Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) formerly Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies with a requirement for MCSA qualifications. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months to 3 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
3 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 704 812 898
Rank change year-on-year +108 +86 -259
Permanent jobs citing MCSA 202 181 335
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.20% 0.17% 0.21%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.74% 0.54% 0.80%
Number of salaries quoted 159 159 293
10th Percentile £26,750 £27,850 £27,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £32,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £43,227 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.94% - +12.50%
75th Percentile £55,000 £53,750 £56,300
90th Percentile £67,500 £65,000 £68,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £40,000 £41,750 £42,500
% change year-on-year -4.19% -1.76% +6.25%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

MCSA is in the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies with a requirement for academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 27,433 33,803 42,122
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 27.82% 32.57% 26.91%
Number of salaries quoted 17,326 15,201 19,033
10th Percentile £28,290 £31,250 £31,000
25th Percentile £38,500 £41,750 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,000 £59,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.24% +8.18% -
75th Percentile £71,000 £77,500 £73,750
90th Percentile £87,500 £95,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £51,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -1.96% +2.00% -

MCSA
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing MCSA as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Salary Trend

3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing MCSA.

Salary trend for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing MCSA over the 6 months to 3 May 2024.

Salary histogram for MCSA in the UK

MCSA
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing MCSA within the UK over the 6 months to 3 May 2024. 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 +113 195 £43,114 -0.03% 43
UK excluding London +32 137 £40,000 -4.19% 37
London +125 64 £47,000 -10.48% 6
South East +41 63 £39,000 +6.85% 6
North of England +55 32 £40,000 -23.81% 11
Yorkshire +94 21 £38,750 -20.92% 6
Midlands -7 18 £43,227 +15.27% 4
Work from Home +35 17 £43,227 +13.76% 7
West Midlands +11 12 £43,227 +64.67% 2
East of England +18 10 £42,500 -26.09% 13
North West -8 7 £47,000 -18.26% 5
South West -25 7 £33,000 -19.51% 1
East Midlands -20 6 £33,750 -25.00% 2
Scotland -64 5 £48,500 +14.12% 4
North East - 4 £29,500 - 1
Isle of Man - 2 £50,000 -

