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

6 months to
19 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 284 231 291
Rank change year-on-year -53 +60 +85
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 324 274 276
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.88% 1.12% 0.73%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.58% 3.61% 2.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 224 163 193
10th Percentile £222 £210 £205
25th Percentile £400 £304 £290
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £500 £450
Median % change year-on-year +3.50% +11.11% -6.25%
75th Percentile £616 £630 £575
90th Percentile £711 £725 £700
UK median daily rate £513 £463 £425
% change year-on-year +10.81% +8.82% -14.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 24 42
10th Percentile - £14.99 £13.69
25th Percentile £6.00 £15.44 £14.48
Median hourly rate £16.00 £21.46 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year -25.44% +31.66% +5.16%
75th Percentile £24.25 £30.50 £21.37
90th Percentile £25.47 £64.22 £29.15
UK median hourly rate £16.00 £21.46 £16.30
% change year-on-year -25.44% +31.66% +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 12,578 7,599 11,796
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.99% 31.06% 31.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,345 4,816 7,308
10th Percentile £331 £289 £300
25th Percentile £422 £419 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £725 £738
UK median daily rate £515 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -1.90% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 981 416 917
10th Percentile £16.30 £18.57 £14.00
25th Percentile £19.54 £25.26 £18.19
Median hourly rate £28.50 £50.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year -43.00% +33.33% -25.00%
75th Percentile £67.84 £68.00 £63.29
90th Percentile £85.00 £82.50 £76.53
UK median hourly rate £29.61 £42.50 £37.50
% change year-on-year -30.33% +13.33% -25.00%

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 19 March 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 19 March 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 19 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 -5 125 £525 +16.67% 75
South West 0 50 £560 -0.44% 33
North of England -74 48 £469 -6.28% 61
Midlands -54 40 £400 +37.93% 42
North West -44 37 £465 -7.08% 34
South East -69 34 £480 -4.00% 82
West Midlands -50 31 £425 +92.53% 23
East of England -26 21 £173 -65.50% 39
East Midlands -30 9 £215 -46.25% 19
Yorkshire -50 8 £484 -19.33% 22
North East -6 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 (13.27%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (10.19%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.23%) Confluence
4 3 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2013
5 2 (0.62%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 17 (5.25%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (3.40%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (2.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.23%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.93%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 8 (2.47%) Dynamics CRM
1 8 (2.47%) Veritas eDiscovery
2 7 (2.16%) Maximo
3 2 (0.62%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.31%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 149 (45.99%) Azure
2 102 (31.48%) Microsoft 365
3 65 (20.06%) Entra ID
4 54 (16.67%) Power Platform
5 33 (10.19%) Azure DevOps
6 32 (9.88%) Microsoft Purview
7 29 (8.95%) AWS
8 25 (7.72%) Power Automate
8 25 (7.72%) PowerApps
9 20 (6.17%) Azure Data Factory
9 20 (6.17%) Azure Monitor
9 20 (6.17%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 20 (6.17%) Dynamics 365
10 17 (5.25%) Microsoft Copilot
11 16 (4.94%) OneDrive
12 15 (4.63%) Azure AKS
12 15 (4.63%) GitHub
13 14 (4.32%) Azure Sentinel
14 13 (4.01%) Azure Key Vault
15 12 (3.70%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 43 (13.27%) DNS
