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

6 months to
5 Jun 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 302 233 260
Rank change year-on-year -69 +27 +102
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 316 274 317
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.75% 1.14% 0.86%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.37% 3.62% 2.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 205 155 205
10th Percentile £158 £200 £190
25th Percentile £350 £257 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £472 £500 £488
Median % change year-on-year -5.60% +2.56% -6.25%
75th Percentile £575 £625 £556
90th Percentile £675 £700 £673
UK median daily rate £468 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -1.45% - -8.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 32 56
10th Percentile £21.55 - £13.69
25th Percentile £44.75 £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 13,344 7,562 11,261
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.81% 31.40% 30.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,954 4,775 6,961
10th Percentile £350 £279 £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 £625 £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 1,010 452 1,004
10th Percentile £17.87 £17.87 £14.00
25th Percentile £21.33 £22.45 £18.93
Median hourly rate £50.74 £32.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +56.13% -18.75% -27.27%
75th Percentile £73.46 £65.81 £63.75
90th Percentile £85.26 £80.90 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £50.00 £32.31 £40.00
% change year-on-year +54.75% -19.23% -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 5 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 5 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 5 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 -37 121 £525 +5.00% 98
North of England -72 66 £475 +3.04% 71
North West -40 49 £475 - 40
South East -50 43 £275 -45.00% 81
South West -23 34 £425 -20.93% 31
East of England -36 25 £173 -13.75% 35
Midlands -51 24 £425 +58.88% 31
West Midlands -59 18 £425 +72.94% 16
Yorkshire -42 13 £500 +25.00% 21
East Midlands -20 6 £363 -27.50% 15
North East -27 4 £363 +81.25% 10
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 (10.76%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (9.81%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.95%) Exchange Server 2013
4 1 (0.32%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.32%) Confluence
Applications
1 19 (6.01%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.90%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 8 (2.53%) Veritas eDiscovery
2 6 (1.90%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (1.58%) Maximo
4 3 (0.95%) Oracle Payables
4 3 (0.95%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.32%) Dynamics AX
Cloud Services
1 147 (46.52%) Azure
2 87 (27.53%) Microsoft 365
3 64 (20.25%) Entra ID
4 53 (16.77%) Power Platform
5 34 (10.76%) Azure DevOps
6 32 (10.13%) Microsoft Purview
7 30 (9.49%) Power Automate
8 27 (8.54%) PowerApps
9 22 (6.96%) GitHub
10 21 (6.65%) Dynamics 365
11 20 (6.33%) AWS
11 20 (6.33%) Azure Data Factory
11 20 (6.33%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 16 (5.06%) OneDrive
13 13 (4.11%) Microsoft Copilot
14 12 (3.80%) Azure Monitor
14 12 (3.80%) Azure Sentinel
15 11 (3.48%) Azure Logic Apps
16 10 (3.16%) Azure AKS
17 8 (2.53%) Azure Key Vault
Communications & Networking
1 40 (12.66%) SAN
2 26 (8.23%) DNS
2 26 (8.23%) Firewall
3 23 (7.28%) VPN
4 13 (4.11%) TCP/IP
5 12 (3.80%) LAN
6 9 (2.85%) DHCP
7 7 (2.22%) Network Security
7 7 (2.22%) Wi-Fi
8 5 (1.58%) NetScaler
8 5 (1.58%) VLAN
9 4 (1.27%) DMZ
9 4 (1.27%) Internet
9 4 (1.27%) Kerberos
9 4 (1.27%) NGFW
9 4 (1.27%) SSL
9 4 (1.27%) VoIP
10 3 (0.95%) PSTN
10 3 (0.95%) SMTP
