Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in Bristol

Software Engineer
South West > Bristol

The median Software Engineer daily rate in Bristol is £456, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

 6 months to
21 Jan 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 9 36
Rank change year-on-year +3 +27 -1
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 111 74 44
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 12.33% 11.86% 4.43%
As % of the Job Titles category 13.20% 12.25% 4.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 6 6 9
10th Percentile £225 £230 £440
25th Percentile £375 £285 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £456 £475 £550
Median % change year-on-year -3.95% -13.64% +18.03%
75th Percentile £651 £572 -
90th Percentile £695 £594 £720
South West median daily rate £559 £575 £550
% change year-on-year -2.74% +4.55% -8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 98 35 32
10th Percentile £61.25 £61.25 £52.50
25th Percentile - £62.25 £61.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £66.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.26% +2.31% -0.76%
75th Percentile - £68.38 £70.00
90th Percentile - £68.75 -
South West median hourly rate £65.00 £66.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year -2.26% +2.31% -0.76%

All Contract IT Job Roles
Bristol

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Bristol. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in Bristol with a recognized job title 841 604 950
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 93.44% 96.79% 95.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 409 328 569
10th Percentile £250 £190 £261
25th Percentile £400 £334 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £525
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -14.29% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £638
90th Percentile £750 £700 £700
South West median daily rate £515 £508 £525
% change year-on-year +1.48% -3.33% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 222 71 141
10th Percentile £17.71 £35.00 £33.00
25th Percentile £33.50 £60.25 £55.00
Median hourly rate £63.14 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.87% - -
75th Percentile £65.00 £68.75 £76.25
90th Percentile £67.84 £75.00 £87.00
South West median hourly rate £57.35 £65.00 £56.49
% change year-on-year -11.77% +15.06% -13.09%

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Bristol

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in Bristol

Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Bristol.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Bristol

Software Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram in Bristol

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in Bristol over the 6 months to 21 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Software Engineer in Bristol

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Bristol.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Bristol

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in Bristol

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineer in Bristol over the 6 months to 21 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Engineer in Bristol

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Bristol

For the 6 months to 21 January 2026, Software Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Bristol region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 111 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 69 (62.16%) C++
3 37 (33.33%) Def Stans
4 32 (28.83%) Middleware
5 30 (27.03%) Ada
5 30 (27.03%) Security Cleared
6 28 (25.23%) MISRA
7 27 (24.32%) IEC 61508
8 25 (22.52%) SC Cleared
9 24 (21.62%) C
9 24 (21.62%) Qt
10 18 (16.22%) MISRA C
11 13 (11.71%) Rational Rhapsody
12 12 (10.81%) CI/CD
13 11 (9.91%) Java
14 10 (9.01%) DO-178B
14 10 (9.01%) Firmware
14 10 (9.01%) Validation
15 9 (8.11%) MATLAB
15 9 (8.11%) Systems Engineering
16 8 (7.21%) C#
16 8 (7.21%) Collaborative Culture
16 8 (7.21%) Linux
16 8 (7.21%) Software Testing
17 7 (6.31%) Integration Testing
17 7 (6.31%) UML
17 7 (6.31%) Windows
18 6 (5.41%) Agile
18 6 (5.41%) Docker
18 6 (5.41%) IBM

Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Bristol 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 1 (0.90%) Apache
Cloud Services
1 5 (4.50%) AWS
2 4 (3.60%) Azure
2 4 (3.60%) GCP
3 2 (1.80%) Azure AKS
3 2 (1.80%) Azure Cosmos DB
3 2 (1.80%) Azure DevOps
3 2 (1.80%) Entra ID
4 1 (0.90%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.90%) Bluetooth
1 1 (0.90%) Ethernet
1 1 (0.90%) TCP/IP
1 1 (0.90%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (4.50%) GIS
2 3 (2.70%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (1.80%) Elasticsearch
3 2 (1.80%) MongoDB
3 2 (1.80%) NoSQL
3 2 (1.80%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 13 (11.71%) Rational Rhapsody
2 5 (4.50%) GitLab
3 2 (1.80%) Git
4 1 (0.90%) Artifactory
4 1 (0.90%) Eclipse
4 1 (0.90%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.90%) Visual Studio
General
1 10 (9.01%) Analytical Skills
1 10 (9.01%) Electronics
2 9 (8.11%) Law
3 5 (4.50%) Aerospace
4 3 (2.70%) Military
5 2 (1.80%) Finance
5 2 (1.80%) Social Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (28.83%) Middleware
2 24 (21.62%) Qt
3 6 (5.41%) Node.js
4 5 (4.50%) React
5 2 (1.80%) .NET
5 2 (1.80%) Express.js
5 2 (1.80%) Next.js
6 1 (0.90%) Apache NiFi
6 1 (0.90%) REST
6 1 (0.90%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 17 (15.32%) Algorithms
2 11 (9.91%) Embedded Systems
3 7 (6.31%) CUDA
4 5 (4.50%) Video\Live Streaming
5 2 (1.80%) Cloud Native
6 1 (0.90%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 8 (7.21%) Linux
2 7 (6.31%) Windows
3 1 (0.90%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 12 (10.81%) CI/CD
3 10 (9.01%) Validation
4 9 (8.11%) Systems Engineering
5 8 (7.21%) Collaborative Culture
5 8 (7.21%) Software Testing
6 7 (6.31%) Integration Testing
6 7 (6.31%) UML
7 6 (5.41%) Agile
7 6 (5.41%) Workflow
8 5 (4.50%) Information Security
8 5 (4.50%) Ontologies
8 5 (4.50%) Test Automation
8 5 (4.50%) Workflow Management
9 4 (3.60%) Full-Stack Development
10 3 (2.70%) DevOps
10 3 (2.70%) Virtual Environments
11 2 (1.80%) Digital Transformation Programme
11 2 (1.80%) Infrastructure as Code
11 2 (1.80%) Security Operations
Programming Languages
1 69 (62.16%) C++
2 30 (27.03%) Ada
3 24 (21.62%) C
4 11 (9.91%) Java
5 9 (8.11%) MATLAB
6 8 (7.21%) C#
7 5 (4.50%) TypeScript
8 4 (3.60%) JavaScript
8 4 (3.60%) Python
9 2 (1.80%) Bicep
9 2 (1.80%) SQL
10 1 (0.90%) Embedded C++
10 1 (0.90%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 30 (27.03%) Security Cleared
2 25 (22.52%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.90%) Computer Science Degree
3 1 (0.90%) Degree
3 1 (0.90%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (33.33%) Def Stans
2 28 (25.23%) MISRA
3 27 (24.32%) IEC 61508
4 18 (16.22%) MISRA C
5 10 (9.01%) DO-178B
6 1 (0.90%) DICOM
6 1 (0.90%) HL7
6 1 (0.90%) QA
System Software
1 10 (9.01%) Firmware
2 6 (5.41%) Docker
3 2 (1.80%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 3 (2.70%) Kubernetes
2 2 (1.80%) Kibana
2 2 (1.80%) Terraform
3 1 (0.90%) Ansible
Vendors
1 6 (5.41%) IBM
2 5 (4.50%) MathWorks
3 3 (2.70%) Microsoft
4 1 (0.90%) NVIDIA
4 1 (0.90%) Red Hat
80 Software Engineer jobs in Bristol