MCSA
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 66 (32.67%) Microsoft Exchange
2 36 (17.82%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.98%) IIS
4 1 (0.50%) Apache
4 1 (0.50%) Confluence
4 1 (0.50%) Drupal
4 1 (0.50%) WebSphere
Applications
1 38 (18.81%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.50%) AutoCAD
2 1 (0.50%) PTC Creo
2 1 (0.50%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 2 (0.99%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 115 (56.93%) Azure
2 78 (38.61%) Microsoft 365
3 41 (20.30%) Azure DevOps
4 40 (19.80%) IBM Cloud
5 27 (13.37%) AWS
6 20 (9.90%) Entra ID
7 15 (7.43%) Cloud Computing
8 8 (3.96%) Mimecast
9 6 (2.97%) OneDrive
9 6 (2.97%) Twilio
10 5 (2.48%) Azure Stack
10 5 (2.48%) GCP
11 4 (1.98%) Power Platform
12 3 (1.49%) IaaS
12 3 (1.49%) PaaS
13 2 (0.99%) Azure Data Factory
13 2 (0.99%) Azure Functions
13 2 (0.99%) Google Workspace
13 2 (0.99%) Serverless
13 2 (0.99%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 62 (30.69%) Firewall
2 45 (22.28%) DHCP
3 43 (21.29%) DNS
4 40 (19.80%) TCP/IP
5 39 (19.31%) VPN
6 28 (13.86%) SAN
6 28 (13.86%) VLAN
7 23 (11.39%) LAN
8 18 (8.91%) WAN
9 16 (7.92%) Wireless
10 15 (7.43%) Internet
11 12 (5.94%) VoIP
12 11 (5.45%) Network Security
12 11 (5.45%) SSL
13 7 (3.47%) NAS
13 7 (3.47%) WLAN
14 5 (2.48%) Intranet
14 5 (2.48%) Intrusion Detection
14 5 (2.48%) IPsec
15 4 (1.98%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (5.45%) SQL Server
2 4 (1.98%) Power BI
2 4 (1.98%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 3 (1.49%) SQL Server Analysis Services
3 3 (1.49%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 2 (0.99%) Azure SQL Database
4 2 (0.99%) Data Lake
4 2 (0.99%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.50%) Amazon RDS
5 1 (0.50%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.50%) Microsoft Analysis Services
5 1 (0.50%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.50%) MySQL
5 1 (0.50%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.50%) SAP HANA
5 1 (0.50%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 4 (1.98%) JIRA
2 2 (0.99%) Visual Studio
3 1 (0.50%) Atlassian Bamboo
3 1 (0.50%) Bitbucket
3 1 (0.50%) Chocolatey
3 1 (0.50%) Git
3 1 (0.50%) Jenkins
General
1 67 (33.17%) Social Skills
2 41 (20.30%) Public Sector
3 19 (9.41%) Finance
4 16 (7.92%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (6.44%) Billing
6 10 (4.95%) Organisational Skills
7 7 (3.47%) Telecoms
8 6 (2.97%) Automotive
8 6 (2.97%) Law
8 6 (2.97%) Legal
9 4 (1.98%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 4 (1.98%) Manufacturing
9 4 (1.98%) Police
9 4 (1.98%) Retail
10 3 (1.49%) Banking
11 2 (0.99%) Investment Banking
12 1 (0.50%) Documentation Skills
12 1 (0.50%) Influencing Skills
12 1 (0.50%) Marketing
12 1 (0.50%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 30 (14.85%) IT Support
2 24 (11.88%) Analyst
3 19 (9.41%) Support Engineer
4 14 (6.93%) 3rd Line Support
4 14 (6.93%) Architect
5 13 (6.44%) Infrastructure Architect
5 13 (6.44%) IT Engineer
6 12 (5.94%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 10 (4.95%) IT Support Engineer
7 10 (4.95%) Support Analyst
8 8 (3.96%) Administrator
8 8 (3.96%) IT Manager
8 8 (3.96%) Network Manager
8 8 (3.96%) Senior
8 8 (3.96%) Server Engineer
9 7 (3.47%) Consultant
9 7 (3.47%) Technology Support Analyst
10 6 (2.97%) Network Engineer
10 6 (2.97%) Network Security Engineer
10 6 (2.97%) Systems Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.49%) .NET
2 1 (0.50%) .NET Framework
2 1 (0.50%) AngularJS
2 1 (0.50%) ASP.NET
2 1 (0.50%) ASP.NET MVC
2 1 (0.50%) Elastic Stack
2 1 (0.50%) XML
2 1 (0.50%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 40 (19.80%) Blockchain
1 40 (19.80%) Distributed Systems
1 40 (19.80%) Hybrid Cloud
2 38 (18.81%) Data Centre
3 36 (17.82%) Replication
4 18 (8.91%) Management Information System
5 14 (6.93%) Public Cloud
6 11 (5.45%) Self-Motivation
