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

6 months to
28 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 112 182 265
Rank change year-on-year +70 +83 -14
Contract jobs citing BPSS Clearance 1,047 424 295
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.29% 1.54% 0.89%
As % of the Qualifications category 7.22% 4.88% 2.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 726 297 197
10th Percentile £354 £308 £220
25th Percentile £425 £402 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £513 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.00% +2.50% -9.09%
75th Percentile £588 £621 £588
90th Percentile £675 £709 £634
UK median daily rate £500 £513 £500
% change year-on-year -2.44% +2.50% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 169 37 22
10th Percentile £19.50 £19.40 £13.33
25th Percentile £42.00 £22.63 £18.88
Median hourly rate £43.96 £28.79 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +52.69% -23.23% -32.68%
75th Percentile £53.75 £68.55 £65.00
90th Percentile £73.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £27.50 £22.80
% change year-on-year +59.85% +20.64% -59.08%

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 14,504 8,680 10,054
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.69% 31.51% 30.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,747 5,462 6,346
10th Percentile £350 £300 £325
25th Percentile £438 £413 £426
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £630 £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 1,125 677 675
10th Percentile £18.26 £18.13 £14.29
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £22.00
Median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year +108.75% -48.21% -11.71%
75th Percentile £75.00 £53.75 £68.75
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £48.72 £25.15 £45.00
% change year-on-year +93.72% -44.11% -18.18%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 +14 298 £481 +1.26% 112
London +51 297 £505 -1.94% 134
Midlands +53 218 £490 -6.31% 66
West Midlands +53 209 £490 -6.67% 45
North West -1 159 £500 +11.11% 74
South East -13 102 £483 -6.21% 102
North East +13 82 £452 -1.85% 23
South West +21 81 £525 +16.67% 99
Yorkshire -9 68 £475 -5.00% 16
East of England -7 32 £605 +26.74% 56
East Midlands -31 8 £613 +24.49% 21
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 42 (4.01%) Confluence
2 22 (2.10%) SharePoint
3 7 (0.67%) SAS
4 6 (0.57%) Microsoft Exchange
5 5 (0.48%) Apache Airflow
5 5 (0.48%) WebLogic
6 4 (0.38%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.38%) SharePoint Server
7 3 (0.29%) WordPress
8 2 (0.19%) Cloud Foundry
8 2 (0.19%) Ethereum
8 2 (0.19%) Hyperledger
8 2 (0.19%) LiveCycle
8 2 (0.19%) OpenROAD
8 2 (0.19%) Oracle Workflow
9 1 (0.096%) Appian
9 1 (0.096%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.096%) CICS
9 1 (0.096%) CMS
9 1 (0.096%) Smallworld
Applications
1 33 (3.15%) Microsoft Excel
2 22 (2.10%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.43%) Microsoft Project
4 10 (0.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.38%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.29%) Simulink
6 3 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.29%) Windchill
7 2 (0.19%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.19%) Navisworks
7 2 (0.19%) Trello
8 1 (0.096%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.096%) Autodesk Inventor
8 1 (0.096%) CATIA
8 1 (0.096%) InVision
8 1 (0.096%) MicroStation
8 1 (0.096%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.096%) Revit
8 1 (0.096%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 28 (2.67%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.24%) SAP HR
3 9 (0.86%) SAP IBP
3 9 (0.86%) SAP PSCD
4 6 (0.57%) SAP BRIM
5 4 (0.38%) SAP Convergent Charging
5 4 (0.38%) SAP EWM
5 4 (0.38%) SAP Payroll
5 4 (0.38%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.29%) Dynamics CRM
6 3 (0.29%) Exchequer
6 3 (0.29%) iTrent
6 3 (0.29%) Primavera
6 3 (0.29%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.29%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.29%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.29%) SAP MM
6 3 (0.29%) Shopify
7 2 (0.19%) Quorum
7 2 (0.19%) Ripple
