NHS Contract Job Trends in England

National Health Service (NHS)
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term NHS in contract job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited NHS over the 6 months leading up to 14 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Sep 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 325 346 303
Rank change year-on-year +21 -43 -86
Contract jobs citing NHS 338 167 225
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.73% 0.61% 0.69%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.18% 1.69% 2.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 258 115 140
10th Percentile £233 £160 £176
25th Percentile £328 £300 £275
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £464 £450 £350
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% +28.57% +6.06%
75th Percentile £526 £538 £525
90th Percentile £600 £594 £650
UK median daily rate £450 £415 £350
% change year-on-year +8.43% +18.57% +7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 5 15
10th Percentile - £21.27 £12.82
25th Percentile £17.00 £21.30 £15.71
Median hourly rate £26.72 £30.11 £18.27
Median % change year-on-year -11.24% +64.78% -13.00%
75th Percentile £33.60 £30.75 £22.64
90th Percentile £51.00 £31.93 £25.49
UK median hourly rate £23.66 £30.11 £20.59
% change year-on-year -21.41% +46.21% +2.95%

All Generic Skills
England

NHS falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 15,482 9,903 10,103
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.66% 35.93% 30.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,374 6,220 6,279
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £425 £408 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £638 £650 £675
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £515 £543
% change year-on-year +1.94% -5.07% -1.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,020 495 428
10th Percentile £14.04 £15.48 £14.41
25th Percentile £17.97 £18.87 £23.25
Median hourly rate £37.50 £32.89 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +14.02% -42.65% +24.59%
75th Percentile £68.94 £58.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £75.00 £75.16
UK median hourly rate £37.50 £30.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year +25.00% -40.00% +11.11%

NHS
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing NHS relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

NHS job vacancy trend in England

NHS
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing NHS.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing NHS

NHS
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing NHS in England over the 6 months to 14 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for NHS in England

NHS
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing NHS.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing NHS

NHS
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing NHS in England over the 6 months to 14 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for NHS in England

NHS
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 NHS within the England region over the 6 months to 14 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 -3 145 £481 +18.10% 308
North of England -23 114 £465 -4.72% 239
Yorkshire +11 85 £481 -3.75% 111
North West -42 27 £350 +7.69% 113
East of England -16 24 £191 -15.87% 68
South East -53 17 £450 +56.52% 138
Midlands -38 15 £375 - 150
West Midlands -38 12 £425 +21.43% 96
South West -41 7 £474 +113.40% 87
East Midlands -15 3 £300 -25.00% 54
North East -38 2 - - 24
NHS
UK

