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

6 months to
22 Aug 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 297 241 264
Rank change year-on-year -56 +23 +82
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 378 299 305
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.82% 1.08% 0.92%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.60% 3.43% 3.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 258 174 190
10th Percentile £155 £200 £244
25th Percentile £306 £313 £383
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £496 £500
Median % change year-on-year -9.18% -0.90% -3.85%
75th Percentile £550 £622 £580
90th Percentile £650 £659 £639
UK median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 31 45
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £12.53
25th Percentile £28.94 £15.65 £14.16
Median hourly rate £55.00 £17.44 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +215.37% +6.99% -6.86%
75th Percentile £75.75 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £178.75 £83.00 £21.42
UK median hourly rate £55.00 £18.84 £15.47
% change year-on-year +192.01% +21.79% -12.87%

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 14,549 8,712 10,117
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 31.72% 31.57% 30.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,792 5,474 6,433
10th Percentile £350 £300 £325
25th Percentile £437 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £629 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £713 £738
UK median daily rate £525 £524 £525
% change year-on-year +0.19% -0.19% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,129 678 708
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.13 £14.48
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £21.37
Median hourly rate £53.00 £25.15 £47.67
Median % change year-on-year +110.74% -47.24% -13.34%
75th Percentile £75.00 £55.00 £68.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £48.84 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +94.19% -41.51% -21.82%

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 22 August 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 August 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 August 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 -44 139 £515 +3.00% 86
North of England -56 67 £483 +13.65% 58
South East -52 64 £275 -54.17% 71
North West -44 52 £483 +8.05% 30
Midlands -24 44 £425 +11.92% 36
West Midlands -24 39 £425 +72.94% 21
South West -38 32 £425 -14.57% 24
East of England -33 25 £160 -46.67% 29
Yorkshire -32 12 £650 +62.50% 20
East Midlands -15 5 £431 -13.05% 15
North East -43 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 39 (10.32%) SharePoint
2 29 (7.67%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.53%) Confluence
3 2 (0.53%) Exchange Server 2010
3 2 (0.53%) HCL Notes
3 2 (0.53%) Mendix
4 1 (0.26%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.26%) Liferay
Applications
1 15 (3.97%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.38%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.06%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.26%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.26%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 14 (3.70%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.59%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.59%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.53%) Dynamics AX
3 2 (0.53%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.26%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 212 (56.08%) Azure
2 111 (29.37%) Microsoft 365
3 94 (24.87%) Entra ID
4 87 (23.02%) Power Platform
5 59 (15.61%) Azure DevOps
6 57 (15.08%) Power Automate
7 49 (12.96%) Dynamics 365
8 45 (11.90%) PowerApps
9 32 (8.47%) Microsoft Purview
10 30 (7.94%) AWS
11 25 (6.61%) GitHub
12 24 (6.35%) OneDrive
13 22 (5.82%) Serverless
14 21 (5.56%) Microsoft Copilot
15 20 (5.29%) Azure Logic Apps
16 19 (5.03%) Azure Functions
17 18 (4.76%) Azure Monitor
18 16 (4.23%) SaaS
19 14 (3.70%) Azure Data Factory
20 12 (3.17%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 42 (11.11%) DNS
2 33 (8.73%) SAN
3 27 (7.14%) DHCP
3 27 (7.14%) Firewall
3 27 (7.14%) VPN
