3rd Line Support Job Trends

Third Line Support
UK

The median Third Line Support salary in the UK is £42,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 7 December 2025.

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

6 months to
7 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 388 582 449
Rank change year-on-year +194 -133 +319
Permanent jobs requiring a 3rd Line Support 284 160 276
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.50% 0.26% 0.55%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.56% 0.27% 0.57%
Number of salaries quoted 268 130 251
10th Percentile £34,000 £32,500 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £36,250 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £42,500 £42,500
75th Percentile £50,063 £55,000 £52,500
90th Percentile £59,500 £65,750 £65,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £41,500 £40,000 £40,000
% change year-on-year +3.75% - -3.03%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
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 50,704 58,391 48,070
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 89.90% 94.00% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 31,404 32,367 37,457
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £42,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £58,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.17% -3.33% -
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £95,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -9.52% - -

3rd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring '3rd Line Support' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

3rd Line Support job vacancy trend in the UK

3rd Line Support
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in the UK

3rd Line Support
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing 3rd Line Support over the 6 months to 7 December 2025.

Salary histogram for 3rd Line Support in the UK

3rd Line Support
Top 15 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing 3rd Line Support within the UK over the 6 months to 7 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
England +208 258 £42,500 - 100
UK excluding London +189 237 £41,500 +3.75% 106
South East +111 111 £41,500 -2.35% 30
Work from Home +107 74 £38,000 -5.00% 19
London +78 40 £42,500 -10.53% 9
East of England +47 34 £47,000 +17.50% 14
Midlands +52 29 £44,000 -1.68% 14
North of England +28 27 £40,500 +13.29% 30
East Midlands +34 21 £38,500 -3.75% 8
Yorkshire +9 18 £47,500 +35.71% 19
South West +37 17 £48,500 +14.12% 9
Scotland +12 16 £38,000 -5.00% 6
North West +38 9 £40,500 +4.52% 11
West Midlands +31 8 £44,000 -1.86% 6
Wales - 4 £33,750 - 4

3rd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 7 December 2025, 3rd 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 3rd Line Support in the job title.

1 192 (67.61%) Microsoft
2 187 (65.85%) Windows
3 151 (53.17%) Microsoft 365
4 144 (50.70%) Azure
5 133 (46.83%) Windows Server
6 126 (44.37%) Active Directory
7 86 (30.28%) Microsoft Exchange
7 86 (30.28%) PowerShell
8 83 (29.23%) Hyper-V
9 77 (27.11%) Firewall
10 76 (26.76%) VMware
11 72 (25.35%) DNS
11 72 (25.35%) Microsoft Intune
12 68 (23.94%) DHCP
13 61 (21.48%) Problem-Solving
14 57 (20.07%) Customer Service
15 55 (19.37%) Entra ID
16 53 (18.66%) Mentoring
17 47 (16.55%) Security Cleared
18 45 (15.85%) VMware Infrastructure
19 44 (15.49%) SC Cleared
20 43 (15.14%) ITIL
21 42 (14.79%) SLA
22 37 (13.03%) LAN
22 37 (13.03%) WAN
23 35 (12.32%) VLAN
24 33 (11.62%) Incident Management
24 33 (11.62%) SharePoint
25 32 (11.27%) VPN
26 31 (10.92%) Cisco

