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

6 months to
13 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 446 86 724
Rank change year-on-year -360 +638 +272
Permanent jobs citing NVQ Level 3 226 1,684 62
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.34% 3.38% 0.084%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.14% 9.00% 0.29%
Number of salaries quoted 18 5 20
10th Percentile £28,550 £29,813 £23,114
25th Percentile £29,000 £30,000 £25,221
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £38,000 £44,604 £27,659
Median % change year-on-year -14.81% +61.27% -8.59%
75th Percentile £40,000 £57,500 £61,500
90th Percentile £50,215 - -
UK excluding London median annual salary £38,000 £49,802 £25,878
% change year-on-year -23.70% +92.45% -14.47%

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 19,842 18,702 21,065
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 29.76% 37.58% 28.39%
Number of salaries quoted 8,016 7,445 14,864
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £28,250
25th Percentile £36,500 £45,000 £39,085
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -4.35%
75th Percentile £76,000 £76,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £92,500 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -1.96%

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 13 February 2026.

Salary histogram for NVQ Level 3 in the UK

NVQ Level 3
Top 14 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 13 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 -330 218 £39,000 -12.56% 66
UK excluding London -269 215 £38,000 -23.70% 62
West Midlands +14 186 - - 6
Midlands +13 186 - - 16
Work from Home - 15 £30,000 - 16
South East -234 9 £40,150 -9.99% 20
London -225 8 £40,000 +33.89% 6
East of England -105 6 £47,000 - 6
North of England -169 5 £38,000 - 12
Yorkshire -36 4 - - 5
Scotland -71 4 - - 1
Northern Ireland - 3 £38,000 -
South West -22 2 £30,000 - 8
North West -144 1 £38,000 - 7

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:

Applications
1 4 (1.77%) Microsoft Excel
1 4 (1.77%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 2 (0.88%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 4 (1.77%) Structured Cabling
2 2 (0.88%) VPN
3 1 (0.44%) 4G
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.44%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 2 (0.88%) JIRA
General
1 199 (88.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 198 (87.61%) Finance
3 16 (7.08%) Social Skills
4 5 (2.21%) Analytical Skills
5 4 (1.77%) Presentation Skills
5 4 (1.77%) Public Sector
5 4 (1.77%) Retail
5 4 (1.77%) Telecoms
6 2 (0.88%) Legal
6 2 (0.88%) Organisational Skills
7 1 (0.44%) Fire and Rescue
7 1 (0.44%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 197 (87.17%) Facilities Engineer
1 197 (87.17%) Systems Engineer
2 5 (2.21%) Junior
3 4 (1.77%) Electrical Engineer
3 4 (1.77%) Installations Engineer
3 4 (1.77%) IT Support
4 3 (1.33%) Auditor
4 3 (1.33%) Support Engineer
4 3 (1.33%) Test Engineer
5 2 (0.88%) Administrator
5 2 (0.88%) Analyst
5 2 (0.88%) Facilities Administrator
5 2 (0.88%) IT Analyst
5 2 (0.88%) IT Engineer
5 2 (0.88%) IT Support Analyst
5 2 (0.88%) IT Support Engineer
5 2 (0.88%) Support Analyst
6 1 (0.44%) Junior IT Engineer
6 1 (0.44%) Junior IT Support
6 1 (0.44%) Repair Technician
Miscellaneous
1 8 (3.54%) Driving Licence
2 3 (1.33%) Analytical Mindset
2 3 (1.33%) Onboarding
3 2 (0.88%) Data Centre
4 1 (0.44%) Renewable Energy
4 1 (0.44%) SCADA
4 1 (0.44%) Self-Motivation
4 1 (0.44%) Smart City
4 1 (0.44%) Smart Energy
4 1 (0.44%) Smart Home
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.88%) Android
1 2 (0.88%) Apple iOS
1 2 (0.88%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 201 (88.94%) Inventory Management
1 201 (88.94%) Preventative Maintenance
2 198 (87.61%) Mentoring
3 5 (2.21%) Problem-Solving
4 4 (1.77%) Business Development
4 4 (1.77%) Continuous Improvement
5 3 (1.33%) Customer Service
5 3 (1.33%) Technology Transformation
5 3 (1.33%) Time Management
6 2 (0.88%) Cybersecurity
6 2 (0.88%) ITIL
6 2 (0.88%) ITSM
6 2 (0.88%) Mathematics
6 2 (0.88%) Service Management
7 1 (0.44%) Data Centre Operations
7 1 (0.44%) Decision-Making
7 1 (0.44%) Kalman Filter
7 1 (0.44%) Logistics
7 1 (0.44%) Software Licensing
7 1 (0.44%) Technical Leadership
Qualifications
1 210 (92.92%) City & Guilds
2 197 (87.17%) Postgraduate
3 6 (2.65%) SC Cleared
3 6 (2.65%) Security Cleared
4 3 (1.33%) Degree
4 3 (1.33%) DV Cleared
5 2 (0.88%) A+ Certification
6 1 (0.44%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 197 (87.17%) COSHH
2 3 (1.33%) GRC
2 3 (1.33%) ISO 14001
2 3 (1.33%) ISO 9001
2 3 (1.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (1.33%) NEBOSH
System Software
1 4 (1.77%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 4 (1.77%) Progress Chef
2 1 (0.44%) Microsoft Intune
2 1 (0.44%) OpenView
Vendors
1 2 (0.88%) Google
2 1 (0.44%) Microsoft