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

6 months to
18 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 474 597 681
Rank change year-on-year +123 +84 +77
Permanent jobs citing NVQ Level 3 357 78 110
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.31% 0.16% 0.14%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.73% 0.46% 0.52%
Number of salaries quoted 157 61 15
10th Percentile £35,700 £38,500 £30,312
25th Percentile £42,000 £44,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £49,500 £51,300 £38,250
Median % change year-on-year -3.51% +34.12% +38.29%
75th Percentile £54,000 £54,000 £39,875
90th Percentile £58,750 £60,000 £42,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £49,500 £45,608 £38,250
% change year-on-year +8.53% +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 20,655 16,948 21,032
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 17.92% 34.29% 26.92%
Number of salaries quoted 11,312 7,495 9,746
10th Percentile £32,000 £29,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £44,250 £37,170 £42,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £55,881
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -1.58% -4.48%
75th Percentile £80,000 £73,299 £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 18 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 18 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 +123 318 £49,500 -3.51% 266
UK excluding London +95 306 £49,500 +8.53% 265
Midlands +40 88 £52,955 +76.52% 66
East Midlands +21 65 £53,410 +78.03% 34
North of England -4 63 £50,000 +31.58% 64
South East -4 62 £45,000 -1.33% 51
East of England +24 56 £47,500 +1.06% 27
Yorkshire - 35 £40,500 - 27
London -47 32 £56,000 -1.75% 40
North West +10 25 £53,000 +39.47% 31
West Midlands -23 23 £48,500 -15.65% 31
South West -78 19 £49,250 -7.08% 31
Wales - 14 £53,000 - 24
Scotland +6 6 £45,000 - 4
North East - 4 £51,000 - 9
Work from Home -30 3 £47,000 +3.05% 14

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 4 (1.12%) Microsoft Exchange
1 4 (1.12%) SharePoint
Applications
1 12 (3.36%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.84%) AutoCAD
3 2 (0.56%) EPLAN
3 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.28%) SAP CO
1 1 (0.28%) SAP FI
1 1 (0.28%) SAP FI/CO
1 1 (0.28%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 2 (0.56%) AWS
1 2 (0.56%) Cloud Computing
1 2 (0.56%) Entra ID
1 2 (0.56%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.24%) LAN
1 8 (2.24%) WAN
2 6 (1.68%) TCP/IP
3 2 (0.56%) Modbus
3 2 (0.56%) Structured Cabling
4 1 (0.28%) NGN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.28%) DTS
Development Applications
1 1 (0.28%) Hudson
General
1 104 (29.13%) Manufacturing
2 53 (14.85%) Social Skills
3 48 (13.45%) Electronics
4 19 (5.32%) Retail
5 15 (4.20%) Finance
5 15 (4.20%) Pharmaceutical
6 14 (3.92%) Analytical Skills
7 10 (2.80%) Automotive
7 10 (2.80%) Military
8 7 (1.96%) Advertising
8 7 (1.96%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.68%) Public Sector
10 5 (1.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 2 (0.56%) Banking
12 1 (0.28%) Aeronautics
12 1 (0.28%) Agriculture
12 1 (0.28%) Aviation
12 1 (0.28%) Legal
12 1 (0.28%) Police
12 1 (0.28%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 71 (19.89%) Senior
2 56 (15.69%) Senior Technician
3 52 (14.57%) Technical Engineer
4 28 (7.84%) Lead
5 22 (6.16%) Electrical Engineer
6 18 (5.04%) Team Leader
7 10 (2.80%) Field Engineer
7 10 (2.80%) Field Service Engineer
8 9 (2.52%) Reliability Engineer
9 8 (2.24%) Mechanical Engineer
10 5 (1.40%) Manufacturing Engineer
10 5 (1.40%) Support Engineer
10 5 (1.40%) Test Engineer
11 4 (1.12%) 2nd Line Support
11 4 (1.12%) Senior Reliability Engineer
11 4 (1.12%) Technical Support
11 4 (1.12%) Technical Support Engineer
12 3 (0.84%) Electrical Supervisor
12 3 (0.84%) Installations Engineer
12 3 (0.84%) Senior Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (0.28%) EDI
1 1 (0.28%) SAP ALE
Miscellaneous
1 101 (28.29%) Onboarding
2 97 (27.17%) SCADA
3 88 (24.65%) Robotics
4 59 (16.53%) Driving Licence
5 55 (15.41%) Renewable Energy
6 22 (6.16%) FMCG
7 17 (4.76%) Data Centre
8 9 (2.52%) CCTV
9 4 (1.12%) Fibre Optics
9 4 (1.12%) Solar Panel
10 3 (0.84%) Low-Code
10 3 (0.84%) Self-Motivation
11 1 (0.28%) Clustering
11 1 (0.28%) Housing Association
11 1 (0.28%) iPad
11 1 (0.28%) Management Information System
11 1 (0.28%) NHS
11 1 (0.28%) PDA
11 1 (0.28%) Photovoltaics
11 1 (0.28%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 12 (3.36%) Windows
2 4 (1.12%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 173 (48.46%) Preventative Maintenance
2 101 (28.29%) Proactive Maintenance
3 100 (28.01%) Mechatronics
4 97 (27.17%) Line Management
5 89 (24.93%) Continuous Improvement
6 66 (18.49%) Problem-Solving
7 55 (15.41%) Logistics
8 48 (13.45%) Actionable Insight
8 48 (13.45%) CRM
9 45 (12.61%) Technical Leadership
10 37 (10.36%) Order Management
11 20 (5.60%) Customer Service
12 13 (3.64%) Customer Experience
12 13 (3.64%) Mentoring
13 10 (2.80%) Root Cause Analysis
14 8 (2.24%) Collaborative Working
15 7 (1.96%) CAFM
15 7 (1.96%) Facilities Management
16 6 (1.68%) System Testing
16 6 (1.68%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 3 (0.84%) C
1 3 (0.84%) C++
Qualifications
1 161 (45.10%) City & Guilds
2 103 (28.85%) Degree
3 45 (12.61%) HNC
4 26 (7.28%) HND
5 16 (4.48%) Security Cleared
6 7 (1.96%) SC Cleared
7 4 (1.12%) CTC Cleared
7 4 (1.12%) DBS Check
7 4 (1.12%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 4 (1.12%) NVQ Level 4
8 2 (0.56%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (0.84%) GDPR
2 2 (0.56%) 21 CFR Part 11
2 2 (0.56%) SLA
3 1 (0.28%) COSHH
3 1 (0.28%) GMP
3 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
3 1 (0.28%) NEBOSH
3 1 (0.28%) QA
System Software
1 4 (1.12%) Active Directory
1 4 (1.12%) Firmware
Vendors
1 37 (10.36%) NEC
2 20 (5.60%) Microsoft
3 17 (4.76%) Siemens
4 13 (3.64%) SAP
5 9 (2.52%) Allen-Bradley
6 7 (1.96%) Google
7 4 (1.12%) Foundry
7 4 (1.12%) Remedy
8 3 (0.84%) Facebook
8 3 (0.84%) Keysight
9 2 (0.56%) Rockwell
9 2 (0.56%) ServiceNow
10 1 (0.28%) Instagram
10 1 (0.28%) Sitecore