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

6 months to
23 Jun 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 301 230 270
Rank change year-on-year -71 +40 +82
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 337 275 317
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.78% 1.10% 0.85%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.47% 3.53% 2.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 231 160 201
10th Percentile £156 £200 £183
25th Percentile £325 £268 £305
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £472 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.63% -5.00% -4.31%
75th Percentile £583 £616 £575
90th Percentile £675 £689 £675
UK median daily rate £463 £450 £480
% change year-on-year +2.78% -6.25% -8.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 32 56
10th Percentile £15.00 - £13.69
25th Percentile £30.50 £14.99 £14.16
Median hourly rate £63.14 £17.44 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +262.01% +6.99% +5.16%
75th Percentile £178.75 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile - £37.50 -
UK median hourly rate £63.14 £18.14 £16.30
% change year-on-year +248.09% +11.27% +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 13,671 7,801 11,398
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.55% 31.23% 30.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,230 4,911 7,025
10th Percentile £350 £280 £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 £645
90th Percentile £719 £713 £738
UK median daily rate £525 £520 £525
% change year-on-year +0.96% -0.95% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,035 511 1,016
10th Percentile £17.87 £17.87 £14.00
25th Percentile £22.88 £20.12 £20.22
Median hourly rate £52.50 £30.00 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year +75.00% -27.71% -24.55%
75th Percentile £73.60 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £85.36 £78.70 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £50.00 £29.26 £40.25
% change year-on-year +70.88% -27.30% -26.82%

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 23 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 23 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 23 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 -41 126 £525 +5.00% 70
North of England -66 69 £483 +13.65% 73
North West -42 53 £480 +9.60% 43
South East -42 49 £275 -50.00% 82
South West -22 36 £438 -12.06% 29
East of England -30 30 £173 -23.33% 41
Midlands -51 23 £425 +58.88% 31
West Midlands -59 18 £425 +72.94% 15
Yorkshire -45 12 £650 +57.58% 22
East Midlands -15 5 £500 - 16
North East -34 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 32 (9.50%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (9.20%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.30%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.30%) Confluence
Applications
1 20 (5.93%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.78%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 8 (2.37%) Veritas eDiscovery
2 5 (1.48%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (1.48%) Maximo
2 5 (1.48%) Oracle Payables
3 3 (0.89%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.30%) Dynamics AX
Cloud Services
1 167 (49.55%) Azure
2 93 (27.60%) Microsoft 365
3 68 (20.18%) Entra ID
4 57 (16.91%) Power Platform
5 37 (10.98%) Azure DevOps
6 33 (9.79%) Power Automate
7 29 (8.61%) Microsoft Purview
7 29 (8.61%) PowerApps
8 25 (7.42%) AWS
9 24 (7.12%) GitHub
10 22 (6.53%) Dynamics 365
11 18 (5.34%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 17 (5.04%) Azure Data Factory
12 17 (5.04%) OneDrive
13 16 (4.75%) Azure Logic Apps
14 15 (4.45%) Microsoft Copilot
15 13 (3.86%) Azure Monitor
16 11 (3.26%) Azure Sentinel
17 10 (2.97%) Azure AKS
18 9 (2.67%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 38 (11.28%) SAN
2 30 (8.90%) Firewall
3 29 (8.61%) DNS
4 25 (7.42%) VPN
5 17 (5.04%) TCP/IP
6 13 (3.86%) LAN
7 10 (2.97%) DHCP
