Microsoft Certification Contract Job Trends in England

Microsoft Certification
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England with a requirement for Microsoft Certification qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 22 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 303 224 279
Rank change year-on-year -79 +55 +75
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 317 273 302
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.80% 1.11% 0.82%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.43% 3.54% 2.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 210 155 200
10th Percentile £166 £200 £198
25th Percentile £377 £319 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% - -0.50%
75th Percentile £594 £638 £575
90th Percentile £701 £725 £689
UK median daily rate £489 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -2.30% +5.26% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 30 58
10th Percentile £11.90 £14.99 £13.69
25th Percentile £24.11 £15.10 £14.16
Median hourly rate £38.25 £17.44 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +119.32% +6.99% +5.16%
75th Percentile £178.75 £21.46 £21.37
90th Percentile - £37.50 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £38.25 £19.99 £16.30
% change year-on-year +91.39% +22.61% +5.16%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
England

Microsoft Certification 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 13,033 7,702 11,638
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.88% 31.40% 31.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,741 4,914 7,171
10th Percentile £340 £300 £300
25th Percentile £425 £415 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £624 £630 £650
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK median daily rate £518 £525 £535
% change year-on-year -1.43% -1.87% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 992 431 962
10th Percentile £17.01 £18.13 £14.00
25th Percentile £21.25 £24.22 £17.88
Median hourly rate £47.25 £50.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -5.50% +25.00% -23.81%
75th Percentile £71.50 £68.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.36 £82.25 £75.25
UK median hourly rate £45.46 £42.75 £40.00
% change year-on-year +6.34% +6.88% -25.93%

Microsoft Certification
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Microsoft Certification job vacancy trend in England

Microsoft Certification
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Microsoft Certification.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Microsoft Certification

Microsoft Certification
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Microsoft Certification in England over the 6 months to 22 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Microsoft Certification in England

Microsoft Certification
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Microsoft Certification.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Microsoft Certification

Microsoft Certification
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Microsoft Certification in England over the 6 months to 22 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Microsoft Certification in England

Microsoft Certification
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 Microsoft Certification within the England region over the 6 months to 22 April 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 -17 117 £525 +5.00% 69
North of England -66 62 £477 -4.70% 48
North West -49 46 £477 -5.64% 24
South West -20 43 £530 -3.64% 31
Midlands -51 36 £425 +89.73% 28
South East -61 36 £480 -11.93% 63
West Midlands -50 28 £425 +89.73% 18
East of England -42 19 £181 -52.61% 38
Yorkshire -45 13 £484 +21.00% 18
East Midlands -28 8 £220 - 10
North East -19 3 - - 7
Microsoft Certification
UK

