BPSS Clearance Contract Job Trends in England

Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Clearance
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England with a requirement for BPSS Clearance qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 5 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 184 268 242
Rank change year-on-year +84 -26 -22
Contract jobs citing BPSS Clearance 486 245 355
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.54% 0.90% 0.98%
As % of the Qualifications category 4.51% 2.93% 3.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 361 148 261
10th Percentile £305 £220 £356
25th Percentile £393 £346 £446
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £510 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.41% -7.27% -
75th Percentile £625 £590 £631
90th Percentile £700 £693 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £505 £550
% change year-on-year -5.94% -8.18% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 11 30
10th Percentile £14.96 £20.00 £21.63
25th Percentile £22.63 £30.25 £29.91
Median hourly rate £33.50 £38.85 £53.75
Median % change year-on-year -13.77% -27.72% -10.42%
75th Percentile £56.69 £64.38 £66.25
90th Percentile £74.26 £67.50 £84.36
UK median hourly rate £33.50 £38.85 £53.75
% change year-on-year -13.77% -27.72% -6.52%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
England

BPSS Clearance 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 England.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 10,779 8,350 11,144
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.24% 30.57% 30.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,107 5,106 7,027
10th Percentile £313 £300 £300
25th Percentile £419 £419 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £725 £738
UK median daily rate £520 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 877 411 684
10th Percentile £16.30 £18.51 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.87 £24.50 £24.99
Median hourly rate £25.15 £46.18 £51.89
Median % change year-on-year -45.54% -11.00% +15.31%
75th Percentile £58.25 £68.00 £68.16
90th Percentile £76.58 £80.59 £80.00
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £40.00 £51.89
% change year-on-year -37.13% -22.91% +15.31%

BPSS Clearance
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing BPSS Clearance relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

BPSS Clearance job vacancy trend in England

BPSS Clearance
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing BPSS Clearance.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing BPSS Clearance

BPSS Clearance
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing BPSS Clearance in England over the 6 months to 5 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for BPSS Clearance in England

BPSS Clearance
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing BPSS Clearance.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing BPSS Clearance

BPSS Clearance
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing BPSS Clearance in England over the 6 months to 5 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for BPSS Clearance in England

BPSS Clearance
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 BPSS Clearance within the England region over the 6 months to 5 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 +35 180 £441 -11.75% 59
London +57 145 £525 -8.70% 55
North West +37 129 £425 -21.00% 42
Midlands +4 64 £446 -4.90% 54
West Midlands -17 45 £481 +2.61% 38
Yorkshire -31 39 £481 +118.75% 10
South East -12 35 £475 +11.76% 164
South West +5 34 £555 +8.29% 83
East Midlands -6 19 £393 - 15
East of England -18 19 £486 +120.68% 96
North East 0 14 £480 +2.13% 7
South Coast - 1 £500 -
BPSS Clearance
UK

