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

6 months to
26 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 293 337 240
Rank change year-on-year +44 -97 -43
Contract jobs citing NHS 360 152 363
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.83% 0.60% 0.97%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.53% 1.73% 3.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 286 107 231
10th Percentile £236 £205 £163
25th Percentile £352 £269 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £450 £315
Median % change year-on-year +4.44% +42.86% +2.61%
75th Percentile £526 £525 £491
90th Percentile £610 £580 £588
UK median daily rate £451 £425 £325
% change year-on-year +6.00% +30.77% +8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 10 65
10th Percentile £15.79 £12.57 £11.21
25th Percentile £18.90 £13.98 £12.25
Median hourly rate £22.50 £19.20 £14.49
Median % change year-on-year +17.17% +32.57% -31.02%
75th Percentile £32.43 £29.64 £20.50
90th Percentile £48.00 £34.32 £30.60
UK median hourly rate £22.50 £21.25 £12.96
% change year-on-year +5.88% +63.97% -35.20%

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 14,253 8,762 11,390
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.84% 34.76% 30.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,885 5,618 7,314
10th Percentile £313 £303 £280
25th Percentile £415 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -2.57%
75th Percentile £638 £663 £675
90th Percentile £750 £788 £813
UK median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.42% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 780 411 846
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.84 £12.20
25th Percentile £21.14 £19.00 £15.39
Median hourly rate £43.96 £33.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +33.21% -12.00% +66.74%
75th Percentile £70.00 £61.12 £63.75
90th Percentile £87.16 £81.01 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £43.50 £31.00 £36.27
% change year-on-year +40.32% -14.54% +61.59%

