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

6 months to
18 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 291 244 257
Rank change year-on-year -47 +13 +66
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 389 312 301
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.84% 1.12% 0.91%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.63% 3.56% 3.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 269 198 180
10th Percentile £159 £197 £211
25th Percentile £325 £268 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.78% -10.00% -2.44%
75th Percentile £575 £584 £588
90th Percentile £650 £650 £651
UK median daily rate £463 £450 £500
% change year-on-year +2.78% -10.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 29 29
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £11.75
25th Percentile £16.38 £16.30 £14.16
Median hourly rate £53.75 £18.00 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +198.61% +10.43% -8.17%
75th Percentile £70.25 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £178.75 £84.33 £24.10
UK median hourly rate £48.85 £19.23 £15.09
% change year-on-year +154.03% +27.48% -16.19%

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 14,790 8,759 9,798
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.03% 31.49% 29.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,908 5,575 6,037
10th Percentile £350 £301 £325
25th Percentile £443 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £528 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year +0.48% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £715 £738
UK median daily rate £527 £525 £525
% change year-on-year +0.33% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,204 691 572
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.13 £17.51
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £27.00
Median hourly rate £53.00 £25.15 £54.00
Median % change year-on-year +110.74% -53.43% -
75th Percentile £74.37 £47.31 £70.00
90th Percentile £89.08 £73.75 £80.00
UK median hourly rate £48.72 £25.15 £49.00
% change year-on-year +93.72% -48.67% -9.26%

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 18 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 18 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 18 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 -51 127 £515 +3.00% 185
North of England -32 79 £498 +17.27% 94
South East -54 67 £300 -35.14% 89
North West -23 63 £491 +15.51% 34
Midlands -20 53 £425 +58.88% 46
West Midlands -17 48 £425 +69.15% 27
East of England -37 26 £160 -46.67% 32
South West -46 26 £450 -13.46% 37
Yorkshire -31 13 £650 +79.43% 51
East Midlands -16 5 £431 -12.35% 19
North East -46 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 44 (11.31%) SharePoint
2 29 (7.46%) 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 (3.34%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (1.80%) 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 (5.91%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.54%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.54%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.51%) Dynamics AX
3 2 (0.51%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.26%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 233 (59.90%) Azure
2 111 (28.53%) Microsoft 365
3 103 (26.48%) Power Platform
4 101 (25.96%) Entra ID
5 73 (18.77%) Azure DevOps
6 68 (17.48%) Power Automate
7 59 (15.17%) Dynamics 365
8 47 (12.08%) PowerApps
9 35 (9.00%) AWS
10 34 (8.74%) Serverless
11 30 (7.71%) Azure Functions
12 25 (6.43%) Azure Monitor
12 25 (6.43%) GitHub
13 24 (6.17%) Microsoft Purview
14 22 (5.66%) Azure Logic Apps
14 22 (5.66%) Microsoft Copilot
14 22 (5.66%) OneDrive
15 17 (4.37%) SaaS
