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 11 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Jun 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 299 228 260
Rank change year-on-year -71 +32 +101
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 332 280 319
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.78% 1.14% 0.85%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.46% 3.65% 2.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 217 161 205
10th Percentile £159 £200 £183
25th Percentile £350 £263 £319
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -3.85%
75th Percentile £583 £625 £556
90th Percentile £675 £700 £675
UK median daily rate £471 £456 £480
% change year-on-year +3.15% -4.95% -7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 32 56
10th Percentile £21.95 - £13.69
25th Percentile £38.25 £14.99 £14.16
Median hourly rate £63.14 £16.87 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +274.24% +3.50% +5.16%
75th Percentile £178.75 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile - £37.50 -
UK median hourly rate £63.14 £17.44 £16.30
% change year-on-year +262.01% +6.99% +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 13,505 7,674 11,449
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.71% 31.36% 30.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,063 4,834 7,080
10th Percentile £350 £280 £313
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £536
Median % change year-on-year - -2.05% -2.55%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £713 £738
UK median daily rate £525 £520 £525
% change year-on-year +0.96% -0.95% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,032 471 1,012
10th Percentile £17.87 £17.87 £14.00
25th Percentile £22.63 £22.16 £18.99
Median hourly rate £50.24 £32.00 £40.29
Median % change year-on-year +57.01% -20.57% -26.75%
75th Percentile £73.46 £65.43 £64.25
90th Percentile £85.35 £80.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £50.00 £30.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +63.93% -23.75% -27.27%

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 11 June 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 11 June 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 11 June 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 -41 127 £525 +5.00% 82
North of England -71 68 £483 +10.40% 74
North West -48 49 £475 +3.04% 42
South East -41 46 £275 -45.00% 75
South West -17 36 £450 -14.89% 31
East of England -31 27 £173 -23.33% 27
Midlands -65 24 £425 +72.94% 29
West Midlands -62 18 £425 +89.73% 13
Yorkshire -42 15 £650 +57.58% 23
East Midlands -24 6 £363 -27.50% 16
North East -27 4 £363 +81.25% 9
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 34 (10.24%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (9.34%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.90%) Exchange Server 2013
4 1 (0.30%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.30%) Confluence
Applications
1 19 (5.72%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.81%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 8 (2.41%) Veritas eDiscovery
2 6 (1.81%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (1.51%) Maximo
4 3 (0.90%) Oracle Payables
4 3 (0.90%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.30%) Dynamics AX
Cloud Services
1 157 (47.29%) Azure
2 92 (27.71%) Microsoft 365
3 67 (20.18%) Entra ID
4 57 (17.17%) Power Platform
5 35 (10.54%) Azure DevOps
6 34 (10.24%) Microsoft Purview
7 32 (9.64%) Power Automate
8 29 (8.73%) PowerApps
9 23 (6.93%) Dynamics 365
10 22 (6.63%) GitHub
11 21 (6.33%) AWS
12 20 (6.02%) Azure Data Factory
12 20 (6.02%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 16 (4.82%) OneDrive
14 14 (4.22%) Azure Logic Apps
14 14 (4.22%) Microsoft Copilot
15 13 (3.92%) Azure Sentinel
16 12 (3.61%) Azure Monitor
17 10 (3.01%) Azure AKS
18 8 (2.41%) Azure Key Vault
Communications & Networking
1 40 (12.05%) SAN
2 28 (8.43%) DNS
2 28 (8.43%) Firewall
