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

6 months to
14 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 261 230 302
Rank change year-on-year -31 +72 +61
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 331 285 274
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.97% 1.09% 0.72%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.84% 3.63% 2.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 240 159 199
10th Percentile £190 £207 £204
25th Percentile £305 £286 £270
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.38% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £595 £586 £584
90th Percentile £700 £725 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £450 £445
% change year-on-year +11.11% +1.12% -6.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 24 25
10th Percentile - £15.13 £13.69
25th Percentile £6.00 £19.60 £15.33
Median hourly rate £16.00 £21.46 £17.50
Median % change year-on-year -25.44% +22.63% +12.90%
75th Percentile £24.56 £35.00 £21.46
90th Percentile £25.47 £100.53 £37.79
UK median hourly rate £17.62 £22.00 £17.50
% change year-on-year -19.93% +25.71% +12.90%

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 11,661 7,843 11,844
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.07% 30.10% 31.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,746 4,792 7,329
10th Percentile £320 £300 £300
25th Percentile £419 £416 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £543
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -3.31% -1.27%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £725 £738
UK median daily rate £518 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -1.43% -2.42% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 898 369 883
10th Percentile £15.83 £19.94 £14.16
25th Percentile £18.87 £25.26 £21.34
Median hourly rate £25.15 £47.25 £45.88
Median % change year-on-year -46.77% +2.98% +1.96%
75th Percentile £63.75 £68.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £76.58 £82.64 £77.90
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £39.00 £45.88
% change year-on-year -35.51% -15.00% +1.96%

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 14 February 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 14 February 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 14 February 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 -24 114 £525 +31.25% 74
South West +18 60 £550 -12.00% 34
South East -35 44 £447 -10.60% 97
Midlands -38 44 £275 -31.25% 43
North of England -59 42 £453 -9.40% 77
West Midlands -40 32 £310 +22.17% 15
North West -43 30 £450 -10.00% 43
East of England -23 22 £199 +6.00% 49
East Midlands -19 12 £210 -47.50% 29
Yorkshire -49 9 £468 -22.00% 27
North East -11 3 - - 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 41 (12.39%) Microsoft Exchange
2 27 (8.16%) SharePoint
3 6 (1.81%) Skype for Business
4 4 (1.21%) Confluence
5 3 (0.91%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 21 (6.34%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.72%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (2.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (1.21%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 9 (2.72%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (2.42%) Maximo
3 7 (2.11%) Veritas eDiscovery
4 1 (0.30%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 156 (47.13%) Azure
2 98 (29.61%) Microsoft 365
3 52 (15.71%) Entra ID
4 49 (14.80%) Power Platform
5 43 (12.99%) AWS
6 38 (11.48%) Azure DevOps
7 23 (6.95%) Power Automate
7 23 (6.95%) PowerApps
8 22 (6.65%) Azure Data Factory
8 22 (6.65%) Microsoft Purview
9 21 (6.34%) Azure Monitor
9 21 (6.34%) Dynamics 365
10 19 (5.74%) GitHub
11 18 (5.44%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 17 (5.14%) Azure AKS
13 16 (4.83%) Azure Sentinel
14 13 (3.93%) Azure Key Vault
14 13 (3.93%) Azure Logic Apps
15 12 (3.63%) Azure ExpressRoute
16 11 (3.32%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 60 (18.13%) DNS
2 39 (11.78%) Firewall
