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 2 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 296 338 241
Rank change year-on-year +42 -97 -43
Contract jobs citing NHS 363 159 359
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.83% 0.62% 0.96%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.52% 1.77% 3.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 288 113 227
10th Percentile £238 £205 £163
25th Percentile £357 £263 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £466 £450 £315
Median % change year-on-year +3.44% +42.86% -0.32%
75th Percentile £525 £530 £500
90th Percentile £606 £575 £591
UK median daily rate £451 £438 £338
% change year-on-year +2.85% +29.59% +10.28%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 11 64
10th Percentile £16.64 £13.08 £11.20
25th Percentile £20.76 £14.87 £12.25
Median hourly rate £22.50 £21.25 £13.95
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% +52.30% -33.56%
75th Percentile £33.53 £31.73 £19.22
90th Percentile £49.50 £34.15 £26.12
UK median hourly rate £22.50 £23.79 £12.86
% change year-on-year -5.40% +84.95% -35.70%

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 14,423 8,983 11,442
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.87% 34.78% 30.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,958 5,749 7,368
10th Percentile £313 £305 £280
25th Percentile £415 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -2.22%
75th Percentile £638 £660 £675
90th Percentile £750 £788 £825
UK median daily rate £520 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 782 429 839
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.55 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.14 £19.00 £15.39
Median hourly rate £43.96 £33.00 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +33.21% -9.59% +53.43%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £87.07 £81.00 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £42.30 £31.08 £35.65
% change year-on-year +36.10% -12.82% +58.44%

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 2 July 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 2 July 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 2 July 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 +7 141 £475 +5.56% 108
North of England -11 112 £488 - 98
Yorkshire +5 88 £500 - 58
East of England +18 40 £246 +8.22% 18
North West -37 24 £363 +68.60% 40
South East -69 21 £463 +49.80% 59
Midlands -45 14 £450 +20.00% 31
South West -21 13 £546 +33.23% 31
West Midlands -53 13 £450 +28.57% 17
East Midlands -19 1 - - 14
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 (3.03%) SharePoint
2 10 (2.75%) Palantir Foundry
3 5 (1.38%) Confluence
4 3 (0.83%) CMS
5 2 (0.55%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.28%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.28%) nginx
6 1 (0.28%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 7 (1.93%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (1.93%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.10%) Spreadsheet
3 2 (0.55%) Trello
4 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.28%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 10 (2.75%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.55%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.28%) Cerner Millennium
3 1 (0.28%) Lorenzo
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Assets
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Financials
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Receivables
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 52 (14.33%) AWS
2 41 (11.29%) Azure
3 24 (6.61%) Serverless
4 19 (5.23%) AWS Lambda
5 18 (4.96%) Amazon S3
6 14 (3.86%) Power Platform
7 13 (3.58%) GitHub
8 11 (3.03%) Amazon EC2
8 11 (3.03%) Microsoft 365
9 9 (2.48%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (1.93%) Azure Data Factory
10 7 (1.93%) GCP
11 6 (1.65%) Amazon SQS
11 6 (1.65%) AWS Step Functions
12 5 (1.38%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (1.38%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 4 (1.10%) Adobe Analytics
13 4 (1.10%) Amazon ECR
13 4 (1.10%) Azure Functions
13 4 (1.10%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.20%) DNS
1 8 (2.20%) LAN
1 8 (2.20%) WAN
2 6 (1.65%) 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 44 (12.12%) Electronic Patient Records
2 16 (4.41%) Data Warehouse
2 16 (4.41%) SQL Server
3 13 (3.58%) Power BI
4 8 (2.20%) Amazon RDS
5 7 (1.93%) DynamoDB
6 6 (1.65%) Amazon Athena
6 6 (1.65%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 4 (1.10%) DocumentDB
7 4 (1.10%) 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 (0.55%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.55%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.55%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.55%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 2 (0.55%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 9 (2.48%) GitLab
2 7 (1.93%) Git
3 5 (1.38%) 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
1 142 (39.12%) Public Sector
2 109 (30.03%) Social Skills
