Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in the East of England
Software Engineer
England > East of England
The median Software Engineer daily rate in the East of England is £505, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 22 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 22 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 26 | 32 | 24 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +6 | -8 | 0 |
| Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer | 137 | 74 | 87 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the East of England | 5.72% | 5.32% | 6.21% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 6.30% | 6.21% | 6.97% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 34 | 12 | 15 |
| 10th Percentile | £74 | £386 | £385 |
| 25th Percentile | £356 | £441 | £450 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £505 | £500 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +1.00% | - | -3.05% |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £665 | £550 |
| 90th Percentile | - | £675 | £556 |
| England median daily rate | £550 | £625 | £625 |
| % change year-on-year | -12.00% | - | +4.17% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 73 | 44 | 32 |
| 10th Percentile | £62.00 | £31.25 | £53.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £65.00 | - | £62.19 |
| Median hourly rate | £68.21 | £65.00 | £65.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.94% | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £73.46 | £67.00 | £67.50 |
| 90th Percentile | £75.00 | £68.75 | £77.13 |
| England median hourly rate | £65.00 | £65.00 | £65.50 |
| % change year-on-year | - | -0.76% | +0.77% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
East of England
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the East of England. 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.
| 6 months to 22 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in the East of England with a recognized job title | 2,174 | 1,192 | 1,248 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 90.77% | 85.63% | 89.14% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 816 | 532 | 535 |
| 10th Percentile | £189 | £189 | £216 |
| 25th Percentile | £350 | £350 | £310 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £500 | £450 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | +11.11% | -7.69% |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £588 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £713 | £688 | £638 |
| England median daily rate | £525 | £513 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.44% | -2.38% | -2.78% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 672 | 291 | 234 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.22 | £13.80 | £15.10 |
| 25th Percentile | £20.51 | £16.00 | £21.28 |
| Median hourly rate | £48.84 | £30.00 | £47.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +62.80% | -36.84% | +38.81% |
| 75th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £75.00 | £70.00 |
| England median hourly rate | £41.71 | £25.15 | £42.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +65.84% | -40.82% | -7.61% |
Software Engineer Job Vacancy Trend in the East of England
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 the East of England.
Software Engineer Daily Rate Trend in the East of England
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the East of England.
Software Engineer Daily Rate Histogram in the East of England
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in the East of England over the 6 months to 22 October 2026.
Software Engineer Hourly Rate Trend in the East of England
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the East of England.
Software Engineer Hourly Rate Histogram in the East of England
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineer in the East of England over the 6 months to 22 October 2026.
Software Engineer Contract Job Locations in the East of England
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Software Engineer within the East of England region over the 6 months to 22 October 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hertfordshire | -3 | 64 | £775 | +14.81% | 10 |
| Bedfordshire | +28 | 31 | £74 | - | 1 |
| Essex | -3 | 20 | £600 | +5.17% | 4 |
| Suffolk | - | 14 | £363 | - | 5 |
| Cambridgeshire | -3 | 8 | £425 | +4.94% | 58 |
| Software Engineer England |
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Software Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the East of England
For the 6 months to 22 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 East of England region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Software Engineering | 98.5% | 135 |
| 2 | C++ | 29.2% | 40 |
| 3 | Agile | 24.8% | 34 |
| 4 | C | 24.1% | 33 |
| 5 | CI/CD | 23.4% | 32 |
| 6 | Security Cleared | 22.6% | 31 |
| 7 | SC Cleared | 20.4% | 28 |
| 8 | DevOps | 19.0% | 26 |
| 9 | Java | 18.2% | 25 |
| 10 | Software Testing | 16.8% | 23 |
| 11 | C# | 14.6% | 20 |
| 11 | Test Automation | 14.6% | 20 |
| 13 | Embedded C | 12.4% | 17 |
| 14 | Ada | 10.9% | 15 |
| 14 | Continuous Integration | 10.9% | 15 |
| 14 | Problem-Solving | 10.9% | 15 |
| 17 | GCP | 10.2% | 14 |
| 18 | Rational DOORS | 9.5% | 13 |
| 18 | Test Scripting | 9.5% | 13 |
| 20 | Firewall | 8.8% | 12 |
| 20 | Identity Management | 8.8% | 12 |
| 20 | Load Balancing | 8.8% | 12 |
| 20 | Relational Database | 8.8% | 12 |
| 20 | VPN | 8.8% | 12 |
| 25 | Identity Access Management | 8.0% | 11 |
| 25 | Visual Studio | 8.0% | 11 |
| 25 | Web Development | 8.0% | 11 |
| 25 | Windows | 8.0% | 11 |
| 29 | Continuous Delivery | 7.3% | 10 |
| 29 | Validation | 7.3% | 10 |
Software Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the East of England by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Embedded Software Engineer | 24.1% | 33 |
| 2 | C Software Engineer | 15.3% | 21 |
| 2 | C++ Software Engineer | 15.3% | 21 |
| 4 | Developer/Software Engineer | 14.6% | 20 |
| 5 | Principal Software Engineer | 13.9% | 19 |
| 6 | Embedded C Software Engineer | 11.7% | 16 |
| 7 | Java Software Engineer | 10.9% | 15 |
| 7 | Software Development Engineer | 10.9% | 15 |
| 9 | Backend Developer | 9.5% | 13 |
| 9 | C# Software Engineer | 9.5% | 13 |
| 9 | IAM Developer | 9.5% | 13 |
| 9 | Java Software Developer | 9.5% | 13 |
| 13 | Ada Software Engineer | 6.6% | 9 |
| 13 | DSP Software Engineer | 6.6% | 9 |
| 15 | Radio Engineer | 5.8% | 8 |
| 16 | Voice Engineer | 5.1% | 7 |
| 17 | C/C++ Software Engineer | 3.6% | 5 |
| 18 | DSP Embedded Software Engineer | 2.2% | 3 |
| 18 | Senior Software Engineer | 2.2% | 3 |
| 20 | .NET Software Engineer | 1.5% | 2 |