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

6 months to
30 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 305 245 262
Rank change year-on-year -60 +17 +71
Contract jobs citing Microsoft Certification 385 306 291
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.83% 1.10% 0.91%
As % of the Qualifications category 2.57% 3.48% 3.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 268 206 169
10th Percentile £164 £191 £213
25th Percentile £325 £250 £370
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £450 £485
Median % change year-on-year +2.78% -7.22% -3.00%
75th Percentile £569 £575 £564
90th Percentile £650 £650 £638
UK median daily rate £467 £450 £480
% change year-on-year +3.83% -6.25% -4.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 25 23
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £11.75
25th Percentile £16.38 £16.30 £14.16
Median hourly rate £38.25 £18.84 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +103.08% +15.55% -6.86%
75th Percentile £68.25 £33.75 £21.37
90th Percentile £128.13 £86.98 £99.60
UK median hourly rate £41.73 £19.23 £15.74
% change year-on-year +116.98% +22.21% -11.35%

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 14,968 8,783 9,535
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.15% 31.65% 29.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,010 5,591 5,792
10th Percentile £350 £300 £319
25th Percentile £447 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £530 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.95% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £713 £737
UK median daily rate £530 £525 £525
% change year-on-year +0.95% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,248 717 531
10th Percentile £17.71 £17.87 £18.13
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £30.00
Median hourly rate £51.25 £25.15 £53.00
Median % change year-on-year +103.78% -52.55% -1.09%
75th Percentile £74.00 £43.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.00 £73.75 £80.00
UK median hourly rate £45.35 £25.15 £49.00
% change year-on-year +80.32% -48.67% -8.69%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -60 126 £515 +3.00% 126
North of England -44 78 £500 +21.21% 72
South East -52 67 £313 -30.56% 39
North West -18 62 £497 +16.89% 32
Midlands -14 54 £425 +69.15% 17
West Midlands -19 49 £425 +80.85% 12
East of England -33 26 £160 -46.67% 23
South West -56 23 £450 -13.88% 28
Yorkshire -37 13 £650 +79.43% 35
East Midlands -19 5 £431 -12.35% 5
North East -39 3 £363 +81.25% 6
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 45 (11.69%) SharePoint
2 29 (7.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.78%) Confluence
4 2 (0.52%) Exchange Server 2010
4 2 (0.52%) HCL Notes
4 2 (0.52%) Mendix
5 1 (0.26%) Liferay
5 1 (0.26%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 13 (3.38%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.08%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.78%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.52%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.26%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 24 (6.23%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.56%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.56%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.52%) Dynamics AX
3 2 (0.52%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.26%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 231 (60.00%) Azure
2 109 (28.31%) Microsoft 365
3 102 (26.49%) Entra ID
3 102 (26.49%) Power Platform
4 73 (18.96%) Azure DevOps
5 68 (17.66%) Power Automate
6 61 (15.84%) Dynamics 365
7 46 (11.95%) PowerApps
8 35 (9.09%) AWS
9 34 (8.83%) Serverless
10 30 (7.79%) Azure Functions
11 25 (6.49%) Azure Monitor
11 25 (6.49%) OneDrive
12 24 (6.23%) Microsoft Copilot
13 23 (5.97%) GitHub
13 23 (5.97%) Microsoft Purview
14 21 (5.45%) Azure Logic Apps
15 17 (4.42%) SaaS
16 15 (3.90%) Azure Sentinel
17 13 (3.38%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 48 (12.47%) DNS
2 34 (8.83%) DHCP
3 30 (7.79%) VPN
4 29 (7.53%) Firewall
