Postgraduate Job Trends

Postgraduate
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies with a requirement for Postgraduate qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 12 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 30 652 678
Rank change year-on-year +622 +26 +170
Permanent jobs citing Postgraduate 4,275 51 134
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 6.43% 0.10% 0.18%
As % of the Qualifications category 21.38% 0.27% 0.64%
Number of salaries quoted 10 18 51
10th Percentile £36,512 - £34,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £27,750 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £53,877 £46,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +15.86% -2.11% +14.23%
75th Percentile £81,222 £64,376 £64,011
90th Percentile £86,875 £76,500 £82,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £40,000 £46,500 £42,500
% change year-on-year -13.98% +9.41% +8.97%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

Postgraduate 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 19,999 18,688 20,956
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 30.06% 37.49% 28.40%
Number of salaries quoted 7,959 7,446 14,777
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £28,250
25th Percentile £36,750 £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 £76,250 £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%

Postgraduate
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Postgraduate job vacancy trend in the UK

Postgraduate
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Postgraduate.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Postgraduate

Postgraduate
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Postgraduate over the 6 months to 12 February 2026.

Salary histogram for Postgraduate in the UK

Postgraduate
Top 15 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Postgraduate within the UK over the 6 months to 12 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 +585 4,230 £53,877 +22.45% 27
UK excluding London +495 3,853 £40,000 -13.98% 27
North of England +253 1,620 £40,000 +54.70%
North West +190 1,479 £40,000 +54.70%
Midlands +213 1,231 - - 7
West Midlands +181 1,101 - - 4
South East +239 575 £40,000 +40.35% 7
London +296 395 £82,500 +62.56% 8
East of England +152 365 £53,754 - 3
East Midlands - 142 - - 3
Yorkshire - 141 - -
Wales - 33 - -
South West - 33 £28,543 - 5
Work from Home +38 9 £82,500 +20.63% 6
Channel Islands - 8 - -

Postgraduate
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 3 (0.070%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.023%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.023%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 4 (0.094%) Distributed Ledger
Cloud Services
1 4,044 (94.60%) Cloud Computing
2 8 (0.19%) ChatGPT
3 3 (0.070%) Microsoft Purview
4 2 (0.047%) Azure
5 1 (0.023%) Canva
5 1 (0.023%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 4,044 (94.60%) Internet
2 4 (0.094%) Firewall
2 4 (0.094%) Intrusion Detection
2 4 (0.094%) Network Security
3 1 (0.023%) DSL
3 1 (0.023%) NAS
Development Applications
1 2 (0.047%) JIRA
General
1 4,254 (99.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 4,061 (94.99%) Social Skills
3 4,044 (94.60%) Banking
4 213 (4.98%) Finance
5 14 (0.33%) Marketing
6 12 (0.28%) Analytical Skills
7 2 (0.047%) Back Office
7 2 (0.047%) Organisational Skills
7 2 (0.047%) Presentation Skills
8 1 (0.023%) Financial Institution
8 1 (0.023%) Influencing Skills
8 1 (0.023%) Local Government
8 1 (0.023%) Pharmaceutical
8 1 (0.023%) Public Sector
8 1 (0.023%) Retail
8 1 (0.023%) Social Housing
Job Titles
1 3,140 (73.45%) Lecturer
2 197 (4.61%) Facilities Engineer
2 197 (4.61%) Systems Engineer
3 4 (0.094%) Analyst
4 3 (0.070%) Information Analyst
4 3 (0.070%) Information Security Analyst
4 3 (0.070%) Lead
4 3 (0.070%) Records Manager
4 3 (0.070%) Security Analyst
4 3 (0.070%) Technical Analyst
4 3 (0.070%) Technical Security Analyst
5 2 (0.047%) Development Manager
5 2 (0.047%) Head of Digital
5 2 (0.047%) Senior
6 1 (0.023%) Business Development Manager
6 1 (0.023%) Data Analyst
6 1 (0.023%) Support Specialist
6 1 (0.023%) Support Technician
6 1 (0.023%) Systems Development Manager
6 1 (0.023%) Systems Manager
Miscellaneous
1 4,044 (94.60%) IoT
2 12 (0.28%) Management Information System
3 4 (0.094%) Algorithms
3 4 (0.094%) Blockchain
3 4 (0.094%) Data Structures
4 3 (0.070%) Data Protection Act
5 1 (0.023%) Educational Technology
5 1 (0.023%) Self-Motivation
5 1 (0.023%) Smart Meter
5 1 (0.023%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.047%) Windows
2 1 (0.023%) Linux
2 1 (0.023%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 4,049 (94.71%) AI
2 4,048 (94.69%) Machine Learning
3 4,046 (94.64%) User Experience
4 4,045 (94.62%) Cybersecurity
5 4,044 (94.60%) Web Development
6 203 (4.75%) Mentoring
7 197 (4.61%) Inventory Management
7 197 (4.61%) Preventative Maintenance
8 11 (0.26%) Computer Science
8 11 (0.26%) Project Management
8 11 (0.26%) Psychology
8 11 (0.26%) Strategic Planning
9 10 (0.23%) Line Management
10 9 (0.21%) Problem-Solving
11 7 (0.16%) Data Protection
12 6 (0.14%) Coaching
12 6 (0.14%) Continuous Improvement
12 6 (0.14%) ITIL
13 5 (0.12%) Information Security
13 5 (0.12%) Kalman Filter
Programming Languages
1 1 (0.023%) SQL
Qualifications
1 4,072 (95.25%) Degree
2 4,057 (94.90%) Master's Degree
3 4,049 (94.71%) PhD
4 197 (4.61%) City & Guilds
4 197 (4.61%) NVQ Level 3
5 4 (0.094%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (0.070%) CCNA
6 3 (0.070%) Cisco Certification
6 3 (0.070%) CompTIA CySA+
6 3 (0.070%) GCIH
6 3 (0.070%) GIAC
7 2 (0.047%) DBS Check
7 2 (0.047%) MBA
8 1 (0.023%) CISSP
8 1 (0.023%) CompTIA Security+
8 1 (0.023%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 197 (4.61%) COSHH
2 7 (0.16%) GDPR
3 3 (0.070%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (0.070%) ITGC
3 3 (0.070%) NIST
4 1 (0.023%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.023%) QA
Systems Management
1 3 (0.070%) ArcSight ESM
1 3 (0.070%) QRadar
Vendors
1 7 (0.16%) Microsoft
2 3 (0.070%) ArcSight
2 3 (0.070%) LogLogic
2 3 (0.070%) McAfee
2 3 (0.070%) Splunk
3 2 (0.047%) ServiceNow
4 1 (0.023%) Databricks
4 1 (0.023%) Google