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

6 months to
17 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 294 231 260
Rank change year-on-year -63 +29 +70
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 392 306 299
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.84% 1.10% 0.91%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.64% 3.50% 3.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 271 191 177
10th Percentile £160 £190 £213
25th Percentile £331 £251 £383
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.78% -10.00% -3.85%
75th Percentile £569 £594 £588
90th Percentile £650 £650 £655
UK median daily rate £463 £450 £500
% change year-on-year +2.78% -10.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 29 30
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £11.75
25th Percentile £16.38 £16.30 £14.16
Median hourly rate £53.75 £18.00 £16.03
Median % change year-on-year +198.61% +12.29% -8.40%
75th Percentile £70.25 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £178.75 £84.33 £22.73
UK median hourly rate £48.85 £19.23 £15.17
% change year-on-year +154.03% +26.76% -14.54%

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 14,870 8,745 9,726
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.03% 31.50% 29.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,971 5,557 6,003
10th Percentile £350 £304 £325
25th Percentile £442 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £526 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year +0.10% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £638 £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 1,200 684 574
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.13 £17.20
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £27.00
Median hourly rate £52.83 £25.15 £54.00
Median % change year-on-year +110.07% -53.43% -0.81%
75th Percentile £74.68 £47.22 £69.94
90th Percentile £89.15 £73.75 £80.00
UK median hourly rate £48.72 £25.15 £49.50
% change year-on-year +93.72% -49.19% -9.08%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -64 129 £509 +1.85% 224
North of England -50 79 £498 +17.27% 101
South East -59 67 £300 -39.02% 101
North West -18 63 £491 +15.51% 40
Midlands -23 52 £425 +58.88% 54
West Midlands -26 47 £425 +69.15% 34
South West -51 28 £450 -13.46% 55
East of England -37 26 £160 -46.67% 34
Yorkshire -40 13 £650 +79.43% 53
East Midlands -8 5 £431 -12.35% 20
North East -41 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 45 (11.48%) SharePoint
2 29 (7.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.77%) Confluence
4 2 (0.51%) Exchange Server 2010
4 2 (0.51%) HCL Notes
4 2 (0.51%) Mendix
5 1 (0.26%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.26%) Liferay
5 1 (0.26%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 13 (3.32%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (1.79%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.77%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.51%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.26%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 23 (5.87%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.53%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.53%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.51%) Dynamics AX
3 2 (0.51%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.26%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 236 (60.20%) Azure
2 111 (28.32%) Microsoft 365
3 103 (26.28%) Power Platform
4 101 (25.77%) Entra ID
5 73 (18.62%) Azure DevOps
6 69 (17.60%) Power Automate
7 59 (15.05%) Dynamics 365
8 47 (11.99%) PowerApps
9 35 (8.93%) AWS
10 34 (8.67%) Serverless
11 30 (7.65%) Azure Functions
12 26 (6.63%) GitHub
13 25 (6.38%) Azure Monitor
14 24 (6.12%) Microsoft Purview
15 23 (5.87%) Azure Logic Apps
16 22 (5.61%) Microsoft Copilot
16 22 (5.61%) OneDrive
17 17 (4.34%) SaaS
18 15 (3.83%) Azure Sentinel
19 14 (3.57%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 48 (12.24%) DNS
2 33 (8.42%) DHCP
3 32 (8.16%) Firewall
4 29 (7.40%) VPN
5 27 (6.89%) SAN
