1st Line Support Job Trends

First Line Support
UK

The median First Line Support salary in the UK is £26,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 3 January 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 365 500 434
Rank change year-on-year +135 -66 +173
Permanent jobs requiring a 1st Line Support 307 209 289
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.52% 0.38% 0.55%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.57% 0.41% 0.58%
Number of salaries quoted 257 100 266
10th Percentile £23,875 £21,963 £21,000
25th Percentile £24,500 £23,000 £22,350
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £26,000 £26,000 £25,000
Median % change year-on-year - +4.00% -
75th Percentile £28,250 £28,750 £27,500
90th Percentile £30,000 £32,098 £33,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £26,000 £26,000 £24,000
% change year-on-year - +8.33% -2.04%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 53,599 50,905 49,610
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.53% 92.99% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 32,992 26,750 38,370
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,200 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £59,526
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +0.80% -0.79%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,250 £77,500
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -4.76%

1st Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring '1st Line Support' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

1st Line Support job vacancy trend in the UK

1st Line Support
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for 1st Line Support job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for 1st Line Support job vacancies in the UK

1st Line Support
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing 1st Line Support over the 6 months to 3 January 2026.

Salary histogram for 1st Line Support in the UK

1st Line Support
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing 1st Line Support within the UK over the 6 months to 3 January 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
England +141 284 £26,250 +0.96% 54
UK excluding London +127 273 £26,000 - 57
North of England +47 66 £25,750 +5.10% 12
South East +49 58 £26,750 +2.88% 23
Work from Home +60 46 £26,475 +1.83% 5
Midlands +28 46 £26,000 -1.89% 7
South West +44 45 £25,768 -4.56% 6
Yorkshire +20 40 £25,750 +7.29% 6
East of England +22 36 £26,000 - 4
East Midlands +8 35 £26,250 +0.96%
London +87 32 £28,500 -9.52% 6
North West +45 24 £25,500 -2.39% 5
Scotland +21 19 £25,000 - 2
West Midlands +22 11 £26,000 -1.89% 7
Wales -2 3 £26,000 - 3
North East -3 2 £25,300 -8.00% 1

1st Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 3 January 2026, 1st Line Support job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring 1st Line Support in the job title.

1 196 (63.84%) Microsoft
2 176 (57.33%) Customer Service
3 147 (47.88%) Microsoft 365
3 147 (47.88%) Windows
4 115 (37.46%) Problem-Solving
5 103 (33.55%) Active Directory
6 58 (18.89%) Microsoft Office
7 52 (16.94%) Azure
7 52 (16.94%) Windows Server
8 49 (15.96%) SharePoint
9 47 (15.31%) Firewall
10 46 (14.98%) Mac OS
11 44 (14.33%) ITSM
12 40 (13.03%) Remote Monitoring and Management
13 37 (12.05%) Microsoft Exchange
13 37 (12.05%) Microsoft Intune
13 37 (12.05%) SLA
14 36 (11.73%) Apple
14 36 (11.73%) Entra ID
14 36 (11.73%) ITIL
15 34 (11.07%) Windows 10
16 26 (8.47%) Microsoft Excel
17 25 (8.14%) DNS
18 24 (7.82%) DHCP
18 24 (7.82%) VoIP
18 24 (7.82%) WAN
19 22 (7.17%) LAN
19 22 (7.17%) Service Management
20 21 (6.84%) Cybersecurity
20 21 (6.84%) Mathematics