5 26 (6.75%) TCP/IP
6 24 (6.23%) SAN
7 12 (3.12%) LAN
8 10 (2.60%) SSL
9 9 (2.34%) Kerberos
10 8 (2.08%) NGFW
10 8 (2.08%) WAN
11 7 (1.82%) Network Security
11 7 (1.82%) Wireless
12 5 (1.30%) Internet
12 5 (1.30%) VLAN
12 5 (1.30%) Wi-Fi
13 3 (0.78%) NetScaler
13 3 (0.78%) Remote Desktop
13 3 (0.78%) VoIP
14 2 (0.52%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 57 (14.81%) SQL Server
2 50 (12.99%) Power BI
3 36 (9.35%) MySQL
4 28 (7.27%) PostgreSQL
5 12 (3.12%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (1.82%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.82%) Metadata
7 6 (1.56%) Data Lake
7 6 (1.56%) Power Query
8 4 (1.04%) Delta Lake
8 4 (1.04%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 3 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.78%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.78%) Semantic Layer
10 2 (0.52%) Data Mart
10 2 (0.52%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.52%) Oracle Database
10 2 (0.52%) Qlik Sense
10 2 (0.52%) QlikView
10 2 (0.52%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 15 (3.90%) Git
2 8 (2.08%) Cucumber
2 8 (2.08%) Cypress.io
2 8 (2.08%) Postman
2 8 (2.08%) Selenium
2 8 (2.08%) WebDriver
3 7 (1.82%) JIRA
4 4 (1.04%) Visual Studio Code
5 3 (0.78%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.52%) GitLab
7 1 (0.26%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.26%) MSI
General
1 189 (49.09%) Social Skills
2 86 (22.34%) Analytical Skills
3 79 (20.52%) Public Sector
4 50 (12.99%) Finance
5 35 (9.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 21 (5.45%) Telecoms
7 19 (4.94%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (2.86%) Aerospace
9 8 (2.08%) Organisational Skills
10 6 (1.56%) Military
11 5 (1.30%) Law
11 5 (1.30%) Legal
11 5 (1.30%) Local Government
11 5 (1.30%) Marketing
11 5 (1.30%) Pharmaceutical
11 5 (1.30%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (1.04%) Banking
12 4 (1.04%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.52%) Aviation
14 1 (0.26%) Agriculture
Job Titles
1 51 (13.25%) Analyst
2 44 (11.43%) Architect
2 44 (11.43%) Senior
3 41 (10.65%) Developer
4 36 (9.35%) DBA
5 35 (9.09%) Lead
6 32 (8.31%) Administrator
6 32 (8.31%) Dynamics 365 Developer
6 32 (8.31%) IT Engineer
7 29 (7.53%) IT Support
8 21 (5.45%) Cloud Engineer
9 20 (5.19%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 19 (4.94%) Field Engineer
10 19 (4.94%) Field Service Engineer
10 19 (4.94%) Support Analyst
10 19 (4.94%) Support Engineer
11 17 (4.42%) IT Analyst
11 17 (4.42%) SQL DBA
12 14 (3.64%) SC Cleared DBA
13 13 (3.38%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (12.99%) Terraform
2 24 (6.23%) JSON
3 20 (5.19%) OAuth
4 18 (4.68%) OpenID
5 17 (4.42%) .NET
6 15 (3.90%) OAuth2
6 15 (3.90%) SAML
7 14 (3.64%) ARM Templates
8 13 (3.38%) ONVIF
9 11 (2.86%) LDAP
9 11 (2.86%) XML
10 10 (2.60%) REST
10 10 (2.60%) XSLT
11 9 (2.34%) SailPoint
12 8 (2.08%) Gherkin
12 8 (2.08%) Microsoft Graph
12 8 (2.08%) Middleware
12 8 (2.08%) Web Services
13 5 (1.30%) Azure Blueprints
13 5 (1.30%) HTML5 Canvas
Miscellaneous
1 47 (12.21%) Management Information System
2 28 (7.27%) Onboarding
3 24 (6.23%) Data Centre
4 23 (5.97%) Analytical Mindset
4 23 (5.97%) Replication
5 22 (5.71%) Cloud Native
6 21 (5.45%) Clustering
7 20 (5.19%) Security Posture
8 15 (3.90%) Enterprise Software
8 15 (3.90%) Product Ownership
9 13 (3.38%) Video\Live Streaming
10 12 (3.12%) Hybrid Cloud
10 12 (3.12%) PKI
11 10 (2.60%) Enterprise Cloud
11 10 (2.60%) Legacy Systems
12 9 (2.34%) AI Agents
12 9 (2.34%) Data Structures
12 9 (2.34%) Driving Licence
12 9 (2.34%) Taxonomies
13 7 (1.82%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 111 (28.83%) Windows
2 51 (13.25%) Windows Server
3 29 (7.53%) Windows 10
4 23 (5.97%) Android
5 20 (5.19%) Linux
6 19 (4.94%) Apple iOS
7 15 (3.90%) Solaris
8 9 (2.34%) Mac OS
9 8 (2.08%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (1.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (1.04%) Unix
11 4 (1.04%) VMS
12 2 (0.52%) Alpine Linux
