 51 £41,450 -17.10% 82
North East -44 51 £40,000 - 36
Yorkshire -57 45 £48,450 - 67
Scotland +17 44 £43,250 +35.16% 62
Wales -46 22 £45,500 +13.75% 39
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 (1.26%) FactoryTalk
1 10 (1.26%) SharePoint
2 9 (1.13%) CMS
3 3 (0.38%) WinCC
4 2 (0.25%) Confluence
4 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.13%) Apache
5 1 (0.13%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 79 (9.92%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (5.03%) AutoCAD
3 35 (4.40%) Microsoft Excel
4 23 (2.89%) Revit
5 18 (2.26%) Maple
6 16 (2.01%) EPLAN
7 11 (1.38%) SOLIDWORKS
8 10 (1.26%) CorelDRAW
9 6 (0.75%) OrCAD
10 5 (0.63%) Navisworks
11 4 (0.50%) MS Visio
12 3 (0.38%) Civil 3D
13 2 (0.25%) Autodesk Inventor
13 2 (0.25%) Microsoft PowerPoint
13 2 (0.25%) PTC Creo
13 2 (0.25%) Siemens NX
13 2 (0.25%) Solid Edge
14 1 (0.13%) Blender
14 1 (0.13%) Fusion 360
14 1 (0.13%) ProjectWise
Business Applications
1 4 (0.50%) SAP PM
2 2 (0.25%) Sage 200
2 2 (0.25%) SAP ERP
2 2 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.13%) Infor LN
3 1 (0.13%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 11 (1.38%) Microsoft 365
2 3 (0.38%) Dynamics 365
3 2 (0.25%) Azure
3 2 (0.25%) Google Workspace
4 1 (0.13%) Adobe Creative Cloud
4 1 (0.13%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 47 (5.90%) Ethernet
2 43 (5.40%) Profibus
3 22 (2.76%) Modbus
4 14 (1.76%) TCP/IP
5 11 (1.38%) Firewall
6 10 (1.26%) VSAT
7 7 (0.88%) LAN
7 7 (0.88%) LTE
7 7 (0.88%) WAN
8 6 (0.75%) VoIP
9 5 (0.63%) Asterisk PBX
9 5 (0.63%) VLAN
9 5 (0.63%) Wireless
10 4 (0.50%) PPP
10 4 (0.50%) SMS
11 3 (0.38%) Network Security
12 2 (0.25%) 3GPP
12 2 (0.25%) 5G
12 2 (0.25%) ATM
12 2 (0.25%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.50%) MySQL
1 4 (0.50%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 7 (0.88%) LabVIEW
2 5 (0.63%) JIRA
3 3 (0.38%) Appcelerator Titanium
3 3 (0.38%) Rational DOORS
4 2 (0.25%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.13%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.13%) SonarQube
General
1 281 (35.30%) Manufacturing
2 260 (32.66%) Social Skills
3 144 (18.09%) Electronics
4 134 (16.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 81 (10.18%) Aerospace
6 80 (10.05%) Finance
7 60 (7.54%) Analytical Skills
8 57 (7.16%) Telecoms
9 30 (3.77%) Automotive
9 30 (3.77%) Military
10 29 (3.64%) Organisational Skills
11 27 (3.39%) Pharmaceutical
12 23 (2.89%) Retail
13 21 (2.64%) Advertising
14 19 (2.39%) Legal
15 18 (2.26%) Aviation
16 17 (2.14%) Presentation Skills
17 14 (1.76%) Avionics
18 12 (1.51%) Aeronautics
19 10 (1.26%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 95 (11.93%) Electrical Engineer
2 90 (11.31%) Senior
3 89 (11.18%) Design Engineer
4 54 (6.78%) Technical Engineer
5 49 (6.16%) Support Engineer
6 48 (6.03%) Technical Support
7 47 (5.90%) Technical Support Engineer
8 43 (5.40%) Electronics Engineer
9 39 (4.90%) Engineering Manager
10 34 (4.27%) Field Engineer
11 33 (4.15%) Field Service Engineer
11 33 (4.15%) Systems Engineer
12 31 (3.89%) Electrical Design Engineer
13 29 (3.64%) Project Engineer
13 29 (3.64%) Project Manager
14 26 (3.27%) Lead
15 25 (3.14%) Automation Engineer
16 22 (2.76%) Test Engineer
17 21 (2.64%) Senior Design Engineer
18 16 (2.01%) Sales Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (0.63%) CSS
1 5 (0.63%) XML
2 3 (0.38%) MonoRail
3 2 (0.25%) EDI
4 1 (0.13%) Flash
4 1 (0.13%) Jest
4 1 (0.13%) LAMP
4 1 (0.13%) Node.js
4 1 (0.13%) pytest
4 1 (0.13%) React
Miscellaneous