4 24 (6.35%) TCP/IP
5 11 (2.91%) LAN
6 8 (2.12%) WAN
7 7 (1.85%) Wireless
8 6 (1.59%) Kerberos
8 6 (1.59%) Network Security
8 6 (1.59%) NGFW
8 6 (1.59%) SSL
8 6 (1.59%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (1.06%) VLAN
10 3 (0.79%) DMZ
10 3 (0.79%) Internet
10 3 (0.79%) NetScaler
10 3 (0.79%) Remote Desktop
11 2 (0.53%) PCoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 45 (11.90%) Power BI
2 40 (10.58%) SQL Server
3 24 (6.35%) MySQL
4 20 (5.29%) PostgreSQL
5 8 (2.12%) Data Warehouse
5 8 (2.12%) Power Query
5 8 (2.12%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (1.85%) Metadata
7 5 (1.32%) Data Lake
8 4 (1.06%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 4 (1.06%) Star Schema
9 3 (0.79%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.79%) Big Data
9 3 (0.79%) Delta Lake
10 2 (0.53%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.53%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.53%) Qlik Sense
10 2 (0.53%) Relational Database
10 2 (0.53%) Semantic Layer
10 2 (0.53%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 9 (2.38%) Git
2 8 (2.12%) Selenium
2 8 (2.12%) WebDriver
3 6 (1.59%) Cucumber
3 6 (1.59%) Cypress.io
3 6 (1.59%) JIRA
3 6 (1.59%) Postman
3 6 (1.59%) Visual Studio Code
4 3 (0.79%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.26%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.26%) GitLab
General
1 171 (45.24%) Social Skills
2 93 (24.60%) Analytical Skills
3 67 (17.72%) Public Sector
4 49 (12.96%) Finance
5 25 (6.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 23 (6.08%) Telecoms
7 15 (3.97%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (2.91%) Aerospace
9 10 (2.65%) Legal
10 6 (1.59%) Banking
10 6 (1.59%) Military
10 6 (1.59%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.32%) Influencing Skills
12 4 (1.06%) Law
12 4 (1.06%) Local Government
12 4 (1.06%) Marketing
13 3 (0.79%) Front Office
13 3 (0.79%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.79%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.79%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 50 (13.23%) Analyst
2 42 (11.11%) Architect
3 41 (10.85%) IT Engineer
4 39 (10.32%) Senior
5 34 (8.99%) IT Support
6 33 (8.73%) Developer
7 28 (7.41%) DBA
7 28 (7.41%) Field Engineer
7 28 (7.41%) Field Service Engineer
7 28 (7.41%) Lead
8 23 (6.08%) Administrator
8 23 (6.08%) Dynamics 365 Developer
9 21 (5.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 21 (5.56%) Support Analyst
9 21 (5.56%) Support Engineer
10 19 (5.03%) IT Analyst
11 18 (4.76%) IT Support Engineer
12 15 (3.97%) Cloud Engineer
12 15 (3.97%) IT Support Analyst
12 15 (3.97%) SQL DBA
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (11.90%) Terraform
2 19 (5.03%) .NET
3 17 (4.50%) OAuth
4 15 (3.97%) JSON
5 14 (3.70%) OpenID
6 13 (3.44%) ONVIF
6 13 (3.44%) SAML
7 12 (3.17%) OAuth2
8 11 (2.91%) LDAP
9 10 (2.65%) REST
10 9 (2.38%) ARM Templates
10 9 (2.38%) Middleware
10 9 (2.38%) SailPoint
10 9 (2.38%) Web Services
11 7 (1.85%) Microsoft Graph
12 6 (1.59%) Gherkin
13 5 (1.32%) HTML5 Canvas
14 4 (1.06%) Azure Blueprints
15 3 (0.79%) PySpark
15 3 (0.79%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 33 (8.73%) Analytical Mindset
1 33 (8.73%) Data Centre
2 31 (8.20%) Management Information System
3 29 (7.67%) Onboarding
4 19 (5.03%) Cloud Native
4 19 (5.03%) Replication
5 17 (4.50%) Clustering
6 15 (3.97%) Product Ownership
7 14 (3.70%) Security Posture
8 13 (3.44%) Video\Live Streaming
9 12 (3.17%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (2.91%) Hybrid Cloud
10 11 (2.91%) Legacy Systems
11 10 (2.65%) PKI
12 9 (2.38%) Data Structures
13 8 (2.12%) AI Agents
13 8 (2.12%) Enterprise Cloud
14 7 (1.85%) Driving Licence
14 7 (1.85%) Mobile App
15 6 (1.59%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 108 (28.57%) Windows
2 51 (13.49%) Windows Server
3 32 (8.47%) Windows 10
4 21 (5.56%) Android
5 20 (5.29%) Linux
6 14 (3.70%) Apple iOS
7 12 (3.17%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.12%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 6 (1.59%) Solaris
10 4 (1.06%) VMS
11 3 (0.79%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.53%) Alpine Linux
