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 22 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Jul 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 300 238 251
Rank change year-on-year -62 +13 +86
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 355 303 332
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.79% 1.11% 0.94%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.51% 3.59% 3.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 178 203
10th Percentile £155 £202 £186
25th Percentile £306 £313 £325
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% - -4.76%
75th Percentile £572 £622 £588
90th Percentile £675 £650 £669
UK median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 33 56
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £13.69
25th Percentile £33.88 £15.44 £14.16
Median hourly rate £61.32 £17.44 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +251.59% +6.99% -1.21%
75th Percentile £102.81 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £178.75 £80.90 -
UK median hourly rate £61.32 £17.44 £16.30
% change year-on-year +251.59% +6.99% -1.21%

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 14,150 8,443 10,837
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.54% 30.93% 30.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,548 5,329 6,840
10th Percentile £350 £283 £313
25th Percentile £430 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £719 £715 £738
UK median daily rate £525 £523 £525
% change year-on-year +0.38% -0.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,053 615 885
10th Percentile £17.87 £18.13 £14.48
25th Percentile £25.75 £18.87 £21.25
Median hourly rate £54.00 £25.30 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +113.44% -41.16% -23.76%
75th Percentile £75.00 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £76.25 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +108.75% -41.51% -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 22 July 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 22 July 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 22 July 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 -57 119 £520 +4.00% 77
North of England -61 71 £485 +14.12% 66
South East -43 65 £288 -52.08% 66
North West -37 57 £484 +11.01% 34
Midlands -45 32 £425 +46.55% 28
South West -31 31 £425 -18.27% 17
East of England -28 30 £166 -55.67% 21
West Midlands -46 28 £425 +58.88% 15
Yorkshire -42 12 £650 +57.58% 21
East Midlands -12 4 £431 -13.05% 13
North East -37 2 £363 +81.25% 13
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 41 (11.55%) SharePoint
2 24 (6.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.28%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.28%) Confluence
3 1 (0.28%) Liferay
Applications
1 14 (3.94%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.69%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.28%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.28%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 9 (2.54%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.69%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (1.41%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.56%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.28%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.28%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 191 (53.80%) Azure
2 100 (28.17%) Microsoft 365
3 84 (23.66%) Entra ID
4 64 (18.03%) Power Platform
5 44 (12.39%) Power Automate
6 42 (11.83%) Azure DevOps
7 35 (9.86%) PowerApps
8 34 (9.58%) Dynamics 365
9 30 (8.45%) AWS
9 30 (8.45%) Microsoft Purview
10 25 (7.04%) OneDrive
11 23 (6.48%) GitHub
12 19 (5.35%) Microsoft Copilot
13 16 (4.51%) Azure Logic Apps
14 15 (4.23%) Azure Monitor
15 13 (3.66%) Serverless
16 12 (3.38%) SaaS
17 11 (3.10%) Azure Functions
17 11 (3.10%) IaaS
17 11 (3.10%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 38 (10.70%) DNS
2 36 (10.14%) SAN
3 29 (8.17%) Firewall
4 28 (7.89%) VPN
5 25 (7.04%) TCP/IP
6 18 (5.07%) DHCP
7 15 (4.23%) LAN
8 10 (2.82%) Wi-Fi
9 9 (2.54%) SSL
10 8 (2.25%) WAN
10 8 (2.25%) Wireless