8 8 (2.37%) Wi-Fi
9 7 (2.08%) Network Security
10 6 (1.78%) WAN
11 5 (1.48%) NetScaler
11 5 (1.48%) NGFW
12 4 (1.19%) DMZ
12 4 (1.19%) Internet
12 4 (1.19%) Kerberos
12 4 (1.19%) SSL
13 3 (0.89%) Intrusion Detection
13 3 (0.89%) NAS
13 3 (0.89%) VLAN
13 3 (0.89%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (9.79%) Power BI
1 33 (9.79%) SQL Server
2 13 (3.86%) PostgreSQL
3 12 (3.56%) MySQL
4 11 (3.26%) Data Lake
5 10 (2.97%) Data Warehouse
5 10 (2.97%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 9 (2.67%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (2.37%) Metadata
8 5 (1.48%) Power Query
9 4 (1.19%) Delta Lake
9 4 (1.19%) Metadata Repository
9 4 (1.19%) Spark SQL
9 4 (1.19%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 4 (1.19%) Star Schema
10 3 (0.89%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.89%) Big Data
11 2 (0.59%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
11 2 (0.59%) Qlik Sense
11 2 (0.59%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 7 (2.08%) Git
2 3 (0.89%) Selenium
2 3 (0.89%) Visual Studio Code
2 3 (0.89%) WebDriver
3 2 (0.59%) GitLab
3 2 (0.59%) JIRA
4 1 (0.30%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.30%) Cucumber
4 1 (0.30%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.30%) MLflow
4 1 (0.30%) Postman
4 1 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
4 1 (0.30%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 116 (34.42%) Social Skills
2 78 (23.15%) Analytical Skills
3 46 (13.65%) Finance
4 44 (13.06%) Public Sector
5 22 (6.53%) Telecoms
6 12 (3.56%) Legal
7 9 (2.67%) Banking
7 9 (2.67%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 5 (1.48%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (1.19%) Front Office
9 4 (1.19%) Investment Banking
9 4 (1.19%) Military
10 3 (0.89%) Aerospace
10 3 (0.89%) Influencing Skills
10 3 (0.89%) International Banking
10 3 (0.89%) Pharmaceutical
11 2 (0.59%) Law
11 2 (0.59%) Local Government
11 2 (0.59%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 41 (12.17%) Architect
1 41 (12.17%) IT Engineer
2 36 (10.68%) Analyst
3 35 (10.39%) Senior
4 34 (10.09%) Field Engineer
4 34 (10.09%) Field Service Engineer
5 30 (8.90%) IT Support
6 22 (6.53%) Administrator
7 21 (6.23%) Support Engineer
8 18 (5.34%) IT Support Engineer
9 17 (5.04%) DBA
9 17 (5.04%) IT Analyst
9 17 (5.04%) Support Analyst
9 17 (5.04%) Technical Support
10 16 (4.75%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
11 15 (4.45%) Developer
11 15 (4.45%) Lead
11 15 (4.45%) Solutions Architect
11 15 (4.45%) Wintel Engineer
12 13 (3.86%) Field Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (4.15%) OAuth
2 12 (3.56%) LDAP
2 12 (3.56%) ONVIF
2 12 (3.56%) OpenID
2 12 (3.56%) SAML
3 11 (3.26%) .NET
4 10 (2.97%) OAuth2
5 9 (2.67%) ARM Templates
6 6 (1.78%) SailPoint
6 6 (1.78%) Web Services
7 5 (1.48%) JSON
7 5 (1.48%) Microsoft Graph
8 4 (1.19%) REST
9 3 (0.89%) Middleware
9 3 (0.89%) PySpark
10 2 (0.59%) Azure Blueprints
10 2 (0.59%) OpenGL
10 2 (0.59%) Oracle Fusion
10 2 (0.59%) Qt
10 2 (0.59%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 40 (11.87%) Data Centre
2 37 (10.98%) Analytical Mindset
3 28 (8.31%) Onboarding
4 15 (4.45%) Enterprise Software
5 14 (4.15%) Clustering
5 14 (4.15%) Replication
5 14 (4.15%) Security Posture
6 13 (3.86%) Management Information System
7 12 (3.56%) Hybrid Cloud
7 12 (3.56%) Video\Live Streaming
8 11 (3.26%) BYOD
8 11 (3.26%) Cloud Native
9 9 (2.67%) Legacy Systems
10 7 (2.08%) PKI
11 6 (1.78%) Data Structures
11 6 (1.78%) Low-Code
11 6 (1.78%) Mobile App
12 5 (1.48%) AI Agents
12 5 (1.48%) Cloud Security Posture
12 5 (1.48%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 106 (31.45%) Windows
2 46 (13.65%) Windows Server
3 32 (9.50%) Windows 10
4 20 (5.93%) Linux
5 12 (3.56%) Android
6 10 (2.97%) Apple iOS
7 9 (2.67%) Windows Server 2003
8 8 (2.37%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.37%) Windows 7
9 6 (1.78%) Unix
10 5 (1.48%) VMS
