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 23 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 276 289 206
Rank change year-on-year +13 -83 -21
Contract jobs citing NHS 300 211 430
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.92% 0.79% 1.16%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.66% 2.41% 3.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 223 129 316
10th Percentile £196 £160 £163
25th Percentile £313 £205 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £350 £275
Median % change year-on-year +21.43% +27.27% -1.79%
75th Percentile £526 £500 £389
90th Percentile £606 £576 £530
UK median daily rate £415 £354 £275
% change year-on-year +17.31% +28.64% -3.51%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 17 59
10th Percentile £6.00 £16.97 £11.73
25th Percentile £15.50 £20.30 £14.67
Median hourly rate £16.00 £30.09 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year -46.83% +69.81% -15.64%
75th Percentile £21.30 £33.75 £27.88
90th Percentile £23.75 - £36.57
UK median hourly rate £16.00 £24.89 £17.72
% change year-on-year -35.72% +40.46% -15.62%

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 11,299 8,760 11,557
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.81% 32.69% 31.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,223 5,266 7,710
10th Percentile £282 £269 £256
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -7.27% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £530 £538
% change year-on-year -5.66% -1.40% -4.02%
Number of hourly rates quoted 552 248 635
10th Percentile £15.25 £18.39 £14.27
25th Percentile £18.50 £24.18 £18.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £37.79 £35.50
Median % change year-on-year -20.60% +6.44% +57.88%
75th Percentile £63.03 £68.19 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £83.74 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £27.54 £35.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -21.31% - +55.66%

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 23 January 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 23 January 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 23 January 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 -16 96 £388 +10.71% 37
North of England -23 84 £500 +30.54% 65
Yorkshire -11 64 £500 +11.11% 38
East of England +26 54 £278 +0.06% 41
South East -22 24 £400 +65.80% 45
North West -40 15 £450 +28.57% 21
Midlands -66 14 £400 -28.89% 36
West Midlands -62 11 £450 -10.00% 15
South West -6 6 £400 +33.33% 23
North East - 5 £400 - 10
East Midlands -28 3 £338 -53.45% 21
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 8 (2.67%) Confluence
2 7 (2.33%) SharePoint
3 3 (1.00%) CMS
4 2 (0.67%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.67%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.33%) Umbraco
Applications
1 15 (5.00%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (3.00%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.33%) MS Visio
5 3 (1.00%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.67%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.33%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.33%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (3.33%) SystmOne
2 3 (1.00%) Lorenzo
3 2 (0.67%) Cerner Millennium
4 1 (0.33%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.33%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 47 (15.67%) Azure
2 44 (14.67%) AWS
3 16 (5.33%) Microsoft 365
4 14 (4.67%) Azure DevOps
4 14 (4.67%) GitHub
4 14 (4.67%) Serverless
5 13 (4.33%) GCP
6 11 (3.67%) Power Platform
7 10 (3.33%) AWS Lambda
7 10 (3.33%) GitHub Actions
8 9 (3.00%) Amazon S3
9 8 (2.67%) Entra ID
10 7 (2.33%) Amazon ECS