Cloud Services
1 152 (14.52%) AWS
1 152 (14.52%) Azure
2 52 (4.97%) Power Platform
3 37 (3.53%) Azure DevOps
4 34 (3.25%) GitHub
5 31 (2.96%) Serverless
6 30 (2.87%) Microsoft 365
7 27 (2.58%) Amazon S3
8 25 (2.39%) AWS Lambda
9 23 (2.20%) GCP
10 22 (2.10%) GitHub Actions
11 21 (2.01%) Entra ID
12 19 (1.81%) SuccessFactors
13 11 (1.05%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 11 (1.05%) Power Automate
13 11 (1.05%) PowerApps
14 9 (0.86%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (0.86%) GitHub Copilot
15 8 (0.76%) Amazon ECS
15 8 (0.76%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 13 (1.24%) DNS
2 10 (0.96%) WebEx
3 8 (0.76%) Intranet
3 8 (0.76%) Network Security
4 6 (0.57%) Cisco IPT
4 6 (0.57%) Firewall
4 6 (0.57%) SSL
4 6 (0.57%) WAN
5 4 (0.38%) 5G
5 4 (0.38%) DHCP
5 4 (0.38%) HTTPS
5 4 (0.38%) Internet
5 4 (0.38%) Radio Access Network
5 4 (0.38%) Wireshark
6 3 (0.29%) 3GPP
6 3 (0.29%) Ethernet
6 3 (0.29%) MQTT
6 3 (0.29%) VPN
7 2 (0.19%) PSTN
7 2 (0.19%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (3.34%) Power BI
2 23 (2.20%) SQL Server
3 21 (2.01%) Data Warehouse
4 20 (1.91%) PostgreSQL
5 18 (1.72%) Metadata
5 18 (1.72%) MongoDB
6 16 (1.53%) Amazon RDS
7 15 (1.43%) MySQL
8 12 (1.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 11 (1.05%) Amazon Redshift
10 10 (0.96%) Amazon Athena
10 10 (0.96%) Oracle Database
11 9 (0.86%) Amazon Aurora
11 9 (0.86%) NoSQL
12 8 (0.76%) Data Lake
12 8 (0.76%) DynamoDB
13 7 (0.67%) Big Data
13 7 (0.67%) SAP BW
14 6 (0.57%) Relational Database
14 6 (0.57%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 76 (7.26%) JIRA
2 53 (5.06%) Git
3 49 (4.68%) GitLab
4 27 (2.58%) Jenkins
5 18 (1.72%) Selenium
6 17 (1.62%) JUnit
7 16 (1.53%) Cucumber
7 16 (1.53%) Maven
8 13 (1.24%) SonarQube
9 12 (1.15%) Gatling
10 10 (0.96%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 10 (0.96%) Team Foundation Server
11 9 (0.86%) Bitbucket
12 8 (0.76%) Cypress.io
12 8 (0.76%) Visual Studio
13 6 (0.57%) Mockito
13 6 (0.57%) Rational DOORS
14 5 (0.48%) Postman
15 4 (0.38%) REST Assured
15 4 (0.38%) WebDriver
General
1 348 (33.24%) Social Skills
2 252 (24.07%) Public Sector
3 177 (16.91%) Finance
4 100 (9.55%) Analytical Skills
5 91 (8.69%) Organisational Skills
6 88 (8.40%) Legal
7 36 (3.44%) Aerospace
8 22 (2.10%) Influencing Skills
9 21 (2.01%) Banking
9 21 (2.01%) Documentation Skills
9 21 (2.01%) Presentation Skills
10 20 (1.91%) Manufacturing
11 16 (1.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 15 (1.43%) Telecoms
13 13 (1.24%) Billing
14 11 (1.05%) Local Government
15 9 (0.86%) Law
16 7 (0.67%) Avionics
16 7 (0.67%) Military
17 6 (0.57%) Retail
Job Titles
1 127 (12.13%) Senior
2 116 (11.08%) Lead
3 104 (9.93%) Developer
4 84 (8.02%) Analyst
5 79 (7.55%) Architect
6 66 (6.30%) Consultant
7 58 (5.54%) Designer
8 42 (4.01%) SAP Consultant
9 35 (3.34%) Data Engineer
10 33 (3.15%) Business Analyst
11 26 (2.48%) Delivery Manager
12 25 (2.39%) Java Developer
12 25 (2.39%) Solutions Architect
12 25 (2.39%) User Researcher
13 24 (2.29%) DevOps Engineer
14 22 (2.10%) Product Manager
15 21 (2.01%) Service Designer
16 20 (1.91%) Java Engineer
17 19 (1.81%) Senior Manager
18 17 (1.62%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 62 (5.92%) Terraform
2 43 (4.11%) Spring
3 35 (3.34%) Spring Boot
4 28 (2.67%) React
4 28 (2.67%) REST
5 24 (2.29%) Node.js
6 23 (2.20%) HTML
6 23 (2.20%) Playwright
7 18 (1.72%) Kafka
7 18 (1.72%) RESTful
8 17 (1.62%) .NET
8 17 (1.62%) CSS
9 12 (1.15%) OpenAPI
10 11 (1.05%) Play Framework
10 11 (1.05%) PySpark
10 11 (1.05%) SAML
10 11 (1.05%) SOAP
11 10 (0.96%) XML
12 9 (0.86%) Web Services
13 8 (0.76%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 80 (7.64%) Web Conferencing
2 78 (7.45%) Virtual Team
3 70 (6.69%) Podcast
4 69 (6.59%) Onboarding
5 53 (5.06%) Product Ownership
6 34 (3.25%) Cloud Native
7 19 (1.81%) NHS
8 17 (1.62%) Management Information System
9 16 (1.53%) BYOD
10 14 (1.34%) Legacy Systems
11 13 (1.24%) Mobile App
12 11 (1.05%) Algorithms
12 11 (1.05%) Self-Motivation
13 10 (0.96%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (0.96%) Replication
13 10 (0.96%) Video Conferencing
14 9 (0.86%) Data Centre
15 7 (0.67%) Legacy Applications
