NVQ Level 3 Job Trends

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 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 484 64 773
Rank change year-on-year -420 +709 +220
Permanent jobs citing NVQ Level 3 219 1,686 80
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.29% 3.99% 0.093%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.05% 10.18% 0.34%
Number of salaries quoted 16 8 27
10th Percentile £28,250 £24,625 £23,114
25th Percentile £29,000 £27,156 £29,971
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £36,750 £35,438 £31,985
Median % change year-on-year +3.70% +10.80% +6.62%
75th Percentile £40,000 £47,828 £52,750
90th Percentile £41,875 £57,500 £61,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £38,000 £55,000 £30,673
% change year-on-year -30.91% +79.31% +2.24%

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 20,801 16,565 23,542
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 27.40% 39.20% 27.45%
Number of salaries quoted 8,395 7,512 16,278
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £42,606 £38,734
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,869 £59,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.31% +7.27% -4.35%
75th Percentile £76,313 £75,000 £72,375
90th Percentile £90,000 £92,500 £87,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,793 £50,000
% change year-on-year -8.75% +9.59% -

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 March 2026.

Salary histogram for NVQ Level 3 in the UK

NVQ Level 3
Top 12 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 March 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 -374 215 £32,750 -23.48% 65
UK excluding London -296 210 £38,000 -30.91% 64
Midlands +1 186 - - 17
West Midlands -2 186 - - 7
Work from Home - 17 £31,250 - 4
South East -251 9 £35,750 -19.85% 16
London -266 6 £35,000 +17.15% 6
Yorkshire -46 5 £35,500 - 6
East of England -127 5 - - 5
North of England -215 5 £35,500 - 11
Northern Ireland - 3 £38,000 -
South West -41 2 £30,000 - 12

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 1 (0.46%) Microsoft Exchange
1 1 (0.46%) SharePoint
Applications
1 2 (0.91%) AutoCAD
1 2 (0.91%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.46%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 2 (0.91%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 2 (0.91%) VPN
2 1 (0.46%) LAN
2 1 (0.46%) WAN
Development Applications
1 2 (0.91%) JIRA
General
1 198 (90.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 197 (89.95%) Finance
3 10 (4.57%) Social Skills
4 5 (2.28%) Public Sector
5 4 (1.83%) Analytical Skills
5 4 (1.83%) Presentation Skills
6 3 (1.37%) Retail
7 2 (0.91%) Games
7 2 (0.91%) Legal
7 2 (0.91%) Organisational Skills
7 2 (0.91%) Pharmaceutical
8 1 (0.46%) Fire and Rescue
Job Titles
1 197 (89.95%) Facilities Engineer
1 197 (89.95%) Systems Engineer
2 5 (2.28%) Junior
3 4 (1.83%) IT Support
4 3 (1.37%) Auditor
4 3 (1.37%) Electrical Engineer
4 3 (1.37%) Support Engineer
4 3 (1.37%) Test Engineer
5 2 (0.91%) Administrator
5 2 (0.91%) Analyst
5 2 (0.91%) Facilities Administrator
5 2 (0.91%) IT Analyst
5 2 (0.91%) IT Engineer
5 2 (0.91%) IT Support Analyst
5 2 (0.91%) IT Support Engineer
5 2 (0.91%) Software Engineer
5 2 (0.91%) Support Analyst
6 1 (0.46%) Junior IT Engineer
6 1 (0.46%) Junior IT Support
6 1 (0.46%) Junior Support Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 11 (5.02%) Driving Licence
2 3 (1.37%) Analytical Mindset
2 3 (1.37%) Onboarding
3 2 (0.91%) SCADA
4 1 (0.46%) Renewable Energy
4 1 (0.46%) Smart City
4 1 (0.46%) Smart Energy
Operating Systems
1 3 (1.37%) Windows
2 2 (0.91%) Android
2 2 (0.91%) Apple iOS
3 1 (0.46%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 201 (91.78%) Preventative Maintenance
2 200 (91.32%) Inventory Management
3 197 (89.95%) Mentoring
4 5 (2.28%) Problem-Solving
5 4 (1.83%) Business Development
5 4 (1.83%) Continuous Improvement
6 3 (1.37%) ITIL
6 3 (1.37%) Technology Transformation
6 3 (1.37%) Time Management
7 2 (0.91%) Customer Requirements
7 2 (0.91%) Customer Service
7 2 (0.91%) Cybersecurity
7 2 (0.91%) ITSM
7 2 (0.91%) Mathematics
7 2 (0.91%) Service Management
7 2 (0.91%) Software Engineering
8 1 (0.46%) Inventory Control
8 1 (0.46%) Logistics
8 1 (0.46%) Software Licensing
8 1 (0.46%) Virtual Environments
Qualifications
1 208 (94.98%) City & Guilds
2 197 (89.95%) Postgraduate
3 6 (2.74%) SC Cleared
3 6 (2.74%) Security Cleared
4 5 (2.28%) Degree
5 3 (1.37%) DV Cleared
6 2 (0.91%) A+ Certification
6 2 (0.91%) HNC
6 2 (0.91%) HND
7 1 (0.46%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 197 (89.95%) COSHH
2 3 (1.37%) GRC
2 3 (1.37%) ISO 14001
2 3 (1.37%) ISO 9001
2 3 (1.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (1.37%) NEBOSH
3 2 (0.91%) GDPR
System Software
1 5 (2.28%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 4 (1.83%) Progress Chef
2 1 (0.46%) Microsoft Intune
2 1 (0.46%) OpenView
Vendors
1 2 (0.91%) Allen-Bradley
1 2 (0.91%) Google
1 2 (0.91%) Microsoft
1 2 (0.91%) Siemens
1 2 (0.91%) Wonderware