National Vocational Qualification Level 3 (NVQ Level 3)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies with a requirement for NVQ Level 3 qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 21 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 456 587 690
Rank change year-on-year +131 +103 +54
Permanent jobs citing NVQ Level 3 378 78 106
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.33% 0.16% 0.14%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.82% 0.46% 0.50%
Number of salaries quoted 163 61 14
10th Percentile £36,250 £38,500 £31,875
25th Percentile £42,500 £44,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £51,300 £38,250
Median % change year-on-year -2.53% +34.12% +38.29%
75th Percentile £53,875 £54,000 £39,875
90th Percentile £58,700 £60,000 £42,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £45,608 £38,250
% change year-on-year +9.63% +19.24% +38.29%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

NVQ Level 3 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 20,797 16,844 21,092
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 17.90% 34.29% 27.22%
Number of salaries quoted 11,330 7,426 9,668
10th Percentile £32,000 £29,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £44,250 £37,000 £42,106
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £56,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -1.79% -4.27%
75th Percentile £80,000 £73,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £90,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £57,500 £50,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +15.00% -4.76% -

NVQ Level 3
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing NVQ Level 3 relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

NVQ Level 3 job vacancy trend in the UK

NVQ Level 3
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing NVQ Level 3.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing NVQ Level 3

NVQ Level 3
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing NVQ Level 3 over the 6 months to 21 September 2026.

Salary histogram for NVQ Level 3 in the UK

NVQ Level 3
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing NVQ Level 3 within the UK over the 6 months to 21 September 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 +128 339 £49,500 -3.51% 275
UK excluding London +129 326 £50,000 +9.63% 272
Midlands +37 94 £52,500 +75.00% 71
East Midlands +35 70 £52,955 +76.52% 36
South East -11 70 £45,000 -1.33% 43
North of England -2 67 £50,000 +31.58% 71
East of England +19 58 £47,750 +1.60% 31
Yorkshire - 36 £41,000 - 32
London -59 33 £55,500 -2.63% 36
North West -7 26 £53,000 +39.47% 31
West Midlands -26 24 £48,500 -15.65% 35
South West -62 19 £49,250 -7.08% 31
Wales - 14 £53,000 - 23
Scotland +16 6 £45,000 - 5
North East - 6 £51,000 - 11
Work from Home -51 3 £47,000 +3.05% 18