16 15 (3.86%) Azure Sentinel
17 14 (3.60%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 49 (12.60%) DNS
2 34 (8.74%) DHCP
3 32 (8.23%) Firewall
4 29 (7.46%) VPN
5 27 (6.94%) SAN
6 26 (6.68%) TCP/IP
7 10 (2.57%) LAN
7 10 (2.57%) SSL
8 9 (2.31%) Kerberos
9 8 (2.06%) NGFW
9 8 (2.06%) WAN
10 7 (1.80%) Network Security
10 7 (1.80%) Wireless
11 5 (1.29%) VLAN
11 5 (1.29%) Wi-Fi
12 3 (0.77%) DMZ
12 3 (0.77%) Internet
12 3 (0.77%) NetScaler
12 3 (0.77%) Remote Desktop
12 3 (0.77%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 55 (14.14%) SQL Server
2 51 (13.11%) Power BI
3 35 (9.00%) MySQL
4 27 (6.94%) PostgreSQL
5 12 (3.08%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (1.80%) Data Lake
6 7 (1.80%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.80%) Metadata
7 6 (1.54%) Power Query
8 4 (1.03%) Delta Lake
8 4 (1.03%) 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 (4.11%) Git
2 7 (1.80%) Cucumber
2 7 (1.80%) Cypress.io
2 7 (1.80%) JIRA
2 7 (1.80%) Postman
2 7 (1.80%) Selenium
2 7 (1.80%) WebDriver
3 5 (1.29%) Visual Studio Code
4 3 (0.77%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.51%) GitLab
6 1 (0.26%) Jenkins
General
1 189 (48.59%) Social Skills
2 91 (23.39%) Analytical Skills
3 75 (19.28%) Public Sector
4 49 (12.60%) Finance
5 34 (8.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 23 (5.91%) Telecoms
7 18 (4.63%) Documentation Skills
8 12 (3.08%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.54%) Banking
9 6 (1.54%) Legal
9 6 (1.54%) Military
9 6 (1.54%) Pharmaceutical
10 5 (1.29%) Law
10 5 (1.29%) Marketing
10 5 (1.29%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.03%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.03%) Local Government
11 4 (1.03%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.77%) Front Office
12 3 (0.77%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 51 (13.11%) Analyst
2 45 (11.57%) Architect
3 42 (10.80%) Developer
3 42 (10.80%) Senior
4 35 (9.00%) DBA
4 35 (9.00%) IT Engineer
5 34 (8.74%) Lead
6 32 (8.23%) Dynamics 365 Developer
6 32 (8.23%) IT Support
7 31 (7.97%) Administrator
8 22 (5.66%) Field Engineer
8 22 (5.66%) Field Service Engineer
8 22 (5.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 21 (5.40%) Cloud Engineer
9 21 (5.40%) Support Analyst
10 19 (4.88%) IT Analyst
11 17 (4.37%) SQL DBA
11 17 (4.37%) Support Engineer
12 14 (3.60%) IT Support Analyst
12 14 (3.60%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (13.62%) Terraform
2 24 (6.17%) JSON
3 20 (5.14%) OAuth
4 18 (4.63%) .NET
5 17 (4.37%) OpenID
6 15 (3.86%) OAuth2
7 14 (3.60%) ARM Templates
7 14 (3.60%) SAML
8 13 (3.34%) ONVIF
9 11 (2.83%) LDAP
9 11 (2.83%) XML
10 10 (2.57%) REST
10 10 (2.57%) XSLT
11 9 (2.31%) Middleware
11 9 (2.31%) SailPoint
11 9 (2.31%) Web Services
12 8 (2.06%) Microsoft Graph
13 7 (1.80%) Gherkin
14 5 (1.29%) Azure Blueprints
14 5 (1.29%) HTML5 Canvas
Miscellaneous
1 45 (11.57%) Management Information System
2 32 (8.23%) Onboarding
3 27 (6.94%) Analytical Mindset
3 27 (6.94%) Data Centre
4 23 (5.91%) Replication
5 22 (5.66%) Cloud Native
6 21 (5.40%) Clustering
7 20 (5.14%) Security Posture
8 15 (3.86%) Product Ownership
9 14 (3.60%) Enterprise Software
10 13 (3.34%) Video\Live Streaming
11 12 (3.08%) Hybrid Cloud
11 12 (3.08%) PKI
12 10 (2.57%) Data Structures
12 10 (2.57%) Enterprise Cloud
12 10 (2.57%) Legacy Systems
13 9 (2.31%) AI Agents
13 9 (2.31%) Taxonomies
14 7 (1.80%) CMDB
14 7 (1.80%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 114 (29.31%) Windows
2 54 (13.88%) Windows Server
3 29 (7.46%) Windows 10
4 21 (5.40%) Android
4 21 (5.40%) Linux
5 17 (4.37%) Apple iOS
6 14 (3.60%) Solaris
7 9 (2.31%) Mac OS