3 23 (6.93%) VPN
4 14 (4.22%) TCP/IP
5 13 (3.92%) LAN
6 11 (3.31%) DHCP
7 8 (2.41%) Wi-Fi
8 7 (2.11%) Network Security
9 5 (1.51%) Kerberos
9 5 (1.51%) NetScaler
9 5 (1.51%) VLAN
10 4 (1.20%) DMZ
10 4 (1.20%) Internet
10 4 (1.20%) NGFW
10 4 (1.20%) SSL
10 4 (1.20%) VoIP
10 4 (1.20%) WAN
11 3 (0.90%) PSTN
11 3 (0.90%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (9.64%) Power BI
2 30 (9.04%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.92%) Data Lake
4 12 (3.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 9 (2.71%) Azure SQL Database
5 9 (2.71%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (2.41%) Metadata
6 8 (2.41%) PostgreSQL
7 7 (2.11%) MySQL
8 6 (1.81%) Spark SQL
9 5 (1.51%) Delta Lake
9 5 (1.51%) Power Query
10 4 (1.20%) Metadata Repository
10 4 (1.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.90%) Big Data
11 3 (0.90%) Star Schema
12 2 (0.60%) Amazon RDS
12 2 (0.60%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.60%) Relational Database
12 2 (0.60%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (2.41%) Git
2 3 (0.90%) Visual Studio Code
3 2 (0.60%) GitLab
3 2 (0.60%) JDeveloper
3 2 (0.60%) Selenium
3 2 (0.60%) WebDriver
4 1 (0.30%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.30%) JIRA
4 1 (0.30%) MLflow
4 1 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.30%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 108 (32.53%) Social Skills
2 72 (21.69%) Analytical Skills
3 45 (13.55%) Finance
4 39 (11.75%) Public Sector
5 20 (6.02%) Telecoms
6 14 (4.22%) Legal
7 10 (3.01%) Documentation Skills
8 9 (2.71%) Banking
9 6 (1.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (1.51%) Aerospace
11 4 (1.20%) Front Office
11 4 (1.20%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.20%) Investment Banking
11 4 (1.20%) Marketing
11 4 (1.20%) Military
11 4 (1.20%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.90%) International Banking
12 3 (0.90%) Law
12 3 (0.90%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (0.60%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 44 (13.25%) Architect
2 41 (12.35%) IT Engineer
3 36 (10.84%) Field Engineer
3 36 (10.84%) Field Service Engineer
4 34 (10.24%) Analyst
4 34 (10.24%) Senior
5 29 (8.73%) IT Support
6 21 (6.33%) Administrator
6 21 (6.33%) Support Engineer
7 19 (5.72%) Wintel Engineer
8 18 (5.42%) IT Support Engineer
9 16 (4.82%) Developer
9 16 (4.82%) IT Analyst
9 16 (4.82%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
9 16 (4.82%) Support Analyst
10 15 (4.52%) Solutions Architect
11 14 (4.22%) Technical Support
12 13 (3.92%) Azure Engineer
12 13 (3.92%) Field Support Engineer
13 12 (3.61%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (4.52%) OAuth
2 13 (3.92%) LDAP
2 13 (3.92%) OpenID
2 13 (3.92%) SAML
3 12 (3.61%) .NET
4 10 (3.01%) OAuth2
5 9 (2.71%) ONVIF
6 8 (2.41%) ARM Templates
7 7 (2.11%) Microsoft Graph
8 6 (1.81%) SailPoint
8 6 (1.81%) Web Services
9 4 (1.20%) JSON
9 4 (1.20%) REST
10 3 (0.90%) Middleware
10 3 (0.90%) PySpark
11 2 (0.60%) Azure Blueprints
11 2 (0.60%) OpenGL
11 2 (0.60%) XML
11 2 (0.60%) XSLT
11 2 (0.60%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 41 (12.35%) Data Centre
2 39 (11.75%) Analytical Mindset
3 27 (8.13%) Onboarding
4 18 (5.42%) Clustering
4 18 (5.42%) Replication
5 15 (4.52%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (3.92%) Security Posture
7 11 (3.31%) BYOD
8 10 (3.01%) Hybrid Cloud
9 9 (2.71%) Legacy Systems
9 9 (2.71%) Management Information System
9 9 (2.71%) Video\Live Streaming
10 8 (2.41%) Cloud Native
11 6 (1.81%) Low-Code
11 6 (1.81%) Mobile App
12 5 (1.51%) AI Agents
12 5 (1.51%) Cloud Security Posture
12 5 (1.51%) Data Structures
12 5 (1.51%) PKI
13 4 (1.20%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 109 (32.83%) Windows
2 50 (15.06%) Windows Server
3 32 (9.64%) Windows 10
4 21 (6.33%) Linux
5 12 (3.61%) Android
6 10 (3.01%) Apple iOS
7 9 (2.71%) Windows Server 2003
8 8 (2.41%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.41%) Windows 7