BPSS Clearance
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 34 (7.00%) Confluence
2 9 (1.85%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.65%) SharePoint
4 5 (1.03%) nginx
5 3 (0.62%) Apache
5 3 (0.62%) WebLogic
6 2 (0.41%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.41%) CMS
6 2 (0.41%) MTS
6 2 (0.41%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.21%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.21%) JBoss
7 1 (0.21%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.21%) SAS
Applications
1 16 (3.29%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (1.65%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (0.82%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.41%) Trello
5 1 (0.21%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.21%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 38 (7.82%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.65%) SAP EHS
2 8 (1.65%) SAP HCM
3 7 (1.44%) Oracle EBS
4 5 (1.03%) SAP QM
4 5 (1.03%) SAP Travel Management
4 5 (1.03%) SAP VC
5 4 (0.82%) Maximo
5 4 (0.82%) Oracle EBS R12
6 3 (0.62%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.62%) Oracle Financials
6 3 (0.62%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.62%) SAP BRIM
6 3 (0.62%) SAP Hybris
6 3 (0.62%) SAP Payroll
6 3 (0.62%) SAP PSCD
7 2 (0.41%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 2 (0.41%) Oracle BPM
7 2 (0.41%) SAP EWM
7 2 (0.41%) SAP PS
Cloud Services
1 78 (16.05%) AWS
2 49 (10.08%) Azure
3 22 (4.53%) GitHub
3 22 (4.53%) Power Platform
4 20 (4.12%) Serverless
5 17 (3.50%) GCP
6 16 (3.29%) AWS Lambda
7 14 (2.88%) Azure DevOps
8 13 (2.67%) GitHub Actions
9 12 (2.47%) AWS CloudFormation
9 12 (2.47%) Microsoft 365
10 9 (1.85%) Power Automate
11 8 (1.65%) Amazon SQS
11 8 (1.65%) SaaS
12 7 (1.44%) Amazon EC2
12 7 (1.44%) PowerApps
12 7 (1.44%) SuccessFactors
13 6 (1.23%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 5 (1.03%) Amazon S3
14 5 (1.03%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 12 (2.47%) Firewall
2 8 (1.65%) DNS
3 7 (1.44%) LAN
3 7 (1.44%) VPN
4 6 (1.23%) WAN
5 5 (1.03%) Network Security
6 4 (0.82%) MPLS
6 4 (0.82%) SD-WAN
6 4 (0.82%) SSH
6 4 (0.82%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (0.62%) 5G
7 3 (0.62%) BGP
7 3 (0.62%) Cisco Nexus
7 3 (0.62%) DHCP
7 3 (0.62%) OpenLDAP
7 3 (0.62%) OSPF
7 3 (0.62%) Radio Access Network
7 3 (0.62%) Unified Communications
7 3 (0.62%) VLAN
7 3 (0.62%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (3.50%) Power BI
2 14 (2.88%) PostgreSQL
3 12 (2.47%) SQL Server
4 11 (2.26%) MongoDB
4 11 (2.26%) NoSQL
5 9 (1.85%) Redis
6 7 (1.44%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.44%) Metadata
6 7 (1.44%) Oracle Database
7 5 (1.03%) BigQuery
7 5 (1.03%) DocumentDB
7 5 (1.03%) Tableau
8 4 (0.82%) Big Data
8 4 (0.82%) Hadoop
9 3 (0.62%) Aerospike
9 3 (0.62%) DataStage
9 3 (0.62%) DynamoDB
9 3 (0.62%) GIS
9 3 (0.62%) SAP HANA
9 3 (0.62%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 49 (10.08%) JIRA
2 44 (9.05%) Git
3 20 (4.12%) GitLab
4 19 (3.91%) Jenkins
5 9 (1.85%) SonarQube
6 7 (1.44%) Mockito
7 6 (1.23%) JUnit
8 5 (1.03%) Android Studio
8 5 (1.03%) Bitbucket
8 5 (1.03%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.82%) Cucumber
