SC Cleared Contract Job Trends in Berkshire

Security Check (SC) Clearance
South East > Berkshire

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Berkshire with a requirement for SC Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 16 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 13 14
Rank change year-on-year +10 +1 -6
Contract jobs citing SC Cleared 427 148 203
As % of all contract jobs in Berkshire 26.29% 11.49% 10.28%
As % of the Qualifications category 60.74% 33.41% 22.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 326 84 134
10th Percentile £255 £301 £369
25th Percentile £322 £350 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £525 £605
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% -13.22% +3.24%
75th Percentile £534 £628 £650
90th Percentile £608 £663 £688
South East median daily rate £500 £535 £550
% change year-on-year -6.54% -2.73% +0.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 10 18
10th Percentile £19.38 £24.04 £28.79
25th Percentile £35.16 £60.78 £52.37
Median hourly rate £80.00 £74.50 £59.48
Median % change year-on-year +7.38% +25.25% +6.33%
75th Percentile £96.25 £84.56 £63.29
90th Percentile £100.00 £87.02 £74.67
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £62.50 £60.00
% change year-on-year -59.76% +4.17% -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Berkshire

SC Cleared falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in Berkshire.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 703 443 900
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Berkshire 43.29% 34.39% 45.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 500 224 465
10th Percentile £255 £247 £205
25th Percentile £340 £381 £356
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £525 £513
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% +2.44% -7.45%
75th Percentile £538 £650 £616
90th Percentile £625 £685 £675
South East median daily rate £500 £525 £537
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.28% -0.28%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 28 76
10th Percentile £20.25 £41.25 £42.00
25th Percentile £27.63 £55.87 £52.72
Median hourly rate £75.00 £61.63 £61.60
Median % change year-on-year +21.70% +0.04% -4.99%
75th Percentile £95.00 £68.09 £70.81
90th Percentile £102.40 £86.08 £85.65
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £56.75 £59.00
% change year-on-year -55.68% -3.82% +31.11%

SC Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in Berkshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SC Cleared relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Berkshire.

SC Cleared job vacancy trend in Berkshire

SC Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in Berkshire

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SC Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SC Cleared

SC Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in Berkshire

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SC Cleared in Berkshire over the 6 months to 16 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SC Cleared in Berkshire

SC Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in Berkshire

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SC Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Berkshire citing SC Cleared

SC Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in Berkshire

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SC Cleared in Berkshire over the 6 months to 16 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SC Cleared in Berkshire

SC Cleared
Contract Job Locations in Berkshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SC Cleared within the Berkshire region over the 6 months to 16 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Reading +14 200 £500 -16.67% 44
Wokingham 0 180 £380 +8.57% 16
Bracknell +7 22 £550 - 6
Slough 0 1 - - 1
Maidenhead -2 1 - -
Thatcham - 1 - -
SC Cleared
South East

SC Cleared
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Berkshire 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:

