2nd Line Support Contract Job Trends in England

Second Line Support
UK > England

The median Second Line Support daily rate in England is £190, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 4 January 2026.

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

 6 months to
4 Jan 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 370 357 288
Rank change year-on-year -13 -69 +26
Contract jobs requiring a 2nd Line Support 177 141 291
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.56% 0.51% 0.80%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.62% 0.55% 0.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 130 107 196
10th Percentile £154 £155 £133
25th Percentile £163 £188 £168
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £190 £225 £200
Median % change year-on-year -15.56% +12.50% -11.11%
75th Percentile £227 £288 £238
90th Percentile £288 £430 £289
UK median daily rate £190 £217 £200
% change year-on-year -12.44% +8.50% -11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 11 22
10th Percentile - £21.00 £15.95
25th Percentile £15.50 £21.05 £17.73
Median hourly rate £18.00 £24.18 £19.31
Median % change year-on-year -25.56% +25.22% -13.21%
75th Percentile £25.15 £29.00 £22.09
90th Percentile £31.43 £31.12 £24.90
UK median hourly rate £19.63 £23.99 £19.31
% change year-on-year -18.20% +24.24% -12.23%

All Contract IT Job Roles
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in 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.

Contract vacancies in England with a recognized job title 28,766 25,517 33,884
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.44% 92.85% 93.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,412 15,793 23,116
10th Percentile £300 £300 £280
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £501 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.67% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,738 801 1,461
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.92 £14.25
25th Percentile £18.30 £21.25 £19.25
Median hourly rate £27.50 £35.00 £44.78
Median % change year-on-year -21.43% -21.83% +33.66%
75th Percentile £62.50 £64.73 £65.00
90th Percentile £73.49 £74.87 £76.53
UK median hourly rate £26.50 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -18.46% -26.97% +36.92%

2nd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '2nd Line Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

2nd Line Support job vacancy trend in England

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in England.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in England

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing 2nd Line Support in England over the 6 months to 4 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for 2nd Line Support in England

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in England.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in England

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing 2nd Line Support in England over the 6 months to 4 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for 2nd Line Support in England

2nd Line Support
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the England region over the 6 months to 4 January 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
North of England -10 64 £175 -10.26% 13
London -17 49 £190 -24.00% 5
North West -7 33 £175 -6.67% 3
Midlands -36 28 £180 -10.00% 5
Yorkshire -26 25 £205 +5.13% 8
West Midlands -40 19 £200 - 3
South East -24 16 £198 -13.87% 26
East of England -5 11 - - 9
South West -12 9 £275 +25.57% 4
East Midlands -19 9 £158 -21.25% 2
North East - 6 £175 - 3
2nd Line Support
UK

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 4 January 2026, 2nd Line Support 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 England region featuring 2nd Line Support in the job title.

1 113 (63.84%) Windows
2 98 (55.37%) Microsoft 365
3 70 (39.55%) Microsoft
4 65 (36.72%) Active Directory
5 60 (33.90%) Microsoft Office
6 46 (25.99%) Customer Service
7 44 (24.86%) Android
7 44 (24.86%) Windows 10
8 41 (23.16%) ITIL
8 41 (23.16%) Security Cleared
9 37 (20.90%) Entra ID
9 37 (20.90%) SC Cleared
10 36 (20.34%) Azure
11 32 (18.08%) Service Management
12 30 (16.95%) Microsoft Intune
12 30 (16.95%) Service Delivery
13 29 (16.38%) Apple
13 29 (16.38%) Wireless
14 28 (15.82%) Business Intelligence
14 28 (15.82%) Problem-Solving
14 28 (15.82%) SAP
15 27 (15.25%) Digital Marketing
15 27 (15.25%) Mac OS
15 27 (15.25%) Programme Management
15 27 (15.25%) SharePoint
16 26 (14.69%) Cisco
16 26 (14.69%) DHCP
16 26 (14.69%) DNS
16 26 (14.69%) VPN
17 25 (14.12%) Windows Server

