Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in Bristol

Software Engineer
South West > Bristol

The median Software Engineer daily rate in Bristol is £570, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 May 2026.

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

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 24 20
Rank change year-on-year +19 -4 +21
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 205 33 70
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 16.37% 5.85% 6.65%
As % of the Job Titles category 17.43% 6.13% 7.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 22 4 8
10th Percentile £435 - £476
25th Percentile £500 £230 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £570 £403 £538
Median % change year-on-year +41.61% -25.12% +19.44%
75th Percentile £639 £602 £581
90th Percentile £644 £627 £679
South West median daily rate £575 £575 £550
% change year-on-year - +4.55% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 169 27 60
10th Percentile £61.25 £61.25 £52.50
25th Percentile - - £61.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £68.75
Median % change year-on-year - -5.45% +4.96%
75th Percentile £67.25 £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £68.00 £68.30 -
South West median hourly rate £65.00 £65.75 £67.02
% change year-on-year -1.14% -1.89% +2.32%

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 1,176 538 1,000
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 93.93% 95.39% 95.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 548 310 535
10th Percentile £359 £213 £253
25th Percentile £413 £355 £373
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -10.00% -3.38%
75th Percentile £575 £562 £613
90th Percentile £652 £652 £695
South West median daily rate £513 £500 £514
% change year-on-year +2.50% -2.63% -2.19%
Number of hourly rates quoted 322 93 223
10th Percentile £17.87 £18.51 £36.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £40.84 £45.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year - - -0.76%
75th Percentile £67.50 £68.00 £73.13
90th Percentile £70.00 £74.55 £85.00
South West median hourly rate £57.50 £62.50 £55.00
% change year-on-year -8.00% +13.64% -15.38%

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 May 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 May 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 May 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.

1 205 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 80 (39.02%) Ada
3 79 (38.54%) C++
4 51 (24.88%) Security Cleared
5 40 (19.51%) SC Cleared
6 34 (16.59%) Def Stans
7 30 (14.63%) Linux
8 28 (13.66%) CI/CD
8 28 (13.66%) IEC 61508
8 28 (13.66%) Middleware
9 27 (13.17%) Java
10 26 (12.68%) C
11 23 (11.22%) C#
12 21 (10.24%) MATLAB
12 21 (10.24%) UML
13 20 (9.76%) Rational Rhapsody
14 18 (8.78%) MISRA
15 15 (7.32%) Qt
16 14 (6.83%) Docker
16 14 (6.83%) SysML
17 13 (6.34%) MISRA C
17 13 (6.34%) Python
17 13 (6.34%) Validation
18 12 (5.85%) Workflow
19 11 (5.37%) GitLab
19 11 (5.37%) IBM
19 11 (5.37%) Workflow Management
20 10 (4.88%) MathWorks
20 10 (4.88%) Systems Engineering
21 9 (4.39%) 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:

Application Platforms
1 1 (0.49%) Apache
1 1 (0.49%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.49%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 5 (2.44%) AWS
2 3 (1.46%) Azure
3 1 (0.49%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 5 (2.44%) Ethernet
1 5 (2.44%) TCP/IP
2 1 (0.49%) Bluetooth
2 1 (0.49%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.98%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.49%) GIS
Development Applications
1 20 (9.76%) Rational Rhapsody
2 11 (5.37%) GitLab
3 5 (2.44%) Eclipse
3 5 (2.44%) Git
3 5 (2.44%) Visual Studio
4 2 (0.98%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.98%) JIRA
4 2 (0.98%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.49%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.49%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.49%) JUnit
5 1 (0.49%) NUnit
5 1 (0.49%) Selenium
General
1 21 (10.24%) Aerospace
2 10 (4.88%) Law
3 7 (3.41%) Military
3 7 (3.41%) Social Skills
4 5 (2.44%) Analytical Skills
4 5 (2.44%) Electronics
4 5 (2.44%) Finance
5 2 (0.98%) Presentation Skills
6 1 (0.49%) Documentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (13.66%) Middleware
2 15 (7.32%) Qt
3 6 (2.93%) .NET
4 5 (2.44%) Node.js
4 5 (2.44%) Web Services
5 3 (1.46%) React
6 2 (0.98%) Flask
6 2 (0.98%) Jest
6 2 (0.98%) pytest
6 2 (0.98%) REST
7 1 (0.49%) Apache NiFi
7 1 (0.49%) Bun
7 1 (0.49%) OLE
7 1 (0.49%) Playwright
7 1 (0.49%) Quarkus
Miscellaneous
1 43 (20.98%) Algorithms
2 6 (2.93%) Embedded Systems
3 4 (1.95%) Legacy Systems
4 3 (1.46%) CUDA
5 1 (0.49%) AI Agents
5 1 (0.49%) Cloud Native
5 1 (0.49%) Legacy Applications
5 1 (0.49%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 30 (14.63%) Linux
2 8 (3.90%) Windows
3 5 (2.44%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.49%) Embedded Linux
4 1 (0.49%) FreeRTOS
4 1 (0.49%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 205 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 28 (13.66%) CI/CD
3 21 (10.24%) UML
4 14 (6.83%) SysML
5 13 (6.34%) Validation
6 12 (5.85%) Workflow
7 11 (5.37%) Workflow Management
8 10 (4.88%) Systems Engineering
9 9 (4.39%) Full-Stack Development
10 8 (3.90%) Agile
10 8 (3.90%) Virtual Environments
11 7 (3.41%) Configuration Management
11 7 (3.41%) Integration Testing
11 7 (3.41%) TDD
11 7 (3.41%) Test Automation
12 6 (2.93%) Containerisation
12 6 (2.93%) Verification and Validation
13 5 (2.44%) Continuous Delivery
13 5 (2.44%) Digital Twin
13 5 (2.44%) Synthetic Environment
Programming Languages
1 80 (39.02%) Ada
2 79 (38.54%) C++
3 27 (13.17%) Java
4 26 (12.68%) C
5 23 (11.22%) C#
6 21 (10.24%) MATLAB
7 13 (6.34%) Python
8 7 (3.41%) JavaScript
9 3 (1.46%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.98%) PHP
10 2 (0.98%) PowerShell
11 1 (0.49%) Bash
Qualifications
1 51 (24.88%) Security Cleared
2 40 (19.51%) SC Cleared
3 2 (0.98%) BPSS Clearance
4 1 (0.49%) Computer Science Degree
4 1 (0.49%) Degree
4 1 (0.49%) DV Cleared
4 1 (0.49%) ISTQB
4 1 (0.49%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (16.59%) Def Stans
2 28 (13.66%) IEC 61508
3 18 (8.78%) MISRA
4 13 (6.34%) MISRA C
5 5 (2.44%) DO-178B
6 2 (0.98%) Accessibility
6 2 (0.98%) NCSC
6 2 (0.98%) WCAG
7 1 (0.49%) DICOM
7 1 (0.49%) HL7
7 1 (0.49%) QA
System Software
1 14 (6.83%) Docker
2 5 (2.44%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 5 (2.44%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.98%) Ansible
3 1 (0.49%) Progress Chef
3 1 (0.49%) Puppet
3 1 (0.49%) Terraform
Vendors
1 11 (5.37%) IBM
2 10 (4.88%) MathWorks
3 5 (2.44%) Microsoft
4 3 (1.46%) Red Hat
5 1 (0.49%) F5
5 1 (0.49%) Google