8 8 (2.06%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (1.80%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (1.03%) Unix
10 4 (1.03%) VMS
11 3 (0.77%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.51%) Alpine Linux
12 2 (0.51%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.51%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2008
12 2 (0.51%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (37.53%) Problem-Solving
2 109 (28.02%) DevOps
3 93 (23.91%) Agile
4 87 (22.37%) ITIL
5 75 (19.28%) Stakeholder Management
6 70 (17.99%) Customer Service
7 65 (16.71%) CI/CD
8 55 (14.14%) Technical Leadership
9 53 (13.62%) Analytics
9 53 (13.62%) Continuous Improvement
9 53 (13.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 52 (13.37%) AI
11 51 (13.11%) Business Intelligence
11 51 (13.11%) Infrastructure as Code
12 47 (12.08%) ITSM
13 42 (10.80%) Roadmaps
13 42 (10.80%) Service Management
14 41 (10.54%) Computer Science
14 41 (10.54%) Identity Access Management
15 40 (10.28%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 110 (28.28%) PowerShell
2 52 (13.37%) SQL
3 48 (12.34%) C#
4 47 (12.08%) Python
5 44 (11.31%) JavaScript
6 31 (7.97%) Bicep
7 17 (4.37%) Bash
8 12 (3.08%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.54%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 6 (1.54%) X++
10 5 (1.29%) Java
11 4 (1.03%) 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
1 156 (40.10%) Security Cleared
2 132 (33.93%) SC Cleared
3 120 (30.85%) Degree
4 90 (23.14%) Azure Certification
5 69 (17.74%) MCSE
6 62 (15.94%) A+ Certification
7 57 (14.65%) Cisco Certification
8 46 (11.83%) CCNA
9 40 (10.28%) Network+ Certification
10 38 (9.77%) MCSA
11 29 (7.46%) DV Cleared
12 23 (5.91%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 22 (5.66%) Computer Science Degree
14 20 (5.14%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 18 (4.63%) AWS Certification
16 16 (4.11%) BPSS Clearance
17 14 (3.60%) CISSP
18 12 (3.08%) Oracle Certification
19 11 (2.83%) OCP
20 9 (2.31%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (7.97%) Accessibility
2 27 (6.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 25 (6.43%) NIST
4 24 (6.17%) GDPR
5 21 (5.40%) Data Quality
6 18 (4.63%) WCAG
7 15 (3.86%) SLA
8 13 (3.34%) QA
9 9 (2.31%) Cyber Essentials
10 8 (2.06%) NCSC
11 4 (1.03%) 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 (30.08%) Active Directory
2 36 (9.25%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (5.66%) Virtual Machines
4 17 (4.37%) Docker
4 17 (4.37%) VMware ESXi
5 15 (3.86%) Virtual Desktop
6 13 (3.34%) vSphere
7 8 (2.06%) Hyper-V
8 4 (1.03%) Firmware
9 3 (0.77%) VMware NSX
10 2 (0.51%) BitLocker
10 2 (0.51%) Microsoft App-V
10 2 (0.51%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.51%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.26%) NDS
11 1 (0.26%) NetIQ eDirectory
11 1 (0.26%) NFS
Systems Management
1 58 (14.91%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (6.94%) Ansible
3 19 (4.88%) SCCM
4 18 (4.63%) Kubernetes
4 18 (4.63%) SCOM
4 18 (4.63%) vCenter Server
5 13 (3.34%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (1.29%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 5 (1.29%) Podman
7 4 (1.03%) 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%) SELinux
10 1 (0.26%) VxRail
Vendors
1 341 (87.66%) Microsoft
2 42 (10.80%) VMware
3 38 (9.77%) ServiceNow
4 31 (7.97%) Oracle
5 26 (6.68%) Dell
6 23 (5.91%) Cisco
7 11 (2.83%) Google
8 10 (2.57%) OpenAI
9 9 (2.31%) Remedy
9 9 (2.31%) Splunk
10 8 (2.06%) Apple
10 8 (2.06%) Red Hat
10 8 (2.06%) SolarWinds
11 7 (1.80%) Citrix
11 7 (1.80%) Foundry
12 6 (1.54%) Databricks
13 5 (1.29%) Atlassian
13 5 (1.29%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.29%) Okta
13 5 (1.29%) Salesforce