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 15 October 2026.

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

6 months to
15 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 38 10
Rank change year-on-year +30 -28 +24
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 135 30 102
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 9.96% 3.99% 11.68%
As % of the Job Titles category 10.78% 4.30% 12.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 23 9 4
10th Percentile £128 £311 £458
25th Percentile £505 £375 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% +2.50% +14.29%
75th Percentile £538 £644 £544
90th Percentile £564 £695 £578
South West median daily rate £525 £513 £538
% change year-on-year +2.44% -4.65% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 94 18 58
10th Percentile - £61.25 £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 £69.58 £70.08
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 1,252 697 832
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.33% 92.69% 95.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 625 340 433
10th Percentile £378 £235 £213
25th Percentile £450 £375 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £485 £475
Median % change year-on-year +8.36% +2.00% -9.52%
75th Percentile £609 £600 £575
90th Percentile £688 £775 £700
South West median daily rate £537 £513 £509
% change year-on-year +4.83% +0.74% -5.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 317 149 151
10th Percentile £21.25 £12.82 £17.50
25th Percentile £46.61 £18.87 £54.38
Median hourly rate £65.00 £33.50 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +94.03% -50.37% +3.85%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £72.50
90th Percentile £75.48 £68.00 £75.00
South West median hourly rate £60.00 £25.15 £67.50
% change year-on-year +138.57% -62.74% +17.07%

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 15 October 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 15 October 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 15 October 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.

1 135 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 70 (51.85%) C++
3 41 (30.37%) Ada
4 19 (14.07%) Security Cleared
5 18 (13.33%) SC Cleared
5 18 (13.33%) UML
6 17 (12.59%) Linux
7 16 (11.85%) C#
8 15 (11.11%) Rational Rhapsody
9 13 (9.63%) JIRA
10 12 (8.89%) CI/CD
10 12 (8.89%) Multithreading
10 12 (8.89%) PHP
11 11 (8.15%) MISRA
11 11 (8.15%) MISRA C
11 11 (8.15%) Qt
12 9 (6.67%) Java
13 8 (5.93%) Wealth Management
14 7 (5.19%) Configuration Management
14 7 (5.19%) Def Stans
14 7 (5.19%) IEC 61508
14 7 (5.19%) Integration Testing
15 6 (4.44%) C
15 6 (4.44%) Functional Testing
15 6 (4.44%) Issue Tracking
15 6 (4.44%) JavaScript
15 6 (4.44%) Project Management
15 6 (4.44%) Project Planning
15 6 (4.44%) Python
15 6 (4.44%) SDLC

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 4 (2.96%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.74%) AWS
1 1 (0.74%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 5 (3.70%) Ethernet
2 4 (2.96%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.74%) RS-232
3 1 (0.74%) RS-422
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.48%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 15 (11.11%) Rational Rhapsody
2 13 (9.63%) JIRA
3 5 (3.70%) GitLab
3 5 (3.70%) Rational DOORS
3 5 (3.70%) Visual Studio
4 4 (2.96%) Eclipse
General
1 10 (7.41%) Finance
2 8 (5.93%) Aerospace
3 4 (2.96%) Military
3 4 (2.96%) Social Skills
4 3 (2.22%) Avionics
4 3 (2.22%) Law
5 2 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
5 2 (1.48%) Telecoms
6 1 (0.74%) Analytical Skills
6 1 (0.74%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (8.15%) Qt
2 5 (3.70%) Web Services
3 4 (2.96%) Middleware
3 4 (2.96%) Node.js
4 3 (2.22%) React
5 2 (1.48%) .NET
5 2 (1.48%) Jest
5 2 (1.48%) Playwright
5 2 (1.48%) Yocto
6 1 (0.74%) Bun
6 1 (0.74%) Quarkus
6 1 (0.74%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 9 (6.67%) Algorithms
2 2 (1.48%) Device Driver
2 2 (1.48%) Embedded Systems
3 1 (0.74%) AI Agents
3 1 (0.74%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 17 (12.59%) Linux
2 4 (2.96%) FreeRTOS
2 4 (2.96%) Windows
3 2 (1.48%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 135 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 18 (13.33%) UML
3 12 (8.89%) CI/CD
3 12 (8.89%) Multithreading
4 8 (5.93%) Wealth Management
5 7 (5.19%) Configuration Management
5 7 (5.19%) Integration Testing
6 6 (4.44%) Functional Testing
6 6 (4.44%) Issue Tracking
6 6 (4.44%) Project Management
6 6 (4.44%) Project Planning
6 6 (4.44%) SDLC
6 6 (4.44%) TDD
6 6 (4.44%) Validation
7 5 (3.70%) Agile
8 4 (2.96%) Continuous Delivery
8 4 (2.96%) Continuous Integration
8 4 (2.96%) Software Architecture
8 4 (2.96%) Unit Testing
8 4 (2.96%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 70 (51.85%) C++
2 41 (30.37%) Ada
3 16 (11.85%) C#
4 12 (8.89%) PHP
5 9 (6.67%) Java
6 6 (4.44%) C
6 6 (4.44%) JavaScript
6 6 (4.44%) Python
7 3 (2.22%) TypeScript
8 2 (1.48%) Rust
9 1 (0.74%) Ada 95
9 1 (0.74%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 19 (14.07%) Security Cleared
2 18 (13.33%) SC Cleared
3 4 (2.96%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (8.15%) MISRA
1 11 (8.15%) MISRA C
2 7 (5.19%) Def Stans
2 7 (5.19%) IEC 61508
3 2 (1.48%) Accessibility
3 2 (1.48%) WCAG
4 1 (0.74%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 5 (3.70%) Docker
Systems Management
1 1 (0.74%) Kubernetes
1 1 (0.74%) PTC Integrity
Vendors
1 5 (3.70%) Microsoft
2 2 (1.48%) IBM
3 1 (0.74%) F5
3 1 (0.74%) Google
3 1 (0.74%) Green Hills
3 1 (0.74%) MathWorks
3 1 (0.74%) PTC