11 6 (1.69%) Network Security
12 5 (1.41%) NGFW
12 5 (1.41%) VLAN
13 4 (1.13%) Internet
13 4 (1.13%) Kerberos
14 3 (0.85%) DMZ
14 3 (0.85%) Intrusion Detection
14 3 (0.85%) NAS
14 3 (0.85%) NetScaler
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (10.14%) SQL Server
2 33 (9.30%) Power BI
3 21 (5.92%) MySQL
4 17 (4.79%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (1.69%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (1.69%) Power Query
5 6 (1.69%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 5 (1.41%) Metadata
7 4 (1.13%) Data Lake
7 4 (1.13%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (1.13%) Star Schema
8 3 (0.85%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (0.85%) Big Data
9 2 (0.56%) BusinessObjects
9 2 (0.56%) Data Mart
9 2 (0.56%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
9 2 (0.56%) QlikView
9 2 (0.56%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.56%) Semantic Layer
9 2 (0.56%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (2.25%) Git
2 6 (1.69%) Selenium
2 6 (1.69%) WebDriver
3 5 (1.41%) JIRA
4 4 (1.13%) Cucumber
4 4 (1.13%) Cypress.io
4 4 (1.13%) Postman
5 3 (0.85%) Visual Studio Code
6 2 (0.56%) GitLab
7 1 (0.28%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.28%) MLflow
7 1 (0.28%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.28%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.28%) Visual Studio
General
1 140 (39.44%) Social Skills
2 86 (24.23%) Analytical Skills
3 56 (15.77%) Public Sector
4 49 (13.80%) Finance
5 22 (6.20%) Telecoms
6 17 (4.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 12 (3.38%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (3.10%) Legal
9 6 (1.69%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.69%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (1.41%) Banking
11 4 (1.13%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.13%) Military
12 3 (0.85%) Front Office
12 3 (0.85%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.85%) Local Government
12 3 (0.85%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (0.56%) Law
13 2 (0.56%) Presentation Skills
14 1 (0.28%) Aviation
Job Titles
1 46 (12.96%) IT Engineer
2 42 (11.83%) Analyst
3 41 (11.55%) Architect
4 37 (10.42%) IT Support
5 36 (10.14%) Senior
6 32 (9.01%) Field Engineer
6 32 (9.01%) Field Service Engineer
7 27 (7.61%) Support Engineer
8 26 (7.32%) DBA
9 25 (7.04%) Administrator
10 24 (6.76%) IT Support Engineer
11 22 (6.20%) Lead
12 21 (5.92%) Developer
13 18 (5.07%) Support Analyst
14 17 (4.79%) IT Analyst
15 15 (4.23%) Dynamics 365 Developer
15 15 (4.23%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 15 (4.23%) Technical Support
16 14 (3.94%) Technical Architect
17 13 (3.66%) IT Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (3.94%) LDAP
1 14 (3.94%) OAuth
2 13 (3.66%) ONVIF
3 12 (3.38%) .NET
3 12 (3.38%) OpenID
4 11 (3.10%) SAML
5 10 (2.82%) OAuth2
6 9 (2.54%) JSON
7 8 (2.25%) SailPoint
7 8 (2.25%) Web Services
8 7 (1.97%) Microsoft Graph
9 6 (1.69%) ARM Templates
10 5 (1.41%) REST
11 4 (1.13%) Gherkin
12 3 (0.85%) Azure Blueprints
12 3 (0.85%) Middleware
12 3 (0.85%) PySpark
12 3 (0.85%) YAML
13 2 (0.56%) OpenGL
13 2 (0.56%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 38 (10.70%) Data Centre
2 36 (10.14%) Analytical Mindset
3 29 (8.17%) Onboarding
4 23 (6.48%) Management Information System
5 18 (5.07%) Cloud Native
5 18 (5.07%) Replication
5 18 (5.07%) Security Posture
6 15 (4.23%) Clustering
7 13 (3.66%) Enterprise Software
7 13 (3.66%) Video\Live Streaming
8 11 (3.10%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (3.10%) Legacy Systems
9 10 (2.82%) Product Ownership
10 8 (2.25%) PKI
11 7 (1.97%) AI Agents
12 6 (1.69%) Data Structures
12 6 (1.69%) Enterprise Cloud
12 6 (1.69%) Mobile App
13 5 (1.41%) Cloud Security Posture
14 4 (1.13%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 107 (30.14%) Windows
2 45 (12.68%) Windows Server
3 29 (8.17%) Windows 10
4 22 (6.20%) Linux
5 15 (4.23%) Android
6 11 (3.10%) Mac OS
7 10 (2.82%) Apple iOS
8 6 (1.69%) Unix
8 6 (1.69%) VMS
9 5 (1.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (1.41%) Windows Server 2003
