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 11 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 4 4 12
Rank change year-on-year 0 +8 +1
Contract jobs citing SC Cleared 247 281 193
As % of all contract jobs in Berkshire 18.56% 17.74% 10.70%
As % of the Qualifications category 48.91% 44.67% 24.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 207 187 114
10th Percentile £230 £313 £352
25th Percentile £354 £413 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £583 £575
Median % change year-on-year -15.61% +1.39% +4.55%
75th Percentile £538 £654 £624
90th Percentile £588 £726 £663
South East median daily rate £500 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -6.98% -2.27% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 16 14
10th Percentile £18.66 £48.18 £15.35
25th Percentile £20.87 £56.62 £24.63
Median hourly rate £35.27 £61.70 £53.14
Median % change year-on-year -42.83% +16.09% +20.10%
75th Percentile £58.91 £78.07 £62.88
90th Percentile £65.70 £86.79 £68.34
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £58.17 £60.00
% change year-on-year -56.77% -3.05% -

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 505 629 789
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Berkshire 37.94% 39.71% 43.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 350 344 450
10th Percentile £255 £287 £210
25th Percentile £394 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £562 £524
Median % change year-on-year -10.95% +7.21% -3.01%
75th Percentile £550 £650 £623
90th Percentile £625 £712 £675
South East median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% +0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 53 53
10th Percentile £19.09 £41.58 £32.47
25th Percentile £20.79 £55.87 £49.95
Median hourly rate £30.11 £61.60 £63.29
Median % change year-on-year -51.12% -2.67% +175.17%
75th Percentile £65.00 £75.40 £72.33
90th Percentile £88.55 £100.00 £76.01
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £58.30 £60.00
% change year-on-year -56.86% -2.83% +33.33%

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 11 November 2025.

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 11 November 2025.

