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 22 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 7 16
Rank change year-on-year +4 +9 -6
Contract jobs citing SC Cleared 371 186 173
As % of all contract jobs in Berkshire 24.30% 13.87% 9.75%
As % of the Qualifications category 58.15% 37.88% 21.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 290 111 118
10th Percentile £255 £245 £356
25th Percentile £306 £350 £474
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £449 £567 £605
Median % change year-on-year -20.90% -6.28% +4.76%
75th Percentile £519 £660 £650
90th Percentile £599 £675 £688
South East median daily rate £500 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -5.66% -3.64% +1.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 10 17
10th Percentile £19.38 £24.04 £28.25
25th Percentile £28.87 £57.74 £52.19
Median hourly rate £79.20 £73.80 £57.32
Median % change year-on-year +7.31% +28.75% +4.22%
75th Percentile £95.00 £83.85 £63.29
90th Percentile £106.53 £87.02 £72.74
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £62.15 £60.00
% change year-on-year -59.53% +3.58% -

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 638 491 791
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Berkshire 41.78% 36.61% 44.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 456 252 438
10th Percentile £253 £235 £205
25th Percentile £335 £361 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £525 £500
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £538 £656 £615
90th Percentile £627 £688 £675
South East median daily rate £500 £525 £533
% change year-on-year -4.76% -1.50% -0.84%
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 30 64
10th Percentile £19.43 £39.59 £42.96
25th Percentile £22.29 £55.87 £51.96
Median hourly rate £73.50 £61.63 £61.30
Median % change year-on-year +19.26% +0.53% +11.45%
75th Percentile £95.00 £66.65 £69.10
90th Percentile £100.60 £78.08 £82.11
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £56.75 £60.00
% change year-on-year -55.68% -5.43% +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 22 January 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 22 January 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 22 January 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
Wokingham 0 174 £380 +8.68% 5
Reading +9 157 £500 -21.57% 18
Bracknell -4 14 £550 +4.76% 5
Slough 0 1 - - 11
Maidenhead -1 1 - - 1
Thatcham - 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 5 (1.35%) Confluence
1 5 (1.35%) Microsoft Exchange
2 3 (0.81%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.27%) CMS
3 1 (0.27%) Drupal
3 1 (0.27%) Skype for Business
3 1 (0.27%) WordPress
Applications
1 18 (4.85%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (4.31%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (3.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.81%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.27%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 5 (1.35%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.54%) SAP EWM
2 2 (0.54%) SAP HCM
2 2 (0.54%) SAP PS
2 2 (0.54%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 119 (32.08%) Azure
2 103 (27.76%) AWS
3 55 (14.82%) GCP
4 23 (6.20%) Entra ID
5 15 (4.04%) OneDrive
6 13 (3.50%) OpenShift
7 10 (2.70%) Datadog
7 10 (2.70%) Microsoft 365
8 9 (2.43%) SaaS
9 8 (2.16%) IaaS
10 6 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
11 5 (1.35%) Power Automate
11 5 (1.35%) Power Platform
12 4 (1.08%) AWS CloudFormation
12 4 (1.08%) Azure Sentinel