1 217 (27.26%) Driving Licence
2 84 (10.55%) Robotics
3 71 (8.92%) SCADA
4 65 (8.17%) Onboarding
5 33 (4.15%) Renewable Energy
6 31 (3.89%) Self-Motivation
7 28 (3.52%) FMCG
8 21 (2.64%) Data Centre
9 18 (2.26%) Management Information System
10 16 (2.01%) IoT
10 16 (2.01%) Operational Technology
11 12 (1.51%) Analogue Electronics
12 11 (1.38%) Replication
13 9 (1.13%) NHS
14 8 (1.01%) Embedded Systems
15 7 (0.88%) Social Media
16 5 (0.63%) FPGA
16 5 (0.63%) Linux Command Line
17 4 (0.50%) Fibre Optics
17 4 (0.50%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 16 (2.01%) Windows
2 14 (1.76%) Linux
3 10 (1.26%) Windows Server
4 5 (0.63%) Windows Server 2016
4 5 (0.63%) Windows Server 2019
5 3 (0.38%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.13%) Debian
6 1 (0.13%) Windows NT
Processes & Methodologies
1 272 (34.17%) Problem-Solving
2 218 (27.39%) Continuous Improvement
3 153 (19.22%) Preventative Maintenance
4 73 (9.17%) Project Management
5 67 (8.42%) CAD
6 65 (8.17%) Mentoring
6 65 (8.17%) Project Delivery
7 54 (6.78%) Commercial Awareness
8 52 (6.53%) Data Analysis
9 49 (6.16%) Customer Service
10 47 (5.90%) Kaizen
11 46 (5.78%) Stakeholder Management
12 45 (5.65%) Six Sigma
12 45 (5.65%) Test Automation
13 44 (5.53%) Agile
14 43 (5.40%) Lean Six Sigma
15 40 (5.03%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 39 (4.90%) Digital Engineering
17 38 (4.77%) Collaborative Working
18 34 (4.27%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 12 (1.51%) SQL
2 11 (1.38%) C++
3 9 (1.13%) Ladder Logic
3 9 (1.13%) Python
4 8 (1.01%) C
5 5 (0.63%) Assembly Language
5 5 (0.63%) Bash
5 5 (0.63%) Java
5 5 (0.63%) Shell Script
5 5 (0.63%) VB
6 4 (0.50%) Perl
7 2 (0.25%) C#
7 2 (0.25%) MATLAB
7 2 (0.25%) PowerShell
8 1 (0.13%) PHP
Qualifications
1 465 (58.42%) HND
2 389 (48.87%) Degree
3 76 (9.55%) NVQ Level 3
4 61 (7.66%) Chartered Engineer
5 58 (7.29%) City & Guilds
6 50 (6.28%) Security Cleared
7 42 (5.28%) BPSS Clearance
8 41 (5.15%) DBS Check
9 38 (4.77%) SC Cleared
10 18 (2.26%) Master's Degree
11 12 (1.51%) NVQ Level 4
12 8 (1.01%) DV Cleared
12 8 (1.01%) Numerate Degree
12 8 (1.01%) Six Sigma Black Belt
12 8 (1.01%) Six Sigma Master Black Belt
13 6 (0.75%) Microsoft Certification
14 3 (0.38%) Computer Science Degree
15 2 (0.25%) CTC Cleared
15 2 (0.25%) GNVQ
15 2 (0.25%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (2.89%) ISO 9001
2 18 (2.26%) HAZOP
3 17 (2.14%) QA
4 11 (1.38%) Accessibility
5 10 (1.26%) NEBOSH
6 5 (0.63%) ISO 19650
7 4 (0.50%) COSHH
7 4 (0.50%) GMP
8 3 (0.38%) GDPR
9 2 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 17025
10 1 (0.13%) Data Quality
10 1 (0.13%) Def Stans
System Software
1 14 (1.76%) Firmware
2 7 (0.88%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (0.63%) Active Directory
3 5 (0.63%) Hyper-V
3 5 (0.63%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.25%) Embedded Firmware
4 2 (0.25%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.25%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 9 (1.13%) Wonderware InTouch
2 7 (0.88%) Functional Safety
3 2 (0.25%) SCCM
3 2 (0.25%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 85 (10.68%) Microsoft
2 57 (7.16%) Siemens
3 48 (6.03%) SAP
4 46 (5.78%) Allen-Bradley
5 22 (2.76%) Rockwell
6 12 (1.51%) EMC
7 11 (1.38%) Cisco
8 10 (1.26%) Autodesk
9 9 (1.13%) VMware
9 9 (1.13%) Wonderware
10 7 (0.88%) Google
11 6 (0.75%) Cadence
11 6 (0.75%) Oracle
12 5 (0.63%) Keysight
12 5 (0.63%) NEC
13 4 (0.50%) Foundry
13 4 (0.50%) Veeam
14 3 (0.38%) Thales
15 2 (0.25%) CA Agile Central
15 2 (0.25%) Synology