12 2 (0.53%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.53%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.53%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.53%) Windows Server 2008
12 2 (0.53%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 145 (38.36%) Problem-Solving
2 90 (23.81%) DevOps
3 78 (20.63%) ITIL
4 77 (20.37%) Agile
5 76 (20.11%) Customer Service
6 60 (15.87%) CI/CD
6 60 (15.87%) Stakeholder Management
7 53 (14.02%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 45 (11.90%) Analytics
8 45 (11.90%) Business Intelligence
8 45 (11.90%) Technical Leadership
9 44 (11.64%) Infrastructure as Code
10 43 (11.38%) AI
10 43 (11.38%) Computer Science
10 43 (11.38%) Migration
11 41 (10.85%) ITSM
12 40 (10.58%) Continuous Improvement
12 40 (10.58%) Project Delivery
13 35 (9.26%) Data Governance
14 33 (8.73%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 98 (25.93%) PowerShell
2 45 (11.90%) SQL
3 43 (11.38%) Python
4 40 (10.58%) C#
5 35 (9.26%) JavaScript
6 25 (6.61%) Bicep
7 17 (4.50%) Bash
8 8 (2.12%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 8 (2.12%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.59%) X++
10 4 (1.06%) Java
10 4 (1.06%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.79%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.53%) Perl
12 2 (0.53%) R
13 1 (0.26%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.26%) ActionScript 2.0
13 1 (0.26%) VB
Qualifications
1 146 (38.62%) Security Cleared
2 122 (32.28%) SC Cleared
3 117 (30.95%) Degree
4 74 (19.58%) MCSE
5 73 (19.31%) Azure Certification
6 67 (17.72%) A+ Certification
7 60 (15.87%) Cisco Certification
8 52 (13.76%) CCNA
9 45 (11.90%) Network+ Certification
10 39 (10.32%) MCSA
11 29 (7.67%) DV Cleared
12 24 (6.35%) Computer Science Degree
13 22 (5.82%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 15 (3.97%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 14 (3.70%) AWS Certification
16 12 (3.17%) BPSS Clearance
17 9 (2.38%) CISSP
17 9 (2.38%) Oracle Certification
17 9 (2.38%) PMI Certification
18 8 (2.12%) OCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (6.61%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 24 (6.35%) NIST
3 21 (5.56%) Accessibility
4 19 (5.03%) Data Quality
5 16 (4.23%) SLA
6 15 (3.97%) GDPR
7 14 (3.70%) QA
8 8 (2.12%) WCAG
9 7 (1.85%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (1.59%) NCSC
11 2 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.53%) GRC
11 2 (0.53%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.53%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.53%) SOC 2
11 2 (0.53%) Solvency II
12 1 (0.26%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 1 (0.26%) ITGC
System Software
1 120 (31.75%) Active Directory
2 34 (8.99%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (4.50%) Virtual Machines
3 17 (4.50%) VMware ESXi
4 16 (4.23%) Virtual Desktop
5 14 (3.70%) Docker
6 13 (3.44%) vSphere
7 7 (1.85%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.79%) BitLocker
8 3 (0.79%) Firmware
8 3 (0.79%) VMware NSX
9 2 (0.53%) Microsoft App-V
9 2 (0.53%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.53%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.26%) NDS
10 1 (0.26%) NetIQ eDirectory
10 1 (0.26%) NFS
Systems Management
1 55 (14.55%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (6.88%) Ansible
3 21 (5.56%) SCCM
4 18 (4.76%) vCenter Server
5 15 (3.97%) Kubernetes
6 13 (3.44%) SCOM
7 9 (2.38%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (1.59%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 5 (1.32%) Podman
10 3 (0.79%) Dell DRAC
10 3 (0.79%) Grafana
10 3 (0.79%) QRadar
10 3 (0.79%) WSUS
11 2 (0.53%) Packer
11 2 (0.53%) Progress Chef
11 2 (0.53%) vMotion
12 1 (0.26%) Istio
12 1 (0.26%) PingFederate
12 1 (0.26%) SELinux
12 1 (0.26%) VxRail
Vendors
1 322 (85.19%) Microsoft
2 40 (10.58%) VMware
3 32 (8.47%) Dell
4 31 (8.20%) ServiceNow
5 23 (6.08%) Cisco
5 23 (6.08%) Oracle
6 11 (2.91%) Apple
7 9 (2.38%) Google
7 9 (2.38%) OpenAI
7 9 (2.38%) Remedy
8 8 (2.12%) Citrix
8 8 (2.12%) SolarWinds
9 6 (1.59%) Databricks
9 6 (1.59%) Foundry
9 6 (1.59%) Red Hat
9 6 (1.59%) Splunk
10 5 (1.32%) Dynatrace
10 5 (1.32%) NetApp
10 5 (1.32%) Okta
11 4 (1.06%) Veeam
264 Microsoft Certification jobs in England