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

6 months to
27 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 482 61 761
Rank change year-on-year -421 +700 +240
Permanent jobs citing NVQ Level 3 216 1,685 83
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.28% 4.15% 0.094%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.03% 10.55% 0.34%
Number of salaries quoted 14 8 28
10th Percentile £27,950 £24,625 £23,114
25th Percentile £29,563 £27,156 £29,971
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £38,000 £35,438 £31,985
Median % change year-on-year +7.23% +10.80% +6.62%
75th Percentile £40,000 £47,828 £48,375
90th Percentile £42,625 £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 21,047 15,969 24,066
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 27.13% 39.34% 27.16%
Number of salaries quoted 8,459 7,457 16,600
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £42,500 £38,691
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £58,033 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -0.92% +5.51% -4.35%
75th Percentile £77,500 £75,000 £71,250
90th Percentile £91,250 £92,500 £87,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -7.41% +8.00% -

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 27 March 2026.

Salary histogram for NVQ Level 3 in the UK

NVQ Level 3
Top 11 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 27 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 -383 212 £37,750 -11.80% 65
UK excluding London -291 208 £38,000 -30.91% 63
West Midlands -5 186 - - 5
Midlands -12 186 - - 17
Work from Home - 14 £36,250 - 4
South East -262 9 £35,750 -19.85% 13
Yorkshire -62 5 £35,500 - 7
East of England -132 5 - - 5
North of England -215 5 £35,500 - 14
London -264 5 £40,000 +33.89% 6
Northern Ireland - 3 £38,000 -

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 (0.93%) AutoCAD
1 2 (0.93%) EPLAN
2 1 (0.46%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 2 (0.93%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 2 (0.93%) VPN
2 1 (0.46%) LAN
2 1 (0.46%) WAN
Development Applications
1 2 (0.93%) JIRA
General
1 197 (91.20%) Finance
1 197 (91.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 9 (4.17%) Social Skills
3 5 (2.31%) Public Sector
4 4 (1.85%) Presentation Skills
5 3 (1.39%) Analytical Skills
5 3 (1.39%) Retail
6 2 (0.93%) Games
6 2 (0.93%) Legal
6 2 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
6 2 (0.93%) Pharmaceutical
7 1 (0.46%) Fire and Rescue
Job Titles
1 197 (91.20%) Facilities Engineer
1 197 (91.20%) Systems Engineer
2 4 (1.85%) Junior
3 3 (1.39%) Auditor
3 3 (1.39%) Electrical Engineer
3 3 (1.39%) Test Engineer
4 2 (0.93%) Administrator
4 2 (0.93%) Analyst
4 2 (0.93%) Facilities Administrator
4 2 (0.93%) IT Analyst
4 2 (0.93%) IT Support
4 2 (0.93%) IT Support Analyst
4 2 (0.93%) Software Engineer
4 2 (0.93%) Support Analyst
5 1 (0.46%) 2nd Line Support
5 1 (0.46%) Support Engineer
5 1 (0.46%) Technical Engineer
5 1 (0.46%) Technical Support
5 1 (0.46%) Technical Support Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 11 (5.09%) Driving Licence
2 3 (1.39%) Analytical Mindset
2 3 (1.39%) Onboarding
3 2 (0.93%) SCADA
4 1 (0.46%) Smart City
Operating Systems
1 1 (0.46%) Windows
1 1 (0.46%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 201 (93.06%) Preventative Maintenance
2 199 (92.13%) Inventory Management
3 197 (91.20%) Mentoring
4 4 (1.85%) Business Development
4 4 (1.85%) Continuous Improvement
4 4 (1.85%) Problem-Solving
5 3 (1.39%) ITIL
5 3 (1.39%) Technology Transformation
5 3 (1.39%) Time Management
6 2 (0.93%) Customer Requirements
6 2 (0.93%) Customer Service
6 2 (0.93%) ITSM
6 2 (0.93%) Mathematics
6 2 (0.93%) Service Management
6 2 (0.93%) Software Engineering
7 1 (0.46%) Virtual Environments
Qualifications
1 207 (95.83%) City & Guilds
2 197 (91.20%) Postgraduate
3 5 (2.31%) Degree
3 5 (2.31%) SC Cleared
3 5 (2.31%) Security Cleared
4 3 (1.39%) DV Cleared
5 2 (0.93%) A+ Certification
5 2 (0.93%) HNC
5 2 (0.93%) HND
6 1 (0.46%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 197 (91.20%) COSHH
2 3 (1.39%) GRC
2 3 (1.39%) ISO 14001
2 3 (1.39%) ISO 9001
2 3 (1.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (1.39%) NEBOSH
3 2 (0.93%) GDPR
System Software
1 3 (1.39%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 4 (1.85%) Progress Chef
2 1 (0.46%) OpenView
Vendors
1 2 (0.93%) Allen-Bradley
1 2 (0.93%) Google
1 2 (0.93%) Siemens
1 2 (0.93%) Wonderware
2 1 (0.46%) Microsoft