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 26 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 100 176 259
Rank change year-on-year +76 +83 -10
Contract jobs citing BPSS Clearance 1,217 439 299
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.61% 1.57% 0.91%
As % of the Qualifications category 8.14% 4.97% 3.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 875 326 182
10th Percentile £359 £310 £220
25th Percentile £431 £403 £378
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £514 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.72% +2.80% -9.09%
75th Percentile £600 £627 £588
90th Percentile £675 £714 £642
UK median daily rate £500 £510 £500
% change year-on-year -1.96% +2.00% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 180 40 15
10th Percentile £17.61 £20.00 £14.48
25th Percentile £40.75 £22.63 £20.06
Median hourly rate £43.96 £33.50 £38.85
Median % change year-on-year +31.22% -13.77% -32.92%
75th Percentile £53.35 £46.13 £64.38
90th Percentile £72.75 £73.88 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £29.27 £21.59
% change year-on-year +50.19% +35.57% -62.72%

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 14,951 8,841 9,711
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.11% 31.64% 29.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,014 5,630 5,932
10th Percentile £350 £300 £325
25th Percentile £445 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £530 £525 £533
Median % change year-on-year +0.95% -1.50% -3.09%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £713 £738
UK median daily rate £530 £525 £525
% change year-on-year +0.95% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,239 716 549
10th Percentile £17.87 £17.93 £18.03
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £27.00
Median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £53.00
Median % change year-on-year +108.75% -52.55% -1.24%
75th Percentile £74.16 £43.06 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.00 £73.75 £80.00
UK median hourly rate £47.50 £25.15 £49.00
% change year-on-year +88.87% -48.67% -9.26%

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 26 September 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 26 September 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 26 September 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
London +90 362 £525 +2.19% 258
North of England +15 323 £488 -0.26% 148
Midlands +63 287 £488 -6.79% 120
West Midlands +69 276 £488 -7.14% 90
North West -1 173 £510 +8.74% 83
South East -23 96 £483 -6.12% 189
North East +16 91 £460 - 33
South West +2 80 £513 -10.87% 130
Yorkshire -8 72 £475 -5.00% 34
East of England -1 51 £578 +0.17% 140
East Midlands -27 10 £600 +21.95% 30
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 51 (4.19%) Confluence
2 23 (1.89%) SharePoint
3 8 (0.66%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (0.58%) CMS
4 7 (0.58%) SAS
5 6 (0.49%) Headless CMS
5 6 (0.49%) SharePoint Server
5 6 (0.49%) WebLogic
6 4 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.33%) Apache Spark
7 3 (0.25%) WordPress
8 2 (0.16%) Cloud Foundry
8 2 (0.16%) Ethereum
8 2 (0.16%) Hyperledger