1st Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 49 (15.96%) SharePoint
2 37 (12.05%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (1.63%) WordPress
4 1 (0.33%) Exchange Server 2010
4 1 (0.33%) Exchange Server 2013
4 1 (0.33%) Office Communications Server
Applications
1 58 (18.89%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (8.47%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 7 (2.28%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.95%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 147 (47.88%) Microsoft 365
2 52 (16.94%) Azure
3 36 (11.73%) Entra ID
4 20 (6.51%) OneDrive
5 9 (2.93%) SaaS
6 7 (2.28%) Google Workspace
6 7 (2.28%) Power Platform
7 4 (1.30%) AWS
8 3 (0.98%) Power Automate
9 1 (0.33%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 47 (15.31%) Firewall
2 25 (8.14%) DNS
3 24 (7.82%) DHCP
3 24 (7.82%) VoIP
3 24 (7.82%) WAN
4 22 (7.17%) LAN
5 20 (6.51%) Wi-Fi
6 13 (4.23%) TCP/IP
7 10 (3.26%) VPN
8 4 (1.30%) Internet
8 4 (1.30%) VLAN
9 3 (0.98%) 5G
9 3 (0.98%) SD-WAN
9 3 (0.98%) Wireless
10 1 (0.33%) Broadband
10 1 (0.33%) Cisco IOS
10 1 (0.33%) Mobile Broadband
10 1 (0.33%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.56%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.95%) Power BI
3 2 (0.65%) Geospatial Data
3 2 (0.65%) GIS
3 2 (0.65%) QGIS
General
1 171 (55.70%) Social Skills
2 27 (8.79%) Analytical Skills
3 21 (6.84%) Retail
4 20 (6.51%) Law
5 17 (5.54%) Organisational Skills
6 16 (5.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 14 (4.56%) Manufacturing
8 13 (4.23%) Legal
8 13 (4.23%) Public Sector
9 9 (2.93%) Finance
10 8 (2.61%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.95%) Advertising
11 6 (1.95%) Electronics
12 5 (1.63%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.63%) Games
12 5 (1.63%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.98%) Marketing
13 3 (0.98%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.65%) French Language
14 2 (0.65%) German Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.28%) .NET
2 5 (1.63%) CSS
2 5 (1.63%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 87 (28.34%) Driving Licence
2 18 (5.86%) Onboarding
3 15 (4.89%) Self-Motivation
4 13 (4.23%) Management Information System
5 10 (3.26%) e-Learning
6 8 (2.61%) Hybrid Cloud
7 7 (2.28%) iPad
7 7 (2.28%) NHS
8 6 (1.95%) CCTV
8 6 (1.95%) EPoS
9 5 (1.63%) Fat Client
9 5 (1.63%) Thin Client
10 4 (1.30%) Mobile App
11 3 (0.98%) IoT
11 3 (0.98%) LIMS
12 1 (0.33%) BYOD
12 1 (0.33%) Client/Server
12 1 (0.33%) FMCG
12 1 (0.33%) Video Conferencing
12 1 (0.33%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 147 (47.88%) Windows
2 52 (16.94%) Windows Server
3 46 (14.98%) Mac OS
4 34 (11.07%) Windows 10
5 13 (4.23%) Android
6 11 (3.58%) Windows Server 2019
7 7 (2.28%) Linux
8 4 (1.30%) Unix
8 4 (1.30%) Windows 7
9 3 (0.98%) Windows 8
10 2 (0.65%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.33%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.33%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.33%) Windows Mobile
11 1 (0.33%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 176 (57.33%) Customer Service
2 115 (37.46%) Problem-Solving
3 44 (14.33%) ITSM
4 40 (13.03%) Remote Monitoring and Management
5 36 (11.73%) ITIL
6 22 (7.17%) Service Management
7 21 (6.84%) Cybersecurity
7 21 (6.84%) Mathematics
8 17 (5.54%) Customer Experience
8 17 (5.54%) Time Management
9 16 (5.21%) CRM
10 15 (4.89%) Process Improvement
11 14 (4.56%) Customer-Centricity
12 13 (4.23%) Migration
13 11 (3.58%) Preventative Maintenance
14 10 (3.26%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 10 (3.26%) User Experience
15 9 (2.93%) Collaborative Working
15 9 (2.93%) Continuous Improvement
15 9 (2.93%) Customer-Centric Approach
Programming Languages
1 18 (5.86%) SQL
2 10 (3.26%) PowerShell
2 10 (3.26%) T-SQL
3 5 (1.63%) JavaScript
3 5 (1.63%) PHP
4 1 (0.33%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 16 (5.21%) Degree
2 15 (4.89%) Microsoft Certification
3 8 (2.61%) A+ Certification
4 7 (2.28%) Security Cleared
5 4 (1.30%) CCNA
5 4 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
5 4 (1.30%) DBS Check
5 4 (1.30%) SC Cleared
6 3 (0.98%) ECDL
6 3 (0.98%) MCP
7 2 (0.65%) Master's Degree
7 2 (0.65%) MCDST
7 2 (0.65%) MCSA
8 1 (0.33%) City & Guilds
8 1 (0.33%) DV Cleared
8 1 (0.33%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (12.05%) SLA
2 8 (2.61%) GDPR
3 7 (2.28%) QA
System Software
1 103 (33.55%) Active Directory
2 13 (4.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (3.91%) Hyper-V
4 11 (3.58%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.98%) VMware Workstation
6 1 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 37 (12.05%) Microsoft Intune
2 6 (1.95%) PaperCut
2 6 (1.95%) SCCM
3 3 (0.98%) Autotask
Vendors
1 196 (63.84%) Microsoft
2 36 (11.73%) Apple
3 15 (4.89%) Progress
4 13 (4.23%) VMware
5 12 (3.91%) Datto
6 11 (3.58%) SAP
7 8 (2.61%) Google
7 8 (2.61%) Sophos
8 7 (2.28%) Freshdesk
8 7 (2.28%) Meraki
9 6 (1.95%) Cisco
9 6 (1.95%) Dell KACE
10 5 (1.63%) Acronis
11 4 (1.30%) ESET
11 4 (1.30%) Zoho
12 3 (0.98%) Ruckus Wireless
12 3 (0.98%) ServiceNow
13 2 (0.65%) Hitachi
14 1 (0.33%) Citrix
14 1 (0.33%) Remedy