10 7 (2.33%) AWS CloudFormation
11 5 (1.67%) Amazon EC2
12 4 (1.33%) Miro
13 3 (1.00%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 3 (1.00%) Azure AKS
13 3 (1.00%) Azure Functions
13 3 (1.00%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 13 (4.33%) LAN
2 12 (4.00%) TCP/IP
3 11 (3.67%) WAN
4 9 (3.00%) DNS
4 9 (3.00%) Firewall
4 9 (3.00%) VPN
4 9 (3.00%) Wireless
5 6 (2.00%) Network Security
5 6 (2.00%) Structured Cabling
6 4 (1.33%) DHCP
6 4 (1.33%) VLAN
7 3 (1.00%) BGP
7 3 (1.00%) Junos
7 3 (1.00%) OSPF
8 1 (0.33%) Internet
8 1 (0.33%) Intranet
8 1 (0.33%) NGN
8 1 (0.33%) Remote Desktop
8 1 (0.33%) VoIP
8 1 (0.33%) X.400
Database & Business Intelligence
1 45 (15.00%) Electronic Patient Records
2 9 (3.00%) Data Warehouse
3 8 (2.67%) Power BI
3 8 (2.67%) SQL Server
4 5 (1.67%) Oracle Database
4 5 (1.67%) PostgreSQL
4 5 (1.67%) Tableau
5 4 (1.33%) Data Lake
6 3 (1.00%) Amazon RDS
6 3 (1.00%) BusinessObjects
6 3 (1.00%) Metadata
6 3 (1.00%) NoSQL
6 3 (1.00%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 2 (0.67%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.67%) EDMS
7 2 (0.67%) ImageNet
7 2 (0.67%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.67%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.33%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.33%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 10 (3.33%) Jenkins
2 9 (3.00%) JIRA
3 7 (2.33%) ERwin
4 5 (1.67%) CircleCI
5 4 (1.33%) GitLab
6 2 (0.67%) Android Studio
6 2 (0.67%) MSI
6 2 (0.67%) Rational Rhapsody
7 1 (0.33%) Appium
7 1 (0.33%) Git
7 1 (0.33%) Gradle
7 1 (0.33%) Postman
7 1 (0.33%) Selenium
7 1 (0.33%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.33%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.33%) Xcode
General
1 114 (38.00%) Social Skills
2 111 (37.00%) Public Sector
3 35 (11.67%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (10.33%) Finance
5 20 (6.67%) Organisational Skills
6 18 (6.00%) Telecoms
7 16 (5.33%) Digital Health
7 16 (5.33%) Marketing
8 15 (5.00%) Documentation Skills
8 15 (5.00%) Electronics
8 15 (5.00%) Manufacturing
9 14 (4.67%) Legal
10 12 (4.00%) Health Technology
11 8 (2.67%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (2.33%) Digital Healthcare
13 5 (1.67%) Local Government
14 4 (1.33%) Pharmaceutical
15 2 (0.67%) Presentation Skills
15 2 (0.67%) Publishing
16 1 (0.33%) Law
Job Titles
1 48 (16.00%) Analyst
2 29 (9.67%) Lead
3 23 (7.67%) Architect
3 23 (7.67%) Senior
4 22 (7.33%) Developer
5 18 (6.00%) Project Manager
6 15 (5.00%) Business Analyst
7 14 (4.67%) AWS Engineer
7 14 (4.67%) Consultant
7 14 (4.67%) Support Analyst
7 14 (4.67%) Technical Analyst
7 14 (4.67%) Technical Support
7 14 (4.67%) Technical Support Analyst
8 11 (3.67%) Designer
9 10 (3.33%) IT Support
10 9 (3.00%) Data Architect
10 9 (3.00%) Platform Engineer
11 8 (2.67%) 2nd Line Support
11 8 (2.67%) Network Engineer
11 8 (2.67%) Senior Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (8.33%) FHIR
2 15 (5.00%) .NET
3 11 (3.67%) RESTful
4 8 (2.67%) React
5 5 (1.67%) Vue
6 4 (1.33%) .NET Core
6 4 (1.33%) Spring
6 4 (1.33%) Spring Boot
7 3 (1.00%) AngularJS
7 3 (1.00%) Django
7 3 (1.00%) FastAPI
7 3 (1.00%) Flask
7 3 (1.00%) Kafka
7 3 (1.00%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (1.00%) Spring Cloud
8 2 (0.67%) ADO
8 2 (0.67%) HTML
8 2 (0.67%) OpenAPI
8 2 (0.67%) Swagger
8 2 (0.67%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 18 (6.00%) Management Information System
2 12 (4.00%) Cloud Native
3 11 (3.67%) LIMS
4 10 (3.33%) Product Ownership
5 8 (2.67%) Onboarding
6 7 (2.33%) Analytical Mindset
6 7 (2.33%) Legacy Systems
6 7 (2.33%) PACS
7 6 (2.00%) CMDB
7 6 (2.00%) Driving Licence
8 4 (1.33%) Security Posture