3 34 (10.27%) DHCP
3 34 (10.27%) VPN
4 24 (7.25%) TCP/IP
5 17 (5.14%) VLAN
6 12 (3.63%) SAN
7 10 (3.02%) Network Security
7 10 (3.02%) Wi-Fi
8 9 (2.72%) Skype
9 8 (2.42%) LAN
9 8 (2.42%) SSL
10 7 (2.11%) Unified Communications
11 5 (1.51%) Kerberos
12 4 (1.21%) DKIM
12 4 (1.21%) DMARC
13 3 (0.91%) S/MIME
13 3 (0.91%) SMTP
13 3 (0.91%) Softphone
13 3 (0.91%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (6.65%) Power BI
2 18 (5.44%) SQL Server
3 16 (4.83%) Data Lake
4 11 (3.32%) Azure SQL Database
4 11 (3.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 8 (2.42%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (1.81%) Metadata
7 5 (1.51%) Delta Lake
7 5 (1.51%) MySQL
7 5 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
7 5 (1.51%) Spark SQL
8 4 (1.21%) Metadata Repository
9 3 (0.91%) MongoDB
9 3 (0.91%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.60%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.60%) Apache Cassandra
10 2 (0.60%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.60%) Power Query
10 2 (0.60%) RDBMS
10 2 (0.60%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 14 (4.23%) Git
2 6 (1.81%) JIRA
3 5 (1.51%) GitLab
3 5 (1.51%) Jenkins
3 5 (1.51%) MSI
4 3 (0.91%) AdminStudio
4 3 (0.91%) Bitbucket
4 3 (0.91%) InstallShield
5 2 (0.60%) CircleCI
5 2 (0.60%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.60%) JDeveloper
6 1 (0.30%) MLflow
6 1 (0.30%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.30%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 132 (39.88%) Social Skills
2 59 (17.82%) Analytical Skills
3 34 (10.27%) Public Sector
4 30 (9.06%) Finance
5 20 (6.04%) Documentation Skills
6 12 (3.63%) Legal
7 11 (3.32%) Banking
8 7 (2.11%) Marketing
9 6 (1.81%) Military
9 6 (1.81%) Telecoms
10 4 (1.21%) International Banking
11 3 (0.91%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 3 (0.91%) Polish Language
11 3 (0.91%) Retail
12 2 (0.60%) Aeronautics
13 1 (0.30%) Agriculture
13 1 (0.30%) Influencing Skills
13 1 (0.30%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.30%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 57 (17.22%) Architect
2 37 (11.18%) Analyst
3 27 (8.16%) Support Engineer
4 25 (7.55%) Senior
5 23 (6.95%) Solutions Architect
6 22 (6.65%) Wintel Engineer
7 21 (6.34%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 20 (6.04%) Administrator
9 18 (5.44%) Azure Engineer
9 18 (5.44%) Support Analyst
10 17 (5.14%) Field Engineer
11 16 (4.83%) IT Support
12 15 (4.53%) IT Analyst
12 15 (4.53%) Lead
13 13 (3.93%) Developer
13 13 (3.93%) IT Engineer
13 13 (3.93%) Technical Support
14 12 (3.63%) Azure Architect
14 12 (3.63%) Cloud Engineer
14 12 (3.63%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (9.37%) OAuth
2 28 (8.46%) SAML
3 27 (8.16%) OpenID
4 17 (5.14%) OAuth2
5 16 (4.83%) ARM Templates
6 15 (4.53%) .NET
7 10 (3.02%) REST
8 9 (2.72%) LDAP
8 9 (2.72%) Microsoft Graph
9 5 (1.51%) JSON
9 5 (1.51%) RESTful
10 4 (1.21%) PySpark
11 3 (0.91%) ASP.NET Web API
11 3 (0.91%) React
11 3 (0.91%) YAML
12 2 (0.60%) CSS
12 2 (0.60%) Jest
12 2 (0.60%) Next.js
12 2 (0.60%) SailPoint
12 2 (0.60%) Tailwind CSS
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.65%) PKI
2 21 (6.34%) Analytical Mindset
2 21 (6.34%) Replication
3 18 (5.44%) Enterprise Software
4 17 (5.14%) Hybrid Cloud
5 16 (4.83%) Onboarding
6 12 (3.63%) BYOD
6 12 (3.63%) Cloud Native
6 12 (3.63%) Security Posture
7 11 (3.32%) Data Centre
8 10 (3.02%) Clustering
9 9 (2.72%) Driving Licence
9 9 (2.72%) Management Information System
9 9 (2.72%) Private Cloud
10 7 (2.11%) Low-Code
11 5 (1.51%) NHS
11 5 (1.51%) Security Operations Centre
11 5 (1.51%) Self-Motivation
11 5 (1.51%) Team-Oriented Environment
12 4 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 150 (45.32%) Windows
2 65 (19.64%) Windows Server
3 42 (12.69%) Windows 10
4 27 (8.16%) Linux
5 12 (3.63%) Windows Server 2012
6 11 (3.32%) Windows Server 2003
7 7 (2.11%) Mac OS
7 7 (2.11%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (1.81%) Windows 7
