Data Protection Act Contract Job Trends in England

Data Protection Act (DPA)
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Data Protection Act in contract job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Data Protection Act over the 6 months leading up to 31 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 210 166 174
Rank change year-on-year -44 +8 -32
Contract jobs citing Data Protection Act 612 463 485
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.34% 1.67% 1.47%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 3.98% 4.66% 4.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 242 193 239
10th Percentile £239 £313 £214
25th Percentile £350 £400 £354
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% -10.00% -6.98%
75th Percentile £550 £569 £600
90th Percentile £638 £638 £713
UK median daily rate £425 £450 £500
% change year-on-year -5.56% -10.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 11 13
10th Percentile £13.27 - £17.13
25th Percentile £17.80 £15.13 £19.38
Median hourly rate £30.31 £15.25 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +98.77% -44.55% -41.92%
75th Percentile £34.89 £28.32 £28.75
90th Percentile £57.88 £40.46 £71.44
UK median hourly rate £30.31 £15.25 £27.50
% change year-on-year +98.77% -44.55% -41.92%

All Generic Skills
England

Data Protection Act falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 15,379 9,945 10,155
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.61% 35.84% 30.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,371 6,299 6,425
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £425 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £638 £650 £688
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £519 £550
% change year-on-year +1.20% -5.68% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 969 493 487
10th Percentile £14.59 £15.48 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.03 £18.87 £20.88
Median hourly rate £38.25 £32.71 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +16.94% -37.70% +16.67%
75th Percentile £68.75 £60.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £77.25 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £38.72 £29.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year +31.25% -34.44% +7.54%

Data Protection Act
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Data Protection Act relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Data Protection Act job vacancy trend in England

Data Protection Act
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Protection Act.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Protection Act

Data Protection Act
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Data Protection Act in England over the 6 months to 31 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Data Protection Act in England

Data Protection Act
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Protection Act.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Data Protection Act

Data Protection Act
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Data Protection Act in England over the 6 months to 31 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Data Protection Act in England

Data Protection Act
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 Data Protection Act within the England region over the 6 months to 31 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
London -27 284 £438 -7.89% 43
North of England -29 177 £475 +5.56% 23
Yorkshire -1 104 £475 -5.00% 8
South East -36 70 £375 -12.79% 18
North West -12 69 £450 +5.88% 11
Midlands -44 50 £438 -2.78% 13
West Midlands -46 43 £450 - 7
South West -44 14 £425 - 15
East of England -21 7 £300 -35.14% 10
East Midlands - 7 £425 - 6
North East -56 4 - - 4
Data Protection Act
UK

