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 1 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 300 245 257
Rank change year-on-year -55 +12 +81
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 381 299 305
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.83% 1.08% 0.92%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.63% 3.45% 3.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 260 177 187
10th Percentile £156 £200 £233
25th Percentile £306 £275 £379
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -3.15%
75th Percentile £550 £600 £585
90th Percentile £650 £650 £643
UK median daily rate £450 £458 £500
% change year-on-year -1.64% -8.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 31 35
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £11.75
25th Percentile £23.48 £15.65 £14.16
Median hourly rate £55.00 £17.44 £15.76
Median % change year-on-year +215.37% +10.66% -9.94%
75th Percentile £72.25 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £178.75 £83.00 -
UK median hourly rate £55.00 £19.03 £15.09
% change year-on-year +188.98% +26.17% -15.01%

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 14,491 8,664 10,013
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.73% 31.42% 30.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,739 5,465 6,298
10th Percentile £350 £300 £325
25th Percentile £440 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £631 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £713 £738
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £525
% change year-on-year - - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,124 678 648
10th Percentile £18.26 £18.19 £15.24
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £23.37
Median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +108.75% -49.70% -8.36%
75th Percentile £74.68 £53.44 £68.75
90th Percentile £88.00 £74.13 £79.42
UK median hourly rate £48.81 £25.15 £47.50
% change year-on-year +94.08% -47.05% -13.64%

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 1 September 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 1 September 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 1 September 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 -40 136 £509 +1.70% 177
North of England -51 69 £485 +17.58% 69
South East -49 66 £288 -46.61% 84
North West -44 54 £483 +13.65% 34
Midlands -27 47 £425 +11.92% 46
West Midlands -22 42 £425 +72.94% 29
South West -41 30 £425 -10.53% 31
East of England -34 25 £160 -57.33% 33
Yorkshire -30 12 £650 +62.50% 27
East Midlands -14 5 £431 -13.05% 17
North East -45 3 £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 38 (9.97%) SharePoint
2 29 (7.61%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.52%) Confluence
3 2 (0.52%) Exchange Server 2010
3 2 (0.52%) HCL Notes
3 2 (0.52%) Mendix
4 1 (0.26%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.26%) Liferay
Applications
1 14 (3.67%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.36%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.05%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.26%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.26%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 16 (4.20%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.84%) Oracle Payables
3 6 (1.57%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.52%) Dynamics AX
4 2 (0.52%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.26%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 222 (58.27%) Azure
2 107 (28.08%) Microsoft 365
3 95 (24.93%) Entra ID
4 94 (24.67%) Power Platform
5 65 (17.06%) Azure DevOps
6 60 (15.75%) Power Automate
7 51 (13.39%) Dynamics 365
8 45 (11.81%) PowerApps
9 34 (8.92%) AWS
10 28 (7.35%) Microsoft Purview
11 25 (6.56%) GitHub
11 25 (6.56%) Serverless
12 23 (6.04%) OneDrive
13 22 (5.77%) Azure Functions
13 22 (5.77%) Azure Logic Apps
14 21 (5.51%) Azure Monitor
14 21 (5.51%) Microsoft Copilot
15 16 (4.20%) SaaS
16 14 (3.67%) Azure Data Factory
17 13 (3.41%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 46 (12.07%) DNS
2 31 (8.14%) DHCP
3 30 (7.87%) SAN