Application Platforms
1 8 (1.87%) Microsoft Exchange
2 7 (1.64%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.17%) Confluence
4 1 (0.23%) Apache
4 1 (0.23%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 19 (4.45%) Microsoft Excel
1 19 (4.45%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (3.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.70%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.23%) CATIA
4 1 (0.23%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.23%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 7 (1.64%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.47%) SAP HCM
2 2 (0.47%) SAP PS
3 1 (0.23%) SAP WM
3 1 (0.23%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 124 (29.04%) Azure
2 101 (23.65%) AWS
3 50 (11.71%) GCP
4 27 (6.32%) Entra ID
5 17 (3.98%) OneDrive
6 14 (3.28%) OpenShift
7 13 (3.04%) Microsoft 365
8 10 (2.34%) Datadog
9 8 (1.87%) IaaS
9 8 (1.87%) Power Platform
10 7 (1.64%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (1.64%) Power Automate
11 5 (1.17%) Azure Sentinel
11 5 (1.17%) SaaS
12 4 (0.94%) AWS CloudFormation
12 4 (0.94%) PowerApps
13 3 (0.70%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 3 (0.70%) Azure Monitor
13 3 (0.70%) PaaS
13 3 (0.70%) Viva Engage
Communications & Networking
1 31 (7.26%) DNS
2 30 (7.03%) Firewall
3 26 (6.09%) Network Security
4 24 (5.62%) DHCP
5 21 (4.92%) Wireless
6 15 (3.51%) TCP/IP
7 12 (2.81%) VLAN
8 11 (2.58%) LAN
9 10 (2.34%) Unified Communications
9 10 (2.34%) Wi-Fi
10 9 (2.11%) 4G
11 8 (1.87%) FTP
11 8 (1.87%) WAN
11 8 (1.87%) WLAN
12 7 (1.64%) Intrusion Detection
12 7 (1.64%) Wireshark
13 6 (1.41%) VPN
14 5 (1.17%) BGP
14 5 (1.17%) Cisco Nexus
14 5 (1.17%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.41%) Power BI
2 5 (1.17%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.70%) SQL Server
4 2 (0.47%) SAP HANA
5 1 (0.23%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.23%) MySQL
5 1 (0.23%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.23%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 21 (4.92%) Burp Suite
1 21 (4.92%) Metasploit
2 11 (2.58%) Jenkins
2 11 (2.58%) JIRA
3 5 (1.17%) Subversion
4 3 (0.70%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.70%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.47%) Eclipse
5 2 (0.47%) HP UFT
5 2 (0.47%) Maven
5 2 (0.47%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.23%) Git
6 1 (0.23%) GitLab
6 1 (0.23%) NeoLoad
6 1 (0.23%) Rational DOORS
General
1 165 (38.64%) Social Skills
2 74 (17.33%) Analytical Skills
3 63 (14.75%) Public Sector
4 24 (5.62%) Documentation Skills
5 11 (2.58%) Aerospace
5 11 (2.58%) Finance
6 10 (2.34%) Telecoms
7 5 (1.17%) Influencing Skills
8 4 (0.94%) Legal
9 3 (0.70%) Marketing
9 3 (0.70%) Military
10 2 (0.47%) Advertising
10 2 (0.47%) Local Government
10 2 (0.47%) Manufacturing
10 2 (0.47%) Presentation Skills
11 1 (0.23%) Banking
11 1 (0.23%) Billing
11 1 (0.23%) Electronics
11 1 (0.23%) Law
11 1 (0.23%) Police
Job Titles
1 51 (11.94%) Consultant
2 33 (7.73%) Analyst
2 33 (7.73%) Lead
3 32 (7.49%) Network Consultant
4 30 (7.03%) Architect
5 29 (6.79%) Network Engineer
6 24 (5.62%) Senior
7 22 (5.15%) Penetration Tester
8 20 (4.68%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 20 (4.68%) Support Engineer
8 20 (4.68%) Tester
9 19 (4.45%) SIEM Engineer
10 17 (3.98%) Cisco Engineer
10 17 (3.98%) Cisco Network Engineer
11 15 (3.51%) Infrastructure Support
11 15 (3.51%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
12 14 (3.28%) Developer
12 14 (3.28%) Project Manager
13 13 (3.04%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 12 (2.81%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (3.75%) LDAP
2 9 (2.11%) Loki
3 5 (1.17%) Middleware
4 3 (0.70%) ARM Templates
4 3 (0.70%) Elastic Stack
5 2 (0.47%) OAuth
5 2 (0.47%) OAuth2
5 2 (0.47%) OpenID
5 2 (0.47%) Oracle GoldenGate
5 2 (0.47%) SAML
5 2 (0.47%) XML
6 1 (0.23%) 802.1X
6 1 (0.23%) LAMP
6 1 (0.23%) MERN Stack
6 1 (0.23%) RFC 2544
Miscellaneous
1 22 (5.15%) Data Centre
2 21 (4.92%) Onboarding
3 17 (3.98%) Cloud Native
4 15 (3.51%) Security Posture
5 13 (3.04%) Analytical Mindset
6 12 (2.81%) Cyber Security Posture
6 12 (2.81%) Management Information System
7 8 (1.87%) Virtual Team
8 7 (1.64%) Driving Licence
8 7 (1.64%) Enterprise Software
8 7 (1.64%) PMI
