PhD Contract Job Trends in the City of London

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil, EngD, Doctorate)
Central London > City of London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the City of London with a requirement for PhD qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 22 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 134 113 117
Rank change year-on-year -21 +4 +28
Contract jobs citing PhD 3 10 4
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 0.13% 0.55% 0.19%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.50% 2.23% 0.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 6 3
10th Percentile - £527 £601
25th Percentile £728 £606 £603
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £755 £750 £613
Median % change year-on-year +0.67% +22.45% -25.76%
75th Percentile £783 £763 £778
90th Percentile - - £874
Central London median daily rate £755 £750 £613
% change year-on-year +0.67% +22.45% -25.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 0 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £31.03 - -
Median hourly rate £32.07 - -
75th Percentile £33.10 - -
90th Percentile - - -
Central London median hourly rate £32.07 - -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
City of London

PhD 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 the City of London.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 596 449 499
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 25.45% 24.58% 24.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 432 302 318
10th Percentile £413 £315 £393
25th Percentile £463 £456 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £565
Median % change year-on-year - -2.65% +2.73%
75th Percentile £644 £669 £659
90th Percentile £733 £759 £775
Central London median daily rate £550 £550 £563
% change year-on-year - -2.22% +2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 7 4
10th Percentile £19.42 £22.28 £20.31
25th Percentile £21.88 £26.00 £20.43
Median hourly rate £31.03 £28.15 £24.00
Median % change year-on-year +10.24% +17.29% +36.17%
75th Percentile £57.02 £64.66 £27.00
90th Percentile £70.88 £79.34 -
Central London median hourly rate £42.53 £34.48 £27.00
% change year-on-year +23.35% +27.70% +53.19%

PhD
Job Vacancy Trend in the City of London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing PhD relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London.

PhD job vacancy trend in the City of London

PhD
Daily Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing PhD.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing PhD

PhD
Hourly Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing PhD.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing PhD

PhD
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the City of 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:

Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (33.33%) Data Mining
General
1 1 (33.33%) Finance
Job Titles
1 1 (33.33%) Hardware Engineer
1 1 (33.33%) Research Engineer
1 1 (33.33%) Security Engineer
1 1 (33.33%) Senior
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (33.33%) PyTorch
Miscellaneous
1 1 (33.33%) Algorithms
1 1 (33.33%) Derivative
1 1 (33.33%) Distributed Systems
1 1 (33.33%) Exotic Derivative
1 1 (33.33%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
1 1 (33.33%) Legacy Systems
1 1 (33.33%) OTC Derivatives
1 1 (33.33%) Tandem
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (66.67%) Computer Science
2 1 (33.33%) AI
2 1 (33.33%) Analytics
2 1 (33.33%) Curve Construction
2 1 (33.33%) Generative AI
2 1 (33.33%) Information Security
2 1 (33.33%) LLM
2 1 (33.33%) Low Latency
2 1 (33.33%) Machine Learning
2 1 (33.33%) Mathematics
2 1 (33.33%) Memory Management
2 1 (33.33%) Model Validation
2 1 (33.33%) Monte Carlo Method
2 1 (33.33%) Pattern Recognition
2 1 (33.33%) Performance Optimisation
2 1 (33.33%) Physics
2 1 (33.33%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 2 (66.67%) Python
2 1 (33.33%) C++
2 1 (33.33%) Java
Qualifications
1 3 (100.00%) Degree
2 2 (66.67%) Master's Degree
3 1 (33.33%) Computer Science Degree