2 38 (11.73%) Firewall
3 31 (9.57%) VPN
4 18 (5.56%) SAN
5 16 (4.94%) DHCP
6 14 (4.32%) TCP/IP
7 12 (3.70%) Wi-Fi
8 11 (3.40%) LAN
9 9 (2.78%) Network Security
10 8 (2.47%) VLAN
11 7 (2.16%) SSL
12 5 (1.54%) Skype
13 4 (1.23%) DKIM
13 4 (1.23%) DMARC
14 3 (0.93%) Kerberos
14 3 (0.93%) NetScaler
14 3 (0.93%) RS-232
14 3 (0.93%) SMTP
14 3 (0.93%) Unified Communications
14 3 (0.93%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (9.26%) SQL Server
2 24 (7.41%) Power BI
3 16 (4.94%) Data Lake
4 12 (3.70%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 9 (2.78%) MySQL
5 9 (2.78%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (2.47%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (2.47%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (2.16%) Metadata
8 5 (1.54%) Delta Lake
8 5 (1.54%) Power Query
8 5 (1.54%) Spark SQL
9 4 (1.23%) Metadata Repository
10 3 (0.93%) Oracle Database
10 3 (0.93%) Star Schema
10 3 (0.93%) Tableau
11 2 (0.62%) Big Data
11 2 (0.62%) Relational Database
12 1 (0.31%) Oracle Database 12c
12 1 (0.31%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 14 (4.32%) Git
2 6 (1.85%) JIRA
3 5 (1.54%) Jenkins
4 4 (1.23%) Bitbucket
4 4 (1.23%) GitLab
5 2 (0.62%) CircleCI
5 2 (0.62%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.62%) JDeveloper
5 2 (0.62%) Selenium
5 2 (0.62%) WebDriver
6 1 (0.31%) AdminStudio
6 1 (0.31%) InstallShield
6 1 (0.31%) MLflow
6 1 (0.31%) MSI
6 1 (0.31%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.31%) Team Foundation Server
6 1 (0.31%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 126 (38.89%) Social Skills
2 53 (16.36%) Analytical Skills
3 37 (11.42%) Public Sector
4 30 (9.26%) Finance
5 15 (4.63%) Documentation Skills
5 15 (4.63%) Legal
6 10 (3.09%) Banking
7 6 (1.85%) Marketing
7 6 (1.85%) Military
8 5 (1.54%) Telecoms
9 4 (1.23%) International Banking
10 3 (0.93%) Aerospace
10 3 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
10 3 (0.93%) Polish Language
10 3 (0.93%) Retail
11 2 (0.62%) Aeronautics
11 2 (0.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 2 (0.62%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (0.62%) Law
12 1 (0.31%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 51 (15.74%) Architect
2 33 (10.19%) Analyst
3 29 (8.95%) Senior
4 22 (6.79%) IT Engineer
5 21 (6.48%) Administrator
5 21 (6.48%) Solutions Architect
6 20 (6.17%) Support Engineer
7 19 (5.86%) IT Support
8 17 (5.25%) Field Engineer
9 16 (4.94%) Azure Engineer
9 16 (4.94%) Field Service Engineer
9 16 (4.94%) Lead
9 16 (4.94%) Wintel Engineer
10 15 (4.63%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
10 15 (4.63%) Support Analyst
11 14 (4.32%) DBA
11 14 (4.32%) Security Engineer
12 13 (4.01%) Consultant
12 13 (4.01%) Technical Analyst
12 13 (4.01%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (8.95%) OAuth
2 26 (8.02%) SAML
3 25 (7.72%) OpenID
4 17 (5.25%) OAuth2
5 12 (3.70%) ARM Templates
6 11 (3.40%) .NET
6 11 (3.40%) Microsoft Graph
7 10 (3.09%) LDAP
7 10 (3.09%) REST
8 4 (1.23%) JSON
9 3 (0.93%) YAML
10 2 (0.62%) A2A Protocol
10 2 (0.62%) ASP.NET Web API
10 2 (0.62%) CSS
10 2 (0.62%) Jest
10 2 (0.62%) Model Context Protocol
10 2 (0.62%) Next.js
10 2 (0.62%) React
10 2 (0.62%) RESTful
10 2 (0.62%) Tailwind CSS
Miscellaneous
1 20 (6.17%) Enterprise Software
2 19 (5.86%) Replication
3 18 (5.56%) Analytical Mindset
4 17 (5.25%) Data Centre
5 16 (4.94%) Hybrid Cloud
6 14 (4.32%) BYOD
6 14 (4.32%) PKI
7 13 (4.01%) Onboarding
7 13 (4.01%) Security Posture
8 10 (3.09%) Clustering
8 10 (3.09%) Management Information System
9 9 (2.78%) Private Cloud
10 8 (2.47%) Cloud Native
11 5 (1.54%) Cloud Security Posture
11 5 (1.54%) Legacy Systems
11 5 (1.54%) Low-Code
11 5 (1.54%) NHS
11 5 (1.54%) Operational Technology
11 5 (1.54%) Security Operations Centre
12 3 (0.93%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 121 (37.35%) Windows
2 61 (18.83%) Windows Server
3 29 (8.95%) Windows 10
4 21 (6.48%) Linux
5 13 (4.01%) Windows Server 2012
