Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in Bristol

Software Engineer
South West > Bristol

The median Software Engineer daily rate in Bristol is £525, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 September 2026.

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

 6 months to
26 Sep 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 40 10
Rank change year-on-year +35 -30 +26
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 152 27 106
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 11.20% 3.65% 11.83%
As % of the Job Titles category 12.05% 3.94% 12.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 28 9 6
10th Percentile £286 £311 £463
25th Percentile £505 £375 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% +23.53%
75th Percentile £546 £644 £656
90th Percentile £604 £695 £681
South West median daily rate £525 £513 £550
% change year-on-year +2.44% -6.82% +2.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 106 16 61
10th Percentile - - £61.25
25th Percentile £65.00 - £65.00
Median hourly rate £66.50 £65.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +2.31% -7.14% +7.69%
75th Percentile £68.00 - -
90th Percentile £70.00 £70.00 £70.25
South West median hourly rate £66.50 £65.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year +2.31% -7.14% +7.69%

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 1,261 685 853
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.93% 92.69% 95.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 633 344 454
10th Percentile £381 £250 £226
25th Percentile £450 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £480
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -1.04% -8.57%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £588
90th Percentile £675 £743 £700
South West median daily rate £525 £500 £513
% change year-on-year +5.00% -2.44% -4.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 318 150 159
10th Percentile £21.35 £12.82 £17.50
25th Percentile £46.61 £18.87 £56.50
Median hourly rate £65.00 £33.50 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +94.03% -52.14% +7.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £72.50
90th Percentile £75.14 £68.00 £75.00
South West median hourly rate £62.00 £25.15 £67.50
% change year-on-year +146.52% -62.74% +12.50%

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 26 September 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 26 September 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 26 September 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.

1 152 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 69 (45.39%) C++
3 48 (31.58%) Ada
4 28 (18.42%) Security Cleared
5 27 (17.76%) SC Cleared
6 22 (14.47%) Linux
7 21 (13.82%) C#
8 18 (11.84%) CI/CD
8 18 (11.84%) UML
9 13 (8.55%) Rational Rhapsody
10 12 (7.89%) Multithreading
10 12 (7.89%) PHP
11 11 (7.24%) Java
11 11 (7.24%) Python
12 10 (6.58%) C
13 9 (5.92%) Configuration Management
13 9 (5.92%) Docker
13 9 (5.92%) JIRA
13 9 (5.92%) MISRA
13 9 (5.92%) MISRA C
13 9 (5.92%) Qt
14 8 (5.26%) GitLab
14 8 (5.26%) Wealth Management
15 7 (4.61%) Agile
15 7 (4.61%) Def Stans
15 7 (4.61%) IEC 61508
15 7 (4.61%) Integration Testing
15 7 (4.61%) Validation
16 6 (3.95%) .NET
16 6 (3.95%) Full-Stack Development

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:

Applications
1 3 (1.97%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 3 (1.97%) AWS
2 1 (0.66%) Azure
2 1 (0.66%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 5 (3.29%) Ethernet
2 4 (2.63%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.66%) RS-232
3 1 (0.66%) RS-422
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.32%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 13 (8.55%) Rational Rhapsody
2 9 (5.92%) JIRA
3 8 (5.26%) GitLab
4 5 (3.29%) Visual Studio
5 4 (2.63%) Eclipse
5 4 (2.63%) Rational DOORS
6 2 (1.32%) Git
7 1 (0.66%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.66%) JUnit
7 1 (0.66%) NUnit
7 1 (0.66%) Selenium
General
1 11 (7.24%) Finance
2 10 (6.58%) Aerospace
3 5 (3.29%) Social Skills
4 4 (2.63%) Military
5 3 (1.97%) Avionics
5 3 (1.97%) Law
6 2 (1.32%) Documentation Skills
6 2 (1.32%) Telecoms
7 1 (0.66%) Analytical Skills
7 1 (0.66%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (5.92%) Qt
2 6 (3.95%) .NET
3 5 (3.29%) Web Services
4 4 (2.63%) Middleware
4 4 (2.63%) Node.js
5 3 (1.97%) React
6 2 (1.32%) Flask
6 2 (1.32%) Jest
6 2 (1.32%) Playwright
6 2 (1.32%) pytest
6 2 (1.32%) Yocto
7 1 (0.66%) Bun
7 1 (0.66%) OLE
7 1 (0.66%) Quarkus
7 1 (0.66%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 14 (9.21%) Algorithms
2 2 (1.32%) Device Driver
2 2 (1.32%) Embedded Systems
3 1 (0.66%) AI Agents
3 1 (0.66%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 22 (14.47%) Linux
2 4 (2.63%) Windows
3 3 (1.97%) FreeRTOS
3 3 (1.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 2 (1.32%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 152 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 18 (11.84%) CI/CD
2 18 (11.84%) UML
3 12 (7.89%) Multithreading
4 9 (5.92%) Configuration Management
5 8 (5.26%) Wealth Management
6 7 (4.61%) Agile
6 7 (4.61%) Integration Testing
6 7 (4.61%) Validation
7 6 (3.95%) Full-Stack Development
7 6 (3.95%) Issue Tracking
7 6 (3.95%) Project Management
7 6 (3.95%) Project Planning
7 6 (3.95%) TDD
7 6 (3.95%) Virtual Environments
8 5 (3.29%) Functional Testing
8 5 (3.29%) Software Architecture
8 5 (3.29%) SysML
9 4 (2.63%) Continuous Integration
9 4 (2.63%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 69 (45.39%) C++
2 48 (31.58%) Ada
3 21 (13.82%) C#
4 12 (7.89%) PHP
5 11 (7.24%) Java
5 11 (7.24%) Python
6 10 (6.58%) C
7 6 (3.95%) JavaScript
8 3 (1.97%) MATLAB
8 3 (1.97%) TypeScript
9 2 (1.32%) Rust
10 1 (0.66%) Ada 95
Qualifications
1 28 (18.42%) Security Cleared
2 27 (17.76%) SC Cleared
3 5 (3.29%) BPSS Clearance
4 1 (0.66%) ISTQB
4 1 (0.66%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (5.92%) MISRA
1 9 (5.92%) MISRA C
2 7 (4.61%) Def Stans
2 7 (4.61%) IEC 61508
3 2 (1.32%) Accessibility
3 2 (1.32%) WCAG
4 1 (0.66%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 9 (5.92%) Docker
Systems Management
1 2 (1.32%) Kubernetes
2 1 (0.66%) PTC Integrity
Vendors
1 5 (3.29%) Microsoft
2 4 (2.63%) IBM
3 3 (1.97%) MathWorks
4 1 (0.66%) F5
4 1 (0.66%) Google
4 1 (0.66%) Green Hills
4 1 (0.66%) PTC
80 Software Engineer jobs in Bristol