Microsoft Certification
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 43 (13.56%) Microsoft Exchange
2 32 (10.09%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.95%) Exchange Server 2013
4 2 (0.63%) Confluence
5 1 (0.32%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.32%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 20 (6.31%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.84%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.26%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.95%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 8 (2.52%) Veritas eDiscovery
2 6 (1.89%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.89%) Maximo
3 2 (0.63%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 141 (44.48%) Azure
2 100 (31.55%) Microsoft 365
3 62 (19.56%) Entra ID
4 48 (15.14%) Power Platform
5 31 (9.78%) Microsoft Purview
6 29 (9.15%) Azure DevOps
7 24 (7.57%) AWS
7 24 (7.57%) Power Automate
7 24 (7.57%) PowerApps
8 23 (7.26%) Azure Data Factory
9 21 (6.62%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 17 (5.36%) Dynamics 365
10 17 (5.36%) GitHub
11 16 (5.05%) Microsoft Copilot
12 15 (4.73%) OneDrive
13 13 (4.10%) Azure Monitor
14 12 (3.79%) Azure AKS
14 12 (3.79%) Azure Logic Apps
15 11 (3.47%) Azure Sentinel
15 11 (3.47%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 33 (10.41%) SAN
2 28 (8.83%) DNS
2 28 (8.83%) Firewall
2 28 (8.83%) VPN
3 12 (3.79%) TCP/IP
4 9 (2.84%) LAN
5 8 (2.52%) DHCP
5 8 (2.52%) Network Security
6 7 (2.21%) Wi-Fi
7 6 (1.89%) SSL
8 5 (1.58%) VLAN
9 4 (1.26%) DMZ
9 4 (1.26%) NAS
10 3 (0.95%) DKIM
10 3 (0.95%) Kerberos
10 3 (0.95%) NetScaler
10 3 (0.95%) Skype
10 3 (0.95%) SMTP
10 3 (0.95%) Softphone
10 3 (0.95%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (9.46%) SQL Server
2 26 (8.20%) Power BI
3 16 (5.05%) Data Lake
4 12 (3.79%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 10 (3.15%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (2.84%) Azure SQL Database
6 9 (2.84%) MySQL
7 8 (2.52%) Data Warehouse
7 8 (2.52%) Metadata
8 6 (1.89%) Spark SQL
9 5 (1.58%) Delta Lake
9 5 (1.58%) Power Query
10 4 (1.26%) Metadata Repository
11 3 (0.95%) Big Data
11 3 (0.95%) Oracle Database
11 3 (0.95%) Star Schema
11 3 (0.95%) Tableau
12 2 (0.63%) Relational Database
13 1 (0.32%) MongoDB
13 1 (0.32%) Oracle Database 12c
Development Applications
1 14 (4.42%) Git
2 4 (1.26%) GitLab
2 4 (1.26%) JIRA
3 3 (0.95%) Bitbucket
3 3 (0.95%) Visual Studio Code
4 2 (0.63%) Cypress.io
4 2 (0.63%) JDeveloper
4 2 (0.63%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.63%) Selenium
4 2 (0.63%) WebDriver
5 1 (0.32%) AdminStudio
5 1 (0.32%) InstallShield
5 1 (0.32%) MLflow
5 1 (0.32%) MSI
5 1 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.32%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 113 (35.65%) Social Skills
2 62 (19.56%) Analytical Skills
3 38 (11.99%) Finance
4 27 (8.52%) Public Sector
5 14 (4.42%) Legal
6 12 (3.79%) Banking
7 11 (3.47%) Documentation Skills
7 11 (3.47%) Telecoms
8 4 (1.26%) Aerospace
8 4 (1.26%) Front Office
8 4 (1.26%) International Banking
8 4 (1.26%) Investment Banking
8 4 (1.26%) Marketing
8 4 (1.26%) Military
9 3 (0.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (0.95%) Organisational Skills
9 3 (0.95%) Retail
10 2 (0.63%) Aeronautics
10 2 (0.63%) Influencing Skills
10 2 (0.63%) Law
Job Titles
1 47 (14.83%) Architect
2 35 (11.04%) IT Engineer
3 32 (10.09%) Analyst
4 29 (9.15%) Field Engineer
4 29 (9.15%) Field Service Engineer
4 29 (9.15%) Senior
5 28 (8.83%) IT Support
6 20 (6.31%) Administrator
7 18 (5.68%) Support Engineer
8 17 (5.36%) Solutions Architect
8 17 (5.36%) Support Analyst
8 17 (5.36%) Wintel Engineer
9 16 (5.05%) IT Analyst
9 16 (5.05%) IT Support Engineer
10 15 (4.73%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
11 14 (4.42%) DBA
11 14 (4.42%) Lead
12 13 (4.10%) Cloud Engineer
13 12 (3.79%) Developer
13 12 (3.79%) IT Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (5.05%) OAuth
2 14 (4.42%) SAML
3 12 (3.79%) OpenID
4 11 (3.47%) .NET
5 10 (3.15%) LDAP
6 9 (2.84%) ARM Templates
6 9 (2.84%) OAuth2
7 8 (2.52%) Microsoft Graph
8 7 (2.21%) REST
9 3 (0.95%) JSON
9 3 (0.95%) React
9 3 (0.95%) YAML
10 2 (0.63%) A2A Protocol
10 2 (0.63%) CSS
10 2 (0.63%) Jest
10 2 (0.63%) Model Context Protocol
10 2 (0.63%) Next.js
10 2 (0.63%) PySpark
10 2 (0.63%) RESTful
10 2 (0.63%) Tailwind CSS
Miscellaneous
1 31 (9.78%) Analytical Mindset
2 30 (9.46%) Data Centre
3 20 (6.31%) Onboarding
3 20 (6.31%) Replication
4 17 (5.36%) Enterprise Software
