jobfacts

IT technicians

SOC 2020 3131

IT technicians are responsible for the day-to-day running of IT systems and networks including the preparation of back-up systems, and for performing regular checks to ensure the smooth functioning of such systems.

Also calledComputer games testerGames testerQuality assurance testerVideo games testerSystems officerSystem administratorand 57 more titles
Typical full-time pay£35,3002025 Provisional
People in the job86,000across the UK
Demand for workersCritical
New adverts a month3,600↑ 6.2%on last year · 44th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time IT technicians earn between £29,300 and £44,400 a year.

What full-time IT technicians earn, 2025
£35,300 typical£25,600lowest 10%£47,700top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£29,300–£44,400)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£25,600
Lowest 20% earn less than£28,000
25%£29,300
Median£35,300
75%£44,400
Top 20% earn more than£47,700
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £35,300
North West!£39,100
London£37,600
West Midlands!£37,400
Scotland!£35,800
South East!£34,300
East Midlands!£33,400
South West!£32,500
North East!£32,500
East of England!£32,300
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £35,300
North West£39,100 (small sample)
London£37,600
West Midlands£37,400 (small sample)
Scotland£35,800 (small sample)
South East£34,300 (small sample)
East Midlands£33,400 (small sample)
South West£32,500 (small sample)
North East£32,500 (small sample)
East of England£32,300 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £32,000
  • 2024 £35,400
  • 2025 Provisional£35,300
↑ 10% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 3,600 jobs for IT technicians are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as critical.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20264,013
Jul 20264,012
Jun 2026Not published
May 20263,681
Apr 20263,349
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20262,993
Jan 20263,687
Dec 20252,080
Nov 20254,140
Oct 20253,995
Sept 20254,075
Aug 20253,678
Jul 20254,071
Jun 20254,054
May 20254,257
Apr 20253,088
Mar 20253,534
Feb 20253,600
Jan 20253,345
Dec 20242,089
Nov 20243,033
Oct 20243,334
Sept 20243,438
Aug 20243,353
Jul 20243,734
Jun 20243,595
May 20243,942
Apr 20243,827
Mar 20243,530
Feb 20243,407
Jan 20244,218
Dec 20233,410
Nov 20233,218
Oct 20233,494
Sept 20233,258
Aug 20234,048
Jul 20234,085
Jun 20235,851
May 20235,407
Apr 20234,586
Mar 20235,416
Feb 20235,482
Jan 20236,194
Dec 20225,474
Nov 20226,759
Oct 20226,972
Sept 20226,563
Aug 20227,095
Jul 20227,018
Jun 20226,497
May 20227,805
Apr 20226,067
Mar 20227,238
Feb 20226,655
Jan 20227,461
Dec 20216,020
Nov 20216,562
Oct 20216,508
Sept 20216,303
Aug 20215,544
Jul 20216,753
Jun 20215,688
May 20216,705
Apr 20215,323
Mar 20216,552
Feb 20213,787
Jan 20214,073
Dec 20203,863
Nov 20203,511
Oct 20204,059
Sept 20203,728
Aug 20203,207
Jul 20203,229
Jun 20203,057
May 20202,551
Apr 20203,886
Mar 20205,597
Feb 20206,681
Jan 20206,098
Dec 20194,418
Nov 20195,923
Oct 20196,093
Sept 20195,861
Aug 20195,503
Jul 20197,282
Jun 20197,344
May 20196,693
Apr 20194,398
Mar 20195,214
Feb 20194,976
Jan 20195,480
Dec 20183,578
Nov 20185,124
Oct 20185,352
Sept 20185,492
Aug 20185,051
Jul 20184,943
Jun 20185,241
May 20185,214
Apr 20184,737
Mar 20185,384
Feb 20184,834
Jan 20185,245
Dec 20173,686
Nov 20174,716
Oct 20175,024
Sept 20174,490
Aug 20174,860
Jul 20174,532
Jun 20175,264
May 20175,230
Apr 20175,134
Mar 20175,886
Feb 20175,081
Jan 20175,846
Is there a shortage of IT technicians?
Critical

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was elevated.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
13%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for information technology technicians, which includes IT technicians. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,228
Manchester350
Birmingham298
Bristol, City of243
Leeds219
Glasgow City157
Nottingham152
Liverpool146
Newcastle upon Tyne123
Sheffield107
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where IT technicians are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 33 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, Pakistan, United States, ranking it 160th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of IT technicians
9.2%!
40%!
24%!
18%!
9.6%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–249.2% (small sample)
25–3440% (small sample)
35–4424% (small sample)
45–5418% (small sample)
55–649.6% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent58%
Higher education below degree!5.8%
A levels or equivalent23%
GCSEs or equivalent!8%
Other qualifications!5.7%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent58%
Higher education below degree5.8% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent23%
GCSEs or equivalent8% (small sample)
Other qualifications5.7% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: computer consultancy activities (14%), computer programming activities (5.1%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (4.7%), general public administration activities (4.5%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
58%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
3
from level 3
Apprenticeships take
18 months
typically
T Levels
2
college courses for 16 to 19 year olds

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

University

You could do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in:

  • games design
  • computing
  • programming
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

College

You could take a college course, which may help you to find a job as a junior tester.

Courses include:

  • computing
  • creative media
  • T Level in Digital Software Development
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Software Tester Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship.

This usually takes around 2 years to complete as a mix of learning on the job and study.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Apply directly

You could contact games companies about part-time or short-term work experience opportunities.

You'll need good technical and problem solving skills and an in-depth understanding of different game platforms and quality assurance processes.

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

Some game companies release test versions of games for the public to try and to report back on.

You might also go to gaming events where you could:

  • talk to people who work in the industry
  • get advice about finding jobs or training

You can also search for games companies and educational institutions, offering courses in digital gaming, on the UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) games map.

Further information

You can get details about careers in gaming from ScreenSkills and Into Games.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for computer games tester. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

3 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
Hardware, network and infrastructure foundation apprenticeshipFoundation apprenticeship2
Software and data foundation apprenticeshipFoundation apprenticeship2
Digital Support and SecurityT Level3
Digital Software DevelopmentT Level3

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • administers, monitors and supports internal/external networks, servers, email and security systems
  • configures and sets up new server systems
  • schedules and performs system maintenance tasks, such as loading user applications, programs and data
  • analyses systems and makes recommendations to improve performance
  • identifies problems, agrees remedial action and undertakes emergency maintenance if required
  • performs server backup and recovery operations and restarts systems following outages
  • acts as a liaison between users, outside suppliers, and other technical teams

Skills

  • administer ICT system
  • analyse ICT system
  • balance database resources
  • develop contingency plans for emergencies
  • keep up with the latest information systems solutions
  • maintain database performance
  • maintain database security
  • maintain ICT server
  • manage database
  • migrate existing data
  • monitor system performance
  • provide technical documentation
  • control of expenses
  • create solutions to problems

Knowledge

  • database management systems
  • query languages
  • resource description framework query language
  • business ICT systems
  • CA Datacom/DB
  • database development tools
  • data models
  • data storage

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for science, engineering and technology associate professionals, a group of 11 jobs that includes IT technicians.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 4.9%about 34,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 2035228,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

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