Which certificates UK job adverts mention, job by job
We read 1,787 UK job adverts from July 2026 for 36 kinds of licence, qualification, course, certificate and check. What each job's adverts name, and how often the employer offers to pay.
Anthony Clasper
Founder, Sausage Dog. UK job advert researcher
Last updated 23 October 2026
Short answer
Two in three adverts named no licence, qualification, course or certificate at all. When one does appear it usually belongs to the job: NMC registration in three quarters of nurse adverts, accountancy qualifications in finance, a forklift licence in warehouse work. One advert in 1,787 listed a free online certificate, and only as desirable.
The story behind these numbers: free online certificates in UK job adverts.
1,787
UK adverts read, July 2026
715
employers
67.3%
name no licence, qualification, course or certificate
1
lists a free online certificate, as desirable
Job by job
16 jobs had at least 30 adverts from at least 15 employers. Each card lists every credential named in at least 3 of that job's adverts. The first figure on each card leaves out the DBS check, a background check the employer runs on you.
Health and care
Care and support worker
116 adverts, 45 employers
55.2%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- DBS check64.7% (75)
- Driving licence34.5% (40)
- NVQ, QCF or RQF diploma20.7% (24)
- Manual handling13.8% (16)
- Medication training8.6% (10)
- Care Certificate5.2% (6)
- Safeguarding training3.4% (4)
Registered nurse
33 adverts, 19 employers
78.8%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- NMC registration75.8% (25)
- DBS check36.4% (12)
- First aid12.1% (4)
- Medication training9.1% (3)
Schools and childcare
Too few employers in this pull to report: nursery and early years (31 adverts, 12 employers), teacher (18 adverts, 6 employers), teaching assistant (18 adverts, 6 employers). Two supply agencies, Reeson Education and Academics, placed 20 of the 36 teacher and teaching assistant adverts. Our study of 541 teaching assistant adverts comes from a different job board, so its figures are not combined with these.
Warehouse, retail and cleaning
Warehouse operative
87 adverts, 51 employers
62.1%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Forklift licence44.8% (39)
- Manual handling26.4% (23)
- Driving licence11.5% (10)
- DBS check5.7% (5)
Retail and sales assistant
52 adverts, 20 employers
15.4%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Driving licence11.5% (6)
- Manual handling5.8% (3)
Cleaner
89 adverts, 55 employers
22.5%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- DBS check27.0% (24)
- Driving licence18.0% (16)
- Manual handling3.4% (3)
Office and customer service
Administrator
144 adverts, 94 employers
18.8%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- DBS check11.8% (17)
- GCSE English and maths9.0% (13)
- Insurance (CII)4.2% (6)
- Driving licence2.8% (4)
- A-levels, BTEC, HND or HNC2.1% (3)
- Accountancy (AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACA)2.1% (3)
Receptionist
122 adverts, 78 employers
9.8%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- DBS check13.1% (16)
- First aid4.1% (5)
- GCSE English and maths2.5% (3)
Customer service adviser
60 adverts, 40 employers
13.3%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Driving licence10.0% (6)
- DBS check10.0% (6)
- GCSE English and maths5.0% (3)
Finance, tech and data
Accounts and finance
51 adverts, 34 employers
74.5%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Accountancy (AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACA)72.5% (37)
- Driving licence5.9% (3)
Software developer
60 adverts, 45 employers
20.0%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- A degree11.7% (7)
AI and data
80 adverts, 51 employers
22.5%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- A degree12.5% (10)
- Cloud certification (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)5.0% (4)
Management, sales and marketing
Project manager
60 adverts, 45 employers
33.3%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- PRINCE220.0% (12)
- Driving licence11.7% (7)
- PMP or APM11.7% (7)
- DBS check10.0% (6)
- A degree5.0% (3)
Product manager
64 adverts, 48 employers
10.9%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Driving licence4.7% (3)
- A degree4.7% (3)
Operations manager
36 adverts, 28 employers
38.9%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Driving licence11.1% (4)
- Health and safety (IOSH, NEBOSH)11.1% (4)
- Forklift licence8.3% (3)
Sales manager and business development
154 adverts, 105 employers
31.2%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- Driving licence27.9% (43)
Marketing
56 adverts, 46 employers
23.2%name at least one licence, qualification, course or certificate
- A degree10.7% (6)
Paid for, or not essential
A mention is not a demand. For four common credentials we also counted adverts whose wording, right next to the mention, says the employer pays, trains you, or only prefers it. These are lower bounds: the same point made further down the page is missed.