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 11 November 2025. 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 +2 108 £500 -17.36% 31
Wokingham -1 94 £446 +27.43% 12
Bracknell +1 19 £550 +18.92% 4
Slough -2 1 - - 1
Maidenhead - 1 - - 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 4 (1.62%) SharePoint
2 3 (1.21%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.81%) Confluence
4 1 (0.40%) CMS
4 1 (0.40%) Drupal
4 1 (0.40%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.40%) WordPress
Applications
1 4 (1.62%) Microsoft Excel
1 4 (1.62%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.81%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 5 (2.02%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.81%) SAP EWM
2 2 (0.81%) SAP HCM
2 2 (0.81%) SAP PS
2 2 (0.81%) SAP WM
2 2 (0.81%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.40%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
3 1 (0.40%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 53 (21.46%) AWS
1 53 (21.46%) Azure
2 29 (11.74%) GCP
3 15 (6.07%) OneDrive
4 13 (5.26%) OpenShift
5 8 (3.24%) Microsoft 365
6 7 (2.83%) Entra ID
6 7 (2.83%) SaaS
7 5 (2.02%) IaaS
8 4 (1.62%) Azure Storage
9 3 (1.21%) Power Automate
9 3 (1.21%) Power Platform
10 2 (0.81%) PowerApps
10 2 (0.81%) Slack
11 1 (0.40%) Azure Data Factory
11 1 (0.40%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 1 (0.40%) SAP Commerce Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 20 (8.10%) DNS
2 12 (4.86%) DHCP
3 11 (4.45%) Firewall
3 11 (4.45%) Network Security
3 11 (4.45%) SAN
4 10 (4.05%) Wi-Fi
5 9 (3.64%) 4G
5 9 (3.64%) TCP/IP
5 9 (3.64%) VLAN
6 8 (3.24%) Unified Communications
7 6 (2.43%) Wireshark
8 5 (2.02%) WAN
8 5 (2.02%) WebEx
9 4 (1.62%) Internet
9 4 (1.62%) LAN
9 4 (1.62%) NAS
10 3 (1.21%) DWDM
10 3 (1.21%) SDH
11 2 (0.81%) Ethernet
11 2 (0.81%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (3.24%) NoSQL
2 3 (1.21%) Power BI
3 2 (0.81%) SAP HANA
3 2 (0.81%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.40%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.40%) MySQL
4 1 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 10 (4.05%) JIRA
2 6 (2.43%) Burp Suite
2 6 (2.43%) Jenkins
2 6 (2.43%) Metasploit
3 3 (1.21%) Rational DOORS
4 2 (0.81%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.40%) GitLab
5 1 (0.40%) NeoLoad
General
1 98 (39.68%) Social Skills
2 60 (24.29%) Public Sector
3 49 (19.84%) Analytical Skills
4 11 (4.45%) Telecoms
5 10 (4.05%) Documentation Skills
6 3 (1.21%) Aerospace
6 3 (1.21%) Finance
6 3 (1.21%) Influencing Skills
6 3 (1.21%) Manufacturing
7 2 (0.81%) Electronics
7 2 (0.81%) Marketing
7 2 (0.81%) Military
7 2 (0.81%) Presentation Skills
8 1 (0.40%) Banking
8 1 (0.40%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 44 (17.81%) Consultant
2 32 (12.96%) Network Consultant
3 23 (9.31%) Network Engineer
4 18 (7.29%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 18 (7.29%) Support Engineer
5 15 (6.07%) Analyst
5 15 (6.07%) Infrastructure Support
5 15 (6.07%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
6 14 (5.67%) Lead
7 13 (5.26%) Architect
7 13 (5.26%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 12 (4.86%) Cisco Engineer
8 12 (4.86%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 12 (4.86%) Senior
9 11 (4.45%) Juniper Engineer
10 10 (4.05%) Administrator
11 9 (3.64%) Site Engineer
11 9 (3.64%) Site Reliability Engineer
12 8 (3.24%) Cloud Engineer
12 8 (3.24%) SIEM Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (3.24%) Loki
2 7 (2.83%) LDAP
3 6 (2.43%) RFC 2544
4 2 (0.81%) .NET
4 2 (0.81%) RESTful
5 1 (0.40%) .NET Core
5 1 (0.40%) 802.1X
5 1 (0.40%) CSS
5 1 (0.40%) HTML
5 1 (0.40%) OAuth
5 1 (0.40%) OAuth2
5 1 (0.40%) OpenID
5 1 (0.40%) SAML
5 1 (0.40%) Spring
5 1 (0.40%) Spring Boot
5 1 (0.40%) Vue
5 1 (0.40%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 13 (5.26%) Data Centre
2 10 (4.05%) Management Information System
3 9 (3.64%) Analytical Mindset
4 8 (3.24%) Cloud Native
4 8 (3.24%) Cyber Security Posture
4 8 (3.24%) Virtual Team
5 7 (2.83%) Enterprise Storage
5 7 (2.83%) Fibre Optics
6 6 (2.43%) Distributed Systems
6 6 (2.43%) Driving Licence
7 5 (2.02%) Handset
8 4 (1.62%) CSOC
8 4 (1.62%) Onboarding
8 4 (1.62%) Security Operations Centre
9 3 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (1.21%) SCADA
10 2 (0.81%) Clustering
10 2 (0.81%) Data Protection Act
10 2 (0.81%) Greenfield Project
10 2 (0.81%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 40 (16.19%) Linux
2 38 (15.38%) Windows
3 15 (6.07%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 14 (5.67%) Windows 10
5 6 (2.43%) Kali Linux
6 5 (2.02%) Windows Server
7 4 (1.62%) Windows Server 2012
7 4 (1.62%) Windows Server 2016
7 4 (1.62%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (0.81%) SUSE
8 2 (0.81%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 53 (21.46%) Problem-Solving
2 48 (19.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 44 (17.81%) Migration
4 38 (15.38%) Roadmaps
5 37 (14.98%) CI/CD
6 36 (14.57%) Collaborative Working
7 33 (13.36%) ITIL
8 32 (12.96%) Disaster Recovery
9 27 (10.93%) Service Management
10 24 (9.72%) Cybersecurity
11 22 (8.91%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 21 (8.50%) DevOps
13 20 (8.10%) Continuous Improvement
14 19 (7.69%) High Availability
14 19 (7.69%) SIEM
15 18 (7.29%) Test Automation
16 16 (6.48%) Change Management
16 16 (6.48%) Stakeholder Management
17 15 (6.07%) Agile
17 15 (6.07%) Analytical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 51 (20.65%) Python
2 27 (10.93%) PowerShell
3 21 (8.50%) Bash
4 9 (3.64%) Java
5 7 (2.83%) SQL
6 6 (2.43%) Go
7 5 (2.02%) Kusto Query Language
7 5 (2.02%) Shell Script
8 4 (1.62%) C#
9 2 (0.81%) Ada
9 2 (0.81%) Assembly Language
9 2 (0.81%) C
9 2 (0.81%) MATLAB
10 1 (0.40%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 247 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 19 (7.69%) CISSP
3 16 (6.48%) Degree
4 15 (6.07%) CEH
5 14 (5.67%) Azure Certification
6 12 (4.86%) CISM
7 11 (4.45%) AWS Certification
7 11 (4.45%) CCNP
7 11 (4.45%) Cisco Certification
7 11 (4.45%) Microsoft Certification
8 10 (4.05%) Network+ Certification
9 9 (3.64%) CCNA
9 9 (3.64%) Server+ Certification
10 8 (3.24%) GIAC
11 7 (2.83%) DV Cleared
12 6 (2.43%) GPEN
12 6 (2.43%) OSCP
13 5 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
14 4 (1.62%) JNCIA
15 3 (1.21%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (6.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 11 (4.45%) GDPR
2 11 (4.45%) NIST
3 9 (3.64%) QA
4 2 (0.81%) PMO
5 1 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
5 1 (0.40%) SLA
System Software
1 28 (11.34%) Active Directory
2 22 (8.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (5.26%) vSphere
4 10 (4.05%) Hyper-V
5 7 (2.83%) Docker
6 5 (2.02%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.40%) Terminal Services
7 1 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.40%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 24 (9.72%) Kubernetes
2 13 (5.26%) Argo
3 12 (4.86%) SCCM
4 8 (3.24%) Ansible
4 8 (3.24%) Grafana
4 8 (3.24%) Kustomize
4 8 (3.24%) Prometheus
5 7 (2.83%) NetBackup
5 7 (2.83%) Terraform
6 6 (2.43%) Nmap
7 5 (2.02%) Kibana
7 5 (2.02%) QRadar
7 5 (2.02%) vCenter Server
8 4 (1.62%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
10 2 (0.81%) Red Hat Satellite
11 1 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 1 (0.40%) Amdocs OSS
11 1 (0.40%) Cisco UCCE
11 1 (0.40%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 61 (24.70%) Cisco
2 41 (16.60%) Microsoft
3 32 (12.96%) Aruba
4 26 (10.53%) VMware
5 20 (8.10%) ServiceNow
6 19 (7.69%) Red Hat
7 17 (6.88%) Juniper
8 12 (4.86%) Google
9 11 (4.45%) SAP
10 10 (4.05%) NetApp
10 10 (4.05%) Splunk
11 9 (3.64%) Pure Storage
12 8 (3.24%) CyberArk
12 8 (3.24%) HP
12 8 (3.24%) Workday
13 7 (2.83%) 3PAR
13 7 (2.83%) BeyondTrust
13 7 (2.83%) Veritas
14 6 (2.43%) Nimble Storage
15 5 (2.02%) FireEye