9 4 (0.82%) Selenium
10 3 (0.62%) Gradle
10 3 (0.62%) Postman
10 3 (0.62%) Toad
11 2 (0.41%) Babel
11 2 (0.41%) Grunt
11 2 (0.41%) gulp
11 2 (0.41%) WebDriver
11 2 (0.41%) webpack
General
1 156 (32.10%) Social Skills
2 79 (16.26%) Public Sector
3 77 (15.84%) Finance
4 40 (8.23%) Analytical Skills
5 32 (6.58%) Banking
6 19 (3.91%) Aerospace
7 16 (3.29%) Telecoms
8 15 (3.09%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (1.85%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (1.85%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.65%) Aviation
11 7 (1.44%) Billing
11 7 (1.44%) Legal
12 5 (1.03%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (0.82%) Local Government
13 4 (0.82%) Manufacturing
14 3 (0.62%) Marketing
14 3 (0.62%) Retail
14 3 (0.62%) Retail Banking
15 2 (0.41%) Corporate Banking
Job Titles
1 66 (13.58%) Developer
2 61 (12.55%) Consultant
3 58 (11.93%) Senior
4 56 (11.52%) Analyst
5 36 (7.41%) SAP Consultant
6 35 (7.20%) Architect
7 28 (5.76%) Lead
8 24 (4.94%) Business Analyst
9 17 (3.50%) Senior Developer
10 16 (3.29%) Delivery Manager
10 16 (3.29%) Java Developer
11 15 (3.09%) Administrator
11 15 (3.09%) Management Consultant
12 14 (2.88%) Project Manager
13 12 (2.47%) Solutions Architect
14 10 (2.06%) Information Security Advisor
14 10 (2.06%) Security Advisor
15 9 (1.85%) Network Engineer
15 9 (1.85%) Senior Analyst
16 8 (1.65%) Programmer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (4.53%) Node.js
2 20 (4.12%) REST
3 19 (3.91%) JSON
4 18 (3.70%) React
5 14 (2.88%) Kafka
5 14 (2.88%) RESTful
6 13 (2.67%) XML
7 12 (2.47%) SAP Fiori
8 10 (2.06%) pytest
8 10 (2.06%) Spring
9 9 (1.85%) .NET
9 9 (1.85%) HTML
9 9 (1.85%) Jest
9 9 (1.85%) Middleware
10 8 (1.65%) ActiveMQ
11 7 (1.44%) AngularJS
11 7 (1.44%) LDAP
11 7 (1.44%) OpenAPI
11 7 (1.44%) Spring Boot
11 7 (1.44%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 37 (7.61%) Onboarding
2 25 (5.14%) Product Ownership
3 19 (3.91%) Management Information System
4 13 (2.67%) Cloud Native
4 13 (2.67%) Security Posture
5 12 (2.47%) Legacy Systems
6 11 (2.26%) NHS
7 8 (1.65%) SCADA
8 7 (1.44%) Distributed Systems
9 6 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.23%) Mobile App
10 5 (1.03%) Cyber Threat
10 5 (1.03%) Data Centre
10 5 (1.03%) Linux Command Line
10 5 (1.03%) Operational Technology
10 5 (1.03%) Public Cloud
11 4 (0.82%) Driving Licence
11 4 (0.82%) Hybrid Cloud
11 4 (0.82%) Replication
12 3 (0.62%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 45 (9.26%) Linux
2 26 (5.35%) Windows
3 19 (3.91%) Unix
4 8 (1.65%) Android
5 6 (1.23%) Mac OS X
5 6 (1.23%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.62%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.41%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.41%) Debian
7 2 (0.41%) VMS
7 2 (0.41%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.21%) CentOS
8 1 (0.21%) Robot Operating System
8 1 (0.21%) VME
8 1 (0.21%) Windows 10
8 1 (0.21%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.21%) Windows 8
8 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 132 (27.16%) Agile
2 80 (16.46%) Stakeholder Management
3 72 (14.81%) Problem-Solving
4 69 (14.20%) DevOps
5 65 (13.37%) CI/CD
6 51 (10.49%) Continuous Improvement
7 44 (9.05%) Test Automation