Data Protection Act
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 19 (3.10%) Confluence
2 11 (1.80%) SharePoint
3 6 (0.98%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.82%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.82%) SAS
5 4 (0.65%) Apache
5 4 (0.65%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.49%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 2 (0.33%) CICS
7 2 (0.33%) CMS
7 2 (0.33%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 1 (0.16%) Apache Superset
8 1 (0.16%) Camunda
8 1 (0.16%) nginx
8 1 (0.16%) WordPress
Applications
1 18 (2.94%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (1.96%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 5 (0.82%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.33%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.16%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.16%) Maya
5 1 (0.16%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.16%) Trello
5 1 (0.16%) Zemax
Business Applications
1 9 (1.47%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.14%) Aladdin
3 2 (0.33%) ION MarketView
3 2 (0.33%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.33%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.16%) Actimize
4 1 (0.16%) Bloomberg TOMS
4 1 (0.16%) Eloqua
4 1 (0.16%) Endur
4 1 (0.16%) Odoo
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle BRM
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS R12
4 1 (0.16%) SAP BRIM
4 1 (0.16%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.16%) SAP FI-CA
4 1 (0.16%) SAP FS
4 1 (0.16%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.16%) SAP PLM
4 1 (0.16%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 99 (16.18%) Azure
2 79 (12.91%) AWS
3 47 (7.68%) GCP
4 28 (4.58%) GitHub
5 24 (3.92%) SaaS
6 21 (3.43%) Power Platform
7 18 (2.94%) Microsoft 365
8 16 (2.61%) Azure DevOps
9 15 (2.45%) Serverless
10 10 (1.63%) Entra ID
10 10 (1.63%) GitHub Actions
10 10 (1.63%) Snowflake
11 7 (1.14%) AWS Lambda
11 7 (1.14%) OCI
12 6 (0.98%) Azure AKS
12 6 (0.98%) Microsoft Copilot
12 6 (0.98%) Salesforce Service Cloud
13 5 (0.82%) Azure Functions
13 5 (0.82%) Azure Sentinel
13 5 (0.82%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 23 (3.76%) Firewall
2 15 (2.45%) Network Security
3 11 (1.80%) LAN
4 10 (1.63%) WAN
5 9 (1.47%) MPLS
5 9 (1.47%) VoIP
6 8 (1.31%) DNS
6 8 (1.31%) VPN
7 7 (1.14%) Wi-Fi
8 6 (0.98%) Cisco IPT
8 6 (0.98%) Cisco Nexus
8 6 (0.98%) DHCP
8 6 (0.98%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
9 4 (0.65%) BGP
9 4 (0.65%) BIG-IP
9 4 (0.65%) Unified Communications
10 3 (0.49%) EIGRP
10 3 (0.49%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (0.49%) OSPF
10 3 (0.49%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (3.27%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (3.10%) Metadata
2 19 (3.10%) Power BI
3 13 (2.12%) Data Warehouse
4 11 (1.80%) Relational Database
4 11 (1.80%) SQL Server
5 7 (1.14%) Tableau
6 6 (0.98%) NoSQL
6 6 (0.98%) Oracle Database
6 6 (0.98%) Redis
7 5 (0.82%) Big Data
7 5 (0.82%) Data Lake
7 5 (0.82%) DynamoDB
8 4 (0.65%) BigQuery
8 4 (0.65%) MySQL
9 3 (0.49%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.49%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.49%) Db2
9 3 (0.49%) KDB
9 3 (0.49%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 41 (6.70%) JIRA
2 24 (3.92%) Jenkins
3 21 (3.43%) Git
4 8 (1.31%) Maven
5 6 (0.98%) GitLab
5 6 (0.98%) SonarQube
6 4 (0.65%) Sonatype Nexus
7 3 (0.49%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.49%) Selenium
8 2 (0.33%) CMake
8 2 (0.33%) Cypress.io
8 2 (0.33%) ER Studio
8 2 (0.33%) ERwin
8 2 (0.33%) Gradle
8 2 (0.33%) MSI
8 2 (0.33%) SpecFlow
8 2 (0.33%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.33%) XCUITest
9 1 (0.16%) TestRail
9 1 (0.16%) XCTest
General
1 229 (37.42%) Social Skills
2 162 (26.47%) Finance
3 83 (13.56%) Analytical Skills
4 81 (13.24%) Banking
5 26 (4.25%) Front Office
6 25 (4.08%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.92%) Legal
7 24 (3.92%) Organisational Skills
7 24 (3.92%) Public Sector
8 22 (3.59%) Influencing Skills
9 16 (2.61%) Telecoms
10 14 (2.29%) Billing
11 13 (2.12%) Marketing
11 13 (2.12%) Retail
12 11 (1.80%) Financial Institution
13 9 (1.47%) Presentation Skills
13 9 (1.47%) Publishing
14 8 (1.31%) Investment Banking
15 7 (1.14%) Pharmaceutical
16 5 (0.82%) Law
Job Titles
1 89 (14.54%) Architect
2 77 (12.58%) Analyst
3 52 (8.50%) Developer
4 48 (7.84%) Business Analyst
5 39 (6.37%) Lead
6 38 (6.21%) Senior
7 30 (4.90%) Solutions Architect
8 28 (4.58%) Consultant
9 23 (3.76%) Project Manager
10 17 (2.78%) Java Developer
11 15 (2.45%) DevOps Engineer
12 14 (2.29%) Support Engineer
13 13 (2.12%) Product Manager
14 11 (1.80%) Data Engineer
14 11 (1.80%) Product Owner
14 11 (1.80%) Python Engineer
14 11 (1.80%) Software Engineer
15 10 (1.63%) Data Protection Officer
16 9 (1.47%) Designer
16 9 (1.47%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (5.88%) REST
2 33 (5.39%) Terraform
3 19 (3.10%) Spring
