Security Cleared Contract Job Trends in Central London

Security Clearance
London > Central London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Central London with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 10 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 16 20
Rank change year-on-year +12 +4 -4
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 445 220 200
As % of all contract jobs in Central London 17.22% 10.63% 8.71%
As % of the Qualifications category 66.12% 42.55% 38.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 334 154 129
10th Percentile £425 £354 £406
25th Percentile £465 £456 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £638
90th Percentile £700 £711 £738
London median daily rate £550 £530 £538
% change year-on-year +3.77% -1.40% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 3 1
10th Percentile £26.60 £18.67 -
25th Percentile £37.25 £21.06 £20.22
Median hourly rate £60.00 £25.08 £20.82
Median % change year-on-year +139.28% +20.47% +15.64%
75th Percentile £70.88 £45.34 £21.41
90th Percentile £74.40 £57.48 -
London median hourly rate £59.75 £25.15 £22.00
% change year-on-year +137.57% +14.32% -63.33%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Central London

Security Cleared falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in Central London.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 673 517 524
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London 26.04% 24.98% 22.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 490 348 335
10th Percentile £403 £314 £374
25th Percentile £463 £455 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £550 £563
Median % change year-on-year -2.27% -2.22% +2.27%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £663
90th Percentile £734 £763 £775
London median daily rate £540 £530 £536
% change year-on-year +1.89% -1.12% -2.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 12 5
10th Percentile £19.45 £25.11 £20.33
25th Percentile £26.63 £26.13 £20.50
Median hourly rate £42.53 £31.78 £27.00
Median % change year-on-year +33.86% +17.69% +50.00%
75th Percentile £60.31 £55.06 -
90th Percentile £68.53 £65.39 £37.05
London median hourly rate £54.00 £25.15 £27.00
% change year-on-year +114.71% -6.85% -50.91%

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in Central London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Security Cleared relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Central London.

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in Central London

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in Central London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Security Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in Central London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in Central London over the 6 months to 10 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Cleared in Central London

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in Central London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Security Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Central London citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in Central London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Security Cleared in Central London over the 6 months to 10 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Security Cleared in Central London

Security Cleared
Contract Job Locations in Central London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Security Cleared within the Central London region over the 6 months to 10 August 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
City of London +11 397 £538 +2.38% 102
City of Westminster +3 33 £588 -2.08% 12
West End of London +3 30 £607 +4.74% 5
Southwark - 9 £600 -
Lambeth - 2 £475 - 1
Security Cleared
London