9 5 (1.41%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (1.13%) Solaris
10 4 (1.13%) Windows 7
11 3 (0.85%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.85%) Windows Server 2016
12 2 (0.56%) Alpine Linux
12 2 (0.56%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.28%) AIX
13 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 133 (37.46%) Problem-Solving
2 75 (21.13%) DevOps
3 73 (20.56%) Customer Service
4 71 (20.00%) ITIL
5 60 (16.90%) Agile
6 49 (13.80%) CI/CD
7 44 (12.39%) Infrastructure as Code
8 42 (11.83%) Stakeholder Management
9 40 (11.27%) Computer Science
10 38 (10.70%) Migration
11 37 (10.42%) Project Delivery
11 37 (10.42%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 36 (10.14%) Analytics
13 34 (9.58%) Data Governance
14 33 (9.30%) AI
14 33 (9.30%) Business Intelligence
15 32 (9.01%) Break/Fix
15 32 (9.01%) Continuous Improvement
15 32 (9.01%) ITSM
16 29 (8.17%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 93 (26.20%) PowerShell
2 37 (10.42%) Python
2 37 (10.42%) SQL
3 26 (7.32%) C#
4 21 (5.92%) Bicep
4 21 (5.92%) JavaScript
5 16 (4.51%) Bash
6 7 (1.97%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 7 (1.97%) T-SQL
7 4 (1.13%) X++
8 3 (0.85%) Java
9 2 (0.56%) Perl
9 2 (0.56%) R
10 1 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.28%) VB
Qualifications
1 125 (35.21%) Security Cleared
2 104 (29.30%) SC Cleared
3 102 (28.73%) Degree
4 83 (23.38%) MCSE
5 67 (18.87%) A+ Certification
6 65 (18.31%) Cisco Certification
7 62 (17.46%) Azure Certification
8 55 (15.49%) CCNA
9 46 (12.96%) Network+ Certification
10 42 (11.83%) MCSA
11 27 (7.61%) DV Cleared
12 22 (6.20%) Computer Science Degree
13 21 (5.92%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 14 (3.94%) AWS Certification
15 13 (3.66%) CISSP
16 11 (3.10%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
17 10 (2.82%) Oracle Certification
18 9 (2.54%) CCNP
18 9 (2.54%) Microsoft Certified Professional
18 9 (2.54%) OCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.76%) NIST
2 22 (6.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 17 (4.79%) Data Quality
4 15 (4.23%) SLA
5 14 (3.94%) Accessibility
6 12 (3.38%) QA
7 11 (3.10%) GDPR
8 7 (1.97%) NCSC
9 6 (1.69%) WCAG
10 4 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.85%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.56%) GRC
12 2 (0.56%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.56%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.56%) Solvency II
13 1 (0.28%) GxP
13 1 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.28%) ITGC
System Software
1 115 (32.39%) Active Directory
2 31 (8.73%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (4.79%) Virtual Desktop
3 17 (4.79%) Virtual Machines
3 17 (4.79%) VMware ESXi
4 13 (3.66%) Docker
4 13 (3.66%) vSphere
5 5 (1.41%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.85%) Firmware
6 3 (0.85%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.56%) BitLocker
7 2 (0.56%) Microsoft App-V
7 2 (0.56%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.28%) NFS
8 1 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 44 (12.39%) Microsoft Intune
1 44 (12.39%) Terraform
2 27 (7.61%) Ansible
3 18 (5.07%) SCCM
4 17 (4.79%) vCenter Server
5 15 (4.23%) Kubernetes
6 12 (3.38%) SCOM
7 7 (1.97%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (1.69%) CASB
9 5 (1.41%) Nessus
9 5 (1.41%) Podman
10 4 (1.13%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.85%) Grafana
11 3 (0.85%) QRadar
11 3 (0.85%) WSUS
12 2 (0.56%) Dell DRAC
12 2 (0.56%) Packer
12 2 (0.56%) vMotion
13 1 (0.28%) Kubeflow
13 1 (0.28%) VxRail
Vendors
1 288 (81.13%) Microsoft
2 41 (11.55%) VMware
3 34 (9.58%) Dell
4 25 (7.04%) ServiceNow
5 24 (6.76%) Cisco
6 23 (6.48%) Oracle
7 13 (3.66%) Remedy
8 11 (3.10%) Apple
9 10 (2.82%) Citrix
9 10 (2.82%) Splunk
10 9 (2.54%) SolarWinds
11 7 (1.97%) Google
11 7 (1.97%) Tenable
12 6 (1.69%) CyberArk
13 5 (1.41%) Databricks
13 5 (1.41%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.41%) NetApp
13 5 (1.41%) OpenAI
14 4 (1.13%) Okta
14 4 (1.13%) Palo Alto
249 Microsoft Certification jobs in England