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 12 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 182 190
Rank change year-on-year +9 +8 -20
Contract jobs citing Data Protection Act 585 359 476
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.61% 1.46% 1.25%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 4.77% 4.31% 4.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 252 168 241
10th Percentile £213 £270 £225
25th Percentile £350 £359 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year - -5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £575 £566 £600
90th Percentile £656 £675 £725
UK median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 9 20
10th Percentile £22.38 £20.45 £11.95
25th Percentile - £24.25 £22.50
Median hourly rate £25.50 £24.50 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.08% -10.91% +22.22%
75th Percentile £27.38 £31.76 £32.50
90th Percentile £28.38 £32.09 £46.33
UK median hourly rate £25.50 £24.50 £27.50
% change year-on-year +4.08% -10.91% +22.91%

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 12,258 8,321 11,746
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.65% 33.77% 30.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,772 5,334 7,668
10th Percentile £290 £285 £256
25th Percentile £411 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £547 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.31% -0.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £673 £663
90th Percentile £750 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 609 286 798
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.85 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.00 £22.72 £15.75
Median hourly rate £36.32 £34.25 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year +6.04% +20.18% +26.67%
75th Percentile £67.25 £68.19 £57.50
90th Percentile £84.00 £83.71 £68.75
UK median hourly rate £35.00 £32.50 £28.50
% change year-on-year +7.69% +14.04% +26.75%

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 12 March 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
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 12 March 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 +38 298 £500 +11.11% 7
North of England -25 143 £475 -5.00% 2
Yorkshire -22 85 £475 -10.59%
South East -20 68 £363 -14.71% 1
North West -13 54 £425 -15.00% 2
Midlands -45 41 £448 -10.50% 6
West Midlands -53 30 £488 -4.88%
South West -12 15 £525 +7.69% 6
East of England -21 13 £413 +15.79% 1
East Midlands -25 11 £336 -10.33% 6
North East -29 4 £250 -44.44%
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 22 (3.76%) Confluence
2 13 (2.22%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.88%) SharePoint
4 7 (1.20%) Apache Airflow
5 5 (0.85%) Apache
5 5 (0.85%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.51%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 2 (0.34%) CMS
7 2 (0.34%) Drupal
7 2 (0.34%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 2 (0.34%) SAS
7 2 (0.34%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.17%) Camunda
8 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.17%) Palantir Foundry
8 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 17 (2.91%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (2.22%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.85%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (0.68%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.51%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.34%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.34%) InVision
7 2 (0.34%) Sketch
7 2 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
8 1 (0.17%) Adobe After Effects
8 1 (0.17%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 1 (0.17%) Adobe Illustrator
8 1 (0.17%) Adobe Premiere
8 1 (0.17%) Blender
8 1 (0.17%) CINEMA 4D
8 1 (0.17%) Photoshop
8 1 (0.17%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (1.71%) Aladdin
2 5 (0.85%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.51%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (0.51%) Fidessa
3 3 (0.51%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 3 (0.51%) SAP GRC
4 2 (0.34%) ION MarketView
4 2 (0.34%) Oracle General Ledger
4 2 (0.34%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 2 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.34%) Workfront