| Credential | The wording says | Adverts |
|---|---|---|
| DBS check | employer pays or it is free | 70 of 224 (31%) |
| NVQ, QCF or RQF diploma | you can work towards it, the employer funds it, or it is only preferred | 23 of 45 (51%) |
| Forklift licence | not essential, or training is offered | 22 of 52 (42%) |
| First aid | training offered or paid, or only preferred | 18 of 32 (56%) |
The software, not the certificate
Courses like these teach a piece of software, or a skill built on one, so we counted the software too, in the four jobs those courses are sold for. In all four, the tool is named in more adverts than any certificate for it.
Marketing
56 adverts
- Google Ads or PPC21.4% (12)
- HubSpot16.1% (9)
- Google Analytics14.3% (8)
- Excel10.7% (6)
AI and data
80 adverts
- Python70.0% (56)
- AWS or Azure55.0% (44)
- SQL31.2% (25)
Software developer
60 adverts
- AWS or Azure46.7% (28)
- SQL33.3% (20)
- Python28.3% (17)
Administrator
144 adverts
- Excel31.9% (46)
Across all 1,787 adverts
Every credential on our list that at least one advert named, including the jobs too small to report on their own. Free online certificates covers 4 adverts: three offering LinkedIn Learning to staff, and one listing a HubSpot certification as desirable.
| Credential | Type | Adverts | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBS check | Background check | 224 | 12.5% |
| Driving licence | Licence or card | 212 | 11.9% |
| A degree | Qualification | 76 | 4.3% |
| Accountancy (AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACA) | Qualification | 55 | 3.1% |
| Forklift licence | Licence or card | 52 | 2.9% |
| Manual handling | Short course | 49 | 2.7% |
| NVQ, QCF or RQF diploma | Qualification | 45 | 2.5% |
| GCSE English and maths | Qualification | 32 | 1.8% |
| First aid | Short course | 32 | 1.8% |
| NMC registration | Professional registration | 28 | 1.6% |
| PRINCE2 | Industry certification | 17 | 1.0% |
| A-levels, BTEC, HND or HNC | Qualification | 15 | 0.8% |
| CSCS card | Licence or card | 14 | 0.8% |
| CeMAP (mortgage advice) | Qualification | 13 | 0.7% |
| Early years qualification | Qualification | 13 | 0.7% |
| Health and safety (IOSH, NEBOSH) | Short course | 13 | 0.7% |
| Medication training | Short course | 13 | 0.7% |
| PMP or APM | Industry certification | 10 | 0.6% |
| Insurance (CII) | Qualification | 8 | 0.4% |
| QTS (qualified teacher status) | Professional registration | 7 | 0.4% |
| Safeguarding training | Short course | 7 | 0.4% |
| ITIL | Industry certification | 7 | 0.4% |
| Cloud certification (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) | Industry certification | 7 | 0.4% |
| Care Certificate | Qualification | 6 | 0.3% |
| HGV licence or transport CPC | Licence or card | 5 | 0.3% |
| CIPD | Qualification | 5 | 0.3% |
| Food hygiene | Short course | 5 | 0.3% |
| Security certification (CISSP, CISM, CompTIA) | Industry certification | 4 | 0.2% |
| Free online certificates (Google, HubSpot, Coursera and similar) | Free online certificate | 4 | 0.2% |
| Social Work England or HCPC | Professional registration | 2 | 0.1% |
| Teaching assistant qualification | Qualification | 2 | 0.1% |
| CIM (marketing) | Qualification | 2 | 0.1% |
| Agile or Scrum certification | Industry certification | 2 | 0.1% |
| SIA licence | Licence or card | 1 | 0.1% |
| Six Sigma or Lean | Industry certification | 1 | 0.1% |
Jobs we could not report
- Customer success manager: 29 adverts from 24 employers.
