MCTS Contract Job Trends in England

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England with a requirement for MCTS qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 31 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 598 - 523
Rank change year-on-year - - +111
Contract jobs citing MCTS 4 0 13
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.010% - 0.035%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.030% - 0.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 12
10th Percentile £351 - -
25th Percentile £353 - £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £363 - £392
Median % change year-on-year - - +74.00%
75th Percentile £378 - £400
90th Percentile £384 - £410
UK median daily rate £363 - £392
% change year-on-year - - -2.13%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
England

MCTS 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 13,391 7,622 11,262
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.89% 31.47% 30.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,981 4,828 6,984
10th Percentile £350 £281 £313
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £623 £625 £650
90th Percentile £721 £713 £745
UK median daily rate £525 £520 £530
% change year-on-year +0.96% -1.89% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,013 445 1,000
10th Percentile £17.14 £17.87 £14.00
25th Percentile £21.33 £22.27 £18.35
Median hourly rate £47.50 £32.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +46.15% -18.75% -27.27%
75th Percentile £73.00 £67.25 £63.75
90th Percentile £85.25 £81.01 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £48.05 £32.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +47.85% -18.75% -27.27%

MCTS
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

MCTS job vacancy trend in England

MCTS
Daily Rate Trend in England

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing MCTS

MCTS
Hourly Rate Trend in England

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing MCTS

MCTS
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 MCTS within the England region over the 6 months to 31 May 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 - 4 £363 -
MCTS
UK

MCTS
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:

Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (100.00%) SQL Server
2 2 (50.00%) Big Data
General
1 3 (75.00%) Finance
1 3 (75.00%) Social Skills
2 2 (50.00%) Analytical Skills
2 2 (50.00%) Organisational Skills
3 1 (25.00%) Banking
3 1 (25.00%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 4 (100.00%) DBA
1 4 (100.00%) SQL DBA
2 1 (25.00%) SC Cleared DBA
2 1 (25.00%) SQL Server DBA
Miscellaneous
1 2 (50.00%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 4 (100.00%) Windows
1 4 (100.00%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (100.00%) Disaster Recovery
1 4 (100.00%) High Availability
1 4 (100.00%) Performance Tuning
2 3 (75.00%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (75.00%) Time Management
3 2 (50.00%) Analytics
3 2 (50.00%) Big Data Analytics
3 2 (50.00%) Business Continuity
3 2 (50.00%) Cybersecurity
3 2 (50.00%) Data Analytics
3 2 (50.00%) Project Delivery
3 2 (50.00%) Service Delivery
3 2 (50.00%) Task Automation
4 1 (25.00%) Critical Thinking
4 1 (25.00%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 3 (75.00%) SQL
Qualifications
1 4 (100.00%) MCITP
1 4 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
1 4 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 3 (75.00%) SC Cleared
System Software
1 4 (100.00%) Active Directory
Vendors
1 2 (50.00%) Microsoft