4 18 (2.94%) React
5 17 (2.78%) Spring Boot
6 16 (2.61%) Kafka
7 13 (2.12%) JSON
8 12 (1.96%) .NET
9 11 (1.80%) GraphQL
9 11 (1.80%) Node.js
9 11 (1.80%) YAML
10 10 (1.63%) RESTful
11 7 (1.14%) AngularJS
11 7 (1.14%) Middleware
11 7 (1.14%) Pandas
12 6 (0.98%) HTML
12 6 (0.98%) OAuth
12 6 (0.98%) SLSA
12 6 (0.98%) Vue
13 5 (0.82%) CSS
Miscellaneous
1 43 (7.03%) Product Ownership
2 36 (5.88%) Cloud Native
3 30 (4.90%) Virtual Team
4 25 (4.08%) Distributed Systems
4 25 (4.08%) Onboarding
5 20 (3.27%) Data Centre
6 14 (2.29%) Derivative
6 14 (2.29%) Legacy Systems
6 14 (2.29%) Mobile App
7 13 (2.12%) Management Information System
8 11 (1.80%) Mainframe
9 10 (1.63%) Data Structures
9 10 (1.63%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 8 (1.31%) Analytical Mindset
10 8 (1.31%) Fixed Income
10 8 (1.31%) Self-Motivation
11 7 (1.14%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (1.14%) Security Posture
12 6 (0.98%) AI Agents
12 6 (0.98%) Freedom of Information
Operating Systems
1 31 (5.07%) Windows
2 30 (4.90%) Linux
3 15 (2.45%) Android
4 11 (1.80%) Unix
5 10 (1.63%) Apple iOS
6 8 (1.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 8 (1.31%) zOS
7 7 (1.14%) Windows Server
8 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
9 3 (0.49%) Windows 10
10 1 (0.16%) CentOS
10 1 (0.16%) MVS
10 1 (0.16%) Oracle Linux
10 1 (0.16%) Rocky
10 1 (0.16%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 612 (100.00%) Data Protection
2 148 (24.18%) Stakeholder Management
3 127 (20.75%) Agile
4 110 (17.97%) Problem-Solving
5 101 (16.50%) Continuous Improvement
6 93 (15.20%) AI
7 82 (13.40%) CI/CD
8 79 (12.91%) Migration
9 74 (12.09%) DevOps
10 73 (11.93%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 72 (11.76%) Analytics
12 65 (10.62%) Decision-Making
13 64 (10.46%) Roadmaps
14 48 (7.84%) Risk Management
14 48 (7.84%) Test Automation
15 47 (7.68%) Project Management
16 45 (7.35%) Data Modelling
16 45 (7.35%) Software Engineering
17 42 (6.86%) Cybersecurity
18 38 (6.21%) Data Governance
Programming Languages
1 92 (15.03%) Python
2 59 (9.64%) Java
2 59 (9.64%) SQL
3 16 (2.61%) JavaScript
3 16 (2.61%) TypeScript
4 14 (2.29%) PowerShell
5 13 (2.12%) Kotlin
6 11 (1.80%) Bash
7 8 (1.31%) C#
7 8 (1.31%) C++
7 8 (1.31%) Go
8 7 (1.14%) Apex Code
9 6 (0.98%) Groovy
10 5 (0.82%) Perl
10 5 (0.82%) R
11 4 (0.65%) Bicep
11 4 (0.65%) C
11 4 (0.65%) JCL
12 3 (0.49%) COBOL
12 3 (0.49%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 43 (7.03%) Security Cleared
2 41 (6.70%) SC Cleared
3 31 (5.07%) Degree
4 9 (1.47%) PMI Certification
4 9 (1.47%) PMP
5 7 (1.14%) Azure Certification
6 6 (0.98%) AWS Certification
7 5 (0.82%) Cisco Certification
7 5 (0.82%) CISSP
8 4 (0.65%) CCNP
8 4 (0.65%) CRISC
9 3 (0.49%) BPSS Clearance
9 3 (0.49%) CISA
9 3 (0.49%) CISM
9 3 (0.49%) Computer Science Degree
10 2 (0.33%) DBS Check
10 2 (0.33%) DV Cleared
10 2 (0.33%) FFIEC
10 2 (0.33%) ISEB
10 2 (0.33%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (6.21%) Data Quality
2 37 (6.05%) GDPR
3 34 (5.56%) QA
4 12 (1.96%) PMO
5 10 (1.63%) Accessibility
6 6 (0.98%) NIST
7 5 (0.82%) Actionable Recommendations
7 5 (0.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 5 (0.82%) SLA
8 4 (0.65%) GRC
8 4 (0.65%) PERC
8 4 (0.65%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.33%) COBIT
9 2 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.33%) NCSC
10 1 (0.16%) CDISC
10 1 (0.16%) MiFID
10 1 (0.16%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.16%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 19 (3.10%) Active Directory
2 17 (2.78%) Docker
3 16 (2.61%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.31%) Virtual Desktop
5 6 (0.98%) NFS
6 4 (0.65%) Time Sharing Option
7 3 (0.49%) XenApp
7 3 (0.49%) XenDesktop
8 2 (0.33%) GPFS
8 2 (0.33%) KVM
8 2 (0.33%) Microsoft App-V
8 2 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.33%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.16%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.16%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 40 (6.54%) Kubernetes
2 24 (3.92%) Ansible
3 6 (0.98%) Microsoft Intune
4 4 (0.65%) Cisco CUCM
4 4 (0.65%) Tivoli Storage Manager
5 3 (0.49%) Grafana
5 3 (0.49%) Kustomize
5 3 (0.49%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.49%) SCCM
6 2 (0.33%) Istio
6 2 (0.33%) Packer
6 2 (0.33%) Progress Chef
6 2 (0.33%) Puppet
6 2 (0.33%) QRadar
6 2 (0.33%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.16%) ITRS Geneos
7 1 (0.16%) Jamf Pro
7 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Satellite
7 1 (0.16%) SELinux
7 1 (0.16%) vRealize
Vendors
1 74 (12.09%) Microsoft
2 29 (4.74%) Cisco
3 23 (3.76%) Databricks
4 21 (3.43%) SAP
5 20 (3.27%) Oracle
5 20 (3.27%) ServiceNow
6 19 (3.10%) Google
7 16 (2.61%) VMware
8 15 (2.45%) Salesforce
9 12 (1.96%) Red Hat
10 11 (1.80%) Citrix
10 11 (1.80%) F5
10 11 (1.80%) IBM
11 7 (1.14%) CheckPoint
12 6 (0.98%) Informatica
12 6 (0.98%) Murex
12 6 (0.98%) Palo Alto
12 6 (0.98%) Sonatype
12 6 (0.98%) Workday
13 5 (0.82%) Atlassian