15 7 (0.67%) Low-Code
16 6 (0.57%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 45 (4.30%) Windows
2 43 (4.11%) Linux
3 21 (2.01%) Unix
4 12 (1.15%) Android
5 11 (1.05%) Windows Server
6 10 (0.96%) Windows 10
7 7 (0.67%) Apple iOS
7 7 (0.67%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.57%) VMS
9 1 (0.096%) AIX
9 1 (0.096%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.096%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.096%) Solaris
9 1 (0.096%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 319 (30.47%) Agile
2 187 (17.86%) Stakeholder Management
3 145 (13.85%) CI/CD
4 133 (12.70%) DevOps
5 124 (11.84%) Continuous Improvement
6 119 (11.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 109 (10.41%) Problem-Solving
8 92 (8.79%) Scrum
9 90 (8.60%) Customer Service
10 83 (7.93%) Decision-Making
11 79 (7.55%) Roadmaps
12 77 (7.35%) Analytics
13 66 (6.30%) User Research
14 65 (6.21%) Mentoring
15 63 (6.02%) Test Automation
16 62 (5.92%) AI
17 59 (5.64%) Digital Transformation Programme
17 59 (5.64%) Migration
18 54 (5.16%) ITIL
18 54 (5.16%) SFIA
Programming Languages
1 103 (9.84%) Java
2 101 (9.65%) SQL
3 88 (8.40%) Python
4 44 (4.20%) JavaScript
5 30 (2.87%) Scala
6 21 (2.01%) PowerShell
7 18 (1.72%) TypeScript
8 16 (1.53%) Shell Script
9 13 (1.24%) Bash
9 13 (1.24%) C#
9 13 (1.24%) PL/SQL
10 12 (1.15%) VB
11 11 (1.05%) VB6
12 10 (0.96%) C++
13 7 (0.67%) C
13 7 (0.67%) T-SQL
13 7 (0.67%) VBA
14 6 (0.57%) ABAP
15 5 (0.48%) Ada
15 5 (0.48%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 380 (36.29%) Security Cleared
2 282 (26.93%) SC Cleared
3 60 (5.73%) Degree
4 13 (1.24%) DV Cleared
4 13 (1.24%) Microsoft Certification
5 12 (1.15%) Azure Certification
6 11 (1.05%) A+ Certification
7 10 (0.96%) AWS Certification
7 10 (0.96%) DBS Check
8 6 (0.57%) CTC Cleared
8 6 (0.57%) PMI Certification
9 5 (0.48%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
9 5 (0.48%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 5 (0.48%) CCNA
9 5 (0.48%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (0.38%) CCA
10 4 (0.38%) CompTIA CySA+
10 4 (0.38%) HNC
10 4 (0.38%) HND
10 4 (0.38%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 65 (6.21%) QA
2 50 (4.78%) Data Quality
3 49 (4.68%) Accessibility
4 25 (2.39%) GDPR
5 21 (2.01%) PMO
6 19 (1.81%) WCAG
7 17 (1.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 13 (1.24%) NIST
9 11 (1.05%) SLA
10 5 (0.48%) GRC
11 4 (0.38%) IEC 61508
11 4 (0.38%) PERC
12 3 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
12 3 (0.29%) Def Stans
13 2 (0.19%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 2 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.19%) HL7
13 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 17025
13 2 (0.19%) NCSC
13 2 (0.19%) Solvency II
System Software
1 47 (4.49%) Docker
2 30 (2.87%) Active Directory
3 11 (1.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (0.96%) Virtual Machines
5 8 (0.76%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.38%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.19%) vSphere
8 1 (0.096%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.096%) GPFS
8 1 (0.096%) NFS
8 1 (0.096%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.096%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 56 (5.35%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.10%) Grafana
3 12 (1.15%) Kibana
3 12 (1.15%) Prometheus
3 12 (1.15%) Single Sign-On
4 10 (0.96%) SCCM
5 8 (0.76%) Ansible
6 7 (0.67%) Argo
6 7 (0.67%) Microsoft Intune
7 5 (0.48%) SCOM
8 4 (0.38%) Functional Safety
8 4 (0.38%) HAProxy
8 4 (0.38%) Packer
9 3 (0.29%) Istio
9 3 (0.29%) Podman
9 3 (0.29%) Puppet
10 1 (0.096%) PTC Integrity
10 1 (0.096%) SELinux
10 1 (0.096%) systemd
10 1 (0.096%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 138 (13.18%) Microsoft
2 91 (8.69%) SAP
3 49 (4.68%) Oracle
4 39 (3.72%) ServiceNow
5 27 (2.58%) Google
6 17 (1.62%) BeyondTrust
7 13 (1.24%) Atlassian
7 13 (1.24%) Databricks
8 11 (1.05%) VMware
9 10 (0.96%) CyberArk
9 10 (0.96%) Splunk
9 10 (0.96%) Talend
10 8 (0.76%) Cisco
11 7 (0.67%) Informatica
12 6 (0.57%) Apple
12 6 (0.57%) IBM
12 6 (0.57%) Qualtrics
12 6 (0.57%) Salesforce
12 6 (0.57%) Workday
13 5 (0.48%) Tenable