NVQ Level 3
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 3 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
1 3 (0.79%) SharePoint
Applications
1 11 (2.91%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.79%) AutoCAD
3 2 (0.53%) EPLAN
3 2 (0.53%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.26%) SAP CO
1 1 (0.26%) SAP FI
1 1 (0.26%) SAP FI/CO
1 1 (0.26%) SAP PM
1 1 (0.26%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 2 (0.53%) AWS
1 2 (0.53%) Cloud Computing
1 2 (0.53%) Entra ID
1 2 (0.53%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.85%) LAN
1 7 (1.85%) WAN
2 6 (1.59%) TCP/IP
3 2 (0.53%) Modbus
3 2 (0.53%) Structured Cabling
4 1 (0.26%) NGN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.26%) DTS
Development Applications
1 1 (0.26%) Appcelerator Titanium
1 1 (0.26%) Hudson
General
1 106 (28.04%) Manufacturing
2 55 (14.55%) Social Skills
3 51 (13.49%) Electronics
4 23 (6.08%) Retail
5 16 (4.23%) Pharmaceutical
6 15 (3.97%) Finance
7 14 (3.70%) Analytical Skills
8 11 (2.91%) Military
9 10 (2.65%) Automotive
10 7 (1.85%) Advertising
10 7 (1.85%) Aerospace
11 6 (1.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.32%) Public Sector
13 3 (0.79%) Legal
14 2 (0.53%) Banking
15 1 (0.26%) Avionics
15 1 (0.26%) Organisational Skills
15 1 (0.26%) Police
15 1 (0.26%) Social Housing
15 1 (0.26%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 78 (20.63%) Senior
2 62 (16.40%) Senior Technician
3 52 (13.76%) Technical Engineer
4 30 (7.94%) Lead
5 24 (6.35%) Electrical Engineer
6 18 (4.76%) Team Leader
7 11 (2.91%) Reliability Engineer
8 10 (2.65%) Field Engineer
8 10 (2.65%) Field Service Engineer
9 8 (2.12%) Mechanical Engineer
10 5 (1.32%) Manufacturing Engineer
10 5 (1.32%) Senior Reliability Engineer
10 5 (1.32%) Support Engineer
10 5 (1.32%) Test Engineer
11 4 (1.06%) Installations Engineer
11 4 (1.06%) Technical Support
11 4 (1.06%) Technical Support Engineer
12 3 (0.79%) Commissioning Engineer
12 3 (0.79%) Electrical Design Engineer
12 3 (0.79%) Senior Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.26%) EDI
1 1 (0.26%) SAP ALE
Miscellaneous
1 112 (29.63%) Onboarding
2 106 (28.04%) SCADA
3 95 (25.13%) Robotics
4 60 (15.87%) Driving Licence
5 55 (14.55%) Renewable Energy
6 22 (5.82%) FMCG
7 17 (4.50%) Data Centre
8 9 (2.38%) CCTV
9 5 (1.32%) Solar Panel
10 4 (1.06%) Fibre Optics
11 3 (0.79%) Low-Code
11 3 (0.79%) Self-Motivation
12 1 (0.26%) Analytical Mindset
12 1 (0.26%) Housing Association
12 1 (0.26%) IoT
12 1 (0.26%) iPad
12 1 (0.26%) Life Science
12 1 (0.26%) PDA
12 1 (0.26%) Photovoltaics
12 1 (0.26%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 11 (2.91%) Windows
2 3 (0.79%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 186 (49.21%) Preventative Maintenance
2 111 (29.37%) Mechatronics
3 110 (29.10%) Proactive Maintenance
4 107 (28.31%) Line Management
5 98 (25.93%) Continuous Improvement
6 67 (17.72%) Problem-Solving
7 55 (14.55%) Logistics
8 49 (12.96%) Technical Leadership
9 48 (12.70%) Actionable Insight
9 48 (12.70%) CRM
10 40 (10.58%) Order Management
11 21 (5.56%) Customer Service
12 15 (3.97%) Customer Experience
13 13 (3.44%) Mentoring
14 10 (2.65%) Root Cause Analysis
15 9 (2.38%) Collaborative Working
16 8 (2.12%) Facilities Management
17 7 (1.85%) CAFM
18 6 (1.59%) System Testing
18 6 (1.59%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 3 (0.79%) C
1 3 (0.79%) C++
Qualifications
1 172 (45.50%) City & Guilds
2 113 (29.89%) Degree
3 48 (12.70%) HNC
4 28 (7.41%) HND
5 16 (4.23%) Security Cleared
6 7 (1.85%) SC Cleared
7 5 (1.32%) DBS Check
8 4 (1.06%) CTC Cleared
8 4 (1.06%) NVQ Level 4
9 3 (0.79%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 2 (0.53%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (0.79%) GDPR
2 2 (0.53%) 21 CFR Part 11
2 2 (0.53%) SLA
3 1 (0.26%) COSHH
3 1 (0.26%) GMP
3 1 (0.26%) ISO 9001
3 1 (0.26%) NEBOSH
3 1 (0.26%) QA
System Software
1 4 (1.06%) Firmware
2 3 (0.79%) Active Directory
Vendors
1 40 (10.58%) NEC
2 19 (5.03%) Microsoft
3 18 (4.76%) Siemens
4 14 (3.70%) SAP
5 10 (2.65%) Allen-Bradley
6 7 (1.85%) Google
7 4 (1.06%) Foundry
7 4 (1.06%) Remedy
8 3 (0.79%) Facebook
8 3 (0.79%) Keysight
9 2 (0.53%) Rockwell
9 2 (0.53%) ServiceNow
10 1 (0.26%) Instagram
10 1 (0.26%) Sitecore