8 2 (0.16%) LiveCycle
8 2 (0.16%) OpenROAD
9 1 (0.082%) Apache
9 1 (0.082%) Apache Superset
9 1 (0.082%) Appian
9 1 (0.082%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 34 (2.79%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (2.14%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (1.07%) Microsoft Project
4 8 (0.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.58%) Windchill
6 3 (0.25%) AutoCAD
6 3 (0.25%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.16%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.16%) MS Visio
7 2 (0.16%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.082%) InVision
8 1 (0.082%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.082%) Revit
8 1 (0.082%) Siemens NX
8 1 (0.082%) Sketch
8 1 (0.082%) Trello
Business Applications
1 42 (3.45%) SAP S/4HANA
2 20 (1.64%) SAP HR
3 12 (0.99%) SAP Payroll
3 12 (0.99%) SAP PSCD
4 11 (0.90%) SAP HCM
5 10 (0.82%) SAP BRIM
6 7 (0.58%) SAP IBP
7 6 (0.49%) SAP PP
7 6 (0.49%) Teamcenter
8 5 (0.41%) Exchequer
8 5 (0.41%) SAP FI
9 4 (0.33%) SAP Convergent Charging
9 4 (0.33%) SAP Hybris
10 3 (0.25%) SAP CO
10 3 (0.25%) SAP EWM
10 3 (0.25%) SAP FI/CO
10 3 (0.25%) SAP Travel Management
10 3 (0.25%) Shopify
11 2 (0.16%) SAP ERP
11 2 (0.16%) SAP PLM
Cloud Services
1 183 (15.04%) AWS
2 166 (13.64%) Azure
3 60 (4.93%) Power Platform
4 44 (3.62%) GitHub
5 39 (3.20%) Azure DevOps
6 36 (2.96%) Microsoft 365
7 32 (2.63%) Serverless
8 31 (2.55%) GCP
9 28 (2.30%) Amazon S3
10 26 (2.14%) AWS Lambda
11 24 (1.97%) GitHub Actions
11 24 (1.97%) SuccessFactors
12 23 (1.89%) Entra ID
13 15 (1.23%) PowerApps
14 14 (1.15%) Power Automate
15 13 (1.07%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 13 (1.07%) Azure Monitor
16 11 (0.90%) GitHub Copilot
16 11 (0.90%) OneDrive
17 9 (0.74%) Azure AI
Communications & Networking
1 12 (0.99%) DNS
2 10 (0.82%) SSL
2 10 (0.82%) WebEx
3 9 (0.74%) Network Security
4 8 (0.66%) Cisco IPT
4 8 (0.66%) Intranet
5 7 (0.58%) 5G
5 7 (0.58%) Firewall
5 7 (0.58%) Radio Access Network
5 7 (0.58%) Wireshark
6 6 (0.49%) Ethernet
6 6 (0.49%) WAN
7 5 (0.41%) 3GPP
7 5 (0.41%) NGN
7 5 (0.41%) TCP/IP
7 5 (0.41%) tcpdump
7 5 (0.41%) VPN
8 4 (0.33%) DHCP
9 3 (0.25%) Internet
9 3 (0.25%) MQTT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (3.20%) Power BI
2 31 (2.55%) MongoDB
3 27 (2.22%) Metadata
4 26 (2.14%) SQL Server
5 24 (1.97%) Data Warehouse
6 20 (1.64%) MySQL
7 19 (1.56%) PostgreSQL
8 16 (1.31%) Amazon RDS
8 16 (1.31%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 15 (1.23%) Oracle Database
10 11 (0.90%) Amazon Redshift
11 10 (0.82%) Amazon Aurora
11 10 (0.82%) NoSQL
12 9 (0.74%) Amazon Athena
13 8 (0.66%) Data Lake
13 8 (0.66%) DynamoDB
14 7 (0.58%) Big Data
14 7 (0.58%) SAP BW
14 7 (0.58%) Tableau
15 6 (0.49%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 91 (7.48%) JIRA
2 75 (6.16%) Git
3 74 (6.08%) GitLab
4 31 (2.55%) JUnit
5 29 (2.38%) Selenium
6 27 (2.22%) Cucumber
6 27 (2.22%) Jenkins
7 22 (1.81%) Maven
8 20 (1.64%) Gatling
9 19 (1.56%) SonarQube
10 11 (0.90%) Mockito
11 10 (0.82%) Atlassian Bamboo
11 10 (0.82%) Team Foundation Server
11 10 (0.82%) Visual Studio
12 9 (0.74%) Bitbucket