3 31 (8.54%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (5.51%) Digital Health
5 17 (4.68%) Finance
6 16 (4.41%) Organisational Skills
7 12 (3.31%) Local Government
8 11 (3.03%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (1.93%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.65%) Legal
11 5 (1.38%) Law
11 5 (1.38%) Pharmaceutical
12 4 (1.10%) Health Technology
12 4 (1.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 4 (1.10%) Telecoms
13 3 (0.83%) Billing
13 3 (0.83%) Digital Healthcare
13 3 (0.83%) Marketing
13 3 (0.83%) Publishing
14 2 (0.55%) Military
Job Titles
1 39 (10.74%) Analyst
2 37 (10.19%) Architect
3 33 (9.09%) Developer
4 32 (8.82%) Senior
5 25 (6.89%) Lead
6 22 (6.06%) Designer
7 21 (5.79%) Data Engineer
8 19 (5.23%) Project Manager
9 18 (4.96%) Business Analyst
10 16 (4.41%) Consultant
10 16 (4.41%) User Researcher
11 12 (3.31%) Data Architect
11 12 (3.31%) Solutions Architect
12 11 (3.03%) Delivery Manager
13 9 (2.48%) Administrator
13 9 (2.48%) NHS Project Manager
13 9 (2.48%) Senior User Researcher
13 9 (2.48%) Service Designer
14 7 (1.93%) Content Designer
14 7 (1.93%) Performance Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (7.71%) FHIR
2 10 (2.75%) PySpark
3 9 (2.48%) React
4 8 (2.20%) Node.js
5 7 (1.93%) REST
5 7 (1.93%) RESTful
6 6 (1.65%) .NET
7 4 (1.10%) Middleware
7 4 (1.10%) Playwright
8 3 (0.83%) GeoJSON
8 3 (0.83%) JSON
8 3 (0.83%) Spring
8 3 (0.83%) Spring Boot
9 2 (0.55%) Kafka
9 2 (0.55%) Matplotlib
9 2 (0.55%) Oracle Fusion
9 2 (0.55%) Pandas
9 2 (0.55%) scikit-learn
9 2 (0.55%) XML
9 2 (0.55%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.06%) Cloud Native
2 18 (4.96%) Product Ownership
3 17 (4.68%) Onboarding
4 7 (1.93%) Data Structures
5 6 (1.65%) LIMS
6 5 (1.38%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (1.38%) Management Information System
7 4 (1.10%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.10%) Mobile App
7 4 (1.10%) PACS
7 4 (1.10%) Replication
7 4 (1.10%) Security Posture
8 3 (0.83%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (0.83%) Distributed Systems
8 3 (0.83%) Life Science
9 2 (0.55%) Cyber Threat
9 2 (0.55%) Cybercrime
9 2 (0.55%) Distributed Architecture
9 2 (0.55%) Freedom of Information
9 2 (0.55%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 15 (4.13%) Windows
2 8 (2.20%) Windows Server
3 3 (0.83%) Linux
4 2 (0.55%) Android
4 2 (0.55%) 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
1 104 (28.65%) Agile
2 67 (18.46%) Stakeholder Management
3 48 (13.22%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 44 (12.12%) CI/CD
5 40 (11.02%) Analytics
6 38 (10.47%) Decision-Making
7 36 (9.92%) User Research
8 33 (9.09%) DevOps
9 32 (8.82%) Continuous Improvement
9 32 (8.82%) Information Governance
10 30 (8.26%) Migration
11 27 (7.44%) Infrastructure as Code
11 27 (7.44%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
12 26 (7.16%) Validation
13 25 (6.89%) Business Intelligence
13 25 (6.89%) Digital Transformation Programme
13 25 (6.89%) Problem-Solving
14 24 (6.61%) Risk Management
14 24 (6.61%) Roadmaps
14 24 (6.61%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 39 (10.74%) SQL
2 32 (8.82%) Python
3 15 (4.13%) TypeScript
4 11 (3.03%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.48%) Java
6 7 (1.93%) T-SQL
7 6 (1.65%) C#
8 3 (0.83%) Bicep
9 2 (0.55%) PowerShell
10 1 (0.28%) Bash
10 1 (0.28%) R
Qualifications
1 26 (7.16%) Security Cleared
2 21 (5.79%) BPSS Clearance
2 21 (5.79%) SC Cleared
3 17 (4.68%) Degree
4 4 (1.10%) AWS Certification
5 2 (0.55%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
5 2 (0.55%) DBS Check
5 2 (0.55%) DV Cleared
5 2 (0.55%) Microsoft Certification
5 2 (0.55%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
6 1 (0.28%) Azure Certification
6 1 (0.28%) CCNA
6 1 (0.28%) Cisco Certification
6 1 (0.28%) ISEB
6 1 (0.28%) JNCIA
6 1 (0.28%) Master's Degree
6 1 (0.28%) PMI Certification
6 1 (0.28%) PMP
6 1 (0.28%) Postgraduate
6 1 (0.28%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (8.54%) HL7
2 24 (6.61%) Accessibility
3 23 (6.34%) Data Quality
4 14 (3.86%) GDPR
4 14 (3.86%) QA
5 12 (3.31%) WCAG
6 7 (1.93%) PMO
7 6 (1.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.38%) DICOM
8 5 (1.38%) NCSC
9 4 (1.10%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (1.10%) Cyber Essentials
9 4 (1.10%) SNOMED CT
10 2 (0.55%) 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 (3.03%) Docker
2 8 (2.20%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.55%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 25 (6.89%) Terraform
2 13 (3.58%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.20%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (0.55%) 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 (9.92%) Microsoft
2 18 (4.96%) Palantir
3 14 (3.86%) Foundry
4 10 (2.75%) Databricks
4 10 (2.75%) Oracle
5 8 (2.20%) Brio
6 4 (1.10%) Adobe
6 4 (1.10%) Cerner
6 4 (1.10%) Google
6 4 (1.10%) Splunk
7 3 (0.83%) InterSystems
7 3 (0.83%) Tenable
8 2 (0.55%) Cisco
8 2 (0.55%) Informatica
8 2 (0.55%) Meraki
8 2 (0.55%) OneLogin
8 2 (0.55%) Rapid7
8 2 (0.55%) SAP
8 2 (0.55%) ServiceNow
8 2 (0.55%) VMware