8 7 (1.64%) Self-Motivation
9 6 (1.41%) PKI
10 5 (1.17%) Distributed Systems
10 5 (1.17%) Handset
11 4 (0.94%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (0.94%) Greenfield Project
12 3 (0.70%) Enterprise Storage
12 3 (0.70%) Mobile App
12 3 (0.70%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 67 (15.69%) Windows
2 58 (13.58%) Linux
3 17 (3.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 13 (3.04%) Windows 10
5 12 (2.81%) Windows Server
6 7 (1.64%) Android
6 7 (1.64%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.47%) SUSE
7 2 (0.47%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
7 2 (0.47%) Unix
8 1 (0.23%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.23%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 86 (20.14%) Problem-Solving
2 70 (16.39%) ITIL
3 66 (15.46%) Cybersecurity
4 65 (15.22%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 58 (13.58%) CI/CD
6 54 (12.65%) Roadmaps
7 52 (12.18%) Migration
8 51 (11.94%) Service Management
9 48 (11.24%) Continuous Improvement
10 45 (10.54%) Collaborative Working
11 41 (9.60%) DevOps
12 40 (9.37%) Change Management
12 40 (9.37%) SIEM
13 39 (9.13%) ITSM
14 36 (8.43%) DevSecOps
15 35 (8.20%) Stakeholder Management
16 31 (7.26%) Agile
17 28 (6.56%) Infrastructure Engineering
18 26 (6.09%) Performance Metrics
19 23 (5.39%) Penetration Testing
Programming Languages
1 78 (18.27%) Python
2 58 (13.58%) PowerShell
3 28 (6.56%) Bash
4 16 (3.75%) Kusto Query Language
5 8 (1.87%) Java
6 6 (1.41%) SQL
7 5 (1.17%) Bicep
8 4 (0.94%) Go
9 3 (0.70%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.47%) Ada
10 2 (0.47%) Assembly Language
10 2 (0.47%) C
10 2 (0.47%) C#
10 2 (0.47%) Korn
10 2 (0.47%) MATLAB
10 2 (0.47%) VBScript
11 1 (0.23%) JavaScript
11 1 (0.23%) Perl
11 1 (0.23%) PHP
Qualifications
1 427 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 36 (8.43%) CISSP
3 31 (7.26%) Degree
4 21 (4.92%) CEH
5 20 (4.68%) Azure Certification
6 19 (4.45%) CISM
7 16 (3.75%) AWS Certification
8 14 (3.28%) CHECK Team Member
9 13 (3.04%) GIAC
9 13 (3.04%) Network+ Certification
10 12 (2.81%) CREST Certified
10 12 (2.81%) Cyber Scheme
10 12 (2.81%) PMP
11 11 (2.58%) DV Cleared
11 11 (2.58%) Microsoft Certification
12 10 (2.34%) PMI Certification
12 10 (2.34%) Postgraduate
13 9 (2.11%) CCNP
13 9 (2.11%) Cisco Certification
13 9 (2.11%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (9.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 31 (7.26%) GDPR
3 30 (7.03%) NIST
4 16 (3.75%) QA
5 15 (3.51%) PMO
6 14 (3.28%) PCI DSS
7 13 (3.04%) NCSC
8 4 (0.94%) NIST 800
9 3 (0.70%) Accessibility
10 2 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.47%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.47%) SLA
11 1 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
11 1 (0.23%) Data Quality
11 1 (0.23%) Def Stans
11 1 (0.23%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 56 (13.11%) Active Directory
2 34 (7.96%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (3.04%) vSphere
4 12 (2.81%) Docker
5 11 (2.58%) Hyper-V
6 5 (1.17%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.47%) Firmware
7 2 (0.47%) Oracle RAC
7 2 (0.47%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.23%) NFS
8 1 (0.23%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 32 (7.49%) Kubernetes
2 21 (4.92%) Nmap
3 16 (3.75%) Ansible
3 16 (3.75%) Terraform
4 14 (3.28%) Argo
4 14 (3.28%) Grafana
4 14 (3.28%) Prometheus
4 14 (3.28%) SCCM
5 13 (3.04%) Kibana
6 11 (2.58%) Microsoft Intune
7 9 (2.11%) Kustomize
8 8 (1.87%) Red Hat Satellite
9 5 (1.17%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.94%) Cisco CUCM
11 3 (0.70%) Nagios
11 3 (0.70%) NetBackup
11 3 (0.70%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.70%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 2 (0.47%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 2 (0.47%) QRadar
Vendors
1 71 (16.63%) Cisco
2 56 (13.11%) Microsoft
3 47 (11.01%) VMware
4 33 (7.73%) Aruba
4 33 (7.73%) ServiceNow
5 26 (6.09%) Google
6 21 (4.92%) Red Hat
7 20 (4.68%) CyberArk
8 19 (4.45%) Juniper
9 17 (3.98%) BeyondTrust
10 16 (3.75%) Tanium
11 14 (3.28%) Splunk
12 13 (3.04%) FireEye
12 13 (3.04%) SAP
13 11 (2.58%) Citrix
14 10 (2.34%) AppDynamics
14 10 (2.34%) Dynatrace
15 8 (1.87%) Workday
16 5 (1.17%) Atlassian
16 5 (1.17%) Pure Storage