Master's Degree Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Master's Degree
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London with a requirement for Master's Degree qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 11 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 36 114 232
Rank change year-on-year +78 +118 -196
Permanent jobs citing Master's Degree 2,676 801 846
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 4.09% 2.78% 1.23%
As % of the Qualifications category 17.00% 6.48% 4.64%
Number of salaries quoted 134 237 438
10th Percentile £42,215 £40,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £49,063 £45,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.64% - +4.76%
75th Percentile £87,500 £75,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £83,916 £85,000
UK median annual salary £73,000 £70,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year +4.29% +7.69% -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK excluding London

Master's Degree 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 15,739 12,363 18,232
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 24.06% 42.90% 26.53%
Number of salaries quoted 6,000 5,287 12,166
10th Percentile £28,250 £29,000 £27,000
25th Percentile £37,000 £37,085 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £53,750 £52,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.37% +4.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £70,000 £66,268 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £78,875
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £54,296
% change year-on-year +9.09% +1.30% -7.19%

Master's Degree
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Master's Degree job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Master's Degree
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Master's Degree.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Master's Degree

Master's Degree
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Master's Degree in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 11 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Master's Degree in the UK excluding London

Master's Degree
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 Master's Degree within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 11 May 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 +65 1,071 £46,000 -27.73% 48
Midlands +103 1,027 £55,000 +44.74% 29
North West +86 964 £42,215 -35.05% 24
West Midlands +111 942 £55,000 +77.42% 19
South East +42 353 £75,000 +34.98% 60
East of England +35 184 £59,450 -8.17% 25
Yorkshire -48 100 £87,431 +94.29% 19
East Midlands +11 97 £30,000 -55.56% 10
South West -71 23 £60,500 +21.00% 26
Wales -26 15 - - 6
North East -60 7 £82,500 +80.33% 6
Scotland -53 4 £72,500 +61.11% 20
Channel Islands +1 2 - -
Northern Ireland -35 1 £62,500 - 4
Master's Degree
UK