12 9 (0.74%) Rational DOORS
13 8 (0.66%) Postman
14 7 (0.58%) Cypress.io
15 5 (0.41%) REST Assured
16 4 (0.33%) WebDriver
General
1 418 (34.35%) Social Skills
2 327 (26.87%) Public Sector
3 196 (16.11%) Finance
4 120 (9.86%) Analytical Skills
5 96 (7.89%) Organisational Skills
6 95 (7.81%) Legal
7 34 (2.79%) Aerospace
8 29 (2.38%) Manufacturing
9 26 (2.14%) Documentation Skills
9 26 (2.14%) Influencing Skills
10 24 (1.97%) Presentation Skills
11 21 (1.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 21 (1.73%) Telecoms
12 19 (1.56%) Banking
13 16 (1.31%) Billing
14 14 (1.15%) Military
15 12 (0.99%) Local Government
16 9 (0.74%) Avionics
17 8 (0.66%) Law
17 8 (0.66%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 145 (11.91%) Senior
2 123 (10.11%) Developer
2 123 (10.11%) Lead
3 114 (9.37%) Architect
4 92 (7.56%) Analyst
5 85 (6.98%) Consultant
6 56 (4.60%) Designer
7 55 (4.52%) SAP Consultant
8 41 (3.37%) Business Analyst
9 40 (3.29%) Data Engineer
10 38 (3.12%) Delivery Manager
11 37 (3.04%) Solutions Architect
12 33 (2.71%) Java Developer
13 30 (2.47%) Product Manager
14 29 (2.38%) Administrator
15 27 (2.22%) Java Engineer
16 26 (2.14%) DevOps Engineer
16 26 (2.14%) Technical Architect
16 26 (2.14%) User Researcher
17 22 (1.81%) Data Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 66 (5.42%) Terraform
2 62 (5.09%) Spring
3 44 (3.62%) Spring Boot
4 42 (3.45%) REST
5 40 (3.29%) React
6 36 (2.96%) Playwright
7 30 (2.47%) Node.js
8 28 (2.30%) HTML
9 26 (2.14%) OpenAPI
10 24 (1.97%) RESTful
11 22 (1.81%) Kafka
12 20 (1.64%) CSS
13 17 (1.40%) .NET
13 17 (1.40%) Swagger
14 16 (1.31%) JSON
14 16 (1.31%) OAuth
15 14 (1.15%) Gherkin
15 14 (1.15%) SOAP
16 13 (1.07%) OAuth2
16 13 (1.07%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 85 (6.98%) Onboarding
2 80 (6.57%) Web Conferencing
3 79 (6.49%) Virtual Team
4 70 (5.75%) Podcast
5 64 (5.26%) Product Ownership
6 42 (3.45%) Cloud Native
7 18 (1.48%) NHS
8 17 (1.40%) BYOD
8 17 (1.40%) Enterprise Software
8 17 (1.40%) Management Information System
8 17 (1.40%) Mobile App
9 15 (1.23%) Legacy Systems
9 15 (1.23%) Replication
10 13 (1.07%) Self-Motivation
11 11 (0.90%) Taxonomies
12 10 (0.82%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.74%) Algorithms
13 9 (0.74%) Clustering
13 9 (0.74%) Data Centre
13 9 (0.74%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 52 (4.27%) Windows
2 42 (3.45%) Linux
3 23 (1.89%) Unix
4 14 (1.15%) Android
4 14 (1.15%) Windows Server
5 10 (0.82%) Apple iOS
6 9 (0.74%) Windows 10
7 7 (0.58%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.49%) VMS
9 1 (0.082%) AIX
9 1 (0.082%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.082%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.082%) Solaris
9 1 (0.082%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 386 (31.72%) Agile
2 264 (21.69%) Stakeholder Management
3 170 (13.97%) CI/CD
4 150 (12.33%) Continuous Improvement
5 145 (11.91%) DevOps
6 139 (11.42%) Problem-Solving
7 136 (11.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 126 (10.35%) Scrum
9 100 (8.22%) Decision-Making
10 96 (7.89%) AI
11 93 (7.64%) Customer Service
11 93 (7.64%) Roadmaps