3rd 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 86 (30.28%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (11.62%) SharePoint
3 22 (7.75%) Exchange Server 2003
4 16 (5.63%) IIS
5 8 (2.82%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.35%) Confluence
Applications
1 13 (4.58%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.35%) Fidessa
Cloud Services
1 151 (53.17%) Microsoft 365
2 144 (50.70%) Azure
3 55 (19.37%) Entra ID
4 19 (6.69%) AWS
5 18 (6.34%) IaaS
6 14 (4.93%) SaaS
7 13 (4.58%) PaaS
8 12 (4.23%) Power Platform
9 6 (2.11%) Power Automate
9 6 (2.11%) PowerApps
10 5 (1.76%) Mimecast
10 5 (1.76%) Serverless
11 4 (1.41%) Azure Sentinel
12 2 (0.70%) Google Workspace
13 1 (0.35%) Azure App Service
13 1 (0.35%) Dynamics 365
13 1 (0.35%) GCP
13 1 (0.35%) n8n
13 1 (0.35%) Nutanix
13 1 (0.35%) Zapier
Communications & Networking
1 77 (27.11%) Firewall
2 72 (25.35%) DNS
3 68 (23.94%) DHCP
4 37 (13.03%) LAN
4 37 (13.03%) WAN
5 35 (12.32%) VLAN
6 32 (11.27%) VPN
7 31 (10.92%) TCP/IP
8 20 (7.04%) Wi-Fi
9 19 (6.69%) Internet
10 18 (6.34%) SAN
11 17 (5.99%) VoIP
11 17 (5.99%) Wireless
12 11 (3.87%) Kerberos
13 9 (3.17%) Network Security
14 7 (2.46%) Wireshark
15 6 (2.11%) Cisco IOS
16 5 (1.76%) SMTP
16 5 (1.76%) SSL
16 5 (1.76%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (8.10%) Oracle Database
1 23 (8.10%) Oracle Database 10g
2 11 (3.87%) SQL Server
3 5 (1.76%) Amazon RDS
3 5 (1.76%) Power BI
4 3 (1.06%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.35%) Azure SQL Database
Development Applications
1 2 (0.70%) JIRA
General
1 115 (40.49%) Social Skills
2 22 (7.75%) Law
3 14 (4.93%) Manufacturing
4 13 (4.58%) Marketing
5 11 (3.87%) Automotive
6 10 (3.52%) Telecoms
7 9 (3.17%) Analytical Skills
8 8 (2.82%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (2.82%) Finance
9 7 (2.46%) Billing
9 7 (2.46%) Electronics
9 7 (2.46%) Public Sector
10 5 (1.76%) Retail
11 2 (0.70%) Advertising
11 2 (0.70%) Legal
12 1 (0.35%) Banking
12 1 (0.35%) Games
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (3.87%) LDAP
2 3 (1.06%) FreeSWITCH
2 3 (1.06%) Node.js
3 1 (0.35%) FIX Protocol
3 1 (0.35%) SAML
3 1 (0.35%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 29 (10.21%) Onboarding
2 18 (6.34%) Self-Motivation
3 13 (4.58%) PKI
4 9 (3.17%) Driving Licence
4 9 (3.17%) Replication
5 8 (2.82%) Management Information System
6 6 (2.11%) Clustering
6 6 (2.11%) Hybrid Cloud
7 5 (1.76%) Data Centre
8 3 (1.06%) Web Conferencing
9 1 (0.35%) Blockchain
9 1 (0.35%) BYOD
9 1 (0.35%) Enterprise Storage
9 1 (0.35%) Eurex
9 1 (0.35%) FMCG
9 1 (0.35%) IoT
9 1 (0.35%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 187 (65.85%) Windows
2 133 (46.83%) Windows Server
3 25 (8.80%) Unix
3 25 (8.80%) Windows 10
4 24 (8.45%) Solaris
5 23 (8.10%) HPUX
6 22 (7.75%) Windows Server 2003
7 21 (7.39%) Windows 7
7 21 (7.39%) Windows Server 2008
8 19 (6.69%) Windows Server 2019
9 18 (6.34%) Apple iOS
10 17 (5.99%) Android
11 15 (5.28%) Linux
12 14 (4.93%) Windows Server 2016
13 13 (4.58%) Mac OS
14 1 (0.35%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.35%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 61 (21.48%) Problem-Solving
2 57 (20.07%) Customer Service
3 53 (18.66%) Mentoring
4 43 (15.14%) ITIL
5 33 (11.62%) Incident Management
6 24 (8.45%) Migration
7 21 (7.39%) Continuous Improvement
8 20 (7.04%) Cybersecurity
9 19 (6.69%) Coaching
10 18 (6.34%) Mobile Device Management
11 17 (5.99%) Data Loss Prevention
12 16 (5.63%) Business Continuity
13 14 (4.93%) Network Monitoring
14 13 (4.58%) Business Intelligence
14 13 (4.58%) Information Security
14 13 (4.58%) Network Management
14 13 (4.58%) Project Delivery
14 13 (4.58%) Service Delivery
15 12 (4.23%) Remote Monitoring and Management
15 12 (4.23%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 86 (30.28%) PowerShell
2 21 (7.39%) Perl
3 15 (5.28%) SQL
4 11 (3.87%) VB
5 3 (1.06%) C
5 3 (1.06%) Java
5 3 (1.06%) PHP
6 1 (0.35%) Bash
6 1 (0.35%) Python
Qualifications
1 47 (16.55%) Security Cleared
2 44 (15.49%) SC Cleared
3 24 (8.45%) DV Cleared
4 17 (5.99%) Degree
5 16 (5.63%) Microsoft Certification
6 14 (4.93%) Cisco Certification
7 11 (3.87%) CCNA
8 10 (3.52%) Azure Certification
8 10 (3.52%) DBS Check
9 7 (2.46%) CCNP
10 5 (1.76%) ACMT
10 5 (1.76%) HND
10 5 (1.76%) MCP
10 5 (1.76%) MCTS
10 5 (1.76%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 3 (1.06%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (1.06%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 2 (0.70%) ITIL Certification
13 1 (0.35%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (14.79%) SLA
2 17 (5.99%) Cyber Essentials
3 9 (3.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 8 (2.82%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 1 (0.35%) NIST
System Software
1 126 (44.37%) Active Directory
2 83 (29.23%) Hyper-V
3 45 (15.85%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (2.11%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (1.76%) Docker
5 5 (1.76%) VMware ESXi
6 3 (1.06%) Firmware
7 2 (0.70%) XenDesktop
8 1 (0.35%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.35%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 72 (25.35%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (6.34%) SCCM
3 17 (5.99%) Autotask
4 13 (4.58%) Jamf Pro
5 11 (3.87%) WSUS
6 7 (2.46%) vCenter Server
7 6 (2.11%) Backup Exec
8 5 (1.76%) FortiGate
8 5 (1.76%) Kubernetes
9 1 (0.35%) Avamar
9 1 (0.35%) Grafana
9 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Clustering
9 1 (0.35%) NetBackup
9 1 (0.35%) Prometheus
9 1 (0.35%) Puppet
9 1 (0.35%) SCOM
9 1 (0.35%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 192 (67.61%) Microsoft
2 76 (26.76%) VMware
3 31 (10.92%) Cisco
4 30 (10.56%) Oracle
5 20 (7.04%) Veeam
6 18 (6.34%) Apple
7 12 (4.23%) Sophos
8 11 (3.87%) HP
9 9 (3.17%) Datto
10 8 (2.82%) arcserve
10 8 (2.82%) SAP
11 7 (2.46%) Samsung
11 7 (2.46%) Ubiquiti
12 6 (2.11%) SolarWinds
13 5 (1.76%) Barracuda Networks
13 5 (1.76%) Dell
13 5 (1.76%) Meraki
13 5 (1.76%) Salesforce
13 5 (1.76%) SonicWALL
14 3 (1.06%) Citrix