NHS
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 11 (3.25%) Palantir Foundry
2 3 (0.89%) Confluence
2 3 (0.89%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.59%) CMS
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.30%) nginx
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 6 (1.78%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.89%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.89%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 4 (1.18%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.59%) Cerner Millennium
2 2 (0.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.59%) Lorenzo
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Assets
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Receivables
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 60 (17.75%) AWS
2 46 (13.61%) Azure
3 28 (8.28%) Serverless
4 21 (6.21%) Amazon S3
5 19 (5.62%) AWS Lambda
5 19 (5.62%) Power Platform
6 14 (4.14%) GitHub
7 13 (3.85%) Microsoft 365
8 12 (3.55%) Amazon EC2
9 10 (2.96%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (2.07%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (2.07%) Entra ID
11 6 (1.78%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 6 (1.78%) Azure Data Factory
11 6 (1.78%) Azure Functions
11 6 (1.78%) Azure Key Vault
11 6 (1.78%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 5 (1.48%) Adobe Analytics
12 5 (1.48%) AWS Step Functions
12 5 (1.48%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.07%) Firewall
1 7 (2.07%) LAN
1 7 (2.07%) WAN
2 5 (1.48%) Network Security
3 4 (1.18%) NGFW
3 4 (1.18%) Structured Cabling
3 4 (1.18%) Wireless
4 3 (0.89%) DNS
5 1 (0.30%) DHCP
5 1 (0.30%) HTTP
5 1 (0.30%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.30%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (7.10%) Electronic Patient Records
2 17 (5.03%) Data Warehouse
3 16 (4.73%) Power BI
4 11 (3.25%) SQL Server
5 10 (2.96%) Amazon RDS
6 8 (2.37%) DynamoDB
7 6 (1.78%) Amazon Athena
8 4 (1.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 3 (0.89%) BusinessObjects
9 3 (0.89%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.89%) OLAP
9 3 (0.89%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.89%) Tableau
10 2 (0.59%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.59%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.59%) Delta Lake
10 2 (0.59%) DocumentDB
10 2 (0.59%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.59%) Oracle BI Publisher
10 2 (0.59%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 10 (2.96%) Git
2 5 (1.48%) GitLab
2 5 (1.48%) JIRA
3 4 (1.18%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.30%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.30%) JMeter
4 1 (0.30%) Postman
4 1 (0.30%) Rational Rhapsody
4 1 (0.30%) Selenium
4 1 (0.30%) SonarQube
General
1 132 (39.05%) Public Sector
2 122 (36.09%) Social Skills
3 28 (8.28%) Analytical Skills
4 23 (6.80%) Finance
5 13 (3.85%) Local Government
6 12 (3.55%) Digital Health
7 11 (3.25%) Influencing Skills
8 8 (2.37%) Pharmaceutical
9 7 (2.07%) Digital Healthcare
10 6 (1.78%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
12 4 (1.18%) Law
12 4 (1.18%) Legal
13 3 (0.89%) Billing
13 3 (0.89%) Health Technology
13 3 (0.89%) Marketing
13 3 (0.89%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.89%) Social Housing
14 2 (0.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 2 (0.59%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 45 (13.31%) Developer
2 38 (11.24%) Senior
3 34 (10.06%) Analyst
4 27 (7.99%) Architect
5 22 (6.51%) Designer
6 20 (5.92%) Data Engineer
7 19 (5.62%) Lead
8 17 (5.03%) Project Manager
9 15 (4.44%) Business Analyst
10 11 (3.25%) Consultant
10 11 (3.25%) Service Designer
11 10 (2.96%) Data Architect
12 9 (2.66%) Delivery Manager
12 9 (2.66%) Python Developer
12 9 (2.66%) User Researcher
13 8 (2.37%) Full-Stack Developer
14 7 (2.07%) AWS Engineer
14 7 (2.07%) Data Warehouse Developer
14 7 (2.07%) Performance Analyst
14 7 (2.07%) ServiceNow Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (9.76%) Terraform
2 19 (5.62%) FHIR
3 14 (4.14%) REST
4 11 (3.25%) PySpark
4 11 (3.25%) RESTful
5 9 (2.66%) React