13 3 (0.81%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 3 (0.81%) Azure Monitor
13 3 (0.81%) PaaS
14 2 (0.54%) Amazon GuardDuty
14 2 (0.54%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 30 (8.09%) DNS
2 27 (7.28%) Network Security
3 25 (6.74%) Firewall
4 23 (6.20%) DHCP
5 16 (4.31%) Wireless
6 14 (3.77%) TCP/IP
7 12 (3.23%) VLAN
8 9 (2.43%) 4G
8 9 (2.43%) Wi-Fi
9 8 (2.16%) LAN
9 8 (2.16%) Unified Communications
10 7 (1.89%) FTP
10 7 (1.89%) Intrusion Detection
10 7 (1.89%) Wireshark
10 7 (1.89%) WLAN
11 6 (1.62%) WAN
12 5 (1.35%) VPN
12 5 (1.35%) WebEx
13 4 (1.08%) Cisco Nexus
13 4 (1.08%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.62%) NoSQL
2 3 (0.81%) Power BI
3 2 (0.54%) SAP HANA
4 1 (0.27%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.27%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 20 (5.39%) Burp Suite
1 20 (5.39%) Metasploit
2 12 (3.23%) JIRA
3 10 (2.70%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.81%) Android Studio
4 3 (0.81%) Bitbucket
4 3 (0.81%) Subversion
5 2 (0.54%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.27%) Git
6 1 (0.27%) GitLab
6 1 (0.27%) HP UFT
6 1 (0.27%) NeoLoad
6 1 (0.27%) Rational DOORS
General
1 156 (42.05%) Social Skills
2 76 (20.49%) Analytical Skills
3 63 (16.98%) Public Sector
4 23 (6.20%) Documentation Skills
5 9 (2.43%) Telecoms
6 8 (2.16%) Finance
7 4 (1.08%) Influencing Skills
8 3 (0.81%) Legal
8 3 (0.81%) Marketing
8 3 (0.81%) Military
9 2 (0.54%) Advertising
9 2 (0.54%) Aerospace
9 2 (0.54%) Manufacturing
9 2 (0.54%) Presentation Skills
10 1 (0.27%) Banking
10 1 (0.27%) Billing
10 1 (0.27%) Electronics
10 1 (0.27%) Police
Job Titles
1 47 (12.67%) Consultant
2 32 (8.63%) Network Consultant
3 30 (8.09%) Analyst
4 26 (7.01%) Network Engineer
5 24 (6.47%) Architect
6 21 (5.66%) Penetration Tester
7 20 (5.39%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 19 (5.12%) Lead
8 19 (5.12%) Support Engineer
8 19 (5.12%) Tester
9 18 (4.85%) SIEM Engineer
10 16 (4.31%) Senior
11 15 (4.04%) Cisco Engineer
11 15 (4.04%) Cisco Network Engineer
11 15 (4.04%) Infrastructure Support
11 15 (4.04%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
12 12 (3.23%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 11 (2.96%) Cloud Engineer
13 11 (2.96%) Data Analyst
14 10 (2.70%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (4.04%) LDAP
2 8 (2.16%) Loki
3 4 (1.08%) Middleware
4 3 (0.81%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.54%) Elastic Stack
5 2 (0.54%) OAuth
5 2 (0.54%) OAuth2
5 2 (0.54%) OpenID
5 2 (0.54%) SAML
6 1 (0.27%) 802.1X
6 1 (0.27%) RESTful
6 1 (0.27%) RFC 2544
6 1 (0.27%) Spring
6 1 (0.27%) Spring Boot
6 1 (0.27%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 19 (5.12%) Onboarding
2 17 (4.58%) Cloud Native
3 16 (4.31%) Data Centre
4 15 (4.04%) Cyber Security Posture
5 13 (3.50%) Analytical Mindset
6 11 (2.96%) Management Information System
7 10 (2.70%) Distributed Systems
7 10 (2.70%) Security Posture
8 8 (2.16%) Virtual Team
9 7 (1.89%) Driving Licence
9 7 (1.89%) Enterprise Software
10 6 (1.62%) PMI
11 5 (1.35%) Handset
11 5 (1.35%) PKI
12 4 (1.08%) CSOC
12 4 (1.08%) Security Operations Centre
12 4 (1.08%) Self-Motivation
13 3 (0.81%) Enterprise Storage
13 3 (0.81%) Mobile App
14 2 (0.54%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 63 (16.98%) Windows
2 49 (13.21%) Linux
3 14 (3.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 14 (3.77%) Windows 10
4 11 (2.96%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.89%) Android
5 7 (1.89%) Kali Linux
6 2 (0.54%) SUSE