10 3 (0.95%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (9.49%) SQL Server
2 28 (8.86%) Power BI
3 13 (4.11%) Data Lake
4 12 (3.80%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 9 (2.85%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (2.53%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (2.53%) Metadata
6 8 (2.53%) PostgreSQL
7 7 (2.22%) MySQL
8 6 (1.90%) Spark SQL
9 5 (1.58%) Delta Lake
10 4 (1.27%) Metadata Repository
10 4 (1.27%) Power Query
11 3 (0.95%) Big Data
11 3 (0.95%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 3 (0.95%) Star Schema
12 2 (0.63%) Relational Database
12 2 (0.63%) Tableau
13 1 (0.32%) MongoDB
13 1 (0.32%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 8 (2.53%) Git
2 3 (0.95%) Visual Studio Code
3 2 (0.63%) GitLab
3 2 (0.63%) JDeveloper
3 2 (0.63%) Selenium
3 2 (0.63%) WebDriver
4 1 (0.32%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.32%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.32%) JIRA
4 1 (0.32%) MLflow
4 1 (0.32%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.32%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 103 (32.59%) Social Skills
2 71 (22.47%) Analytical Skills
3 41 (12.97%) Finance
4 38 (12.03%) Public Sector
5 19 (6.01%) Telecoms
6 14 (4.43%) Legal
7 9 (2.85%) Banking
7 9 (2.85%) Documentation Skills
8 6 (1.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 4 (1.27%) Front Office
9 4 (1.27%) Influencing Skills
9 4 (1.27%) Investment Banking
9 4 (1.27%) Marketing
9 4 (1.27%) Military
10 3 (0.95%) Aerospace
10 3 (0.95%) International Banking
10 3 (0.95%) Law
10 3 (0.95%) Organisational Skills
10 3 (0.95%) Pharmaceutical
11 2 (0.63%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 42 (13.29%) Architect
2 41 (12.97%) IT Engineer
3 36 (11.39%) Field Engineer
3 36 (11.39%) Field Service Engineer
4 33 (10.44%) Senior
5 31 (9.81%) Analyst
6 29 (9.18%) IT Support
7 21 (6.65%) Administrator
8 20 (6.33%) Support Engineer
9 19 (6.01%) Wintel Engineer
10 18 (5.70%) IT Support Engineer
11 16 (5.06%) IT Analyst
11 16 (5.06%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
11 16 (5.06%) Support Analyst
12 14 (4.43%) Developer
13 13 (4.11%) Field Support Engineer
13 13 (4.11%) Solutions Architect
13 13 (4.11%) Technical Support
14 12 (3.80%) Cloud Engineer
14 12 (3.80%) DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (4.11%) OAuth
2 11 (3.48%) .NET
2 11 (3.48%) LDAP
2 11 (3.48%) OpenID
2 11 (3.48%) SAML
3 9 (2.85%) OAuth2
4 8 (2.53%) ARM Templates
4 8 (2.53%) ONVIF
5 7 (2.22%) Microsoft Graph
6 5 (1.58%) SailPoint
6 5 (1.58%) Web Services
7 4 (1.27%) JSON
7 4 (1.27%) REST
8 2 (0.63%) OpenGL
8 2 (0.63%) Oracle Fusion
8 2 (0.63%) Qt
8 2 (0.63%) React
8 2 (0.63%) XML
8 2 (0.63%) XSLT
8 2 (0.63%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 41 (12.97%) Data Centre
2 39 (12.34%) Analytical Mindset
3 26 (8.23%) Onboarding
4 18 (5.70%) Clustering
4 18 (5.70%) Replication
5 15 (4.75%) Enterprise Software
6 12 (3.80%) Security Posture
7 11 (3.48%) BYOD
8 10 (3.16%) Hybrid Cloud
9 9 (2.85%) Management Information System
10 8 (2.53%) Cloud Native
10 8 (2.53%) Legacy Systems
10 8 (2.53%) Video\Live Streaming
11 6 (1.90%) Mobile App
12 5 (1.58%) Cloud Security Posture
12 5 (1.58%) Low-Code
12 5 (1.58%) PKI
12 5 (1.58%) Product Ownership
13 4 (1.27%) CMDB
13 4 (1.27%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 103 (32.59%) Windows
2 47 (14.87%) Windows Server
3 31 (9.81%) Windows 10
4 20 (6.33%) Linux
5 12 (3.80%) Android
6 10 (3.16%) Apple iOS
7 9 (2.85%) Windows Server 2003
8 8 (2.53%) Windows 7
9 7 (2.22%) Mac OS
10 6 (1.90%) Unix
10 6 (1.90%) Windows Server 2016
11 5 (1.58%) VMS
12 4 (1.27%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (1.27%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.95%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