5 15 (4.73%) Clustering
6 13 (4.10%) Hybrid Cloud
7 11 (3.47%) BYOD
8 8 (2.52%) PKI
9 7 (2.21%) Cloud Native
9 7 (2.21%) Management Information System
9 7 (2.21%) Security Posture
10 6 (1.89%) Legacy Systems
11 5 (1.58%) Cloud Security Posture
11 5 (1.58%) Mobile App
11 5 (1.58%) Operational Technology
11 5 (1.58%) Security Operations Centre
12 4 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
12 4 (1.26%) Private Cloud
12 4 (1.26%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 110 (34.70%) Windows
2 55 (17.35%) Windows Server
3 29 (9.15%) Windows 10
4 18 (5.68%) Linux
5 9 (2.84%) Windows Server 2003
5 9 (2.84%) Windows Server 2012
6 8 (2.52%) Android
7 7 (2.21%) Windows 7
7 7 (2.21%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (1.89%) Apple iOS
8 6 (1.89%) Mac OS
8 6 (1.89%) Unix
9 3 (0.95%) VMS
9 3 (0.95%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.63%) AIX
10 2 (0.63%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 100 (31.55%) Problem-Solving
2 62 (19.56%) ITIL
3 52 (16.40%) Migration
4 51 (16.09%) Customer Service
5 49 (15.46%) DevOps
6 43 (13.56%) CI/CD
7 37 (11.67%) Agile
7 37 (11.67%) Analytics
8 36 (11.36%) Disaster Recovery
9 32 (10.09%) High Availability
10 31 (9.78%) Identity Access Management
11 30 (9.46%) Computer Science
12 29 (9.15%) Break/Fix
12 29 (9.15%) Roadmaps
13 28 (8.83%) RBAC
14 27 (8.52%) Business Intelligence
14 27 (8.52%) Infrastructure as Code
15 26 (8.20%) Data Governance
15 26 (8.20%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 26 (8.20%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 94 (29.65%) PowerShell
2 40 (12.62%) SQL
3 29 (9.15%) Python
4 15 (4.73%) Bicep
5 10 (3.15%) C#
6 7 (2.21%) T-SQL
7 6 (1.89%) Bash
8 5 (1.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 5 (1.58%) JavaScript
9 4 (1.26%) R
9 4 (1.26%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.32%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.32%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.32%) VB
10 1 (0.32%) VBScript
10 1 (0.32%) X++
Qualifications
1 95 (29.97%) Security Cleared
2 91 (28.71%) MCSE
3 87 (27.44%) Degree
4 76 (23.97%) SC Cleared
5 59 (18.61%) Azure Certification
6 47 (14.83%) Cisco Certification
7 39 (12.30%) Network+ Certification
8 38 (11.99%) A+ Certification
9 37 (11.67%) CCNA
10 36 (11.36%) MCSA
11 29 (9.15%) Computer Science Degree
12 28 (8.83%) DV Cleared
13 24 (7.57%) CISSP
14 21 (6.62%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 16 (5.05%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 13 (4.10%) VCAP
17 12 (3.79%) CompTIA Security+
18 11 (3.47%) CCNP
19 10 (3.15%) CISM
20 8 (2.52%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (5.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 17 (5.36%) NIST
2 15 (4.73%) GDPR
3 8 (2.52%) SLA
4 7 (2.21%) Cyber Essentials
4 7 (2.21%) NCSC
4 7 (2.21%) NIST 800
5 6 (1.89%) Data Quality
6 4 (1.26%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.26%) QA
7 3 (0.95%) WCAG
8 1 (0.32%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 1 (0.32%) GxP
8 1 (0.32%) HIPAA
8 1 (0.32%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 1 (0.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.32%) SOC 2
System Software
1 119 (37.54%) Active Directory
2 31 (9.78%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (5.99%) VMware ESXi
4 15 (4.73%) vSphere
5 14 (4.42%) Virtual Machines
6 12 (3.79%) Virtual Desktop
7 11 (3.47%) Docker
8 8 (2.52%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.95%) Firmware
10 2 (0.63%) VMware NSX
11 1 (0.32%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 41 (12.93%) Microsoft Intune
2 34 (10.73%) Terraform
3 27 (8.52%) Ansible
4 21 (6.62%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 20 (6.31%) SCCM
6 19 (5.99%) Kubernetes
7 17 (5.36%) vCenter Server
8 10 (3.15%) Single Sign-On
9 6 (1.89%) CASB
9 6 (1.89%) WSUS
10 5 (1.58%) Nessus
11 3 (0.95%) SCOM
12 2 (0.63%) Microsoft Data Protection Manager
12 2 (0.63%) Podman
12 2 (0.63%) PowerCLI
13 1 (0.32%) Dell DRAC
13 1 (0.32%) Jamf Pro
13 1 (0.32%) Kubeflow
13 1 (0.32%) PaperCut
13 1 (0.32%) QRadar
Vendors
1 263 (82.97%) Microsoft
2 39 (12.30%) VMware
3 31 (9.78%) Dell
4 25 (7.89%) Cisco
5 18 (5.68%) Oracle
6 12 (3.79%) Citrix
6 12 (3.79%) ServiceNow
7 11 (3.47%) Apple
7 11 (3.47%) Databricks
8 9 (2.84%) Tenable
9 8 (2.52%) Red Hat
10 7 (2.21%) IBM
11 6 (1.89%) CyberArk
11 6 (1.89%) Remedy
11 6 (1.89%) Veeam
12 4 (1.26%) Atlassian
12 4 (1.26%) CheckPoint
12 4 (1.26%) Foundry
12 4 (1.26%) SolarWinds
12 4 (1.26%) Splunk