Higher National Certificate (HNC)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies with a requirement for HNC qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 30 April 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Apr 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 132 455 704
Rank change year-on-year +323 +249 +89
Permanent jobs citing HNC 1,201 506 285
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 2.30% 0.51% 0.27%
As % of the Qualifications category 4.71% 1.85% 0.84%
Number of salaries quoted 902 258 118
10th Percentile £40,000 £27,500 £27,750
25th Percentile £45,628 £35,000 £30,265
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,055 £45,000 £33,000
Median % change year-on-year +11.23% +36.36% -18.52%
75th Percentile £58,943 £56,275 £44,500
90th Percentile £60,265 £68,750 £56,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,055 £45,000 £35,000
% change year-on-year +11.23% +28.57% -12.50%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

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.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 25,484 27,371 34,026
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 48.86% 27.83% 32.72%
Number of salaries quoted 11,203 17,308 15,226
10th Percentile £32,500 £28,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £44,000 £38,500 £41,776
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £54,000 £58,000
Median % change year-on-year +1.85% -6.90% +5.45%
75th Percentile £68,568 £71,000 £77,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £87,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,000 £50,000 £50,500
% change year-on-year +4.00% -0.99% +1.00%

HNC
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing HNC as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for HNC in the UK

HNC
Salary Trend

3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing HNC.

Salary trend for HNC in the UK

HNC
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing HNC over the 6 months to 30 April 2025.

Salary histogram for HNC in the UK

HNC
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing HNC within the UK over the 6 months to 30 April 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
UK excluding London +293 1,178 £50,055 +11.23% 377
England +283 953 £48,918 +6.34% 375
North of England +237 708 £47,683 +12.20% 83
North West +207 672 £47,683 +36.24% 44
Scotland +237 225 £58,033 +22.66% 32
South West +155 121 £52,600 +31.50% 53
South East +51 48 £40,197 -23.51% 101
Work from Home +167 46 £42,500 - 77
Midlands +42 41 £35,000 -26.32% 61
Yorkshire +47 35 £57,560 +9.12% 24
East of England +27 28 £55,000 +42.86% 41
West Midlands +48 27 £35,000 -17.65% 32
East Midlands +37 14 - - 28
London +74 7 £47,000 -24.80% 36
Northern Ireland +38 4 £40,221 +16.15% 4
Wales +36 3 £40,000 -11.11% 13
North East +48 1 £37,500 -9.64% 17