6 2 (0.54%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
7 1 (0.27%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.27%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 82 (22.10%) Problem-Solving
2 63 (16.98%) CI/CD
3 61 (16.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 60 (16.17%) ITIL
5 59 (15.90%) Cybersecurity
6 47 (12.67%) Roadmaps
6 47 (12.67%) Service Management
7 45 (12.13%) Migration
8 44 (11.86%) Collaborative Working
9 41 (11.05%) DevOps
10 40 (10.78%) SIEM
11 39 (10.51%) Continuous Improvement
12 38 (10.24%) Change Management
13 35 (9.43%) ITSM
14 32 (8.63%) DevSecOps
15 29 (7.82%) Agile
16 26 (7.01%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 25 (6.74%) Performance Metrics
18 24 (6.47%) Stakeholder Management
19 23 (6.20%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 81 (21.83%) Python
2 54 (14.56%) PowerShell
3 27 (7.28%) Bash
4 13 (3.50%) Java
4 13 (3.50%) Kusto Query Language
5 10 (2.70%) Go
6 5 (1.35%) Bicep
6 5 (1.35%) SQL
7 3 (0.81%) C#
8 2 (0.54%) Ada
8 2 (0.54%) Assembly Language
8 2 (0.54%) C
8 2 (0.54%) MATLAB
9 1 (0.27%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.27%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.27%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 371 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 37 (9.97%) CISSP
3 29 (7.82%) Degree
4 24 (6.47%) CEH
5 19 (5.12%) CISM
6 18 (4.85%) Azure Certification
7 16 (4.31%) GIAC
8 15 (4.04%) AWS Certification
9 13 (3.50%) CHECK Team Member
9 13 (3.50%) Network+ Certification
10 11 (2.96%) CREST Certified
10 11 (2.96%) Cyber Scheme
10 11 (2.96%) Microsoft Certification
11 10 (2.70%) DV Cleared
12 9 (2.43%) PMP
12 9 (2.43%) Postgraduate
12 9 (2.43%) Server+ Certification
13 8 (2.16%) CCNP
13 8 (2.16%) Cisco Certification
13 8 (2.16%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (8.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 28 (7.55%) GDPR
3 20 (5.39%) NIST
4 15 (4.04%) QA
5 14 (3.77%) PMO
6 13 (3.50%) PCI DSS
7 8 (2.16%) NCSC
8 2 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.54%) SLA
9 1 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.27%) Def Stans
9 1 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
System Software
1 50 (13.48%) Active Directory
2 30 (8.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 13 (3.50%) Docker
3 13 (3.50%) vSphere
4 11 (2.96%) Hyper-V
5 5 (1.35%) VMware NSX
6 2 (0.54%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.27%) NFS
7 1 (0.27%) Terminal Services
7 1 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 37 (9.97%) Kubernetes
2 20 (5.39%) Nmap
3 16 (4.31%) Terraform
4 14 (3.77%) SCCM
5 13 (3.50%) Ansible
5 13 (3.50%) Argo
5 13 (3.50%) Grafana
5 13 (3.50%) Kibana
5 13 (3.50%) Prometheus
6 8 (2.16%) Kustomize
6 8 (2.16%) Microsoft Intune
7 5 (1.35%) QRadar
7 5 (1.35%) Red Hat Satellite
7 5 (1.35%) vCenter Server
8 4 (1.08%) Cisco CUCM
9 3 (0.81%) Nagios
9 3 (0.81%) NetBackup
9 3 (0.81%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.81%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
10 2 (0.54%) Active Directory Federation Services
Vendors
1 66 (17.79%) Cisco
2 51 (13.75%) Microsoft
3 41 (11.05%) VMware
4 32 (8.63%) Aruba
5 29 (7.82%) ServiceNow
6 26 (7.01%) Google
7 20 (5.39%) Splunk
8 19 (5.12%) CyberArk
9 18 (4.85%) Red Hat
10 17 (4.58%) Juniper
11 16 (4.31%) BeyondTrust
12 15 (4.04%) Tanium
13 13 (3.50%) FireEye
14 12 (3.23%) SAP
15 10 (2.70%) AppDynamics
15 10 (2.70%) Citrix
15 10 (2.70%) Dynatrace
16 8 (2.16%) Workday
17 5 (1.35%) BMC
17 5 (1.35%) Pure Storage