12 2 (0.52%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.52%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2003
12 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2008
12 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2012
12 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (36.36%) Problem-Solving
2 109 (28.31%) DevOps
3 92 (23.90%) Agile
4 83 (21.56%) ITIL
5 79 (20.52%) Stakeholder Management
6 67 (17.40%) Customer Service
7 62 (16.10%) CI/CD
8 56 (14.55%) Technical Leadership
9 55 (14.29%) Continuous Improvement
9 55 (14.29%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 54 (14.03%) AI
11 52 (13.51%) Analytics
12 50 (12.99%) Business Intelligence
12 50 (12.99%) ITSM
13 47 (12.21%) Infrastructure as Code
14 44 (11.43%) Roadmaps
15 42 (10.91%) Identity Access Management
16 40 (10.39%) Service Management
17 39 (10.13%) Computer Science
17 39 (10.13%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 107 (27.79%) PowerShell
2 50 (12.99%) SQL
3 48 (12.47%) C#
4 46 (11.95%) Python
5 44 (11.43%) JavaScript
6 30 (7.79%) Bicep
7 16 (4.16%) Bash
8 11 (2.86%) T-SQL
9 6 (1.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 5 (1.30%) Java
10 5 (1.30%) X++
11 4 (1.04%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.78%) Kusto Query Language
13 2 (0.52%) Perl
14 1 (0.26%) ActionScript
14 1 (0.26%) ActionScript 2.0
14 1 (0.26%) VB
Qualifications
1 154 (40.00%) Security Cleared
2 131 (34.03%) SC Cleared
3 115 (29.87%) Degree
4 91 (23.64%) Azure Certification
5 63 (16.36%) MCSE
6 59 (15.32%) A+ Certification
7 51 (13.25%) Cisco Certification
8 42 (10.91%) CCNA
9 36 (9.35%) MCSA
10 35 (9.09%) Network+ Certification
11 27 (7.01%) DV Cleared
12 22 (5.71%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 19 (4.94%) AWS Certification
13 19 (4.94%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 18 (4.68%) Computer Science Degree
15 16 (4.16%) BPSS Clearance
16 14 (3.64%) CISSP
17 12 (3.12%) Oracle Certification
18 11 (2.86%) OCP
19 9 (2.34%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (8.31%) Accessibility
2 26 (6.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 25 (6.49%) GDPR
4 24 (6.23%) NIST
5 21 (5.45%) Data Quality
6 19 (4.94%) WCAG
7 18 (4.68%) SLA
8 14 (3.64%) QA
9 8 (2.08%) Cyber Essentials
10 7 (1.82%) NCSC
11 4 (1.04%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.52%) GMP
12 2 (0.52%) GRC
12 2 (0.52%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.52%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.52%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.52%) 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 (30.39%) Active Directory
2 35 (9.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (5.97%) Virtual Machines
4 16 (4.16%) Docker
4 16 (4.16%) VMware ESXi
5 14 (3.64%) Virtual Desktop
6 13 (3.38%) vSphere
7 7 (1.82%) Hyper-V
8 4 (1.04%) Firmware
9 3 (0.78%) BitLocker
9 3 (0.78%) Microsoft App-V
10 2 (0.52%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.52%) VMware NSX
10 2 (0.52%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.26%) NDS
11 1 (0.26%) NetIQ eDirectory
11 1 (0.26%) NFS
Systems Management
1 59 (15.32%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (6.75%) Ansible
3 19 (4.94%) SCCM
4 18 (4.68%) vCenter Server
5 17 (4.42%) Kubernetes
5 17 (4.42%) SCOM
6 14 (3.64%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.30%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 4 (1.04%) Podman
9 3 (0.78%) Dell DRAC
9 3 (0.78%) Grafana
9 3 (0.78%) Progress Chef
9 3 (0.78%) QRadar
10 2 (0.52%) Istio
10 2 (0.52%) Packer
10 2 (0.52%) vMotion
10 2 (0.52%) WSUS
11 1 (0.26%) FreeIPA
11 1 (0.26%) SELinux
11 1 (0.26%) VxRail
Vendors
1 342 (88.83%) Microsoft
2 39 (10.13%) VMware
3 38 (9.87%) ServiceNow
4 32 (8.31%) Oracle
5 23 (5.97%) Dell
6 21 (5.45%) Cisco
7 12 (3.12%) Google
8 10 (2.60%) OpenAI
9 9 (2.34%) Remedy
9 9 (2.34%) Splunk
10 8 (2.08%) Apple
10 8 (2.08%) Red Hat
10 8 (2.08%) SolarWinds
11 7 (1.82%) Foundry
12 6 (1.56%) Databricks
13 5 (1.30%) Dynatrace
13 5 (1.30%) Okta
13 5 (1.30%) Salesforce
14 4 (1.04%) Citrix
14 4 (1.04%) Veeam