HNC Contracts in England

Higher National Certificate (HNC)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England with a requirement for HNC qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 19 August 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 455 432 583
Rank change year-on-year -23 +151 +169
DemandTrendContract jobs citing HNC 51 91 29
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 0.18% 0.27% 0.065%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.59% 0.90% 0.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 10 11 10
10th Percentile £242 £246 £330
25th Percentile £325 £273 £390
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £350 £425
Median % change year-on-year +42.86% -17.65% -5.56%
75th Percentile £534 - £475
90th Percentile £548 - £593
UK median daily rate £350 £325 £425
% change year-on-year +7.69% -23.53% -5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 40 11
10th Percentile £29.07 - £34.75
25th Percentile £40.75 - £39.63
Median hourly rate £43.00 £43.00 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year - -18.10% +80.35%
75th Percentile £70.00 - £56.88
90th Percentile £88.00 - £67.50
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £43.00 £52.50
% change year-on-year -1.16% -18.10% +114.29%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
England

HNC 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.

DemandTrendContract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 8,685 10,136 12,320
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.48% 30.49% 27.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,436 6,439 8,105
10th Percentile £300 £325 £325
25th Percentile £413 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £538 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.33% -2.27% -
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £713 £738 £743
UK median daily rate £521 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -0.76% -4.55% +1.66%
Number of hourly rates quoted 679 723 596
10th Percentile £18.13 £14.92 £15.74
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.37 £24.04
Median hourly rate £25.15 £47.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -47.05% -13.64% +22.22%
75th Percentile £56.62 £67.88 £70.00
90th Percentile £75.16 £77.90 £80.00
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £43.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year -41.51% -21.82% +22.22%

HNC
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing HNC as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for HNC in England

HNC
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing HNC.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing HNC

HNC
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing HNC in England over the 6 months to 19 August 2025.

Daily rate histogram for HNC in England

HNC
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing HNC.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing HNC

HNC
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing HNC in England over the 6 months to 19 August 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for HNC in England

HNC
DemandTrendContract 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 HNC within the England region over the 6 months to 19 August 2025. 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
DemandTrendContract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
East of England -25 25 £60 - 46
South East +22 7 £275 -21.43% 98
West Midlands -5 7 £350 - 37
Midlands -9 7 £350 - 62
London +27 6 £500 +98.02% 48
South West +27 4 £525 - 35
North West -10 2 - - 57
North of England -19 2 - - 86
HNC
UK

HNC
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 2 (3.92%) SharePoint
Applications
1 9 (17.65%) Microsoft Excel
1 9 (17.65%) Simulink
2 8 (15.69%) FrameMaker
2 8 (15.69%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (9.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (7.84%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (5.88%) Windchill
6 2 (3.92%) AutoCAD
6 2 (3.92%) MicroStation
6 2 (3.92%) Revit
7 1 (1.96%) CATIA
7 1 (1.96%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 3 (5.88%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 3 (5.88%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 9 (17.65%) Ethernet
2 5 (9.80%) LAN
2 5 (9.80%) TCP/IP
3 1 (1.96%) Broadband
3 1 (1.96%) FTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (9.80%) Oracle Database
1 5 (9.80%) SQL Server
2 3 (5.88%) MS Access
2 3 (5.88%) Power BI
2 3 (5.88%) Power Query
2 3 (5.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 2 (3.92%) Rational DOORS
General
1 32 (62.75%) Social Skills
2 14 (27.45%) Electronics
3 13 (25.49%) Analytical Skills
4 12 (23.53%) Publishing
5 9 (17.65%) Aerospace
6 8 (15.69%) Games
7 4 (7.84%) Automotive
7 4 (7.84%) Manufacturing
8 2 (3.92%) Aviation
8 2 (3.92%) Law
8 2 (3.92%) Organisational Skills
9 1 (1.96%) Finance
9 1 (1.96%) Local Government
9 1 (1.96%) Military
9 1 (1.96%) Public Sector
9 1 (1.96%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 12 (23.53%) Author
1 12 (23.53%) Technical Author
2 9 (17.65%) Analyst
3 5 (9.80%) Support Analyst
3 5 (9.80%) Technical Analyst
3 5 (9.80%) Technical Support
3 5 (9.80%) Technical Support Analyst
4 4 (7.84%) Firmware Engineer
4 4 (7.84%) FPGA Engineer
4 4 (7.84%) Principal Engineer
5 3 (5.88%) Administrator
5 3 (5.88%) Design Engineer
5 3 (5.88%) Information Analyst
5 3 (5.88%) Junior
6 2 (3.92%) Coordinator
6 2 (3.92%) Draughtsman
6 2 (3.92%) Lead
6 2 (3.92%) Test Engineer
7 1 (1.96%) Electronics Test Engineer
7 1 (1.96%) Principal Hardware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (19.61%) SGML
1 10 (19.61%) XML
2 1 (1.96%) OLE
Miscellaneous
1 10 (19.61%) FPGA
2 9 (17.65%) PCIe
3 8 (15.69%) Algorithms
3 8 (15.69%) Verilog
4 5 (9.80%) NHS
5 3 (5.88%) Analytical Mindset
5 3 (5.88%) Management Information System
5 3 (5.88%) SCADA
5 3 (5.88%) Self-Motivation
6 2 (3.92%) Analogue Electronics
7 1 (1.96%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 5 (9.80%) Windows
1 5 (9.80%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 13 (25.49%) Problem-Solving
2 11 (21.57%) Computer Science
3 10 (19.61%) Desktop Publishing
4 9 (17.65%) Physics
5 8 (15.69%) Artificial Intelligence
5 8 (15.69%) Cryptography
5 8 (15.69%) Customer Requirements
5 8 (15.69%) Machine Learning
5 8 (15.69%) UVM
6 7 (13.73%) Project Management
7 5 (9.80%) Capacity Planning
7 5 (9.80%) Process Improvement
7 5 (9.80%) Security Patching
8 4 (7.84%) Software Testing
8 4 (7.84%) Test Automation
9 3 (5.88%) Configuration Management
9 3 (5.88%) Data Analysis
9 3 (5.88%) Software Engineering
9 3 (5.88%) Test Management
9 3 (5.88%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 9 (17.65%) MATLAB
2 8 (15.69%) SystemVerilog
2 8 (15.69%) Tcl
3 3 (5.88%) SQL
3 3 (5.88%) VBA
Qualifications
1 41 (80.39%) HND
2 33 (64.71%) Degree
3 19 (37.25%) SC Cleared
3 19 (37.25%) Security Cleared
4 5 (9.80%) MCP
4 5 (9.80%) MCSE
4 5 (9.80%) Microsoft Certification
5 3 (5.88%) EMC Certification
6 1 (1.96%) ECDL
6 1 (1.96%) Master's Degree
6 1 (1.96%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (15.69%) DO-254
2 4 (7.84%) QA
3 3 (5.88%) Def Stans
3 3 (5.88%) IEC 61508
3 3 (5.88%) ISO/IEC 15288
4 2 (3.92%) Accessibility
5 1 (1.96%) GLP
5 1 (1.96%) ISO 9001
5 1 (1.96%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 1 (1.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 8 (15.69%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 3 (5.88%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 12 (23.53%) Microsoft
2 8 (15.69%) Actel
2 8 (15.69%) Altera
2 8 (15.69%) Intel
2 8 (15.69%) Microsemi
2 8 (15.69%) Xilinx
3 5 (9.80%) Citrix
3 5 (9.80%) Oracle
4 3 (5.88%) EMC
5 2 (3.92%) Autodesk
6 1 (1.96%) Siemens
6 1 (1.96%) Twitter