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 25 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 270 305 209
Rank change year-on-year +35 -96 -36
Contract jobs citing NHS 355 174 409
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.89% 0.71% 1.10%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.73% 2.07% 3.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 280 123 273
10th Percentile £243 £195 £168
25th Percentile £338 £233 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £410 £280
Median % change year-on-year +9.76% +46.43% -6.67%
75th Percentile £525 £494 £400
90th Percentile £600 £560 £550
UK median daily rate £450 £400 £300
% change year-on-year +12.50% +33.33% +1.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 17 74
10th Percentile - £13.08 £11.25
25th Percentile £15.79 £15.22 £12.38
Median hourly rate £22.50 £18.13 £15.92
Median % change year-on-year +24.10% +13.88% -27.64%
75th Percentile £27.00 £33.75 £25.83
90th Percentile £39.70 £33.91 £40.63
UK median hourly rate £21.90 £21.67 £14.83
% change year-on-year +1.06% +46.15% -31.73%

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 12,991 8,392 11,535
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.58% 34.13% 30.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,252 5,485 7,542
10th Percentile £304 £300 £263
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -7.27% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £788 £800
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 660 324 821
10th Percentile £16.01 £16.46 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £21.25 £15.16
Median hourly rate £45.46 £34.25 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year +32.73% +20.18% +26.67%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £86.15 £83.82 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £45.46 £32.28 £28.25
% change year-on-year +40.85% +14.25% +25.56%

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 25 April 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 25 April 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 25 April 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 -6 121 £438 -2.78% 44
North of England -16 107 £500 +11.11% 62
Yorkshire -5 87 £500 +5.26% 36
East of England +7 49 £278 -0.89% 14
South East -72 27 £450 +80.00% 47
North West -39 19 £425 +97.67% 23
West Midlands -50 18 £450 +100.89% 34
Midlands -51 18 £450 +100.89% 50
South West -31 13 £570 +60.56% 33
North East -18 1 - - 5
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 12 (3.38%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.69%) Confluence
3 5 (1.41%) CMS
3 5 (1.41%) Palantir Foundry
4 2 (0.56%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.28%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.28%) Umbraco
Applications
1 11 (3.10%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.25%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.85%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.85%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.56%) Trello
6 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 13 (3.66%) SystmOne
2 3 (0.85%) Lorenzo
3 2 (0.56%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.28%) Cerner Millennium
4 1 (0.28%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 50 (14.08%) AWS
2 42 (11.83%) Azure
3 21 (5.92%) Serverless
4 15 (4.23%) AWS Lambda
4 15 (4.23%) GitHub
5 13 (3.66%) Azure DevOps
6 12 (3.38%) Power Platform
7 11 (3.10%) Amazon S3
7 11 (3.10%) GCP
7 11 (3.10%) Microsoft 365
