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 21 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 120 178 259
Rank change year-on-year +58 +81 -15
Contract jobs citing BPSS Clearance 1,015 425 304
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.22% 1.54% 0.91%
As % of the Qualifications category 7.01% 4.88% 2.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 691 302 197
10th Percentile £350 £306 £220
25th Percentile £414 £401 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.00% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £581 £606 £588
90th Percentile £680 £700 £635
UK median daily rate £500 £510 £500
% change year-on-year -1.96% +2.00% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 175 37 34
10th Percentile £19.50 £20.00 £14.62
25th Percentile £42.00 £22.63 £16.06
Median hourly rate £43.96 £29.27 £17.53
Median % change year-on-year +50.19% +66.97% -54.29%
75th Percentile £58.20 £70.16 £57.50
90th Percentile £73.00 £75.50 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £27.50 £20.24
% change year-on-year +59.85% +35.90% -47.24%

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 14,472 8,705 10,161
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.69% 31.59% 30.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,744 5,463 6,454
10th Percentile £350 £300 £325
25th Percentile £435 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £627 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £713 £738
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £525
% change year-on-year - - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,122 685 718
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.16 £14.84
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £21.37
Median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +108.75% -47.05% -13.64%
75th Percentile £74.88 £55.49 £67.69
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £48.77 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +93.90% -41.51% -21.82%

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 21 August 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 21 August 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 21 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
North of England +19 295 £481 +1.16% 74
London +50 285 £505 -0.98% 64
Midlands +43 200 £490 -5.95% 33
West Midlands +44 186 £488 -6.79% 30
North West +2 157 £500 +11.11% 49
South East -16 104 £483 -6.03% 55
North East +13 83 £453 -1.52% 18
South West +1 79 £525 +16.67% 56
Yorkshire -4 66 £480 -4.00% 8
East of England -2 33 £605 +110.28% 27
East Midlands -26 13 £600 +21.95% 3
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 44 (4.33%) Confluence
2 23 (2.27%) SharePoint
3 7 (0.69%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.69%) SAS
4 5 (0.49%) Apache Airflow
4 5 (0.49%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.49%) WebLogic
5 4 (0.39%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
6 3 (0.30%) WordPress
7 2 (0.20%) Apache
7 2 (0.20%) Cloud Foundry
7 2 (0.20%) Ethereum
7 2 (0.20%) Hyperledger
7 2 (0.20%) LiveCycle
7 2 (0.20%) OpenROAD
8 1 (0.099%) Appian
8 1 (0.099%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.099%) CICS
8 1 (0.099%) CMS
Applications
1 34 (3.35%) Microsoft Excel
2 22 (2.17%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.48%) Microsoft Project
4 10 (0.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.39%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.30%) Simulink
6 3 (0.30%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.20%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.20%) Navisworks
7 2 (0.20%) Trello
7 2 (0.20%) Windchill
8 1 (0.099%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.099%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.099%) CATIA
8 1 (0.099%) InVision
8 1 (0.099%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.099%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.099%) Revit
8 1 (0.099%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 24 (2.36%) SAP S/4HANA
2 12 (1.18%) SAP HR
3 9 (0.89%) SAP IBP
3 9 (0.89%) SAP PSCD
4 6 (0.59%) SAP BRIM
5 4 (0.39%) SAP Convergent Charging
5 4 (0.39%) SAP EWM
5 4 (0.39%) SAP Payroll
5 4 (0.39%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.30%) Dynamics CRM
6 3 (0.30%) iTrent