9 3 (1.00%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (1.00%) Freedom of Information
9 3 (1.00%) IoT
10 2 (0.67%) Cybercrime
10 2 (0.67%) Data Structures
10 2 (0.67%) Mobile App
10 2 (0.67%) Reference Data
10 2 (0.67%) Robotics
10 2 (0.67%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 31 (10.33%) Windows
2 18 (6.00%) Windows Server
3 13 (4.33%) Linux
4 6 (2.00%) Windows Server 2012
5 5 (1.67%) Windows Server 2003
6 4 (1.33%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.67%) Android
7 2 (0.67%) VMS
8 1 (0.33%) Amazon Linux
8 1 (0.33%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.33%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 62 (20.67%) Agile
2 51 (17.00%) Problem-Solving
3 40 (13.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 40 (13.33%) Stakeholder Management
4 36 (12.00%) CI/CD
5 33 (11.00%) DevOps
6 32 (10.67%) Information Governance
7 31 (10.33%) Digital Transformation Programme
8 28 (9.33%) Analytics
8 28 (9.33%) Business Intelligence
8 28 (9.33%) Continuous Improvement
9 26 (8.67%) Data Governance
10 25 (8.33%) Infrastructure as Code
11 23 (7.67%) Programme Management
12 22 (7.33%) Cybersecurity
12 22 (7.33%) Mentoring
13 21 (7.00%) Project Delivery
13 21 (7.00%) Service Design
14 20 (6.67%) Data Protection
15 19 (6.33%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 34 (11.33%) Python
2 20 (6.67%) SQL
3 11 (3.67%) Java
4 9 (3.00%) Bash
4 9 (3.00%) C#
4 9 (3.00%) PL/SQL
5 8 (2.67%) TypeScript
6 7 (2.33%) JavaScript
7 4 (1.33%) C++
8 3 (1.00%) PHP
8 3 (1.00%) PowerShell
8 3 (1.00%) R
9 2 (0.67%) Ruby
10 1 (0.33%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.33%) Swift
10 1 (0.33%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 22 (7.33%) Degree
1 22 (7.33%) Security Cleared
2 20 (6.67%) SC Cleared
3 11 (3.67%) BPSS Clearance
4 8 (2.67%) HND
5 7 (2.33%) ECDL
5 7 (2.33%) HNC
5 7 (2.33%) MCP
5 7 (2.33%) MCSE
5 7 (2.33%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (2.00%) ITIL Certification
7 5 (1.67%) CISSP
8 4 (1.33%) CISM
8 4 (1.33%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.33%) JNCIA
8 4 (1.33%) JNCIP
8 4 (1.33%) JNCIS
9 3 (1.00%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (1.00%) ISEB
10 2 (0.67%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (7.00%) HL7
2 18 (6.00%) Data Quality
3 14 (4.67%) Accessibility
3 14 (4.67%) GDPR
4 11 (3.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (2.67%) NCSC
6 7 (2.33%) Cyber Essentials
6 7 (2.33%) QA
7 4 (1.33%) NIST
7 4 (1.33%) PMO
8 2 (0.67%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.67%) GRC
8 2 (0.67%) SLA
8 2 (0.67%) WCAG
9 1 (0.33%) DICOM
9 1 (0.33%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.33%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 26 (8.67%) Active Directory
2 16 (5.33%) Docker
3 5 (1.67%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (1.33%) Hyper-V
5 3 (1.00%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.67%) Xen
7 1 (0.33%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 29 (9.67%) Terraform
2 17 (5.67%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.67%) Grafana
4 5 (1.67%) Microsoft Intune
4 5 (1.67%) Prometheus
5 4 (1.33%) SCCM
6 2 (0.67%) Ansible
6 2 (0.67%) Nessus
6 2 (0.67%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.33%) Argo
7 1 (0.33%) Packer
Vendors
1 36 (12.00%) Microsoft
2 17 (5.67%) Oracle
3 16 (5.33%) SAP
4 11 (3.67%) Brio
5 10 (3.33%) Cerner
6 8 (2.67%) Cisco
7 6 (2.00%) VMware
8 5 (1.67%) Juniper
9 4 (1.33%) Databricks
9 4 (1.33%) Palantir
9 4 (1.33%) Splunk
10 2 (0.67%) Aruba
10 2 (0.67%) Citrix
10 2 (0.67%) Cribl.io
10 2 (0.67%) Fortinet
10 2 (0.67%) Google
10 2 (0.67%) MEDITECH
10 2 (0.67%) Rapid7
10 2 (0.67%) Tenable
11 1 (0.33%) InterSystems