5 1 (0.17%) Adobe Campaign
5 1 (0.17%) Loan IQ
5 1 (0.17%) Odoo
5 1 (0.17%) Oracle FAH
5 1 (0.17%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.17%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.17%) SAP MDG
5 1 (0.17%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
5 1 (0.17%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 67 (11.45%) Azure
2 58 (9.91%) AWS
3 27 (4.62%) GCP
3 27 (4.62%) Power Platform
4 24 (4.10%) Microsoft 365
4 24 (4.10%) Snowflake
5 17 (2.91%) SaaS
6 16 (2.74%) Amazon S3
6 16 (2.74%) Entra ID
6 16 (2.74%) GitHub
7 15 (2.56%) AWS Lambda
7 15 (2.56%) Serverless
8 11 (1.88%) Amazon EC2
9 9 (1.54%) Figma
9 9 (1.54%) OpenShift
10 8 (1.37%) Dynamics 365
10 8 (1.37%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (1.20%) Power Automate
12 6 (1.03%) Amazon EKS
12 6 (1.03%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 18 (3.08%) Firewall
2 15 (2.56%) MPLS
3 11 (1.88%) Network Security
4 10 (1.71%) LAN
5 8 (1.37%) VPN
5 8 (1.37%) WAN
5 8 (1.37%) Wi-Fi
6 7 (1.20%) BGP
7 5 (0.85%) Ethernet
7 5 (0.85%) NetScaler
7 5 (0.85%) TCP/IP
7 5 (0.85%) Wireshark
8 4 (0.68%) Cisco Nexus
8 4 (0.68%) DNS
8 4 (0.68%) HTTP
8 4 (0.68%) Kerberos
8 4 (0.68%) SD-WAN
8 4 (0.68%) SSH
8 4 (0.68%) VLAN
9 3 (0.51%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (4.10%) Power BI
2 20 (3.42%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.88%) Metadata
4 10 (1.71%) SQL Server
5 9 (1.54%) Tableau
6 8 (1.37%) Data Lake
6 8 (1.37%) NoSQL
7 7 (1.20%) Amazon RDS
7 7 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
8 6 (1.03%) Hadoop
8 6 (1.03%) MongoDB
9 5 (0.85%) Amazon Aurora
9 5 (0.85%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.68%) DynamoDB
11 3 (0.51%) Apache Iceberg
11 3 (0.51%) Oracle Database
11 3 (0.51%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 2 (0.34%) Delta Lake
12 2 (0.34%) RDBMS
12 2 (0.34%) Tick Data
Development Applications
1 43 (7.35%) JIRA
2 18 (3.08%) Git
3 12 (2.05%) Jenkins
4 11 (1.88%) SpecFlow
5 9 (1.54%) Sonatype Nexus
6 8 (1.37%) Gradle
7 7 (1.20%) Maven
8 6 (1.03%) GitLab
9 5 (0.85%) JUnit
10 4 (0.68%) Bitbucket
10 4 (0.68%) Fiddler
10 4 (0.68%) Postman
11 3 (0.51%) IntelliJ
11 3 (0.51%) Katalon Studio
11 3 (0.51%) TestNG
11 3 (0.51%) webpack
12 2 (0.34%) DBeaver
12 2 (0.34%) Gatling
12 2 (0.34%) JMeter
12 2 (0.34%) MSI
General
1 152 (25.98%) Social Skills
2 127 (21.71%) Finance
3 69 (11.79%) Banking
4 59 (10.09%) Analytical Skills
5 31 (5.30%) Telecoms
6 22 (3.76%) Documentation Skills
7 21 (3.59%) Front Office
8 19 (3.25%) Legal
9 17 (2.91%) Organisational Skills
9 17 (2.91%) Public Sector
10 13 (2.22%) Marketing
10 13 (2.22%) Presentation Skills
11 8 (1.37%) Investment Banking
12 7 (1.20%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (1.20%) Manufacturing
13 6 (1.03%) Pharmaceutical
13 6 (1.03%) Publishing
14 5 (0.85%) Financial Institution
14 5 (0.85%) Private Banking
15 4 (0.68%) Police
Job Titles
1 74 (12.65%) Analyst
2 62 (10.60%) Architect
3 59 (10.09%) Developer
4 40 (6.84%) Business Analyst
5 39 (6.67%) Lead
6 31 (5.30%) Consultant
6 31 (5.30%) Project Manager
7 25 (4.27%) Senior
8 22 (3.76%) Network Engineer
9 19 (3.25%) Solutions Architect
10 16 (2.74%) Java Developer
10 16 (2.74%) Software Engineer
11 15 (2.56%) Data Engineer
12 13 (2.22%) Full-Stack Engineer
12 13 (2.22%) Python Developer
13 12 (2.05%) Support Engineer
13 12 (2.05%) Tester
14 11 (1.88%) Data Analyst
15 10 (1.71%) Automation Tester
15 10 (1.71%) Network Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (5.64%) React
2 20 (3.42%) REST
3 15 (2.56%) Playwright
4 12 (2.05%) Kafka
5 11 (1.88%) .NET
6 10 (1.71%) OAuth
6 10 (1.71%) RESTful
6 10 (1.71%) Spring
7 8 (1.37%) HTML
7 8 (1.37%) Oracle Fusion
7 8 (1.37%) PySpark
7 8 (1.37%) Spring Boot
8 7 (1.20%) AngularJS
8 7 (1.20%) JSON
8 7 (1.20%) Middleware
8 7 (1.20%) Model Context Protocol
8 7 (1.20%) SAML
8 7 (1.20%) XML
9 6 (1.03%) LangChain
10 5 (0.85%) OpenTelemetry
Miscellaneous
1 26 (4.44%) Onboarding
2 24 (4.10%) Product Ownership
3 19 (3.25%) Cloud Native
3 19 (3.25%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
4 12 (2.05%) Derivative
5 10 (1.71%) Data Centre
6 9 (1.54%) Equities
6 9 (1.54%) Management Information System
7 8 (1.37%) Distributed Systems
8 7 (1.20%) AI Agents
8 7 (1.20%) Fixed Income
8 7 (1.20%) Freedom of Information
8 7 (1.20%) Mobile App