10 5 (1.48%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (1.19%) Solaris
11 4 (1.19%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 3 (0.89%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.59%) AIX
13 2 (0.59%) Alpine Linux
13 2 (0.59%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (38.58%) Problem-Solving
2 67 (19.88%) DevOps
3 62 (18.40%) Customer Service
4 60 (17.80%) ITIL
5 46 (13.65%) CI/CD
6 44 (13.06%) Agile
6 44 (13.06%) Analytics
7 41 (12.17%) Migration
8 36 (10.68%) Infrastructure as Code
9 34 (10.09%) Break/Fix
9 34 (10.09%) Computer Science
10 33 (9.79%) Business Intelligence
10 33 (9.79%) Project Delivery
11 32 (9.50%) Data Governance
11 32 (9.50%) High Availability
12 31 (9.20%) RBAC
12 31 (9.20%) Roadmaps
13 28 (8.31%) AI
13 28 (8.31%) Identity Access Management
13 28 (8.31%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 94 (27.89%) PowerShell
2 42 (12.46%) SQL
3 32 (9.50%) Python
4 22 (6.53%) Bicep
5 17 (5.04%) C#
6 14 (4.15%) JavaScript
7 13 (3.86%) Bash
8 6 (1.78%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 5 (1.48%) T-SQL
10 3 (0.89%) X++
11 2 (0.59%) Perl
11 2 (0.59%) R
12 1 (0.30%) Java
12 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
12 1 (0.30%) VB
Qualifications
1 109 (32.34%) Security Cleared
2 95 (28.19%) MCSE
3 89 (26.41%) Degree
3 89 (26.41%) SC Cleared
4 61 (18.10%) A+ Certification
4 61 (18.10%) Azure Certification
4 61 (18.10%) Cisco Certification
5 52 (15.43%) CCNA
6 50 (14.84%) MCSA
7 45 (13.35%) Network+ Certification
8 28 (8.31%) DV Cleared
9 23 (6.82%) Computer Science Degree
9 23 (6.82%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 16 (4.75%) CISSP
11 12 (3.56%) AWS Certification
11 12 (3.56%) VCAP
12 10 (2.97%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 9 (2.67%) CCNP
13 9 (2.67%) CompTIA Security+
14 8 (2.37%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (7.72%) NIST
2 24 (7.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (4.75%) Data Quality
4 12 (3.56%) SLA
5 8 (2.37%) GDPR
5 8 (2.37%) NIST 800
6 7 (2.08%) Accessibility
6 7 (2.08%) NCSC
7 6 (1.78%) QA
8 4 (1.19%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.89%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.89%) WCAG
10 2 (0.59%) SOC 2
10 2 (0.59%) Solvency II
11 1 (0.30%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 1 (0.30%) GRC
11 1 (0.30%) GxP
11 1 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 1 (0.30%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 111 (32.94%) Active Directory
2 30 (8.90%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (6.23%) Virtual Desktop
4 20 (5.93%) VMware ESXi
5 16 (4.75%) vSphere
6 15 (4.45%) Virtual Machines
7 12 (3.56%) Docker
8 5 (1.48%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.89%) Firmware
9 3 (0.89%) VMware NSX
10 2 (0.59%) BitLocker
10 2 (0.59%) Microsoft App-V
10 2 (0.59%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 42 (12.46%) Microsoft Intune
1 42 (12.46%) Terraform
2 29 (8.61%) Ansible
3 19 (5.64%) SCCM
3 19 (5.64%) vCenter Server
4 16 (4.75%) Kubernetes
5 13 (3.86%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 7 (2.08%) SCOM
6 7 (2.08%) Single Sign-On
7 6 (1.78%) CASB
8 5 (1.48%) Nessus
9 3 (0.89%) Grafana
9 3 (0.89%) Podman
9 3 (0.89%) QRadar
9 3 (0.89%) WSUS
10 2 (0.59%) Packer
10 2 (0.59%) vMotion
11 1 (0.30%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.30%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.30%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 267 (79.23%) Microsoft
2 39 (11.57%) VMware
3 35 (10.39%) Dell
4 24 (7.12%) Cisco
5 20 (5.93%) Oracle
6 18 (5.34%) ServiceNow
7 14 (4.15%) Citrix
8 12 (3.56%) Apple
9 10 (2.97%) Splunk
10 9 (2.67%) Remedy
11 8 (2.37%) SolarWinds
12 7 (2.08%) CyberArk
12 7 (2.08%) Tenable
13 6 (1.78%) Databricks
13 6 (1.78%) Palo Alto
14 5 (1.48%) Dynatrace
14 5 (1.48%) Foundry
14 5 (1.48%) IBM
14 5 (1.48%) NetApp
14 5 (1.48%) Red Hat
288 Microsoft Certification jobs in England