Security Cleared
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Central London 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 17 (3.82%) SharePoint
2 15 (3.37%) Confluence
3 5 (1.12%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.67%) Apache
5 2 (0.45%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2013
5 2 (0.45%) nginx
5 2 (0.45%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.22%) Anypoint
6 1 (0.22%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.22%) SharePoint 2013
6 1 (0.22%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.22%) WordPress
Applications
1 6 (1.35%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.45%) AutoCAD
2 2 (0.45%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 2 (0.45%) Revit
2 2 (0.45%) SOLIDWORKS
3 1 (0.22%) Chatbot
3 1 (0.22%) Maya
3 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (1.35%) Oracle EBS
2 4 (0.90%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.67%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.67%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.45%) Exchequer
4 2 (0.45%) iTrent
4 2 (0.45%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.45%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.45%) Temenos T24
5 1 (0.22%) Findur
5 1 (0.22%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.22%) Oracle Payroll
5 1 (0.22%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.22%) Oracle SCM
5 1 (0.22%) SAP HCM
5 1 (0.22%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.22%) SAP PM
5 1 (0.22%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 118 (26.52%) Azure
2 70 (15.73%) AWS
3 44 (9.89%) GCP
4 37 (8.31%) GitHub
5 29 (6.52%) GitHub Actions
5 29 (6.52%) Power Platform
6 22 (4.94%) Azure DevOps
7 15 (3.37%) Azure AKS
8 14 (3.15%) Google Kubernetes Engine
9 12 (2.70%) Microsoft 365
9 12 (2.70%) SaaS
10 11 (2.47%) PaaS
11 10 (2.25%) Azure Data Factory
11 10 (2.25%) OCI
12 9 (2.02%) Serverless
13 8 (1.80%) Amazon S3
13 8 (1.80%) Azure Monitor
13 8 (1.80%) Power Automate
13 8 (1.80%) PowerApps
14 6 (1.35%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 18 (4.04%) DNS
1 18 (4.04%) Firewall
2 10 (2.25%) Network Security
2 10 (2.25%) VPN
3 6 (1.35%) Internet
4 5 (1.12%) DHCP
5 4 (0.90%) LAN
6 3 (0.67%) NGFW
6 3 (0.67%) SMTP
7 2 (0.45%) FTP
7 2 (0.45%) HTTPS
7 2 (0.45%) Reverse Proxy
7 2 (0.45%) SAN
7 2 (0.45%) TCP/IP
7 2 (0.45%) VSAN
7 2 (0.45%) WAN
8 1 (0.22%) HTTP
8 1 (0.22%) LTE
8 1 (0.22%) NAS
8 1 (0.22%) OpenVPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (3.60%) Power BI
2 15 (3.37%) SQL Server
3 7 (1.57%) NoSQL
3 7 (1.57%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (1.35%) Amazon Athena
4 6 (1.35%) Data Lake
5 5 (1.12%) Amazon RDS
5 5 (1.12%) BigQuery
5 5 (1.12%) Data Warehouse
5 5 (1.12%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (0.90%) Big Data
6 4 (0.90%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.90%) Metadata
6 4 (0.90%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 4 (0.90%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 3 (0.67%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.67%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.45%) Amazon QuickSight
8 2 (0.45%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.45%) Pinecone
Development Applications
1 29 (6.52%) Git
2 22 (4.94%) Jenkins
3 20 (4.49%) JIRA
4 15 (3.37%) GitLab
5 7 (1.57%) Postman
6 5 (1.12%) Cypress.io
6 5 (1.12%) JMeter
6 5 (1.12%) JUnit
6 5 (1.12%) Mockito
6 5 (1.12%) Selenium
6 5 (1.12%) Visual Studio
7 4 (0.90%) Visual Studio Code
8 3 (0.67%) Liquibase
8 3 (0.67%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.45%) Ant
9 2 (0.45%) Claude Code
9 2 (0.45%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.45%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.45%) SoapUI
9 2 (0.45%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 109 (24.49%) Public Sector
2 95 (21.35%) Social Skills
3 42 (9.44%) Finance
4 27 (6.07%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (6.07%) Military
5 16 (3.60%) Law
6 15 (3.37%) Banking
7 12 (2.70%) Influencing Skills
8 10 (2.25%) Police
9 7 (1.57%) Telecoms
10 6 (1.35%) Retail
11 4 (0.90%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (0.90%) Financial Institution
11 4 (0.90%) Legal
12 3 (0.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 3 (0.67%) Local Government
12 3 (0.67%) Marketing
12 3 (0.67%) Organisational Skills
13 2 (0.45%) Manufacturing
13 2 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 99 (22.25%) Architect
2 51 (11.46%) Developer
3 42 (9.44%) Lead
4 40 (8.99%) Senior
5 29 (6.52%) Cloud Engineer
6 25 (5.62%) Analyst
7 23 (5.17%) Data Architect
8 21 (4.72%) Solutions Architect
9 20 (4.49%) Consultant
10 19 (4.27%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 17 (3.82%) DevOps Engineer
12 15 (3.37%) Azure Engineer
13 13 (2.92%) Applications Architect
13 13 (2.92%) Business Analyst
13 13 (2.92%) Platform Engineer
13 13 (2.92%) Technical Architect
14 12 (2.70%) Data Engineer
14 12 (2.70%) GCP Engineer
15 11 (2.47%) Security Architect
15 11 (2.47%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (4.27%) REST
2 15 (3.37%) .NET
3 12 (2.70%) Spring
4 11 (2.47%) Spring Boot
5 10 (2.25%) Kafka
5 10 (2.25%) RESTful
5 10 (2.25%) SOAP