4 29 (7.61%) Firewall
4 29 (7.61%) VPN
5 26 (6.82%) TCP/IP
6 10 (2.62%) LAN
7 9 (2.36%) SSL
8 8 (2.10%) WAN
9 7 (1.84%) Wireless
10 6 (1.57%) Kerberos
10 6 (1.57%) Network Security
10 6 (1.57%) NGFW
11 5 (1.31%) Wi-Fi
12 4 (1.05%) VLAN
13 3 (0.79%) DMZ
13 3 (0.79%) Internet
13 3 (0.79%) NetScaler
13 3 (0.79%) Remote Desktop
14 2 (0.52%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 51 (13.39%) Power BI
2 45 (11.81%) SQL Server
3 29 (7.61%) MySQL
4 22 (5.77%) PostgreSQL
5 11 (2.89%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 8 (2.10%) Metadata
7 7 (1.84%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (1.84%) Power Query
8 5 (1.31%) Data Lake
9 4 (1.05%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 3 (0.79%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.79%) Big Data
10 3 (0.79%) Delta Lake
10 3 (0.79%) Star Schema
11 2 (0.52%) Azure SQL Database
11 2 (0.52%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
11 2 (0.52%) Qlik Sense
11 2 (0.52%) QlikView
11 2 (0.52%) Semantic Layer
11 2 (0.52%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 11 (2.89%) Git
2 7 (1.84%) Selenium
2 7 (1.84%) WebDriver
3 6 (1.57%) Cucumber
3 6 (1.57%) Cypress.io
3 6 (1.57%) JIRA
3 6 (1.57%) Postman
3 6 (1.57%) Visual Studio Code
4 3 (0.79%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.52%) GitLab
6 1 (0.26%) Jenkins
General
1 178 (46.72%) Social Skills
2 91 (23.88%) Analytical Skills
3 66 (17.32%) Public Sector
4 51 (13.39%) Finance
5 27 (7.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 23 (6.04%) Telecoms
7 15 (3.94%) Documentation Skills
8 12 (3.15%) Aerospace
9 10 (2.62%) Legal
10 7 (1.84%) Banking
11 6 (1.57%) Military
11 6 (1.57%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (1.31%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (1.31%) Law
13 4 (1.05%) Local Government
13 4 (1.05%) Marketing
13 4 (1.05%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.79%) Front Office
14 3 (0.79%) Investment Banking
14 3 (0.79%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 51 (13.39%) Analyst
2 45 (11.81%) Architect
3 40 (10.50%) Senior
4 37 (9.71%) IT Engineer
5 35 (9.19%) Developer
6 32 (8.40%) DBA
7 31 (8.14%) IT Support
7 31 (8.14%) Lead
8 26 (6.82%) Administrator
8 26 (6.82%) Dynamics 365 Developer
9 25 (6.56%) Field Engineer
9 25 (6.56%) Field Service Engineer
10 22 (5.77%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 22 (5.77%) Support Analyst
11 19 (4.99%) IT Analyst
12 17 (4.46%) Cloud Engineer
12 17 (4.46%) SQL DBA
12 17 (4.46%) Support Engineer
13 15 (3.94%) IT Support Analyst
14 14 (3.67%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (12.86%) Terraform
2 19 (4.99%) .NET
3 17 (4.46%) JSON
3 17 (4.46%) OAuth
4 14 (3.67%) OpenID
5 13 (3.41%) ONVIF
5 13 (3.41%) SAML
6 12 (3.15%) OAuth2
7 11 (2.89%) LDAP
8 10 (2.62%) ARM Templates
8 10 (2.62%) REST
9 9 (2.36%) Middleware
9 9 (2.36%) SailPoint
9 9 (2.36%) Web Services
10 8 (2.10%) Microsoft Graph
11 6 (1.57%) Gherkin
12 5 (1.31%) HTML5 Canvas
12 5 (1.31%) XML
13 4 (1.05%) Azure Blueprints
13 4 (1.05%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 36 (9.45%) Management Information System
2 32 (8.40%) Onboarding
3 30 (7.87%) Analytical Mindset
3 30 (7.87%) Data Centre
4 22 (5.77%) Replication
5 21 (5.51%) Cloud Native
5 21 (5.51%) Clustering
6 16 (4.20%) Security Posture
7 15 (3.94%) Product Ownership
8 13 (3.41%) Video\Live Streaming
9 12 (3.15%) Enterprise Software
9 12 (3.15%) Hybrid Cloud
10 11 (2.89%) PKI
11 10 (2.62%) Data Structures
11 10 (2.62%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (2.10%) AI Agents
12 8 (2.10%) Enterprise Cloud
13 7 (1.84%) Driving Licence
13 7 (1.84%) Mobile App
14 6 (1.57%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 113 (29.66%) Windows
2 55 (14.44%) Windows Server
3 32 (8.40%) Windows 10
4 22 (5.77%) Android
5 21 (5.51%) Linux
6 16 (4.20%) Apple iOS
7 12 (3.15%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.10%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (1.84%) Solaris
10 6 (1.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (1.05%) VMS