8 8 (2.25%) Amazon ECS
8 8 (2.25%) GitHub Actions
9 5 (1.41%) AWS Step Functions
10 4 (1.13%) Amazon EC2
10 4 (1.13%) Amazon EKS
10 4 (1.13%) Amazon SQS
10 4 (1.13%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.13%) Azure AKS
10 4 (1.13%) Azure Functions
10 4 (1.13%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.54%) DNS
2 7 (1.97%) WAN
3 6 (1.69%) Firewall
3 6 (1.69%) LAN
3 6 (1.69%) TCP/IP
4 5 (1.41%) Network Security
5 3 (0.85%) VPN
6 2 (0.56%) BGP
6 2 (0.56%) Junos
6 2 (0.56%) OSPF
6 2 (0.56%) VLAN
6 2 (0.56%) Wireless
7 1 (0.28%) DHCP
7 1 (0.28%) Ethernet VPN
7 1 (0.28%) Internet
7 1 (0.28%) NGFW
7 1 (0.28%) NGN
7 1 (0.28%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 56 (15.77%) Electronic Patient Records
2 16 (4.51%) SQL Server
3 15 (4.23%) Data Warehouse
4 10 (2.82%) Power BI
5 8 (2.25%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 7 (1.97%) DynamoDB
7 5 (1.41%) BusinessObjects
7 5 (1.41%) PostgreSQL
8 4 (1.13%) Amazon Athena
8 4 (1.13%) NoSQL
8 4 (1.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 3 (0.85%) Amazon RDS
9 3 (0.85%) Geospatial Data
9 3 (0.85%) OLAP
9 3 (0.85%) Tableau
10 2 (0.56%) Data Lake
10 2 (0.56%) ImageNet
10 2 (0.56%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.56%) QlikView
10 2 (0.56%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 9 (2.54%) GitLab
2 6 (1.69%) Jenkins
2 6 (1.69%) JIRA
3 5 (1.41%) Git
4 2 (0.56%) MSI
5 1 (0.28%) Android Studio
5 1 (0.28%) Appium
5 1 (0.28%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.28%) JUnit
5 1 (0.28%) SonarQube
5 1 (0.28%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 137 (38.59%) Public Sector
2 110 (30.99%) Social Skills
3 40 (11.27%) Analytical Skills
4 23 (6.48%) Finance
5 21 (5.92%) Digital Health
5 21 (5.92%) Organisational Skills
6 16 (4.51%) Documentation Skills
7 12 (3.38%) Legal
8 11 (3.10%) Health Technology
8 11 (3.10%) Telecoms
9 10 (2.82%) Local Government
10 9 (2.54%) Electronics
10 9 (2.54%) Influencing Skills
10 9 (2.54%) Manufacturing
10 9 (2.54%) Marketing
11 5 (1.41%) Digital Healthcare
11 5 (1.41%) Pharmaceutical
12 4 (1.13%) Publishing
13 3 (0.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (0.85%) Law
Job Titles
1 49 (13.80%) Analyst
2 35 (9.86%) Developer
3 31 (8.73%) Architect
4 30 (8.45%) Senior
5 27 (7.61%) Lead
6 26 (7.32%) Business Analyst
7 23 (6.48%) Project Manager
8 16 (4.51%) Consultant
8 16 (4.51%) Designer
9 14 (3.94%) Data Engineer
10 12 (3.38%) NHS Business Analyst
11 11 (3.10%) Administrator
11 11 (3.10%) Data Architect
11 11 (3.10%) User Researcher
12 10 (2.82%) AWS Engineer
12 10 (2.82%) NHS Project Manager
13 9 (2.54%) Solutions Architect
14 8 (2.25%) IT Manager
14 8 (2.25%) Software Engineer
14 8 (2.25%) Trainer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (10.99%) FHIR
2 14 (3.94%) .NET
2 14 (3.94%) React
3 11 (3.10%) RESTful
4 7 (1.97%) Spring
4 7 (1.97%) Spring Boot
5 6 (1.69%) Node.js
5 6 (1.69%) Vue
6 5 (1.41%) Kafka
7 4 (1.13%) .NET Core
7 4 (1.13%) Middleware
8 3 (0.85%) AngularJS
8 3 (0.85%) Django
8 3 (0.85%) FastAPI
8 3 (0.85%) Flask
8 3 (0.85%) GeoJSON
8 3 (0.85%) OpenAPI
8 3 (0.85%) RabbitMQ
8 3 (0.85%) Spring Cloud
8 3 (0.85%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 15 (4.23%) Onboarding
2 14 (3.94%) Cloud Native
3 12 (3.38%) Product Ownership
4 11 (3.10%) LIMS
5 10 (2.82%) Legacy Systems
5 10 (2.82%) PACS
6 9 (2.54%) Management Information System
7 6 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (1.69%) Data Structures
8 5 (1.41%) Security Posture