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 26 June 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 26 June 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 26 June 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 +8 135 £489 +8.61% 83
North of England +4 112 £488 +2.63% 82
Yorkshire +9 88 £500 - 48
East of England +10 41 £246 +8.22% 36
North West -30 24 £363 +68.60% 24
South East -66 23 £456 +47.77% 61
Midlands -57 16 £470 +50.64% 39
West Midlands -51 15 £470 +109.82% 22
South West -21 13 £546 +33.23% 29
East Midlands -10 1 - - 17
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 (3.06%) SharePoint
2 10 (2.78%) Palantir Foundry
3 5 (1.39%) Confluence
4 3 (0.83%) CMS
5 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.28%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.28%) nginx
Applications
1 7 (1.94%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (1.94%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.11%) Spreadsheet
3 2 (0.56%) Trello
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.28%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 10 (2.78%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.56%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.28%) Cerner Millennium
3 1 (0.28%) Lorenzo
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 52 (14.44%) AWS
2 41 (11.39%) Azure
3 24 (6.67%) Serverless
4 19 (5.28%) AWS Lambda
5 18 (5.00%) Amazon S3
6 14 (3.89%) Power Platform
7 13 (3.61%) GitHub
8 11 (3.06%) Amazon EC2
8 11 (3.06%) Microsoft 365
9 9 (2.50%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (1.94%) Azure Data Factory
10 7 (1.94%) GCP
11 6 (1.67%) Amazon SQS
11 6 (1.67%) AWS Step Functions
12 5 (1.39%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (1.39%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 4 (1.11%) Adobe Analytics
13 4 (1.11%) Azure Functions
13 4 (1.11%) Entra ID
13 4 (1.11%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.22%) DNS
1 8 (2.22%) LAN
1 8 (2.22%) WAN
2 6 (1.67%) TCP/IP
3 3 (0.83%) Firewall
3 3 (0.83%) Network Security
4 1 (0.28%) DHCP
4 1 (0.28%) NGFW
4 1 (0.28%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (12.78%) Electronic Patient Records
2 16 (4.44%) Data Warehouse
2 16 (4.44%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.61%) Power BI
4 8 (2.22%) Amazon RDS
5 7 (1.94%) DynamoDB
6 6 (1.67%) Amazon Athena
6 6 (1.67%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (1.11%) DocumentDB
7 4 (1.11%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 3 (0.83%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.83%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.83%) Geospatial Data
8 3 (0.83%) OLAP
8 3 (0.83%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.56%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.56%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.56%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.56%) QlikView
9 2 (0.56%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 9 (2.50%) GitLab
2 7 (1.94%) Git
3 5 (1.39%) JIRA
4 3 (0.83%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.28%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.28%) JUnit
5 1 (0.28%) Postman
5 1 (0.28%) Selenium
5 1 (0.28%) SonarQube
General
1 143 (39.72%) Public Sector
2 109 (30.28%) Social Skills
3 33 (9.17%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (5.56%) Digital Health
5 18 (5.00%) Organisational Skills
6 16 (4.44%) Finance
7 12 (3.33%) Local Government
8 10 (2.78%) Influencing Skills
9 8 (2.22%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (2.22%) Legal
10 5 (1.39%) Law
10 5 (1.39%) Pharmaceutical
10 5 (1.39%) Telecoms
11 4 (1.11%) Health Technology
11 4 (1.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (1.11%) Marketing
12 3 (0.83%) Digital Healthcare
12 3 (0.83%) Publishing
13 2 (0.56%) Billing
13 2 (0.56%) Military
Job Titles
1 40 (11.11%) Analyst
2 35 (9.72%) Architect
3 33 (9.17%) Developer
4 32 (8.89%) Senior
5 27 (7.50%) Lead
6 21 (5.83%) Data Engineer
7 19 (5.28%) Business Analyst
7 19 (5.28%) Designer
7 19 (5.28%) Project Manager
8 15 (4.17%) User Researcher
9 14 (3.89%) Consultant
10 12 (3.33%) Data Architect
11 11 (3.06%) Delivery Manager
12 10 (2.78%) Solutions Architect
13 9 (2.50%) Administrator
13 9 (2.50%) NHS Project Manager
13 9 (2.50%) Senior User Researcher
14 8 (2.22%) Service Designer
15 7 (1.94%) NHS Business Analyst
15 7 (1.94%) Performance Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (7.78%) FHIR
2 10 (2.78%) PySpark
3 9 (2.50%) React
4 8 (2.22%) Node.js
5 7 (1.94%) REST
5 7 (1.94%) RESTful
6 6 (1.67%) .NET
7 4 (1.11%) Middleware
7 4 (1.11%) Playwright
8 3 (0.83%) GeoJSON
8 3 (0.83%) JSON
8 3 (0.83%) Spring
8 3 (0.83%) Spring Boot
9 2 (0.56%) .NET Core
9 2 (0.56%) ASP.NET Core
9 2 (0.56%) Kafka
9 2 (0.56%) Matplotlib
9 2 (0.56%) Next.js
9 2 (0.56%) scikit-learn
9 2 (0.56%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.11%) Cloud Native
2 16 (4.44%) Onboarding
2 16 (4.44%) Product Ownership
3 7 (1.94%) Data Structures
4 6 (1.67%) LIMS
5 5 (1.39%) Analytical Mindset
5 5 (1.39%) Legacy Systems
5 5 (1.39%) Management Information System
6 4 (1.11%) Data Protection Act
6 4 (1.11%) PACS
6 4 (1.11%) Replication
6 4 (1.11%) Security Posture
7 3 (0.83%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (0.83%) Life Science
8 2 (0.56%) Cyber Threat
8 2 (0.56%) Cybercrime
8 2 (0.56%) Distributed Architecture
8 2 (0.56%) Freedom of Information
8 2 (0.56%) IoT
9 1 (0.28%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 15 (4.17%) Windows
2 8 (2.22%) Windows Server
3 3 (0.83%) Linux
4 2 (0.56%) Android
4 2 (0.56%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.28%) CentOS
5 1 (0.28%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.28%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 100 (27.78%) Agile
2 66 (18.33%) Stakeholder Management
3 46 (12.78%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 44 (12.22%) CI/CD
5 40 (11.11%) Analytics
6 36 (10.00%) Decision-Making
7 33 (9.17%) DevOps
8 32 (8.89%) Information Governance
8 32 (8.89%) User Research
9 31 (8.61%) Continuous Improvement
10 29 (8.06%) Migration
11 27 (7.50%) Infrastructure as Code
12 25 (6.94%) Validation
13 24 (6.67%) Business Intelligence
13 24 (6.67%) Data Protection
13 24 (6.67%) Digital Transformation Programme
13 24 (6.67%) Problem-Solving
13 24 (6.67%) Risk Management
13 24 (6.67%) Roadmaps
13 24 (6.67%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
Programming Languages
1 39 (10.83%) SQL
2 32 (8.89%) Python
3 15 (4.17%) TypeScript
4 11 (3.06%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.50%) Java
6 7 (1.94%) T-SQL
7 6 (1.67%) C#
8 3 (0.83%) Bicep
9 2 (0.56%) PowerShell
10 1 (0.28%) Bash
10 1 (0.28%) R
Qualifications
1 25 (6.94%) Security Cleared
2 21 (5.83%) SC Cleared
3 18 (5.00%) BPSS Clearance
4 17 (4.72%) Degree
5 4 (1.11%) AWS Certification
6 2 (0.56%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
6 2 (0.56%) DBS Check
6 2 (0.56%) DV Cleared
6 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (0.56%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
7 1 (0.28%) Azure Certification
7 1 (0.28%) CCNA
7 1 (0.28%) JNCIA
7 1 (0.28%) JNCIP
7 1 (0.28%) JNCIS
7 1 (0.28%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.28%) PMI Certification
7 1 (0.28%) PMP
7 1 (0.28%) Postgraduate
7 1 (0.28%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (8.61%) HL7
2 23 (6.39%) Data Quality
3 20 (5.56%) Accessibility
4 14 (3.89%) GDPR
4 14 (3.89%) QA
5 10 (2.78%) WCAG
6 7 (1.94%) PMO
7 6 (1.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.39%) DICOM
8 5 (1.39%) NCSC
9 4 (1.11%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (1.11%) Cyber Essentials
9 4 (1.11%) SNOMED CT
10 2 (0.56%) NIST
11 1 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.28%) GRC
11 1 (0.28%) IEC 62304
11 1 (0.28%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.28%) SOC 2
System Software
1 11 (3.06%) Docker
2 8 (2.22%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 25 (6.94%) Terraform
2 13 (3.61%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.22%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (0.56%) Nessus
5 1 (0.28%) Ansible
5 1 (0.28%) Argo
5 1 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
5 1 (0.28%) Puppet
Vendors
1 36 (10.00%) Microsoft
2 18 (5.00%) Palantir
3 14 (3.89%) Foundry
4 10 (2.78%) Databricks
5 8 (2.22%) Brio
5 8 (2.22%) Oracle
6 4 (1.11%) Adobe
6 4 (1.11%) Cerner
6 4 (1.11%) Google
6 4 (1.11%) Splunk
7 3 (0.83%) InterSystems
7 3 (0.83%) SAP
7 3 (0.83%) Tenable
8 2 (0.56%) Cisco
8 2 (0.56%) Informatica
8 2 (0.56%) Meraki
8 2 (0.56%) OneLogin
8 2 (0.56%) Rapid7
8 2 (0.56%) ServiceNow
8 2 (0.56%) VMware