12 3 (0.79%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.52%) Alpine Linux
13 2 (0.52%) Ubuntu
13 2 (0.52%) Windows 7
13 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2003
13 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (38.32%) Problem-Solving
2 101 (26.51%) DevOps
3 82 (21.52%) Agile
3 82 (21.52%) ITIL
4 74 (19.42%) Customer Service
5 67 (17.59%) Stakeholder Management
6 62 (16.27%) CI/CD
7 52 (13.65%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 51 (13.39%) Business Intelligence
8 51 (13.39%) Technical Leadership
9 49 (12.86%) Analytics
10 47 (12.34%) Infrastructure as Code
11 45 (11.81%) Continuous Improvement
12 44 (11.55%) AI
12 44 (11.55%) Computer Science
13 43 (11.29%) ITSM
14 41 (10.76%) Migration
15 38 (9.97%) Project Delivery
16 36 (9.45%) Cybersecurity
16 36 (9.45%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 103 (27.03%) PowerShell
2 46 (12.07%) SQL
3 44 (11.55%) Python
4 42 (11.02%) C#
5 37 (9.71%) JavaScript
6 27 (7.09%) Bicep
7 19 (4.99%) Bash
8 11 (2.89%) T-SQL
9 7 (1.84%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 6 (1.57%) X++
11 4 (1.05%) Java
11 4 (1.05%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.79%) Kusto Query Language
13 2 (0.52%) Perl
14 1 (0.26%) ActionScript
14 1 (0.26%) ActionScript 2.0
14 1 (0.26%) R
14 1 (0.26%) VB
Qualifications
1 151 (39.63%) Security Cleared
2 126 (33.07%) SC Cleared
3 117 (30.71%) Degree
4 84 (22.05%) Azure Certification
5 70 (18.37%) MCSE
6 65 (17.06%) A+ Certification
7 59 (15.49%) Cisco Certification
8 49 (12.86%) CCNA
9 43 (11.29%) Network+ Certification
10 38 (9.97%) MCSA
11 29 (7.61%) DV Cleared
12 25 (6.56%) Computer Science Degree
13 23 (6.04%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 18 (4.72%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 16 (4.20%) AWS Certification
15 16 (4.20%) BPSS Clearance
16 11 (2.89%) CISSP
17 10 (2.62%) Oracle Certification
18 9 (2.36%) OCP
18 9 (2.36%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (6.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 25 (6.56%) NIST
3 23 (6.04%) Accessibility
4 20 (5.25%) Data Quality
5 16 (4.20%) GDPR
6 15 (3.94%) SLA
7 13 (3.41%) QA
8 11 (2.89%) WCAG
9 8 (2.10%) NCSC
10 7 (1.84%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.52%) GMP
11 2 (0.52%) GRC
11 2 (0.52%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.52%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.52%) SOC 2
11 2 (0.52%) Solvency II
12 1 (0.26%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 1 (0.26%) ITGC
System Software
1 118 (30.97%) Active Directory
2 35 (9.19%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (5.25%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (4.46%) VMware ESXi
5 16 (4.20%) Docker
5 16 (4.20%) Virtual Desktop
6 13 (3.41%) vSphere
7 8 (2.10%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.79%) BitLocker
8 3 (0.79%) Firmware
8 3 (0.79%) VMware NSX
9 2 (0.52%) Microsoft App-V
9 2 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.52%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.26%) NDS
10 1 (0.26%) NetIQ eDirectory
10 1 (0.26%) NFS
Systems Management
1 56 (14.70%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (7.09%) Ansible
3 20 (5.25%) SCCM
4 18 (4.72%) Kubernetes
4 18 (4.72%) vCenter Server
5 16 (4.20%) SCOM
6 9 (2.36%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.31%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 5 (1.31%) Podman
8 3 (0.79%) Dell DRAC
8 3 (0.79%) Grafana
8 3 (0.79%) QRadar
8 3 (0.79%) WSUS
9 2 (0.52%) Istio
9 2 (0.52%) Packer
9 2 (0.52%) Progress Chef
9 2 (0.52%) vMotion
10 1 (0.26%) FreeIPA
10 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.26%) PingFederate
Vendors
1 329 (86.35%) Microsoft
2 41 (10.76%) VMware
3 35 (9.19%) ServiceNow
4 29 (7.61%) Dell
5 26 (6.82%) Oracle
6 23 (6.04%) Cisco
7 11 (2.89%) Apple
8 10 (2.62%) Google
9 9 (2.36%) OpenAI
9 9 (2.36%) Remedy
10 8 (2.10%) Citrix
10 8 (2.10%) SolarWinds
10 8 (2.10%) Splunk
11 7 (1.84%) Red Hat
12 6 (1.57%) Databricks
12 6 (1.57%) Foundry
13 5 (1.31%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.31%) NetApp
13 5 (1.31%) Okta
13 5 (1.31%) Salesforce