HNC
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 14 (1.17%) WinCC
2 1 (0.083%) Apache
Applications
1 393 (32.72%) Simulink
2 190 (15.82%) Microsoft Office
3 175 (14.57%) Microsoft Excel
4 152 (12.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 14 (1.17%) EPLAN
6 6 (0.50%) Windchill
7 4 (0.33%) Adobe Illustrator
7 4 (0.33%) Microsoft Project
7 4 (0.33%) Photoshop
7 4 (0.33%) QuarkXPress
8 1 (0.083%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.083%) Revit
Business Applications
1 192 (15.99%) Teamcenter
2 2 (0.17%) SAP ERP
Cloud Services
1 16 (1.33%) Google Workspace
2 6 (0.50%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 19 (1.58%) Firewall
1 19 (1.58%) TCP/IP
2 16 (1.33%) BGP
2 16 (1.33%) DHCP
2 16 (1.33%) DNS
2 16 (1.33%) Ethernet
2 16 (1.33%) OSPF
2 16 (1.33%) VLAN
2 16 (1.33%) WLAN
3 14 (1.17%) Modbus
3 14 (1.17%) Profibus
3 14 (1.17%) RS-485
4 2 (0.17%) NAS
4 2 (0.17%) Network Security
4 2 (0.17%) SAN
4 2 (0.17%) Wi-Fi
5 1 (0.083%) DVB
5 1 (0.083%) LTE
5 1 (0.083%) VoIP
5 1 (0.083%) VSAT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.083%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 108 (8.99%) LabVIEW
2 40 (3.33%) Rational DOORS
3 17 (1.42%) JIRA
4 5 (0.42%) ClearCase
4 5 (0.42%) Git
General
1 266 (22.15%) Social Skills
2 203 (16.90%) Automotive
3 197 (16.40%) Aerospace
4 88 (7.33%) Manufacturing
5 56 (4.66%) Finance
6 51 (4.25%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 46 (3.83%) Influencing Skills
8 45 (3.75%) Analytical Skills
9 43 (3.58%) Retail
10 41 (3.41%) Avionics
11 20 (1.67%) Pharmaceutical
12 16 (1.33%) Presentation Skills
13 11 (0.92%) Military
14 8 (0.67%) Electronics
15 6 (0.50%) Fire and Rescue
15 6 (0.50%) Local Government
16 4 (0.33%) Marketing
17 3 (0.25%) Advertising
17 3 (0.25%) Organisational Skills
17 3 (0.25%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 741 (61.70%) Systems Engineer
2 313 (26.06%) Senior
3 170 (14.15%) Senior Systems Engineer
4 108 (8.99%) Senior Electrical Engineer
5 70 (5.83%) Project Manager
6 59 (4.91%) Lead
7 57 (4.75%) Integration Engineer
7 57 (4.75%) Systems Integration Engineer
8 49 (4.08%) Principal Engineer
9 40 (3.33%) Principal Systems Engineer
9 40 (3.33%) Requirements Engineer
10 36 (3.00%) Senior Integration Engineer
11 30 (2.50%) Infrastructure Manager
11 30 (2.50%) Infrastructure Project Manager
12 27 (2.25%) Electronics Engineer
12 27 (2.25%) Senior Manager
13 26 (2.16%) Automation Engineer
14 24 (2.00%) Infrastructure Project Leader
14 24 (2.00%) Project Leader
14 24 (2.00%) Senior Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (0.42%) XML
1 5 (0.42%) XSD
2 2 (0.17%) Leaflet
Miscellaneous
1 33 (2.75%) SCADA
2 31 (2.58%) Management Information System
3 16 (1.33%) Satnav
3 16 (1.33%) Smartphone
4 13 (1.08%) FMCG
5 12 (1.00%) Manufacturing Execution System
5 12 (1.00%) Operational Technology
6 7 (0.58%) CCTV
6 7 (0.58%) NHS
7 6 (0.50%) Driving Licence
8 5 (0.42%) Renewable Energy
8 5 (0.42%) Robotics
9 4 (0.33%) Animation
9 4 (0.33%) Graphic Design
9 4 (0.33%) Self-Motivation
9 4 (0.33%) Social Media
10 2 (0.17%) Analytical Mindset
10 2 (0.17%) CSOC
10 2 (0.17%) Fibre Optics
10 2 (0.17%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 33 (2.75%) Linux
2 22 (1.83%) Windows
3 18 (1.50%) Windows 10
3 18 (1.50%) Windows Server
3 18 (1.50%) Windows Server 2019
4 17 (1.42%) Ubuntu
5 16 (1.33%) Mac OS X
5 16 (1.33%) Windows Server 2016
6 1 (0.083%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 795 (66.19%) Systems Engineering
2 468 (38.97%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
3 427 (35.55%) Validation
4 406 (33.81%) Mathematics
5 402 (33.47%) Verification and Validation
6 400 (33.31%) Software Engineering
7 393 (32.72%) Digital Twin
7 393 (32.72%) SysML
8 192 (15.99%) PLM
9 122 (10.16%) Business Case
10 109 (9.08%) Workflow
11 108 (8.99%) Experiential Learning
11 108 (8.99%) Resource Management
11 108 (8.99%) Workflow Management
12 104 (8.66%) Requirements Management
13 86 (7.16%) Change Management
13 86 (7.16%) Coaching
14 85 (7.08%) Continuous Improvement
15 79 (6.58%) Problem-Solving
16 76 (6.33%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 579 (48.21%) MATLAB
2 21 (1.75%) SQL
3 16 (1.33%) PowerShell
4 1 (0.083%) Ada
4 1 (0.083%) C
4 1 (0.083%) C#
4 1 (0.083%) C++
4 1 (0.083%) Java
4 1 (0.083%) VB
Qualifications
1 1,001 (83.35%) Degree
2 952 (79.27%) HND
3 510 (42.46%) BPSS Clearance
4 25 (2.08%) Six Sigma Green Belt
5 24 (2.00%) Six Sigma Black Belt
6 19 (1.58%) Security Cleared
7 16 (1.33%) Computer Science Degree
7 16 (1.33%) MCSE
7 16 (1.33%) Microsoft Certification
8 14 (1.17%) SC Cleared
9 11 (0.92%) DBS Check
10 10 (0.83%) Master's Degree
11 6 (0.50%) MOS
12 5 (0.42%) DV Cleared
13 2 (0.17%) CISM
13 2 (0.17%) CISSP
13 2 (0.17%) NVQ Level 3
14 1 (0.083%) CTC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 108 (8.99%) ISO 9001
1 108 (8.99%) ISO/IEC 17025
2 33 (2.75%) NEBOSH
3 3 (0.25%) IEC 61131
4 2 (0.17%) Data Quality
5 1 (0.083%) Accessibility
5 1 (0.083%) GDPR
5 1 (0.083%) QA
System Software
1 16 (1.33%) Active Directory
2 2 (0.17%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 14 (1.17%) Wonderware InTouch
2 1 (0.083%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 186 (15.49%) ANSYS
1 186 (15.49%) Microsoft
2 36 (3.00%) Google
3 27 (2.25%) Siemens
4 18 (1.50%) SAP
5 16 (1.33%) Apple
5 16 (1.33%) Cisco
5 16 (1.33%) Dell
5 16 (1.33%) Fortinet
5 16 (1.33%) Salesforce
5 16 (1.33%) Ubiquiti
6 14 (1.17%) Allen-Bradley
6 14 (1.17%) Wonderware
7 12 (1.00%) Rockwell
8 5 (0.42%) NEC
8 5 (0.42%) Oracle
9 4 (0.33%) Adobe
10 3 (0.25%) Facebook
10 3 (0.25%) YouTube
11 2 (0.17%) VMware