7 7 (3.47%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (2.97%) Clustering
9 5 (2.48%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (1.98%) PKI
10 4 (1.98%) Private Cloud
11 3 (1.49%) CCTV
11 3 (1.49%) Driving Licence
11 3 (1.49%) Mobile Computing
11 3 (1.49%) Raspberry Pi
12 2 (0.99%) iPhone
12 2 (0.99%) Mainframe
12 2 (0.99%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 124 (61.39%) Windows
2 94 (46.53%) Windows Server
3 77 (38.12%) Linux
4 46 (22.77%) CentOS
5 43 (21.29%) Debian
6 40 (19.80%) Alpine Linux
7 30 (14.85%) Windows 10
8 23 (11.39%) Windows Server 2012
9 19 (9.41%) Windows Server 2016
10 18 (8.91%) Windows Server 2008
11 15 (7.43%) Ubuntu
12 13 (6.44%) SUSE
13 10 (4.95%) Windows Server 2019
14 8 (3.96%) Apple iOS
15 5 (2.48%) Android
16 3 (1.49%) Unix
16 3 (1.49%) Windows Vista
17 2 (0.99%) VMS
17 2 (0.99%) Windows 2000
17 2 (0.99%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 65 (32.18%) ITIL
2 47 (23.27%) Artificial Intelligence
2 47 (23.27%) Problem-Solving
3 42 (20.79%) CI/CD
3 42 (20.79%) Task Automation
4 41 (20.30%) DevOps
5 40 (19.80%) Co-Creation
5 40 (19.80%) Data Science
5 40 (19.80%) Functional Testing
5 40 (19.80%) Separation of Concerns
5 40 (19.80%) Technology Transformation
6 38 (18.81%) Cybersecurity
7 32 (15.84%) Customer Service
8 29 (14.36%) Kalman Filter
9 26 (12.87%) Disaster Recovery
10 22 (10.89%) Project Delivery
11 21 (10.40%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 19 (9.41%) Network Monitoring
13 17 (8.42%) ITSM
13 17 (8.42%) Proactive Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 45 (22.28%) PowerShell
2 31 (15.35%) SQL
3 4 (1.98%) C#
4 2 (0.99%) JavaScript
4 2 (0.99%) T-SQL
5 1 (0.50%) Bash
5 1 (0.50%) MATLAB
5 1 (0.50%) Python
5 1 (0.50%) Swift
Qualifications
1 202 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
2 128 (63.37%) MCSE
3 57 (28.22%) Degree
4 45 (22.28%) Azure Certification
5 34 (16.83%) CCNA
5 34 (16.83%) Cisco Certification
6 32 (15.84%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 22 (10.89%) MCP
8 15 (7.43%) Computer Science Degree
8 15 (7.43%) CREST Certified
9 12 (5.94%) A+ Certification
9 12 (5.94%) Network+ Certification
10 10 (4.95%) CompTIA Security+
11 9 (4.46%) CCNP
11 9 (4.46%) Security Cleared
12 8 (3.96%) SC Cleared
13 7 (3.47%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 5 (2.48%) CompTIA CySA+
14 5 (2.48%) GIAC
14 5 (2.48%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (4.46%) GDPR
2 8 (3.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 6 (2.97%) Cyber Essentials
4 5 (2.48%) NCSC
5 1 (0.50%) Data Quality
5 1 (0.50%) HIPAA
5 1 (0.50%) QA
5 1 (0.50%) SLA
System Software
1 106 (52.48%) Active Directory
2 65 (32.18%) VMware Infrastructure
3 40 (19.80%) Docker
4 27 (13.37%) vSphere
5 25 (12.38%) Hyper-V
6 13 (6.44%) vCloud
7 5 (2.48%) VMware ESXi
8 3 (1.49%) KVM
8 3 (1.49%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.50%) Microsoft Virtual Server
9 1 (0.50%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.50%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.50%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 42 (20.79%) Terraform
2 40 (19.80%) Kubernetes
3 18 (8.91%) SCCM
4 14 (6.93%) Microsoft Intune
5 8 (3.96%) SCOM
6 5 (2.48%) FortiGate
7 4 (1.98%) WSUS
8 3 (1.49%) Failover Clustering
9 2 (0.99%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 2 (0.99%) Ansible
10 1 (0.50%) Nessus
10 1 (0.50%) PowerCLI
10 1 (0.50%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.50%) Puppet
10 1 (0.50%) Single Sign-On
10 1 (0.50%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 120 (59.41%) Microsoft
2 75 (37.13%) VMware
3 48 (23.76%) Red Hat
4 44 (21.78%) Cisco
5 41 (20.30%) IBM
6 25 (12.38%) HP
7 21 (10.40%) Veeam
8 15 (7.43%) Bloomberg
8 15 (7.43%) FactSet
8 15 (7.43%) MobileIron
8 15 (7.43%) Refinitiv
9 13 (6.44%) Fujitsu
10 10 (4.95%) Apple
10 10 (4.95%) Citrix
10 10 (4.95%) Draytek
11 8 (3.96%) Dell
11 8 (3.96%) Google
12 7 (3.47%) Palo Alto
13 6 (2.97%) Meraki
13 6 (2.97%) SolarWinds