6 3 (0.30%) Primavera
6 3 (0.30%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.30%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.30%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.30%) SAP MM
6 3 (0.30%) Shopify
7 2 (0.20%) Quorum
7 2 (0.20%) R3 Corda
7 2 (0.20%) Ripple
Cloud Services
1 149 (14.68%) Azure
2 144 (14.19%) AWS
3 56 (5.52%) Power Platform
4 36 (3.55%) Azure DevOps
4 36 (3.55%) Serverless
5 29 (2.86%) Microsoft 365
6 28 (2.76%) GitHub
7 27 (2.66%) Amazon S3
7 27 (2.66%) AWS Lambda
8 22 (2.17%) GCP
9 20 (1.97%) Entra ID
9 20 (1.97%) GitHub Actions
10 18 (1.77%) SuccessFactors
11 12 (1.18%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 10 (0.99%) Amazon ECS
12 10 (0.99%) Azure Data Factory
12 10 (0.99%) Azure Monitor
12 10 (0.99%) PowerApps
13 9 (0.89%) Power Automate
14 8 (0.79%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 13 (1.28%) DNS
2 11 (1.08%) WebEx
3 8 (0.79%) Intranet
4 7 (0.69%) Network Security
5 6 (0.59%) Cisco IPT
5 6 (0.59%) SSL
5 6 (0.59%) WAN
6 5 (0.49%) Ethernet
6 5 (0.49%) Firewall
7 4 (0.39%) DHCP
7 4 (0.39%) HTTPS
7 4 (0.39%) Internet
7 4 (0.39%) TCP/IP
8 3 (0.30%) 5G
8 3 (0.30%) MQTT
8 3 (0.30%) Radio Access Network
8 3 (0.30%) SAN
8 3 (0.30%) VPN
8 3 (0.30%) Wireshark
9 2 (0.20%) 4G
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (3.74%) Power BI
2 23 (2.27%) SQL Server
3 21 (2.07%) Data Warehouse
3 21 (2.07%) PostgreSQL
4 18 (1.77%) Metadata
5 16 (1.58%) Amazon RDS
6 15 (1.48%) MySQL
7 14 (1.38%) MongoDB
8 12 (1.18%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 11 (1.08%) Amazon Redshift
10 10 (0.99%) Amazon Athena
10 10 (0.99%) DynamoDB
11 9 (0.89%) Amazon Aurora
12 8 (0.79%) Data Lake
12 8 (0.79%) Oracle Database
13 7 (0.69%) Big Data
13 7 (0.69%) Power Query
13 7 (0.69%) SAP BW
14 5 (0.49%) Looker
14 5 (0.49%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 78 (7.68%) JIRA
2 46 (4.53%) Git
3 37 (3.65%) GitLab
4 25 (2.46%) Jenkins
5 14 (1.38%) Selenium
6 12 (1.18%) Cucumber
7 11 (1.08%) Maven
8 10 (0.99%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 10 (0.99%) Team Foundation Server
8 10 (0.99%) Visual Studio
9 9 (0.89%) Bitbucket
9 9 (0.89%) JUnit
10 8 (0.79%) Cypress.io
10 8 (0.79%) Gatling
10 8 (0.79%) SonarQube
11 6 (0.59%) Rational DOORS
12 5 (0.49%) Postman
13 4 (0.39%) Mockito
13 4 (0.39%) REST Assured
13 4 (0.39%) WebDriver
General
1 333 (32.81%) Social Skills
2 240 (23.65%) Public Sector
3 171 (16.85%) Finance
4 96 (9.46%) Analytical Skills
5 90 (8.87%) Organisational Skills
6 89 (8.77%) Legal
7 42 (4.14%) Aerospace
8 23 (2.27%) Presentation Skills
9 22 (2.17%) Influencing Skills
10 20 (1.97%) Documentation Skills
11 19 (1.87%) Manufacturing
12 18 (1.77%) Banking
13 15 (1.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 14 (1.38%) Telecoms
15 13 (1.28%) Billing
16 11 (1.08%) Local Government
17 9 (0.89%) Law
18 7 (0.69%) Aviation
18 7 (0.69%) Avionics
19 6 (0.59%) Police
Job Titles
1 124 (12.22%) Senior
2 116 (11.43%) Lead
3 93 (9.16%) Developer
4 83 (8.18%) Analyst
5 73 (7.19%) Architect
6 67 (6.60%) Consultant
7 56 (5.52%) Designer
8 43 (4.24%) SAP Consultant
9 34 (3.35%) Data Engineer
10 32 (3.15%) Business Analyst
11 28 (2.76%) Delivery Manager
12 25 (2.46%) User Researcher
13 24 (2.36%) DevOps Engineer
13 24 (2.36%) Solutions Architect
14 23 (2.27%) Product Manager
15 21 (2.07%) Java Developer
15 21 (2.07%) Service Designer
16 20 (1.97%) Senior Manager
16 20 (1.97%) Software Engineer
17 19 (1.87%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 64 (6.31%) Terraform
2 30 (2.96%) REST
3 27 (2.66%) Node.js
3 27 (2.66%) Spring
4 25 (2.46%) Spring Boot
5 21 (2.07%) HTML
6 20 (1.97%) React
7 19 (1.87%) Playwright
8 18 (1.77%) RESTful
9 17 (1.67%) .NET
10 14 (1.38%) CSS
11 13 (1.28%) Kafka
12 12 (1.18%) PySpark
13 11 (1.08%) Play Framework
13 11 (1.08%) SAML
13 11 (1.08%) SOAP
13 11 (1.08%) Web Services
14 10 (0.99%) XML
15 8 (0.79%) AngularJS
15 8 (0.79%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 80 (7.88%) Web Conferencing
2 78 (7.68%) Virtual Team
3 70 (6.90%) Podcast
4 67 (6.60%) Onboarding
5 53 (5.22%) Product Ownership
6 36 (3.55%) Cloud Native
7 18 (1.77%) NHS
8 16 (1.58%) Management Information System
9 15 (1.48%) BYOD
10 13 (1.28%) Legacy Systems
10 13 (1.28%) Mobile App
11 11 (1.08%) Algorithms
12 10 (0.99%) Self-Motivation