8 41 (8.44%) Microservices
9 39 (8.02%) Change Management
10 35 (7.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 33 (6.79%) Risk Management
12 32 (6.58%) Roadmaps
13 31 (6.38%) Validation
14 30 (6.17%) Migration
14 30 (6.17%) Scrum
15 27 (5.56%) Data Modelling
16 26 (5.35%) AI
16 26 (5.35%) Project Management
17 25 (5.14%) Computer Science
18 24 (4.94%) Analytics
Programming Languages
1 59 (12.14%) Python
2 49 (10.08%) Java
3 48 (9.88%) SQL
4 15 (3.09%) JavaScript
5 14 (2.88%) PowerShell
6 11 (2.26%) ABAP
6 11 (2.26%) Ruby
7 10 (2.06%) PL/SQL
8 7 (1.44%) Bash
8 7 (1.44%) C#
8 7 (1.44%) C++
8 7 (1.44%) Scala
9 6 (1.23%) Go
9 6 (1.23%) TypeScript
10 4 (0.82%) Kotlin
10 4 (0.82%) R
11 2 (0.41%) COBOL
11 2 (0.41%) PHP
11 2 (0.41%) Rust
12 1 (0.21%) C
Qualifications
1 234 (48.15%) Security Cleared
2 182 (37.45%) SC Cleared
3 46 (9.47%) Degree
4 22 (4.53%) Computer Science Degree
5 15 (3.09%) Master's Degree
6 11 (2.26%) BC Cleared
7 10 (2.06%) DV Cleared
7 10 (2.06%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
8 9 (1.85%) Cisco Certification
9 8 (1.65%) DBS Check
10 7 (1.44%) CCNP
11 5 (1.03%) ISTQB
12 4 (0.82%) PMI Certification
12 4 (0.82%) PMP
13 3 (0.62%) CCNA
13 3 (0.62%) CompTIA Security+
13 3 (0.62%) ISEB
13 3 (0.62%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 3 (0.62%) MCP
13 3 (0.62%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (4.32%) QA
2 18 (3.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (3.29%) Accessibility
4 13 (2.67%) GRC
5 11 (2.26%) NIST
6 10 (2.06%) Def Stans
7 9 (1.85%) PMO
8 8 (1.65%) SLA
9 6 (1.23%) Data Quality
10 5 (1.03%) GDPR
10 5 (1.03%) NCSC
11 4 (0.82%) ISO 20022
11 4 (0.82%) WCAG
12 3 (0.62%) P3O
12 3 (0.62%) PSD2
13 2 (0.41%) Basel III
13 2 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 2 (0.41%) ITGC
13 2 (0.41%) SEPA
14 1 (0.21%) IFRS
System Software
1 34 (7.00%) Docker
2 19 (3.91%) Active Directory
3 9 (1.85%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.03%) vSphere
5 4 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.62%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.41%) GPFS
7 2 (0.41%) NFS
7 2 (0.41%) QEMU
7 2 (0.41%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.21%) ACF2
8 1 (0.21%) HDFS
8 1 (0.21%) Postfix
8 1 (0.21%) RACF
8 1 (0.21%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 32 (6.58%) Kubernetes
2 30 (6.17%) Terraform
3 8 (1.65%) Ansible
4 6 (1.23%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (1.03%) vRealize
6 4 (0.82%) Puppet
6 4 (0.82%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (0.82%) VxRail
7 3 (0.62%) Grafana
7 3 (0.62%) Packer
7 3 (0.62%) PingFederate
7 3 (0.62%) Podman
8 2 (0.41%) Ambari
8 2 (0.41%) Argo
8 2 (0.41%) Consul
8 2 (0.41%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.41%) Istio
8 2 (0.41%) SCCM
8 2 (0.41%) ZABBIX
9 1 (0.21%) Kubeflow
Vendors
1 72 (14.81%) SAP
2 50 (10.29%) Microsoft
3 39 (8.02%) Oracle
4 17 (3.50%) Cisco
5 14 (2.88%) VMware
6 11 (2.26%) Google
6 11 (2.26%) IBM
7 10 (2.06%) ServiceNow
8 9 (1.85%) Atlassian
9 6 (1.23%) Fortinet
10 5 (1.03%) AppDynamics
10 5 (1.03%) CyberArk
10 5 (1.03%) Databricks
10 5 (1.03%) MuleSoft
11 4 (0.82%) Dell
11 4 (0.82%) webMethods
12 3 (0.62%) Adobe
12 3 (0.62%) Juniper
12 3 (0.62%) Thales
12 3 (0.62%) Workday