6 26 (6.63%) TCP/IP
7 10 (2.55%) LAN
7 10 (2.55%) SSL
8 9 (2.30%) Kerberos
9 8 (2.04%) NGFW
9 8 (2.04%) WAN
10 7 (1.79%) Network Security
10 7 (1.79%) Wireless
11 5 (1.28%) Wi-Fi
12 4 (1.02%) VLAN
13 3 (0.77%) DMZ
13 3 (0.77%) Internet
13 3 (0.77%) NetScaler
13 3 (0.77%) Remote Desktop
14 2 (0.51%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 55 (14.03%) SQL Server
2 51 (13.01%) Power BI
3 35 (8.93%) MySQL
4 27 (6.89%) PostgreSQL
5 12 (3.06%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (1.79%) Data Lake
6 7 (1.79%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.79%) Metadata
7 6 (1.53%) Power Query
8 4 (1.02%) Delta Lake
8 4 (1.02%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 3 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.77%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.77%) Semantic Layer
10 2 (0.51%) Data Mart
10 2 (0.51%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.51%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.51%) Qlik Sense
10 2 (0.51%) QlikView
10 2 (0.51%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 16 (4.08%) Git
2 7 (1.79%) Cucumber
2 7 (1.79%) Cypress.io
2 7 (1.79%) JIRA
2 7 (1.79%) Postman
2 7 (1.79%) Selenium
2 7 (1.79%) WebDriver
3 6 (1.53%) Visual Studio Code
4 3 (0.77%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.51%) GitLab
6 1 (0.26%) Jenkins
General
1 188 (47.96%) Social Skills
2 90 (22.96%) Analytical Skills
3 76 (19.39%) Public Sector
4 49 (12.50%) Finance
5 34 (8.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 23 (5.87%) Telecoms
7 18 (4.59%) Documentation Skills
8 12 (3.06%) Aerospace
9 8 (2.04%) Legal
10 6 (1.53%) Banking
10 6 (1.53%) Military
10 6 (1.53%) Pharmaceutical
11 5 (1.28%) Marketing
11 5 (1.28%) Organisational Skills
12 4 (1.02%) Influencing Skills
12 4 (1.02%) Law
12 4 (1.02%) Local Government
12 4 (1.02%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.77%) Front Office
13 3 (0.77%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 52 (13.27%) Analyst
2 45 (11.48%) Architect
3 43 (10.97%) Developer
3 43 (10.97%) Senior
4 35 (8.93%) DBA
4 35 (8.93%) IT Engineer
5 34 (8.67%) Lead
6 32 (8.16%) Dynamics 365 Developer
6 32 (8.16%) IT Support
7 31 (7.91%) Administrator
8 22 (5.61%) Field Engineer
8 22 (5.61%) Field Service Engineer
8 22 (5.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 21 (5.36%) Cloud Engineer
9 21 (5.36%) Support Analyst
10 19 (4.85%) IT Analyst
11 17 (4.34%) SQL DBA
11 17 (4.34%) Support Engineer
12 14 (3.57%) IT Support Analyst
12 14 (3.57%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (13.78%) Terraform
2 24 (6.12%) JSON
3 20 (5.10%) OAuth
4 18 (4.59%) .NET
5 17 (4.34%) OpenID
6 15 (3.83%) OAuth2
7 14 (3.57%) ARM Templates
7 14 (3.57%) SAML
8 13 (3.32%) ONVIF
9 11 (2.81%) LDAP
9 11 (2.81%) XML
10 10 (2.55%) REST
10 10 (2.55%) XSLT
11 9 (2.30%) Microsoft Graph
11 9 (2.30%) Middleware
11 9 (2.30%) SailPoint
11 9 (2.30%) Web Services
12 7 (1.79%) Gherkin
13 5 (1.28%) Azure Blueprints
13 5 (1.28%) HTML5 Canvas
Miscellaneous
1 45 (11.48%) Management Information System
2 32 (8.16%) Onboarding
3 27 (6.89%) Analytical Mindset
3 27 (6.89%) Data Centre
4 23 (5.87%) Replication
5 22 (5.61%) Cloud Native
6 20 (5.10%) Clustering
6 20 (5.10%) Security Posture
7 16 (4.08%) Product Ownership
8 14 (3.57%) Enterprise Software
9 13 (3.32%) Video\Live Streaming
10 12 (3.06%) Hybrid Cloud
10 12 (3.06%) PKI
11 10 (2.55%) Data Structures
11 10 (2.55%) Enterprise Cloud
11 10 (2.55%) Legacy Systems
12 9 (2.30%) AI Agents
12 9 (2.30%) Taxonomies
13 7 (1.79%) CMDB
13 7 (1.79%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 114 (29.08%) Windows
2 53 (13.52%) Windows Server
3 30 (7.65%) Windows 10
4 22 (5.61%) Android
5 21 (5.36%) Linux
6 18 (4.59%) Apple iOS
7 14 (3.57%) Solaris
8 11 (2.81%) Mac OS
9 8 (2.04%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (1.79%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (1.02%) Unix
11 4 (1.02%) VMS
12 3 (0.77%) Windows Server 2012
13 2 (0.51%) Alpine Linux
13 2 (0.51%) Ubuntu
13 2 (0.51%) Windows 7
