Junior Penetration Tester Job Trends

Junior Penetration Tester
UK

The median Junior Penetration Tester salary in the UK is £27,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 4 February 2026.

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

6 months to
4 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 656 698 796
Rank change year-on-year +42 +98 +242
Permanent jobs requiring a Junior Penetration Tester 3 1 3
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.005% 0.002% 0.004%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.005% 0.002% 0.004%
Number of salaries quoted 1 1 1
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £26,250 £35,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £27,500 £40,000 £40,000
Median % change year-on-year -31.25% - +65.66%
75th Percentile £28,750 £45,000 £42,500
90th Percentile - - -
UK excluding London median annual salary £27,500 £40,000 -
% change year-on-year -31.25% - -

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 58,749 46,938 69,506
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.97% 91.97% 94.99%
Number of salaries quoted 36,633 24,273 54,572
10th Percentile £29,000 £33,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £45,000 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £74,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,793 £50,000
% change year-on-year -8.75% +9.59% -4.76%

Junior Penetration Tester
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Junior Penetration Tester' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Junior Penetration Tester job vacancy trend in the UK

Junior Penetration Tester
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Junior Penetration Tester job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Junior Penetration Tester job vacancies in the UK

Junior Penetration Tester
Top 5 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Junior Penetration Tester within the UK over the 6 months to 4 February 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 +45 3 £27,500 -31.25% 3
UK excluding London +24 3 £27,500 -31.25% 2
Work from Home +49 2 - - 2
South East - 2 - - 1
South West +3 1 £27,500 -31.25% 1

Junior Penetration Tester Skill Set
Top 14 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 4 February 2026, Junior Penetration Tester 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 Junior Penetration Tester in the job title.

1 3 (100.00%) OSCP
1 3 (100.00%) Penetration Testing
2 2 (66.67%) CHECK Team Leader
2 2 (66.67%) CHECK Team Member
2 2 (66.67%) Cybersecurity
2 2 (66.67%) Degree
2 2 (66.67%) GDPR
2 2 (66.67%) GRC
2 2 (66.67%) Incident Response
2 2 (66.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 2 (66.67%) Protective Monitoring
2 2 (66.67%) Security Architecture
2 2 (66.67%) Security Cleared
2 2 (66.67%) Vulnerability Management

Junior Penetration Tester 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:

General
1 2 (66.67%) Banking
1 2 (66.67%) Finance
1 2 (66.67%) Public Sector
2 1 (33.33%) Law
Miscellaneous
1 2 (66.67%) Security Posture
Processes & Methodologies
1 3 (100.00%) Penetration Testing
2 2 (66.67%) Cybersecurity
2 2 (66.67%) Incident Response
2 2 (66.67%) Protective Monitoring
2 2 (66.67%) Security Architecture
2 2 (66.67%) Vulnerability Management
Qualifications
1 3 (100.00%) OSCP
2 2 (66.67%) CHECK Team Leader
2 2 (66.67%) CHECK Team Member
2 2 (66.67%) Degree
2 2 (66.67%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (66.67%) GDPR
1 2 (66.67%) GRC
1 2 (66.67%) ISO/IEC 27001