- Mortgage adviser: 40 adverts, but 33 of them were one advert from Connells Group, posted under 13 of its estate agency brand names. Counted as one employer, that leaves 12 adverts from 3 employers.
- Nursery and early years: 31 adverts from 12 employers.
- 415 adverts had titles that matched none of our job rules. They count in the figures for all adverts, not in any job.
- Teacher: 18 adverts from 6 employers.
- Teaching assistant: 18 adverts from 6 employers.
How we counted
The adverts come from the Reed jobs API, which returns each advert's full text. Two pulls were collected on 17 July 2026 and 28 July 2026. We used one board only, so no figure mixes boards. Each advert was placed in a job by its own title, using the rules listed below, because Reed's search results are loose: a search for nurses returns nursery nurses.
The pulls held 3,015 rows and 2,979 distinct adverts. Reposts of the same advert (same employer, same title and the same opening 400 characters) were counted once, leaving 2,547. 16 jobs outside the UK were dropped. Where different employer names posted the same advert text, they count as one employer: that joined 3 sets of names, the largest holding 16. Then no employer could supply more than 5 adverts to one job, which removed 744 and left 1,787.
A credential counts when its phrase appears anywhere in the title or text. Acronyms match only in capitals, so AAT is counted and a stray "aat" is not. The patterns are published below. The first figure on each job card covers every credential on the list except the DBS check, which is counted on its own.
Limits. One board, one month. Reed lists more agency and office adverts than NHS Jobs or a school's own site, so health and teaching are thinner here than in real life. A phrase list misses credentials it does not name, and cannot tell essential from desirable. Adverts show what employers write, not who they hire, and a requirement can sit in a linked job description we did not read. See our editorial standards for how we check figures.
The phrase patternsâ–¾
Credentials
- Driving licence
\b(full|clean|valid|current)?\s*(uk\s+)?driving licen[cs]e\b|\bfull uk licen[cs]e\b - Forklift licence
\bfork\s?lift\b|\bcounterbalance\b|\breach truck\b|\bFLT\b|\bRTITB\b|\bITSSAR\b - SIA licence (case-sensitive)
\bSIA\b - CSCS card (case-sensitive)
\bCSCS\b - HGV licence or transport CPC
\bHGV\b|\bLGV\b|\bC\+E\b|\bclass [12] (licen[cs]e|driver)\b|\bdriver CPC\b|\btransport manager'?s? CPC\b|\bCPC (in|national|international)\b|\b(national|international) CPC\b - NMC registration
\bNMC\b|\bnursing and midwifery council\b - QTS (qualified teacher status)
\bQTS\b|\bQTLS\b|\bqualified teacher status\b - Social Work England or HCPC
\bHCPC\b|\bsocial work england\b - Care Certificate
\bcare certificate\b - NVQ, QCF or RQF diploma
\b(NVQ|QCF|RQF)\b|\bdiploma in (adult )?(health and social care|care)\b - CeMAP (mortgage advice)
\bCeMAP\b|\bcertificate in mortgage advice\b - Early years qualification
\blevel [236] (in |diploma in )?(early years|childcare|children's care)\b|\bearly years educator\b|\bfull and relevant\b|\bNNEB\b|\bEYTS\b - Teaching assistant qualification
\blevel [23] (teaching assistant|certificate in supporting teaching|supporting teaching|award in supporting teaching)\b|\bCACHE\b|\bteaching assistant (qualification|certificate|diploma)\b - GCSE English and maths
\bGCSEs?\b[^.\n]{0,80}\b(english|maths|mathematics)\b|\b(english|maths|mathematics)\b[^.\n]{0,40}\bGCSEs?\b - A degree
\b(a|an|your|relevant|bachelor'?s|undergraduate|university|honours|related|2:1|2\.1)\s+degree\b|\bdegree (in|level|educated|qualified)\b|\bBSc\b|\bMSc\b|\bPhD\b - A-levels, BTEC, HND or HNC (case-sensitive)
