The Datum Report

Occupation 9231 · Elementary occupations

Security guards and related occupations

Half of full-time security guards and related occupations in the UK earn more than £33,832 a year, and half earn less.

Security guards and related occupations protect merchandise, individuals, hotels, offices, factories, shops, public grounds and private estates from injury, theft or damage.

How people enter it

There are no formal academic entry requirements. For some vacancies a current and clean driving licence is required and entrants may have to pass a medical examination. Training is typically provided on-the-job. NVQs/SVQs covering various aspects of security guarding are available at level 2.

What the work involves

• walks or rides near person requiring protection, watches for suspicious occurrences and defends guarded person from attack
• monitors, patrols and deals with security difficulties in hotels, factories, offices and other premises, and public or private estates to prevent theft and unauthorised entry
• checks persons and vehicles entering and leaving premises, establishes their credentials and arranges for escorts for visitors
• provides entry security, checks tickets, manages queues, takes entry fees, and escorts people from the premises where necessary in a variety of public venues such as nightclubs, pubs and bars
• receives duty sheet, time-clock and keys for premises to be visited, checks locks, doors, windows, etc. and reports any suspicious circumstances to security headquarters
• calls in civil police and gives evidence in court where necessary
• ejects persons in illegal occupation of premises
• watches for illegal fishing or attempted smuggling
• patrols airport, checks passengers baggage, operates metal detectors and x-rays and assists in responding to emergency situations
• greets and organises people attending court cases, ensures necessary parties are present, calls defendants and witnesses, directs oath taking and keeps order in the courtroom

Also called

CCTV operator · Court usher · Door supervisor · Enforcement officer · Security guard · Security officer

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for security guards and related occupations, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 11 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Exam invigilators · School midday and crossing patrol occupations