13 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2003
13 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2008
13 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 145 (36.99%) Problem-Solving
2 109 (27.81%) DevOps
3 93 (23.72%) Agile
4 85 (21.68%) ITIL
5 74 (18.88%) Stakeholder Management
6 70 (17.86%) Customer Service
7 65 (16.58%) CI/CD
8 55 (14.03%) Technical Leadership
9 53 (13.52%) AI
9 53 (13.52%) Analytics
9 53 (13.52%) Continuous Improvement
9 53 (13.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 52 (13.27%) Infrastructure as Code
11 51 (13.01%) Business Intelligence
12 45 (11.48%) ITSM
13 42 (10.71%) Computer Science
13 42 (10.71%) Roadmaps
14 41 (10.46%) Service Management
15 40 (10.20%) Cybersecurity
15 40 (10.20%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 110 (28.06%) PowerShell
2 52 (13.27%) SQL
3 48 (12.24%) C#
4 47 (11.99%) Python
5 44 (11.22%) JavaScript
6 31 (7.91%) Bicep
7 17 (4.34%) Bash
8 12 (3.06%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 6 (1.53%) X++
10 5 (1.28%) Java
11 4 (1.02%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.77%) Kusto Query Language
13 2 (0.51%) Perl
14 1 (0.26%) ActionScript
14 1 (0.26%) ActionScript 2.0
14 1 (0.26%) VB
Qualifications
1 158 (40.31%) Security Cleared
2 134 (34.18%) SC Cleared
3 121 (30.87%) Degree
4 92 (23.47%) Azure Certification
5 69 (17.60%) MCSE
6 62 (15.82%) A+ Certification
7 57 (14.54%) Cisco Certification
8 46 (11.73%) CCNA
9 40 (10.20%) Network+ Certification
10 38 (9.69%) MCSA
11 29 (7.40%) DV Cleared
12 23 (5.87%) Computer Science Degree
12 23 (5.87%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 19 (4.85%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 18 (4.59%) AWS Certification
15 17 (4.34%) BPSS Clearance
16 14 (3.57%) CISSP
17 12 (3.06%) Oracle Certification
18 11 (2.81%) OCP
19 9 (2.30%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (7.91%) Accessibility
2 27 (6.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 25 (6.38%) NIST
4 24 (6.12%) GDPR
5 21 (5.36%) Data Quality
6 18 (4.59%) WCAG
7 14 (3.57%) SLA
8 13 (3.32%) QA
9 9 (2.30%) Cyber Essentials
10 8 (2.04%) NCSC
11 4 (1.02%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.51%) GMP
12 2 (0.51%) GRC
12 2 (0.51%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.51%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.51%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.51%) Solvency II
13 1 (0.26%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.26%) ITGC
System Software
1 117 (29.85%) Active Directory
2 36 (9.18%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (5.61%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (4.34%) Docker
4 17 (4.34%) Virtual Desktop
4 17 (4.34%) VMware ESXi
5 13 (3.32%) vSphere
6 8 (2.04%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.77%) BitLocker
7 3 (0.77%) Firmware
7 3 (0.77%) VMware NSX
8 2 (0.51%) Microsoft App-V
8 2 (0.51%) Virtual Servers
8 2 (0.51%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.26%) NDS
9 1 (0.26%) NetIQ eDirectory
9 1 (0.26%) NFS
Systems Management
1 59 (15.05%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (6.89%) Ansible
3 19 (4.85%) SCCM
4 18 (4.59%) Kubernetes
4 18 (4.59%) SCOM
4 18 (4.59%) vCenter Server
5 13 (3.32%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (1.28%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 5 (1.28%) Podman
7 4 (1.02%) WSUS
8 3 (0.77%) Dell DRAC
8 3 (0.77%) Grafana
8 3 (0.77%) Progress Chef
8 3 (0.77%) QRadar
9 2 (0.51%) Istio
9 2 (0.51%) Packer
9 2 (0.51%) vMotion
10 1 (0.26%) FreeIPA
10 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.26%) SELinux
Vendors
1 344 (87.76%) Microsoft
2 42 (10.71%) VMware
3 37 (9.44%) ServiceNow
4 31 (7.91%) Oracle
5 26 (6.63%) Dell
6 23 (5.87%) Cisco
7 11 (2.81%) Google
8 10 (2.55%) Apple
8 10 (2.55%) OpenAI
9 9 (2.30%) Remedy
9 9 (2.30%) Splunk
10 8 (2.04%) Red Hat
10 8 (2.04%) SolarWinds
11 7 (1.79%) Citrix
11 7 (1.79%) Foundry
12 6 (1.53%) Databricks
13 5 (1.28%) Atlassian
13 5 (1.28%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.28%) NetApp
13 5 (1.28%) Okta