Master's Degree
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 12 (0.45%) SharePoint
2 8 (0.30%) SAS
3 5 (0.19%) Apache Airflow
3 5 (0.19%) CMS
3 5 (0.19%) IIS
4 4 (0.15%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.15%) Confluence
5 2 (0.075%) Apache
5 2 (0.075%) Artix
6 1 (0.037%) Camunda
6 1 (0.037%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.037%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 17 (0.64%) Chatbot
2 15 (0.56%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (0.22%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.19%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 4 (0.15%) Microsoft Office
5 4 (0.15%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.075%) AutoCAD
6 2 (0.075%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.037%) Siemens NX
7 1 (0.037%) Simulink
7 1 (0.037%) Solid Edge
7 1 (0.037%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 3 (0.11%) Primavera
2 1 (0.037%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 2,388 (89.24%) Cloud Computing
2 35 (1.31%) AWS
3 28 (1.05%) Azure
4 18 (0.67%) Power Platform
5 15 (0.56%) Microsoft 365
6 11 (0.41%) PowerApps
7 10 (0.37%) Veeva
8 9 (0.34%) Serverless
9 8 (0.30%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (0.30%) GCP
10 6 (0.22%) SaaS
11 5 (0.19%) Snowflake
12 4 (0.15%) AWS Data Pipeline
12 4 (0.15%) Azure Machine Learning
12 4 (0.15%) Prefect
13 3 (0.11%) Microsoft Copilot
13 3 (0.11%) Tricentis Tosca
14 2 (0.075%) GitHub
14 2 (0.075%) GitHub Actions
14 2 (0.075%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 2,385 (89.13%) Internet
2 7 (0.26%) Profibus
2 7 (0.26%) Wireless
3 5 (0.19%) TCP/IP
3 5 (0.19%) VoIP
4 4 (0.15%) MQTT
5 3 (0.11%) BGP
5 3 (0.11%) Bluetooth
5 3 (0.11%) Firewall
5 3 (0.11%) LAN
5 3 (0.11%) MPLS
5 3 (0.11%) Network Security
5 3 (0.11%) OSPF
5 3 (0.11%) SD-WAN
5 3 (0.11%) Software-Defined Radio
5 3 (0.11%) VPN
5 3 (0.11%) WAN
5 3 (0.11%) Wi-Fi
6 2 (0.075%) NGFW
6 2 (0.075%) RFID
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (0.86%) Metadata
2 17 (0.64%) Power BI
3 14 (0.52%) Big Data
4 11 (0.41%) NoSQL
5 6 (0.22%) Data Mining
5 6 (0.22%) Hadoop
6 5 (0.19%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (0.19%) Tableau
7 4 (0.15%) Apache Cassandra
7 4 (0.15%) MongoDB
7 4 (0.15%) MySQL
7 4 (0.15%) Relational Database
8 3 (0.11%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.075%) Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.075%) DynamoDB
9 2 (0.075%) Spark SQL
10 1 (0.037%) Amazon Redshift
10 1 (0.037%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 22 (0.82%) Git
2 16 (0.60%) GitLab
3 11 (0.41%) Visual Studio Code
4 9 (0.34%) JIRA
5 6 (0.22%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.22%) Selenium
6 4 (0.15%) MLflow
7 3 (0.11%) Burp Suite
7 3 (0.11%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.11%) Cypress.io
7 3 (0.11%) Gatling
7 3 (0.11%) HP UFT
7 3 (0.11%) JMeter
7 3 (0.11%) LoadRunner
7 3 (0.11%) Postman
7 3 (0.11%) REST Assured
7 3 (0.11%) SonarQube
8 2 (0.075%) GDB
8 2 (0.075%) Robot Framework
9 1 (0.037%) Rational DOORS
General
1 2,462 (92.00%) Social Skills
2 2,391 (89.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
3 2,389 (89.28%) Banking
4 44 (1.64%) Analytical Skills
5 40 (1.49%) Finance
6 26 (0.97%) Manufacturing
7 25 (0.93%) Electronics
7 25 (0.93%) Pharmaceutical
8 17 (0.64%) Aerospace
9 16 (0.60%) Marketing
10 10 (0.37%) Influencing Skills
10 10 (0.37%) Telecoms
11 9 (0.34%) Organisational Skills
12 8 (0.30%) Retail
13 7 (0.26%) Automotive
13 7 (0.26%) Public Sector
14 5 (0.19%) Agriculture
15 4 (0.15%) Digital Health
15 4 (0.15%) Law
15 4 (0.15%) Legal
Job Titles
1 1,740 (65.02%) Lecturer
2 65 (2.43%) Senior
3 51 (1.91%) Lead
4 34 (1.27%) Software Engineer
5 21 (0.78%) Senior Electrical Engineer
6 20 (0.75%) Instrumentation Engineer
7 17 (0.64%) Trainer
8 14 (0.52%) Python Engineer
9 13 (0.49%) C++ Software Engineer
9 13 (0.49%) Consultant
9 13 (0.49%) Python Software Engineer
10 12 (0.45%) Associate Director
10 12 (0.45%) Data Manager
11 11 (0.41%) Embedded Engineer
12 10 (0.37%) Principal Consultant
12 10 (0.37%) Senior Manager
13 9 (0.34%) Data Steward
13 9 (0.34%) Embedded Software Engineer
13 9 (0.34%) Graduate
13 9 (0.34%) Head of IT