12 10 (0.99%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.89%) Data Centre
13 9 (0.89%) Enterprise Software
13 9 (0.89%) Replication
14 6 (0.59%) Legacy Applications
14 6 (0.59%) PMI
14 6 (0.59%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 46 (4.53%) Windows
2 44 (4.33%) Linux
3 20 (1.97%) Unix
4 12 (1.18%) Android
5 11 (1.08%) Windows Server
6 10 (0.99%) Windows 10
7 7 (0.69%) Apple iOS
7 7 (0.69%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.49%) VMS
9 1 (0.099%) AIX
9 1 (0.099%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.099%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.099%) Solaris
9 1 (0.099%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 307 (30.25%) Agile
2 177 (17.44%) Stakeholder Management
3 143 (14.09%) CI/CD
4 135 (13.30%) DevOps
5 121 (11.92%) Continuous Improvement
6 118 (11.63%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 105 (10.34%) Problem-Solving
8 89 (8.77%) Customer Service
9 85 (8.37%) Scrum
10 80 (7.88%) Decision-Making
11 79 (7.78%) Roadmaps
12 78 (7.68%) Analytics
13 66 (6.50%) User Research
14 63 (6.21%) Mentoring
15 59 (5.81%) Migration
16 58 (5.71%) AI
16 58 (5.71%) Digital Transformation Programme
16 58 (5.71%) Software Engineering
17 55 (5.42%) SFIA
17 55 (5.42%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 98 (9.66%) SQL
2 87 (8.57%) Python
3 86 (8.47%) Java
4 42 (4.14%) JavaScript
5 30 (2.96%) Scala
6 20 (1.97%) PowerShell
6 20 (1.97%) TypeScript
7 14 (1.38%) C#
8 13 (1.28%) C++
8 13 (1.28%) Shell Script
9 12 (1.18%) Bash
9 12 (1.18%) PL/SQL
9 12 (1.18%) VB
10 11 (1.08%) VB6
11 7 (0.69%) C
11 7 (0.69%) T-SQL
11 7 (0.69%) VBA
12 6 (0.59%) ABAP
13 5 (0.49%) Ada
13 5 (0.49%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 367 (36.16%) Security Cleared
2 269 (26.50%) SC Cleared
3 59 (5.81%) Degree
4 13 (1.28%) DV Cleared
5 12 (1.18%) AWS Certification
5 12 (1.18%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.08%) A+ Certification
6 11 (1.08%) Azure Certification
7 8 (0.79%) DBS Check
8 6 (0.59%) CTC Cleared
8 6 (0.59%) PMI Certification
9 5 (0.49%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
9 5 (0.49%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 5 (0.49%) CCNA
9 5 (0.49%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (0.39%) CCA
10 4 (0.39%) CompTIA CySA+
10 4 (0.39%) ISTQB
10 4 (0.39%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 3 (0.30%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (5.42%) QA
2 52 (5.12%) Data Quality
3 41 (4.04%) Accessibility
4 25 (2.46%) GDPR
5 23 (2.27%) PMO
6 16 (1.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 13 (1.28%) NIST
8 12 (1.18%) SLA
8 12 (1.18%) WCAG
9 5 (0.49%) GRC
10 4 (0.39%) PERC
11 3 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.30%) Def Stans
11 3 (0.30%) HL7
11 3 (0.30%) IEC 61508
12 2 (0.20%) 21 CFR Part 11
12 2 (0.20%) DICOM
12 2 (0.20%) GMP
12 2 (0.20%) GxP
12 2 (0.20%) Solvency II
System Software
1 42 (4.14%) Docker
2 32 (3.15%) Active Directory
3 11 (1.08%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (0.89%) Virtual Machines
5 8 (0.79%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.39%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.20%) vSphere
8 1 (0.099%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.099%) GPFS
8 1 (0.099%) NFS
8 1 (0.099%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.099%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 47 (4.63%) Kubernetes
2 19 (1.87%) Grafana
3 12 (1.18%) Single Sign-On
4 10 (0.99%) Kibana
5 9 (0.89%) Prometheus
5 9 (0.89%) SCCM
6 7 (0.69%) Ansible
6 7 (0.69%) Argo
7 6 (0.59%) Microsoft Intune
8 5 (0.49%) SCOM
9 4 (0.39%) HAProxy
10 3 (0.30%) Functional Safety
10 3 (0.30%) Istio
10 3 (0.30%) Packer
10 3 (0.30%) Podman
10 3 (0.30%) Puppet
11 1 (0.099%) Amdocs OSS
11 1 (0.099%) PTC Integrity
11 1 (0.099%) vCenter Server
11 1 (0.099%) vRealize
Vendors
1 138 (13.60%) Microsoft
2 89 (8.77%) SAP
3 47 (4.63%) Oracle
4 39 (3.84%) ServiceNow
5 26 (2.56%) Google
6 15 (1.48%) BeyondTrust
7 14 (1.38%) Atlassian
7 14 (1.38%) Databricks
8 11 (1.08%) VMware
9 10 (0.99%) Splunk
10 9 (0.89%) Cisco
10 9 (0.89%) CyberArk
11 8 (0.79%) Talend
12 7 (0.69%) Informatica
13 6 (0.59%) Apple
13 6 (0.59%) Qualtrics
13 6 (0.59%) Workday
14 5 (0.49%) IBM
14 5 (0.49%) Salesforce
14 5 (0.49%) Tenable