9 6 (1.81%) Unix
9 6 (1.81%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (1.51%) VMS
11 4 (1.20%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (1.20%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.90%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 2 (0.60%) AIX
13 2 (0.60%) Alpine Linux
13 2 (0.60%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 122 (36.75%) Problem-Solving
2 62 (18.67%) DevOps
3 61 (18.37%) Customer Service
4 59 (17.77%) ITIL
5 47 (14.16%) Analytics
6 46 (13.86%) Migration
7 43 (12.95%) CI/CD
8 38 (11.45%) Agile
9 36 (10.84%) Break/Fix
10 35 (10.54%) High Availability
11 34 (10.24%) Infrastructure as Code
11 34 (10.24%) Project Delivery
12 32 (9.64%) Business Intelligence
12 32 (9.64%) Disaster Recovery
13 31 (9.34%) Data Governance
14 30 (9.04%) RBAC
14 30 (9.04%) Roadmaps
15 28 (8.43%) Computer Science
16 27 (8.13%) AI
16 27 (8.13%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 99 (29.82%) PowerShell
2 38 (11.45%) SQL
3 31 (9.34%) Python
4 20 (6.02%) Bicep
5 15 (4.52%) C#
6 13 (3.92%) Bash
7 11 (3.31%) JavaScript
8 8 (2.41%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.81%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.90%) X++
11 2 (0.60%) Perl
11 2 (0.60%) R
12 1 (0.30%) Java
12 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
12 1 (0.30%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.30%) VB
Qualifications
1 100 (30.12%) Security Cleared
2 99 (29.82%) MCSE
3 82 (24.70%) Degree
4 81 (24.40%) SC Cleared
5 63 (18.98%) Cisco Certification
6 58 (17.47%) Azure Certification
7 57 (17.17%) A+ Certification
8 52 (15.66%) CCNA
9 48 (14.46%) MCSA
10 47 (14.16%) Network+ Certification
11 26 (7.83%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 25 (7.53%) DV Cleared
13 22 (6.63%) Computer Science Degree
14 18 (5.42%) CISSP
15 16 (4.82%) VCAP
16 10 (3.01%) CCNP
16 10 (3.01%) CompTIA Security+
17 9 (2.71%) AWS Certification
17 9 (2.71%) CISM
18 8 (2.41%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (7.83%) NIST
2 25 (7.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (3.31%) Data Quality
3 11 (3.31%) GDPR
3 11 (3.31%) SLA
4 8 (2.41%) NIST 800
5 6 (1.81%) NCSC
6 5 (1.51%) Accessibility
6 5 (1.51%) Cyber Essentials
7 4 (1.20%) QA
8 3 (0.90%) HIPAA
8 3 (0.90%) SOC 2
9 2 (0.60%) Solvency II
9 2 (0.60%) WCAG
10 1 (0.30%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 1 (0.30%) GRC
10 1 (0.30%) GxP
10 1 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.30%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 107 (32.23%) Active Directory
2 34 (10.24%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (7.23%) VMware ESXi
4 21 (6.33%) Virtual Desktop
5 20 (6.02%) vSphere
6 19 (5.72%) Virtual Machines
7 9 (2.71%) Docker
8 7 (2.11%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.60%) BitLocker
9 2 (0.60%) Firmware
9 2 (0.60%) Microsoft App-V
9 2 (0.60%) VMware NSX
9 2 (0.60%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 41 (12.35%) Microsoft Intune
2 37 (11.14%) Terraform
3 32 (9.64%) Ansible
4 23 (6.93%) vCenter Server
5 19 (5.72%) SCCM
6 14 (4.22%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 13 (3.92%) Kubernetes
8 7 (2.11%) SCOM
9 6 (1.81%) CASB
9 6 (1.81%) Single Sign-On
10 5 (1.51%) Nessus
11 3 (0.90%) Podman
11 3 (0.90%) QRadar
11 3 (0.90%) WSUS
12 2 (0.60%) Packer
12 2 (0.60%) vMotion
13 1 (0.30%) Backup Exec
13 1 (0.30%) Cisco CUCM
13 1 (0.30%) Jamf Pro
13 1 (0.30%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 262 (78.92%) Microsoft
2 44 (13.25%) VMware
3 37 (11.14%) Dell
4 30 (9.04%) Cisco
5 15 (4.52%) Oracle
5 15 (4.52%) ServiceNow
6 14 (4.22%) Citrix
7 12 (3.61%) Apple
8 9 (2.71%) Databricks
8 9 (2.71%) Remedy
9 8 (2.41%) Tenable
10 7 (2.11%) CyberArk
10 7 (2.11%) Splunk
11 6 (1.81%) Palo Alto
11 6 (1.81%) SolarWinds
12 5 (1.51%) Foundry
12 5 (1.51%) IBM
12 5 (1.51%) NetApp
12 5 (1.51%) Red Hat
13 4 (1.20%) Reuters
282 Microsoft Certification jobs in England