6 12 (3.70%) Windows Server 2003
7 8 (2.47%) Mac OS
8 7 (2.16%) Windows 7
8 7 (2.16%) Windows Server 2016
9 6 (1.85%) Unix
10 5 (1.54%) Android
11 4 (1.23%) VMS
12 3 (0.93%) CentOS
13 2 (0.62%) AIX
13 2 (0.62%) Apple iOS
13 2 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 87 (26.85%) Problem-Solving
2 65 (20.06%) ITIL
3 52 (16.05%) Migration
4 48 (14.81%) DevOps
5 45 (13.89%) CI/CD
6 44 (13.58%) RBAC
7 43 (13.27%) Customer Service
8 42 (12.96%) Identity Access Management
9 40 (12.35%) Analytics
10 35 (10.80%) Disaster Recovery
11 33 (10.19%) Cloud Security
11 33 (10.19%) Identity Management
12 32 (9.88%) Agile
13 30 (9.26%) Computer Science
13 30 (9.26%) Continuous Improvement
13 30 (9.26%) Roadmaps
14 28 (8.64%) AI
14 28 (8.64%) Data Loss Prevention
15 27 (8.33%) Data Governance
15 27 (8.33%) High Availability
Programming Languages
1 102 (31.48%) PowerShell
2 40 (12.35%) SQL
3 29 (8.95%) Python
4 17 (5.25%) Bicep
5 9 (2.78%) C#
6 6 (1.85%) Bash
6 6 (1.85%) T-SQL
7 5 (1.54%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 4 (1.23%) JavaScript
8 4 (1.23%) R
8 4 (1.23%) TypeScript
9 1 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.31%) PL/SQL
9 1 (0.31%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 107 (33.02%) Security Cleared
2 88 (27.16%) Degree
3 79 (24.38%) SC Cleared
4 76 (23.46%) MCSE
5 66 (20.37%) Azure Certification
6 32 (9.88%) MCSA
7 31 (9.57%) DV Cleared
8 30 (9.26%) Cisco Certification
9 29 (8.95%) CISSP
10 25 (7.72%) A+ Certification
11 24 (7.41%) Network+ Certification
12 23 (7.10%) Computer Science Degree
13 22 (6.79%) CCNA
13 22 (6.79%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 14 (4.32%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 12 (3.70%) CISM
15 12 (3.70%) CompTIA Security+
16 11 (3.40%) AWS Certification
17 10 (3.09%) CCNP
18 8 (2.47%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (5.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (5.25%) NIST
3 15 (4.63%) GDPR
4 8 (2.47%) NIST 800
5 7 (2.16%) NCSC
6 6 (1.85%) SLA
7 5 (1.54%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.54%) Data Quality
8 4 (1.23%) Accessibility
8 4 (1.23%) QA
9 2 (0.62%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 2 (0.62%) SOC 2
9 2 (0.62%) WCAG
10 1 (0.31%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 1 (0.31%) GxP
10 1 (0.31%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.31%) PMO
10 1 (0.31%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 143 (44.14%) Active Directory
2 28 (8.64%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (3.70%) Docker
4 11 (3.40%) vSphere
5 10 (3.09%) Virtual Desktop
6 9 (2.78%) Hyper-V
6 9 (2.78%) Virtual Machines
6 9 (2.78%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.93%) Firmware
8 1 (0.31%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 1 (0.31%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 40 (12.35%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (10.80%) Terraform
3 30 (9.26%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 22 (6.79%) SCCM
5 21 (6.48%) Kubernetes
6 19 (5.86%) Single Sign-On
7 18 (5.56%) Ansible
8 9 (2.78%) vCenter Server
9 6 (1.85%) CASB
10 5 (1.54%) Nessus
10 5 (1.54%) WSUS
11 4 (1.23%) SCOM
12 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Data Protection Manager
12 2 (0.62%) PowerCLI
13 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
13 1 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
13 1 (0.31%) Kubeflow
13 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
13 1 (0.31%) PaperCut
13 1 (0.31%) QRadar
Vendors
1 286 (88.27%) Microsoft
2 39 (12.04%) VMware
3 20 (6.17%) Cisco
4 19 (5.86%) Dell
4 19 (5.86%) Oracle
5 16 (4.94%) ServiceNow
6 11 (3.40%) Citrix
7 10 (3.09%) Databricks
7 10 (3.09%) Red Hat
8 9 (2.78%) Tenable
9 8 (2.47%) IBM
9 8 (2.47%) Veeam
10 6 (1.85%) Apple
10 6 (1.85%) CyberArk
10 6 (1.85%) SolarWinds
11 5 (1.54%) Remedy
11 5 (1.54%) Splunk
12 4 (1.23%) CheckPoint
12 4 (1.23%) Foundry
12 4 (1.23%) Palo Alto