6 9 (2.02%) HTML
6 9 (2.02%) React
7 8 (1.80%) JSON
7 8 (1.80%) Node.js
7 8 (1.80%) PySpark
8 7 (1.57%) XML
9 6 (1.35%) Swagger
10 5 (1.12%) Middleware
10 5 (1.12%) Oracle Fusion
10 5 (1.12%) Playwright
10 5 (1.12%) Web Services
11 4 (0.90%) AngularJS
11 4 (0.90%) CSS
Miscellaneous
1 31 (6.97%) Cloud Native
2 15 (3.37%) Data Centre
2 15 (3.37%) Legacy Systems
3 12 (2.70%) Onboarding
4 8 (1.80%) Distributed Systems
4 8 (1.80%) Self-Motivation
5 7 (1.57%) AI Agents
5 7 (1.57%) Management Information System
5 7 (1.57%) Public Cloud
6 6 (1.35%) Clustering
6 6 (1.35%) LIMS
7 5 (1.12%) Hybrid Cloud
7 5 (1.12%) Low-Code
7 5 (1.12%) Mobile App
7 5 (1.12%) PKI
8 4 (0.90%) CMDB
8 4 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
8 4 (0.90%) NHS
8 4 (0.90%) Replication
8 4 (0.90%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 29 (6.52%) Windows
2 23 (5.17%) Linux
3 17 (3.82%) Windows Server
4 5 (1.12%) VMS
5 3 (0.67%) Windows Server 2012
6 2 (0.45%) Mac OS
6 2 (0.45%) OpenVMS
6 2 (0.45%) Unix
6 2 (0.45%) Windows 7
6 2 (0.45%) Windows Server 2008
6 2 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.22%) AIX
7 1 (0.22%) Android
7 1 (0.22%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.22%) CentOS
7 1 (0.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.22%) Solaris
7 1 (0.22%) SUSE
7 1 (0.22%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 92 (20.67%) CI/CD
1 92 (20.67%) DevOps
2 67 (15.06%) Infrastructure as Code
3 64 (14.38%) Agile
4 57 (12.81%) Migration
5 54 (12.13%) AI
6 53 (11.91%) Containerisation
7 50 (11.24%) Stakeholder Management
8 38 (8.54%) Continuous Improvement
9 35 (7.87%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 33 (7.42%) Problem-Solving
11 32 (7.19%) Platform Engineering
12 31 (6.97%) Data Modelling
13 30 (6.74%) Microservices
13 30 (6.74%) Test Automation
14 26 (5.84%) Observability
15 25 (5.62%) Analytics
16 24 (5.39%) Event-Driven
16 24 (5.39%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 22 (4.94%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 50 (11.24%) Python
2 36 (8.09%) SQL
3 33 (7.42%) Java
4 25 (5.62%) C#
5 23 (5.17%) PowerShell
6 21 (4.72%) JavaScript
7 14 (3.15%) TypeScript
8 13 (2.92%) Bash
9 6 (1.35%) Bicep
10 5 (1.12%) Ruby
11 4 (0.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 3 (0.67%) Apex Code
13 2 (0.45%) ActionScript
13 2 (0.45%) ActionScript 2.0
13 2 (0.45%) R
13 2 (0.45%) T-SQL
14 1 (0.22%) C++
14 1 (0.22%) PL/SQL
14 1 (0.22%) Shell Script
14 1 (0.22%) X++
Qualifications
1 370 (83.15%) SC Cleared
2 54 (12.13%) DV Cleared
3 16 (3.60%) BPSS Clearance
4 8 (1.80%) Degree
5 7 (1.57%) CISSP
6 5 (1.12%) Azure Certification
6 5 (1.12%) CISM
6 5 (1.12%) DBS Check
7 4 (0.90%) CTC Cleared
7 4 (0.90%) Microsoft Certification
8 3 (0.67%) GIAC
9 2 (0.45%) AWS Certification
9 2 (0.45%) CEH
9 2 (0.45%) Cisco Certification
9 2 (0.45%) CompTIA CySA+
9 2 (0.45%) CompTIA Security+
9 2 (0.45%) ITIL Certification
9 2 (0.45%) OSCP
9 2 (0.45%) PMP
9 2 (0.45%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (5.62%) QA
2 15 (3.37%) NCSC
3 14 (3.15%) Data Quality
4 13 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 11 (2.47%) NIST
6 8 (1.80%) Accessibility
7 7 (1.57%) Cyber Essentials
8 5 (1.12%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 5 (1.12%) GDPR
8 5 (1.12%) Government Security Classifications
9 4 (0.90%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 3 (0.67%) NIST 800
10 3 (0.67%) SLA
11 2 (0.45%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 2 (0.45%) GMP
11 2 (0.45%) GRC
11 2 (0.45%) GxP
11 2 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 17025
11 2 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 2 (0.45%) PMO
System Software
1 30 (6.74%) Docker
2 19 (4.27%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (4.04%) Active Directory
4 10 (2.25%) VMware ESXi
5 8 (1.80%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (1.12%) Hyper-V
6 5 (1.12%) vSphere
7 3 (0.67%) BitLocker
7 3 (0.67%) Microsoft App-V
7 3 (0.67%) Terminal Services
8 2 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.45%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.22%) Firmware
9 1 (0.22%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.22%) UAG
9 1 (0.22%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 69 (15.51%) Kubernetes
2 51 (11.46%) Terraform
3 22 (4.94%) Ansible
4 14 (3.15%) Prometheus
5 12 (2.70%) Grafana
6 9 (2.02%) vCenter Server
7 6 (1.35%) Puppet
7 6 (1.35%) SCCM
8 5 (1.12%) Istio
9 4 (0.90%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.90%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.67%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.67%) Nagios
10 3 (0.67%) vMotion
10 3 (0.67%) WSUS
11 2 (0.45%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.45%) NetBackup
11 2 (0.45%) SCOM
12 1 (0.22%) Data Guard
12 1 (0.22%) SELinux
Vendors
1 69 (15.51%) Microsoft
2 28 (6.29%) Google
2 28 (6.29%) Oracle
3 23 (5.17%) VMware
4 20 (4.49%) Databricks
4 20 (4.49%) ServiceNow
5 9 (2.02%) SAP
6 8 (1.80%) Dynatrace
6 8 (1.80%) Salesforce
7 6 (1.35%) webMethods
8 5 (1.12%) IBM
8 5 (1.12%) Splunk
9 4 (0.90%) Citrix
9 4 (0.90%) Fortinet
9 4 (0.90%) MuleSoft
9 4 (0.90%) OpenAI
9 4 (0.90%) Palo Alto
9 4 (0.90%) Remedy
10 3 (0.67%) HP
10 3 (0.67%) Symantec