12 87 (7.15%) Analytics
13 86 (7.07%) Digital Transformation Programme
14 80 (6.57%) Test Automation
15 77 (6.33%) Migration
16 74 (6.08%) Mentoring
16 74 (6.08%) Microservices
17 68 (5.59%) User Research
18 64 (5.26%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 139 (11.42%) Java
2 121 (9.94%) SQL
3 102 (8.38%) Python
4 54 (4.44%) JavaScript
5 30 (2.47%) Scala
6 27 (2.22%) PowerShell
7 24 (1.97%) Shell Script
8 20 (1.64%) TypeScript
9 17 (1.40%) Bash
10 14 (1.15%) C#
10 14 (1.15%) PL/SQL
11 12 (0.99%) ABAP
11 12 (0.99%) VB
12 11 (0.90%) VB6
13 10 (0.82%) T-SQL
14 8 (0.66%) C++
15 7 (0.58%) R
15 7 (0.58%) VBA
16 5 (0.41%) Go
16 5 (0.41%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 440 (36.15%) Security Cleared
2 338 (27.77%) SC Cleared
3 71 (5.83%) Degree
4 17 (1.40%) Azure Certification
5 16 (1.31%) Microsoft Certification
6 13 (1.07%) DBS Check
7 12 (0.99%) DV Cleared
8 11 (0.90%) A+ Certification
8 11 (0.90%) AWS Certification
9 8 (0.66%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 7 (0.58%) HNC
10 7 (0.58%) HND
10 7 (0.58%) PMI Certification
11 6 (0.49%) Master's Degree
11 6 (0.49%) PhD
12 5 (0.41%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 5 (0.41%) Chartered Engineer
12 5 (0.41%) CTC Cleared
13 4 (0.33%) CCA
13 4 (0.33%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 83 (6.82%) QA
2 68 (5.59%) Accessibility
3 49 (4.03%) Data Quality
4 34 (2.79%) WCAG
5 26 (2.14%) GDPR
6 20 (1.64%) PMO
7 18 (1.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 13 (1.07%) NIST
9 10 (0.82%) SLA
10 7 (0.58%) IEC 61508
11 5 (0.41%) GRC
11 5 (0.41%) PERC
12 3 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials
12 3 (0.25%) Def Stans
12 3 (0.25%) NCSC
13 2 (0.16%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 2 (0.16%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.16%) GxP
13 2 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 17025
13 2 (0.16%) Solvency II
System Software
1 61 (5.01%) Docker
2 28 (2.30%) Active Directory
3 13 (1.07%) Virtual Machines
4 7 (0.58%) Virtual Desktop
4 7 (0.58%) VMware Infrastructure
5 4 (0.33%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.082%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.082%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 74 (6.08%) Kubernetes
2 27 (2.22%) Grafana
3 20 (1.64%) Kibana
4 15 (1.23%) Prometheus
5 12 (0.99%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (0.90%) SCCM
7 9 (0.74%) SCOM
8 8 (0.66%) Ansible
9 7 (0.58%) Functional Safety
9 7 (0.58%) Microsoft Intune
10 6 (0.49%) Argo
11 3 (0.25%) HAProxy
11 3 (0.25%) Podman
11 3 (0.25%) Puppet
12 2 (0.16%) Cilium
12 2 (0.16%) Istio
12 2 (0.16%) Packer
13 1 (0.082%) Amdocs OSS
13 1 (0.082%) PTC Integrity
13 1 (0.082%) systemd
Vendors
1 154 (12.65%) Microsoft
2 119 (9.78%) SAP
3 62 (5.09%) Oracle
4 44 (3.62%) ServiceNow
5 31 (2.55%) Google
6 20 (1.64%) BeyondTrust
7 16 (1.31%) Atlassian
8 13 (1.07%) Databricks
9 12 (0.99%) Talend
10 11 (0.90%) CyberArk
10 11 (0.90%) IBM
11 10 (0.82%) Splunk
12 8 (0.66%) Informatica
12 8 (0.66%) Siemens
13 7 (0.58%) VMware
14 6 (0.49%) Cisco
14 6 (0.49%) EMC
14 6 (0.49%) Salesforce
14 6 (0.49%) Workday
15 5 (0.41%) Concur