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 27 (15.25%) SharePoint
2 18 (10.17%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (2.82%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 60 (33.90%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (2.26%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (1.69%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.56%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 98 (55.37%) Microsoft 365
2 37 (20.90%) Entra ID
3 36 (20.34%) Azure
4 14 (7.91%) OneDrive
5 6 (3.39%) Google Workspace
6 2 (1.13%) AWS
7 1 (0.56%) Mimecast
7 1 (0.56%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 29 (16.38%) Wireless
2 26 (14.69%) DHCP
2 26 (14.69%) DNS
2 26 (14.69%) VPN
3 21 (11.86%) TCP/IP
4 20 (11.30%) WAN
5 16 (9.04%) LAN
6 9 (5.08%) Firewall
7 6 (3.39%) Network Security
7 6 (3.39%) PABX
7 6 (3.39%) Structured Cabling
7 6 (3.39%) Wi-Fi
8 4 (2.26%) BGP
8 4 (2.26%) IPsec
8 4 (2.26%) MPLS
9 3 (1.69%) VoIP
10 2 (1.13%) VLAN
11 1 (0.56%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.56%) Electronic Patient Records
1 1 (0.56%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 1 (0.56%) JIRA
General
1 67 (37.85%) Social Skills
2 35 (19.77%) Public Sector
3 34 (19.21%) Finance
4 32 (18.08%) Manufacturing
5 28 (15.82%) Telecoms
6 27 (15.25%) Electronics
6 27 (15.25%) Marketing
7 9 (5.08%) Analytical Skills
7 9 (5.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 5 (2.82%) Organisational Skills
9 3 (1.69%) Banking
10 2 (1.13%) Law
10 2 (1.13%) Legal
10 2 (1.13%) Retail
11 1 (0.56%) Advertising
11 1 (0.56%) Multimedia
11 1 (0.56%) Publishing
Miscellaneous
1 23 (12.99%) Data Centre
2 13 (7.34%) Driving Licence
3 10 (5.65%) Onboarding
3 10 (5.65%) Smartphone
4 7 (3.95%) Management Information System
4 7 (3.95%) NHS
5 6 (3.39%) CMDB
5 6 (3.39%) Self-Motivation
5 6 (3.39%) Team-Oriented Environment
6 4 (2.26%) PKI
7 3 (1.69%) iPhone
7 3 (1.69%) Video Conferencing
8 2 (1.13%) Data Protection Act
9 1 (0.56%) CCTV
9 1 (0.56%) Hedge funds
9 1 (0.56%) Replication
9 1 (0.56%) Smartcard
9 1 (0.56%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 113 (63.84%) Windows
2 44 (24.86%) Android
2 44 (24.86%) Windows 10
3 27 (15.25%) Mac OS
4 25 (14.12%) Windows Server
5 18 (10.17%) Apple iOS
6 8 (4.52%) Linux
7 7 (3.95%) Windows Server 2019
8 6 (3.39%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 46 (25.99%) Customer Service
2 41 (23.16%) ITIL
3 32 (18.08%) Service Management
4 30 (16.95%) Service Delivery
5 28 (15.82%) Business Intelligence
5 28 (15.82%) Problem-Solving
6 27 (15.25%) Digital Marketing
6 27 (15.25%) Programme Management
7 15 (8.47%) ITSM
8 10 (5.65%) Asset Management
9 9 (5.08%) Customer Experience
10 8 (4.52%) Migration
10 8 (4.52%) Network Management
11 6 (3.39%) Break/Fix
11 6 (3.39%) Change Management
11 6 (3.39%) Continuous Improvement
11 6 (3.39%) Mobile Device Management
11 6 (3.39%) Network Monitoring
11 6 (3.39%) Workflow
12 5 (2.82%) Disk Encryption
Programming Languages
1 8 (4.52%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.56%) SQL
Qualifications
1 41 (23.16%) Security Cleared
2 37 (20.90%) SC Cleared
3 11 (6.21%) Degree
4 9 (5.08%) Microsoft Certification
5 6 (3.39%) ECDL
5 6 (3.39%) MCP
6 5 (2.82%) MCDST
7 2 (1.13%) DBS Check
7 2 (1.13%) MCSE
8 1 (0.56%) Azure Certification
8 1 (0.56%) CCNA
8 1 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
8 1 (0.56%) DV Cleared
8 1 (0.56%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (0.56%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 1 (0.56%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (4.52%) SLA
2 2 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
System Software
1 65 (36.72%) Active Directory
2 3 (1.69%) Virtual Desktop
3 1 (0.56%) BitLocker
3 1 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.56%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 30 (16.95%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (9.04%) SCCM
3 2 (1.13%) Jamf Pro
4 1 (0.56%) SCOM
Vendors
1 70 (39.55%) Microsoft
2 29 (16.38%) Apple
3 28 (15.82%) SAP
4 26 (14.69%) Cisco
5 23 (12.99%) Dell
5 23 (12.99%) HP
6 14 (7.91%) ServiceNow
7 7 (3.95%) Google
8 5 (2.82%) Citrix
8 5 (2.82%) iManage
8 5 (2.82%) Mitel
9 4 (2.26%) Juniper
10 3 (1.69%) Logitech
10 3 (1.69%) Meraki
10 3 (1.69%) Remedy
11 2 (1.13%) VMware
12 1 (0.56%) Ariba
12 1 (0.56%) SolarWinds
12 1 (0.56%) Sophos
12 1 (0.56%) WatchGuard
59 2nd Line Support jobs in England