\bA[- ]levels\b|\bA-level\b|\bA level (results|grades?|standard|or equivalent)\b|\bBTEC\b|\bHN[CD]s?\b - Accountancy (AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACA) (case-sensitive)
\b(AAT|ACCA|CIMA|ACA)\b - Insurance (CII) (case-sensitive)
\bCII\b|\bChartered Insurance Institute\b - CIPD (case-sensitive)
\bCIPD\b - CIM (marketing) (case-sensitive)
\bCIM\b|\bchartered institute of marketing\b - First aid
\bfirst[- ]aid\b - Food hygiene
\bfood (hygiene|safety) (certificate|level|qualification|training)|\blevel [12] food (hygiene|safety)\b - Manual handling
\bmanual handling\b|\bmoving and handling\b - Health and safety (IOSH, NEBOSH) (case-sensitive)
\bIOSH\b|\bNEBOSH\b - Safeguarding training
\bsafeguarding (training|certificate|course|qualification|level [123])\b|\blevel [123] safeguarding\b - Medication training
\bmedication (training|administration|competenc\w*)\b - PRINCE2
\bPRINCE\s?2\b - PMP or APM (case-sensitive)
\bPMP\b|\bAPM (PFQ|PMQ|PPQ|qualification|certif\w*)\b|\bassociation for project management\b - Agile or Scrum certification (case-sensitive)
\b(CSM|PSM|SAFe)\b|\bcertified scrum\b|\bscrum (master )?certif\w*\b - ITIL (case-sensitive)
\bITIL\b - Cloud certification (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
\bAWS[- ]certif\w*|\bAWS certified\b|\b(azure|microsoft) certif\w*|\b(AZ|DP|AI)-\d{3}\b|\bgoogle cloud certif\w*|\bGCP certif\w* - Security certification (CISSP, CISM, CompTIA) (case-sensitive)
\b(CISSP|CISM|CEH|OSCP|CompTIA)\b - Six Sigma or Lean
\bsix sigma\b|\b(green|black|yellow) belt\b|\blean (certif\w*|practitioner)\b - Salesforce certification
\bsalesforce (certif\w*|administrator certif\w*)\b|\bcertified salesforce\b - Free online certificates (Google, HubSpot, Coursera and similar)
\bgoogle (?!cloud)[^.\n]{0,30}\bcertif\w*|\bgoogle digital garage\b|\bhubspot\b[^.\n]{0,20}\b(academy|certif\w*)|\bcoursera\b|\bedX\b|\blinkedin learning\b|\budemy\b|\bfuturelearn\b|\bmicrosoft learn\b|\bskillsbuild\b|\bskills bootcamp\b|\btrailhead\b|\bmeta blueprint\b|\bsemrush academy\b|\bopenlearn\b|\bcodecademy\b|\bfreecodecamp\b|\belements of AI\b - DBS check (case-sensitive)
\bDBS\b|\bdisclosure and barring\b|\bcriminal record check\b|\bPVG\b
Paid for or not essential
- DBS check
\b(paid|free|funded|company[- ]paid|complimentary)\s+(enhanced\s+|initial\s+|standard\s+)?(DBS|PVG)\b|\b(DBS|PVG)\b[^.\n]{0,60}\b(paid for|covered|cost covered|at no cost|free of charge|reimbursed|met by|we will (cover|pay)|(we|company) (cover|pay)s?|paid by (us|the company))\b|\bcost of (the |your )?(enhanced )?(DBS|PVG)[^.\n]{0,40}\b(covered|met|paid)\b - NVQ, QCF or RQF diploma
(work(ing)? towards|enrol|fund|pay for|opportunity to (complete|gain|achieve|work)|support you to|we will support|willing to (complete|work towards)|committed to completing|preferred|desirable|not essential) - Forklift licence
(not essential|desirable|advantageous|an advantage|preferred|training (is |will be )?provided|we will train|willing(ness)? to (go through|obtain|train|complete|learn)|full training) - First aid
(training provided|we will (train|provide)|paid|free|funded|desirable|not essential|preferred)
Software
- HubSpot
\bhubspot\b - Google Ads or PPC
(?i:\bgoogle ads\b)|\bPPC\b - Google Analytics
(?i:\bgoogle analytics\b)|\bGA4\b - Excel
\bExcel\b(?!\s+(in|at|as)\b) - SQL
\bSQL\b - Python
\bPython\b - AWS or Azure
\bAWS\b|\bAzure\b
Job rules, by advert title (first match wins)
- Nursery and early years
\bnursery\b|\bearly years\b|\broom leader\b|\bchildcare\b|\bnanny\b - Teaching assistant