6 7 (2.07%) Node.js
7 6 (1.78%) Vue
8 5 (1.48%) .NET
8 5 (1.48%) CSS
8 5 (1.48%) HTML
8 5 (1.48%) JSON
8 5 (1.48%) OpenID
8 5 (1.48%) Playwright
9 4 (1.18%) ARM Templates
9 4 (1.18%) Django
9 4 (1.18%) OAuth
9 4 (1.18%) OAuth2
10 3 (0.89%) Flask
10 3 (0.89%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 23 (6.80%) Cloud Native
2 19 (5.62%) Product Ownership
3 15 (4.44%) Onboarding
4 9 (2.66%) Data Structures
4 9 (2.66%) Management Information System
5 7 (2.07%) Legacy Systems
6 6 (1.78%) Driving Licence
6 6 (1.78%) IoT
6 6 (1.78%) Security Posture
7 5 (1.48%) Data Protection Act
8 4 (1.18%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.89%) Cloud Security Posture
9 3 (0.89%) Distributed Systems
9 3 (0.89%) LIMS
10 2 (0.59%) Analytical Mindset
10 2 (0.59%) CMDB
10 2 (0.59%) Freedom of Information
10 2 (0.59%) Greenfield Project
10 2 (0.59%) Housing Association
10 2 (0.59%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 10 (2.96%) Windows
2 5 (1.48%) Windows 10
3 4 (1.18%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.59%) Android
4 2 (0.59%) Apple iOS
4 2 (0.59%) Linux
4 2 (0.59%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.30%) CentOS
5 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.30%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 112 (33.14%) Agile
2 80 (23.67%) Stakeholder Management
3 54 (15.98%) CI/CD
4 52 (15.38%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 47 (13.91%) Problem-Solving
6 45 (13.31%) Continuous Improvement
7 40 (11.83%) Analytics
8 39 (11.54%) Decision-Making
9 37 (10.95%) DevOps
10 36 (10.65%) Infrastructure as Code
11 35 (10.36%) AI
12 33 (9.76%) Digital Transformation Programme
13 29 (8.58%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 28 (8.28%) Migration
14 28 (8.28%) Validation
15 26 (7.69%) Data Protection
15 26 (7.69%) Information Governance
15 26 (7.69%) Workshop Facilitation
16 24 (7.10%) Business Intelligence
16 24 (7.10%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 37 (10.95%) Python
1 37 (10.95%) SQL
2 15 (4.44%) JavaScript
2 15 (4.44%) TypeScript
3 8 (2.37%) Java
4 7 (2.07%) C#
5 5 (1.48%) Bicep
5 5 (1.48%) PowerShell
6 4 (1.18%) T-SQL
7 2 (0.59%) Bash
7 2 (0.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.30%) R
Qualifications
1 28 (8.28%) Security Cleared
2 22 (6.51%) SC Cleared
3 17 (5.03%) BPSS Clearance
4 9 (2.66%) Degree
5 5 (1.48%) AWS Certification
6 4 (1.18%) JNCIP
6 4 (1.18%) JNCIS
6 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (0.89%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 3 (0.89%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.59%) Cisco Certification
8 2 (0.59%) DV Cleared
8 2 (0.59%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
9 1 (0.30%) CCNA
9 1 (0.30%) CCSP
9 1 (0.30%) CISSP
9 1 (0.30%) CRISC
9 1 (0.30%) MCSE
9 1 (0.30%) NVQ Level 3
9 1 (0.30%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (6.51%) Accessibility
1 22 (6.51%) Data Quality
2 21 (6.21%) GDPR
2 21 (6.21%) QA
3 18 (5.33%) HL7
4 16 (4.73%) WCAG
5 11 (3.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 4 (1.18%) NCSC
6 4 (1.18%) PMO
7 3 (0.89%) Actionable Recommendations
7 3 (0.89%) IEC 62304
7 3 (0.89%) SNOMED CT
8 2 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.59%) ISO 13485
9 1 (0.30%) DICOM
9 1 (0.30%) GRC
9 1 (0.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.30%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.30%) SLA
System Software
1 14 (4.14%) Docker
2 8 (2.37%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.30%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 12 (3.55%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.59%) Grafana
2 2 (0.59%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.30%) Ansible
3 1 (0.30%) Puppet
Vendors
1 43 (12.72%) Microsoft
2 17 (5.03%) Palantir
3 15 (4.44%) Foundry
4 11 (3.25%) Databricks
4 11 (3.25%) ServiceNow
5 9 (2.66%) Oracle
6 8 (2.37%) Brio
6 8 (2.37%) Cerner
7 5 (1.48%) Adobe
7 5 (1.48%) Splunk
7 5 (1.48%) VMware
8 4 (1.18%) Google
8 4 (1.18%) Juniper
8 4 (1.18%) Palo Alto
9 3 (0.89%) Cisco
9 3 (0.89%) Citrix
10 2 (0.59%) Blue Prism
10 2 (0.59%) BMC
10 2 (0.59%) Dynatrace
10 2 (0.59%) Meraki
942 NHS jobs in England