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 9 October 2026.

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

 6 months to
9 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 39 10
Rank change year-on-year +32 -29 +28
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 138 30 107
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 10.25% 4.04% 11.94%
As % of the Job Titles category 11.06% 4.37% 12.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 24 9 6
10th Percentile £160 £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 £538 £644 £656
90th Percentile £570 £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 96 18 60
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 £70.25
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 1,248 686 854
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.72% 92.33% 95.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 621 332 454
10th Percentile £381 £250 £215
25th Percentile £450 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £480 £475
Median % change year-on-year +9.49% +0.95% -8.65%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £588
90th Percentile £688 £750 £700
South West median daily rate £535 £513 £508
% change year-on-year +4.39% +0.99% -5.58%
Number of hourly rates quoted 315 149 155
10th Percentile £20.58 £12.82 £20.60
25th Percentile £46.43 £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 £75.48 £68.00 £75.00
South West median hourly rate £60.00 £25.15 £67.50
% change year-on-year +138.57% -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 9 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 9 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 9 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.

1 138 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 71 (51.45%) C++
3 43 (31.16%) Ada
4 21 (15.22%) Security Cleared
5 20 (14.49%) SC Cleared
6 18 (13.04%) Linux
6 18 (13.04%) UML
7 16 (11.59%) C#
8 14 (10.14%) Rational Rhapsody
9 13 (9.42%) Multithreading
10 12 (8.70%) CI/CD
10 12 (8.70%) JIRA
10 12 (8.70%) PHP
11 11 (7.97%) MISRA
11 11 (7.97%) MISRA C
11 11 (7.97%) Qt
12 9 (6.52%) Java
13 8 (5.80%) Configuration Management
13 8 (5.80%) Integration Testing
13 8 (5.80%) Wealth Management
14 7 (5.07%) C
14 7 (5.07%) Def Stans
14 7 (5.07%) IEC 61508
14 7 (5.07%) Issue Tracking
14 7 (5.07%) Project Management
14 7 (5.07%) Project Planning
14 7 (5.07%) Python
14 7 (5.07%) Validation
15 6 (4.35%) Functional Testing
15 6 (4.35%) JavaScript

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 (2.90%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.72%) AWS
1 1 (0.72%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 5 (3.62%) Ethernet
2 4 (2.90%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.72%) RS-232
3 1 (0.72%) RS-422
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.45%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 14 (10.14%) Rational Rhapsody
2 12 (8.70%) JIRA
3 5 (3.62%) GitLab
3 5 (3.62%) Rational DOORS
3 5 (3.62%) Visual Studio
4 4 (2.90%) Eclipse
General
1 11 (7.97%) Finance
2 8 (5.80%) Aerospace
3 5 (3.62%) Social Skills
4 4 (2.90%) Military
5 3 (2.17%) Avionics
5 3 (2.17%) Law
6 2 (1.45%) Documentation Skills
6 2 (1.45%) Telecoms
7 1 (0.72%) Analytical Skills
7 1 (0.72%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (7.97%) Qt
2 5 (3.62%) Web Services
3 4 (2.90%) Middleware
3 4 (2.90%) Node.js
4 3 (2.17%) .NET
4 3 (2.17%) React
5 2 (1.45%) Jest
5 2 (1.45%) Playwright
5 2 (1.45%) Yocto
6 1 (0.72%) Bun
6 1 (0.72%) Quarkus
6 1 (0.72%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 9 (6.52%) Algorithms
2 2 (1.45%) Device Driver
2 2 (1.45%) Embedded Systems
3 1 (0.72%) AI Agents
3 1 (0.72%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 18 (13.04%) Linux
2 4 (2.90%) FreeRTOS
2 4 (2.90%) Windows
3 2 (1.45%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 138 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 18 (13.04%) UML
3 13 (9.42%) Multithreading
4 12 (8.70%) CI/CD
5 8 (5.80%) Configuration Management
5 8 (5.80%) Integration Testing
5 8 (5.80%) Wealth Management
6 7 (5.07%) Issue Tracking
6 7 (5.07%) Project Management
6 7 (5.07%) Project Planning
6 7 (5.07%) Validation
7 6 (4.35%) Functional Testing
7 6 (4.35%) SDLC
7 6 (4.35%) TDD
8 5 (3.62%) Agile
9 4 (2.90%) Continuous Integration
9 4 (2.90%) Digital Twin
9 4 (2.90%) Synthetic Environment
9 4 (2.90%) Unit Testing
9 4 (2.90%) Virtual Environments
Programming Languages
1 71 (51.45%) C++
2 43 (31.16%) Ada
3 16 (11.59%) C#
4 12 (8.70%) PHP
5 9 (6.52%) Java
6 7 (5.07%) C
6 7 (5.07%) Python
7 6 (4.35%) JavaScript
8 3 (2.17%) TypeScript
9 2 (1.45%) Rust
10 1 (0.72%) Ada 95
10 1 (0.72%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 21 (15.22%) Security Cleared
2 20 (14.49%) SC Cleared
3 4 (2.90%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (7.97%) MISRA
1 11 (7.97%) MISRA C
2 7 (5.07%) Def Stans
2 7 (5.07%) IEC 61508
3 2 (1.45%) Accessibility
3 2 (1.45%) WCAG
4 1 (0.72%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 5 (3.62%) Docker
Systems Management
1 1 (0.72%) Kubernetes
1 1 (0.72%) PTC Integrity
Vendors
1 5 (3.62%) Microsoft
2 2 (1.45%) IBM
3 1 (0.72%) F5
3 1 (0.72%) Google
3 1 (0.72%) Green Hills
3 1 (0.72%) MathWorks
3 1 (0.72%) PTC
65 Software Engineer jobs in Bristol