\bteaching assistant|\blearning support|\bLSA\b|\bSEN\b.*\bassistant|\bclassroom assistant|\bcover supervisor - Teacher
\bteachers?\b|\btutor\b|\blecturer\b - Registered nurse
\bnurses?\b|\bRGN\b|\bRMN\b|\bRNLD\b - Care and support worker
\bcare (worker|assistant|support worker)|\bcarers?\b|\bsupport worker|\bhealth ?care assistant|\bHCA\b - Receptionist
\breceptionist|\bfront of house|\bfront desk - Administrator
\badministrat(or|ion)|\badmin\b|\boffice (assistant|administrator)|\bdata entry - Cleaner
\bclean(er|ers|ing)\b|\bhousekeep|\bdomestic assistant - Warehouse operative
\bwarehouse|\bforklift|\breach truck|\bpicker|\bpacker|\bFLT\b - Retail and sales assistant
\b(retail|sales|store|shop) (sales )?(assistant|colleague|advisor|adviser|associate)s?\b|\bretail supervisor - Mortgage adviser
\bmortgage (advisor|adviser|consultant) - Customer service adviser
\bcustomer (service|support|care|experience|services)?\s*(advisor|adviser|agent|executive|representative|specialist)s?\b|\bcall (centre|center)|\bcontact (centre|center) - Customer success manager
\bcustomer success - Accounts and finance
\baccounts\b(?! manager| executive| director)|\baccountan(t|cy)|\bfinance (manager|assistant|officer|analyst)|\baudit\b|\bbookkeep|\bpayroll\b - AI and data
\bai (engineer|developer|programmer|architect|specialist)|\bdata (scientist|engineer|analyst)|\bmachine learning - Software developer
\bsoftware (developer|engineer)|\b(full ?stack|front ?end|back ?end|web|\.net|java|python) (developer|engineer)|\bdevops|\bdeveloper\b - Product manager
\bproduct (manager|owner) - Project manager
\bproject manager|\bprogramme manager - Operations manager
\boperations (manager|director|supervisor|controller|lead) - Marketing
\bmarketing\b - Sales manager and business development
\b(sales|business development|bd|branch) (manager|director|lead|executive)|\bhead of sales|\baccount (manager|executive|director)|\bnew business
Questions
Do UK employers ask for free online certificates?
Almost never in the advert. Of 1,787 UK adverts from July 2026, one listed a free online certificate, a HubSpot certification in a marketing role, and only as desirable. Three more offered LinkedIn Learning to staff as a perk. The software these courses teach is named in more adverts: HubSpot itself appears in 9 of 56 marketing adverts.
Which certificate do UK job adverts mention most?
A DBS check and a driving licence, each in about one advert in eight across all jobs. Beyond those two, the credential that appears belongs to the job: NMC registration for nurses, a forklift licence in warehouse work, accountancy qualifications in finance and PRINCE2 for project managers.
Will an employer pay for my DBS check?
In at least 31% of the adverts that mention a DBS check, the wording says the employer pays or that it is free. The real share is higher, because we only counted wording close to the mention.
Is this a list of what employers require?
No. These are mentions in the advert text. An advert naming a licence may be offering to pay for it, and a requirement can sit in a separate job description or person specification that the advert links to.
Cite this page
Free to use with attribution to Sausage Dog. For a breakdown we have not published, email hello@sausagedog.io.
Sausage Dog, "Which certificates UK job adverts mention, job by job", 2026. 1,787 UK job adverts from the Reed jobs API, collected 17 July 2026 and 28 July 2026. https://sausagedog.io/certificates-by-job
Sausage Dog reads the advert you are applying for and rewrites your CV in its words. Your employers, dates and qualifications stay as they are.
Tailor my CV to an advert