9 4 (1.13%) Distributed Systems
9 4 (1.13%) Replication
10 3 (0.85%) Data Protection Act
10 3 (0.85%) Life Science
11 2 (0.56%) Cybercrime
11 2 (0.56%) Distributed Architecture
11 2 (0.56%) Freedom of Information
11 2 (0.56%) IoT
11 2 (0.56%) Linux Command Line
11 2 (0.56%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 17 (4.79%) Windows
2 7 (1.97%) Linux
2 7 (1.97%) Windows Server
3 1 (0.28%) Amazon Linux
3 1 (0.28%) Android
3 1 (0.28%) VMS
3 1 (0.28%) Windows 10
3 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2003
3 1 (0.28%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (27.32%) Agile
2 53 (14.93%) Stakeholder Management
3 45 (12.68%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 40 (11.27%) CI/CD
5 36 (10.14%) Analytics
5 36 (10.14%) Problem-Solving
6 35 (9.86%) DevOps
6 35 (9.86%) Information Governance
7 32 (9.01%) Continuous Improvement
8 29 (8.17%) Migration
9 28 (7.89%) Decision-Making
10 27 (7.61%) Business Intelligence
10 27 (7.61%) Data Governance
10 27 (7.61%) Infrastructure as Code
10 27 (7.61%) User Research
11 26 (7.32%) Digital Transformation Programme
12 24 (6.76%) Data Protection
13 22 (6.20%) Roadmaps
14 21 (5.92%) Project Management
15 20 (5.63%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 38 (10.70%) SQL
2 35 (9.86%) Python
3 14 (3.94%) Java
3 14 (3.94%) TypeScript
4 12 (3.38%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.54%) C#
6 6 (1.69%) T-SQL
7 3 (0.85%) PHP
7 3 (0.85%) PL/SQL
8 2 (0.56%) Bash
9 1 (0.28%) Bicep
9 1 (0.28%) PowerShell
9 1 (0.28%) R
9 1 (0.28%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 26 (7.32%) Security Cleared
2 22 (6.20%) SC Cleared
3 21 (5.92%) Degree
4 16 (4.51%) BPSS Clearance
5 3 (0.85%) Cisco Certification
5 3 (0.85%) JNCIA
5 3 (0.85%) JNCIP
5 3 (0.85%) JNCIS
5 3 (0.85%) TOGAF Certification
6 2 (0.56%) CCNA
6 2 (0.56%) CCNP
6 2 (0.56%) CISM
6 2 (0.56%) CISSP
6 2 (0.56%) DBS Check
6 2 (0.56%) DV Cleared
6 2 (0.56%) IIBA
6 2 (0.56%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (0.56%) PRINCE2 Certification
6 2 (0.56%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (10.99%) HL7
2 20 (5.63%) Data Quality
3 17 (4.79%) Accessibility
4 13 (3.66%) GDPR
5 11 (3.10%) QA
6 10 (2.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 7 (1.97%) NCSC
7 7 (1.97%) PMO
7 7 (1.97%) WCAG
8 5 (1.41%) Cyber Essentials
8 5 (1.41%) DICOM
9 4 (1.13%) SNOMED CT
10 3 (0.85%) NIST
11 2 (0.56%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.56%) GRC
12 1 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 1 (0.28%) IEC 62304
12 1 (0.28%) ISO 9001
12 1 (0.28%) SLA
12 1 (0.28%) SOC 2
System Software
1 22 (6.20%) Docker
2 12 (3.38%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (0.56%) Xen
4 1 (0.28%) Firmware
4 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.28%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 30 (8.45%) Terraform
2 19 (5.35%) Kubernetes
3 9 (2.54%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.85%) Grafana
5 2 (0.56%) Ansible
5 2 (0.56%) Nessus
5 2 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.28%) Argo
6 1 (0.28%) Packer
6 1 (0.28%) SCCM
Vendors
1 40 (11.27%) Microsoft
2 14 (3.94%) Oracle
3 10 (2.82%) Brio
4 9 (2.54%) Cerner
4 9 (2.54%) Foundry
4 9 (2.54%) SAP
5 8 (2.25%) Palantir
6 7 (1.97%) Splunk
7 6 (1.69%) Databricks
8 4 (1.13%) Cisco
8 4 (1.13%) Juniper
9 3 (0.85%) Google
9 3 (0.85%) InterSystems
10 2 (0.56%) Adobe
10 2 (0.56%) CheckPoint
10 2 (0.56%) Cribl.io
10 2 (0.56%) Fortinet
10 2 (0.56%) OneLogin
10 2 (0.56%) Rapid7
10 2 (0.56%) Tenable