14 2 (0.63%) AIX
14 2 (0.63%) Alpine Linux
14 2 (0.63%) Ubuntu
15 1 (0.32%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 119 (37.66%) Problem-Solving
2 61 (19.30%) Customer Service
3 59 (18.67%) DevOps
4 56 (17.72%) ITIL
5 44 (13.92%) Analytics
5 44 (13.92%) Migration
6 41 (12.97%) CI/CD
7 36 (11.39%) Break/Fix
8 35 (11.08%) Agile
8 35 (11.08%) High Availability
9 33 (10.44%) Project Delivery
10 32 (10.13%) Disaster Recovery
10 32 (10.13%) Infrastructure as Code
11 29 (9.18%) RBAC
11 29 (9.18%) Roadmaps
12 28 (8.86%) Business Intelligence
12 28 (8.86%) Data Governance
13 27 (8.54%) Computer Science
14 26 (8.23%) Identity Access Management
15 25 (7.91%) Data Loss Prevention
Programming Languages
1 93 (29.43%) PowerShell
2 34 (10.76%) SQL
3 25 (7.91%) Python
4 19 (6.01%) Bicep
5 13 (4.11%) C#
6 10 (3.16%) Bash
7 9 (2.85%) JavaScript
8 7 (2.22%) T-SQL
9 4 (1.27%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.63%) R
11 1 (0.32%) Java
11 1 (0.32%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.32%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.32%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.32%) VB
11 1 (0.32%) X++
Qualifications
1 97 (30.70%) Security Cleared
2 96 (30.38%) MCSE
3 81 (25.63%) SC Cleared
4 77 (24.37%) Degree
5 62 (19.62%) Cisco Certification
6 55 (17.41%) Azure Certification
7 54 (17.09%) A+ Certification
8 51 (16.14%) CCNA
9 47 (14.87%) MCSA
10 46 (14.56%) Network+ Certification
11 26 (8.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 22 (6.96%) Computer Science Degree
12 22 (6.96%) DV Cleared
13 18 (5.70%) CISSP
14 16 (5.06%) VCAP
15 10 (3.16%) CCNP
16 9 (2.85%) AWS Certification
16 9 (2.85%) CISM
17 8 (2.53%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 8 (2.53%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (7.28%) NIST
2 21 (6.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 11 (3.48%) GDPR
3 11 (3.48%) SLA
4 10 (3.16%) Data Quality
5 8 (2.53%) NIST 800
6 6 (1.90%) Accessibility
6 6 (1.90%) NCSC
7 5 (1.58%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (1.27%) QA
9 3 (0.95%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.95%) SOC 2
9 3 (0.95%) WCAG
10 1 (0.32%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 1 (0.32%) GRC
10 1 (0.32%) GxP
10 1 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.32%) Solvency II
System Software
1 101 (31.96%) Active Directory
2 34 (10.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (7.59%) VMware ESXi
4 20 (6.33%) Virtual Desktop
4 20 (6.33%) vSphere
5 19 (6.01%) Virtual Machines
6 9 (2.85%) Docker
7 7 (2.22%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.63%) BitLocker
8 2 (0.63%) Firmware
8 2 (0.63%) Microsoft App-V
8 2 (0.63%) VMware NSX
8 2 (0.63%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 41 (12.97%) Microsoft Intune
2 35 (11.08%) Terraform
3 32 (10.13%) Ansible
4 23 (7.28%) vCenter Server
5 18 (5.70%) SCCM
6 13 (4.11%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 13 (4.11%) Kubernetes
7 7 (2.22%) SCOM
8 6 (1.90%) CASB
8 6 (1.90%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.58%) Nessus
10 3 (0.95%) Podman
10 3 (0.95%) QRadar
10 3 (0.95%) WSUS
11 2 (0.63%) Packer
11 2 (0.63%) vMotion
12 1 (0.32%) Backup Exec
12 1 (0.32%) Cisco CUCM
12 1 (0.32%) Jamf Pro
12 1 (0.32%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 250 (79.11%) Microsoft
2 44 (13.92%) VMware
3 37 (11.71%) Dell
4 30 (9.49%) Cisco
5 15 (4.75%) ServiceNow
6 14 (4.43%) Citrix
6 14 (4.43%) Oracle
7 12 (3.80%) Apple
8 9 (2.85%) Databricks
8 9 (2.85%) Remedy
9 8 (2.53%) Tenable
10 7 (2.22%) CyberArk
10 7 (2.22%) Splunk
11 6 (1.90%) Palo Alto
12 5 (1.58%) IBM
12 5 (1.58%) NetApp
12 5 (1.58%) Red Hat
13 4 (1.27%) Bloomberg
13 4 (1.27%) HP
13 4 (1.27%) Reuters
316 Microsoft Certification jobs in England