9 4 (1.21%) VMS
9 4 (1.21%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.91%) Android
10 3 (0.91%) CentOS
10 3 (0.91%) Unix
11 2 (0.60%) Apple iOS
12 1 (0.30%) AIX
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (28.10%) Problem-Solving
2 85 (25.68%) ITIL
3 60 (18.13%) DevOps
4 49 (14.80%) CI/CD
5 47 (14.20%) Migration
6 45 (13.60%) Customer Service
6 45 (13.60%) RBAC
7 44 (13.29%) Agile
8 40 (12.08%) Disaster Recovery
9 39 (11.78%) Analytics
9 39 (11.78%) Identity Access Management
10 38 (11.48%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 37 (11.18%) Service Management
12 34 (10.27%) Cloud Security
13 33 (9.97%) Computer Science
14 32 (9.67%) Continuous Improvement
15 28 (8.46%) Identity Management
15 28 (8.46%) Roadmaps
16 25 (7.55%) Cybersecurity
16 25 (7.55%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 107 (32.33%) PowerShell
2 45 (13.60%) SQL
3 30 (9.06%) Python
4 21 (6.34%) Bicep
5 11 (3.32%) C#
6 9 (2.72%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.11%) TypeScript
8 6 (1.81%) T-SQL
8 6 (1.81%) VBScript
9 5 (1.51%) Bash
10 2 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.60%) R
11 1 (0.30%) Java
11 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.30%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 114 (34.44%) Security Cleared
2 83 (25.08%) Degree
3 81 (24.47%) Azure Certification
4 79 (23.87%) SC Cleared
5 74 (22.36%) MCSE
6 35 (10.57%) DV Cleared
7 34 (10.27%) MCSA
8 30 (9.06%) Cisco Certification
9 29 (8.76%) A+ Certification
10 27 (8.16%) CISSP
10 27 (8.16%) Network+ Certification
11 26 (7.85%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 22 (6.65%) CCNA
12 22 (6.65%) Computer Science Degree
13 15 (4.53%) AWS Certification
14 14 (4.23%) CCNP
14 14 (4.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 13 (3.93%) CISM
16 11 (3.32%) Master's Degree
16 11 (3.32%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (8.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 20 (6.04%) NIST
3 17 (5.14%) GDPR
4 8 (2.42%) NCSC
4 8 (2.42%) NIST 800
5 6 (1.81%) Cyber Essentials
6 5 (1.51%) Data Quality
7 4 (1.21%) Accessibility
7 4 (1.21%) SLA
7 4 (1.21%) SOC 2
8 2 (0.60%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.60%) QA
8 2 (0.60%) WCAG
9 1 (0.30%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 1 (0.30%) GxP
9 1 (0.30%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.30%) ISO 22301
9 1 (0.30%) PMO
9 1 (0.30%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 150 (45.32%) Active Directory
2 42 (12.69%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (5.44%) Hyper-V
4 16 (4.83%) Docker
4 16 (4.83%) vSphere
5 11 (3.32%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (2.42%) Virtual Machines
7 6 (1.81%) Virtual Desktop
8 5 (1.51%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 5 (1.51%) Virtual Servers
9 4 (1.21%) Microsoft App-V
10 3 (0.91%) Firmware
11 2 (0.60%) NFS
11 2 (0.60%) VMware NSX
12 1 (0.30%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.30%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 35 (10.57%) SCCM
1 35 (10.57%) Terraform
2 33 (9.97%) Microsoft Intune
3 30 (9.06%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 26 (7.85%) Kubernetes
5 21 (6.34%) Single Sign-On
6 19 (5.74%) Ansible
7 9 (2.72%) vCenter Server
7 9 (2.72%) WSUS
8 6 (1.81%) SCOM
9 4 (1.21%) CASB
10 3 (0.91%) Nessus
11 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Data Protection Manager
11 2 (0.60%) PowerCLI
12 1 (0.30%) Cisco CUCM
12 1 (0.30%) CSIRT
12 1 (0.30%) Jamf Pro
12 1 (0.30%) Kubeflow
12 1 (0.30%) PaperCut
12 1 (0.30%) QRadar
Vendors
1 303 (91.54%) Microsoft
2 57 (17.22%) VMware
3 24 (7.25%) Cisco
4 16 (4.83%) Dell
5 15 (4.53%) ServiceNow
6 14 (4.23%) Veeam
7 13 (3.93%) Databricks
7 13 (3.93%) Oracle
8 11 (3.32%) Red Hat
8 11 (3.32%) Splunk
9 10 (3.02%) SolarWinds
10 9 (2.72%) Citrix
10 9 (2.72%) IBM
11 7 (2.11%) Tenable
12 5 (1.51%) CyberArk
12 5 (1.51%) iManage
12 5 (1.51%) Mitel
13 4 (1.21%) CheckPoint
13 4 (1.21%) Foundry
13 4 (1.21%) Palo Alto