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (0.30%) PyTorch
1 8 (0.30%) TensorFlow
2 6 (0.22%) Playwright
3 5 (0.19%) Keras
3 5 (0.19%) Play Framework
3 5 (0.19%) scikit-learn
3 5 (0.19%) Yocto
4 3 (0.11%) Blazor
4 3 (0.11%) Middleware
4 3 (0.11%) OpenCV
4 3 (0.11%) REST
4 3 (0.11%) SOAP
5 2 (0.075%) Pandas
5 2 (0.075%) PySpark
5 2 (0.075%) pytest
5 2 (0.075%) React
5 2 (0.075%) SAP CAF
5 2 (0.075%) Unity DI Container
6 1 (0.037%) Flask
6 1 (0.037%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 2,391 (89.35%) IoT
2 54 (2.02%) Life Science
3 37 (1.38%) Management Information System
4 28 (1.05%) Algorithms
5 12 (0.45%) Low-Code
6 10 (0.37%) Hackathon
7 9 (0.34%) Biopharmaceutical
7 9 (0.34%) Embedded Systems
7 9 (0.34%) Mobile App
8 6 (0.22%) Cloud Native
8 6 (0.22%) Data Centre
9 5 (0.19%) Acoustics
9 5 (0.19%) Device Driver
9 5 (0.19%) Distributed Systems
9 5 (0.19%) Smart City
10 4 (0.15%) AI Agents
10 4 (0.15%) ASIC
10 4 (0.15%) FPGA
10 4 (0.15%) Operational Technology
10 4 (0.15%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 14 (0.52%) Linux
2 4 (0.15%) Android
2 4 (0.15%) Embedded Linux
3 3 (0.11%) Kali Linux
4 2 (0.075%) Robot Operating System
5 1 (0.037%) FreeRTOS
5 1 (0.037%) ThreadX
5 1 (0.037%) Unix
5 1 (0.037%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 2,468 (92.23%) AI
2 2,438 (91.11%) Machine Learning
3 2,400 (89.69%) Cybersecurity
4 2,395 (89.50%) User Experience
5 2,384 (89.09%) Web Development
6 110 (4.11%) Computer Science
7 85 (3.18%) Agile
8 60 (2.24%) Data Science
9 49 (1.83%) Analytics
10 45 (1.68%) Problem-Solving
11 43 (1.61%) Validation
12 42 (1.57%) Decision-Making
12 42 (1.57%) Software Engineering
13 38 (1.42%) Hematology
13 38 (1.42%) Immunology
14 36 (1.35%) DevOps
15 35 (1.31%) Data Management
16 32 (1.20%) Project Management
17 30 (1.12%) Roadmaps
18 29 (1.08%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 93 (3.48%) Python
2 40 (1.49%) C++
3 23 (0.86%) C#
4 20 (0.75%) SQL
5 16 (0.60%) Java
6 13 (0.49%) C
7 11 (0.41%) VBA
8 9 (0.34%) JavaScript
8 9 (0.34%) Scala
9 6 (0.22%) Bash
9 6 (0.22%) R
10 5 (0.19%) MATLAB
10 5 (0.19%) TypeScript
11 4 (0.15%) Embedded C
12 2 (0.075%) Embedded C++
12 2 (0.075%) Julia
13 1 (0.037%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.037%) Erlang
13 1 (0.037%) Perl
Qualifications
1 2,676 (100.00%) Degree
2 2,446 (91.41%) PhD
3 2,386 (89.16%) Postgraduate
4 55 (2.06%) Computer Science Degree
5 30 (1.12%) BPSS Clearance
6 28 (1.05%) MBA
7 26 (0.97%) Security Cleared
8 25 (0.93%) SC Cleared
9 9 (0.34%) DBS Check
10 8 (0.30%) APMP
11 7 (0.26%) CISSP
12 6 (0.22%) AWS Certification
12 6 (0.22%) Chartered Engineer
13 5 (0.19%) CISM
13 5 (0.19%) ISEB
13 5 (0.19%) ISTQB
13 5 (0.19%) PMI Certification
13 5 (0.19%) PMP
14 4 (0.15%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 4 (0.15%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (1.31%) Data Quality
2 26 (0.97%) Accessibility
3 15 (0.56%) IEC 61508
4 12 (0.45%) GxP
5 9 (0.34%) QA
6 5 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
6 5 (0.19%) GDPR
7 4 (0.15%) ISO 26262
7 4 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 4 (0.15%) NIST
7 4 (0.15%) PMO
8 3 (0.11%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.075%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 2 (0.075%) ARP4754
9 2 (0.075%) ARP4761
9 2 (0.075%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.075%) DO-160
9 2 (0.075%) GRC
9 2 (0.075%) JTAG
10 1 (0.037%) GMP
System Software
1 11 (0.41%) Docker
2 3 (0.11%) Firmware
3 1 (0.037%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.037%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 19 (0.71%) Functional Safety
2 8 (0.30%) Terraform
3 6 (0.22%) Kubernetes
4 4 (0.15%) Grafana
5 3 (0.11%) Ansible
5 3 (0.11%) HP Fortify
6 1 (0.037%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 17 (0.64%) PayPal
2 8 (0.30%) Salesforce
3 7 (0.26%) EMC
4 6 (0.22%) Databricks
4 6 (0.22%) Microsoft
5 5 (0.19%) Adobe
5 5 (0.19%) BT
5 5 (0.19%) Dell
5 5 (0.19%) Oracle
5 5 (0.19%) Pardot
5 5 (0.19%) SAP
6 3 (0.11%) Cisco
6 3 (0.11%) Fortinet
6 3 (0.11%) Google
6 3 (0.11%) Palo Alto
6 3 (0.11%) QAD
6 3 (0.11%) Veracode
7 2 (0.075%) Agilent
7 2 (0.075%) Autodesk
7 2 (0.075%) Xilinx