8 7 (1.20%) Replication
9 6 (1.03%) Algorithms
9 6 (1.03%) Virtual Team
10 5 (0.85%) Equity Derivative
10 5 (0.85%) Hedge funds
10 5 (0.85%) Operational Technology
11 4 (0.68%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 31 (5.30%) Windows
2 27 (4.62%) Linux
3 6 (1.03%) Unix
4 5 (0.85%) zOS
5 4 (0.68%) AIX
5 4 (0.68%) Solaris
5 4 (0.68%) Windows 10
5 4 (0.68%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.51%) Android
6 3 (0.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.34%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.34%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 585 (100.00%) Data Protection
2 108 (18.46%) Stakeholder Management
3 100 (17.09%) Problem-Solving
4 92 (15.73%) Agile
5 76 (12.99%) Migration
6 63 (10.77%) AI
7 57 (9.74%) CI/CD
8 54 (9.23%) DevOps
8 54 (9.23%) Roadmaps
9 50 (8.55%) Analytics
9 50 (8.55%) Project Management
10 44 (7.52%) Continuous Improvement
11 41 (7.01%) Software Engineering
12 40 (6.84%) Decision-Making
13 34 (5.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 33 (5.64%) Test Automation
15 32 (5.47%) Observability
16 29 (4.96%) Machine Learning
17 28 (4.79%) Business Intelligence
17 28 (4.79%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 107 (18.29%) Python
2 73 (12.48%) SQL
3 53 (9.06%) Java
4 33 (5.64%) C#
5 32 (5.47%) JavaScript
6 22 (3.76%) PowerShell
7 19 (3.25%) TypeScript
8 10 (1.71%) Bash
8 10 (1.71%) C++
9 6 (1.03%) Shell Script
10 4 (0.68%) Go
10 4 (0.68%) Kusto Query Language
10 4 (0.68%) Scala
11 3 (0.51%) Groovy
11 3 (0.51%) Kotlin
12 2 (0.34%) ActionScript
12 2 (0.34%) Bicep
12 2 (0.34%) PL/SQL
12 2 (0.34%) VBScript
13 1 (0.17%) PHP
Qualifications
1 48 (8.21%) Degree
2 44 (7.52%) Security Cleared
3 38 (6.50%) SC Cleared
4 18 (3.08%) Computer Science Degree
5 9 (1.54%) Master's Degree
6 8 (1.37%) AWS Certification
6 8 (1.37%) PMI Certification
6 8 (1.37%) PMP
7 5 (0.85%) Cisco Certification
7 5 (0.85%) CISSP
8 4 (0.68%) Azure Certification
8 4 (0.68%) CCNP
8 4 (0.68%) DV Cleared
9 3 (0.51%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 3 (0.51%) BPSS Clearance
9 3 (0.51%) Microsoft Certification
9 3 (0.51%) Microsoft Certified Professional
10 2 (0.34%) CCNA
10 2 (0.34%) MBA
10 2 (0.34%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (5.30%) QA
2 30 (5.13%) GDPR
3 18 (3.08%) Data Quality
4 14 (2.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 12 (2.05%) PMO
6 11 (1.88%) Accessibility
6 11 (1.88%) NIST
7 7 (1.20%) SLA
8 5 (0.85%) GRC
9 3 (0.51%) IFRS
10 2 (0.34%) Basel III
10 2 (0.34%) GAAP
10 2 (0.34%) IFRS 9
10 2 (0.34%) ISO 20022
10 2 (0.34%) NCSC
10 2 (0.34%) PCI DSS
10 2 (0.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 2 (0.34%) SEPA
10 2 (0.34%) SOC 2
10 2 (0.34%) WCAG
System Software
1 28 (4.79%) Docker
2 22 (3.76%) Active Directory
3 12 (2.05%) Virtual Desktop
3 12 (2.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.85%) KVM
5 4 (0.68%) Virtual Servers
6 3 (0.51%) IAG
6 3 (0.51%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.51%) vSphere
7 2 (0.34%) Microsoft App-V
7 2 (0.34%) NFS
7 2 (0.34%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.17%) Firmware
8 1 (0.17%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.17%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.17%) Time Sharing Option
8 1 (0.17%) XenApp
8 1 (0.17%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 38 (6.50%) Kubernetes
2 24 (4.10%) Terraform
3 17 (2.91%) Ansible
4 8 (1.37%) Microsoft Intune
5 7 (1.20%) Grafana
6 5 (0.85%) Control-M
6 5 (0.85%) Prometheus
7 4 (0.68%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.51%) Puppet
8 3 (0.51%) SCCM
8 3 (0.51%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.51%) vCenter Server
9 2 (0.34%) IBM Guardium
9 2 (0.34%) Nessus
9 2 (0.34%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.17%) Argo
10 1 (0.17%) Data Guard
10 1 (0.17%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.17%) Kibana
10 1 (0.17%) SCOM
Vendors
1 55 (9.40%) Microsoft
2 27 (4.62%) Cisco
3 24 (4.10%) Databricks
4 18 (3.08%) ServiceNow
5 17 (2.91%) Oracle
5 17 (2.91%) SAP
6 13 (2.22%) Adobe
7 12 (2.05%) VMware
8 11 (1.88%) Salesforce
9 10 (1.71%) Citrix
10 9 (1.54%) Google
11 8 (1.37%) CyberArk
11 8 (1.37%) F5
11 8 (1.37%) Informatica
11 8 (1.37%) Nokia
12 7 (1.20%) ADVA
13 6 (1.03%) Meraki
13 6 (1.03%) Workday
14 5 (0.85%) Red Hat
14 5 (0.85%) Splunk