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 29 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 288 317 236
Rank change year-on-year +29 -81 -32
Contract jobs citing NHS 355 159 369
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.85% 0.66% 1.01%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.63% 1.93% 3.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 278 113 235
10th Percentile £243 £196 £168
25th Percentile £338 £250 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £425 £315
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% +34.92% +3.28%
75th Percentile £525 £500 £475
90th Percentile £600 £575 £572
UK median daily rate £450 £415 £315
% change year-on-year +8.43% +31.75% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 11 68
10th Percentile £15.79 £13.08 £11.23
25th Percentile £16.70 £14.15 £12.25
Median hourly rate £22.50 £17.16 £14.83
Median % change year-on-year +31.16% +15.70% -29.39%
75th Percentile £31.34 £22.23 £23.52
90th Percentile £46.50 £34.15 £43.00
UK median hourly rate £22.50 £17.64 £13.24
% change year-on-year +27.53% +33.25% -35.41%

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 13,505 8,218 11,282
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 32.29% 34.35% 30.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,486 5,348 7,377
10th Percentile £313 £300 £270
25th Percentile £413 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £530 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.89% -3.64% -3.51%
75th Percentile £631 £663 £675
90th Percentile £750 £788 £800
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -2.38% -2.42% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 705 336 833
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.98 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.00 £20.64 £15.17
Median hourly rate £44.50 £34.13 £35.50
Median % change year-on-year +30.40% -3.87% +59.55%
75th Percentile £70.00 £63.75 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.80 £82.85 £71.25
UK median hourly rate £41.00 £32.43 £34.00
% change year-on-year +26.43% -4.62% +54.55%

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 29 May 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 29 May 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 29 May 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 -8 124 £463 +2.78% 48
North of England -3 112 £475 +1.60% 79
Yorkshire +2 87 £500 +1.27% 45
East of England +17 46 £278 -0.89% 10
North West -19 25 £350 +62.79% 30
South East -61 23 £450 +62.90% 40
Midlands -52 18 £460 +31.62% 42
West Midlands -55 17 £460 +31.62% 24
South West -21 11 £575 +40.24% 32
East Midlands - 1 - - 18
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%) Palantir Foundry
3 5 (1.41%) Confluence
4 4 (1.13%) CMS
5 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.28%) Apache Airflow
Applications
1 9 (2.54%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.25%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (1.13%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.56%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.56%) Trello
5 1 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 12 (3.38%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.56%) Lorenzo
2 2 (0.56%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.28%) Cerner Millennium
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 48 (13.52%) AWS
2 37 (10.42%) Azure
3 20 (5.63%) Serverless
4 16 (4.51%) AWS Lambda
5 14 (3.94%) Amazon S3
6 13 (3.66%) Power Platform
7 12 (3.38%) GitHub
7 12 (3.38%) Microsoft 365
8 10 (2.82%) Amazon EC2
9 7 (1.97%) GCP
10 6 (1.69%) Amazon SQS
10 6 (1.69%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (1.69%) GitHub Actions
11 4 (1.13%) Amazon ECR
11 4 (1.13%) AWS Step Functions
11 4 (1.13%) Azure Data Factory
11 4 (1.13%) Miro
12 3 (0.85%) Amazon EKS
12 3 (0.85%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.97%) DNS
2 6 (1.69%) LAN
2 6 (1.69%) TCP/IP
2 6 (1.69%) WAN
3 4 (1.13%) Firewall
4 3 (0.85%) Network Security
5 1 (0.28%) BGP
5 1 (0.28%) DHCP
5 1 (0.28%) Ethernet VPN
5 1 (0.28%) Junos
5 1 (0.28%) NGFW
5 1 (0.28%) OSPF
5 1 (0.28%) VPN
5 1 (0.28%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (14.65%) Electronic Patient Records
2 19 (5.35%) Data Warehouse
3 17 (4.79%) SQL Server
4 11 (3.10%) Power BI
5 8 (2.25%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 7 (1.97%) Amazon RDS
7 5 (1.41%) DynamoDB
8 4 (1.13%) Amazon Athena
8 4 (1.13%) BusinessObjects
8 4 (1.13%) DocumentDB
8 4 (1.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 3 (0.85%) Geospatial Data
9 3 (0.85%) OLAP
9 3 (0.85%) Tableau
10 2 (0.56%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.56%) PostgreSQL
10 2 (0.56%) QlikView
10 2 (0.56%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 1 (0.28%) Crystal Reports
11 1 (0.28%) EDRMS
Development Applications
1 9 (2.54%) GitLab
2 6 (1.69%) Git
3 5 (1.41%) JIRA
4 3 (0.85%) Jenkins
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%) Postman
5 1 (0.28%) Selenium
5 1 (0.28%) SonarQube
5 1 (0.28%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 128 (36.06%) Public Sector
2 104 (29.30%) Social Skills
3 36 (10.14%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (5.63%) Digital Health
5 19 (5.35%) Finance
5 19 (5.35%) Organisational Skills
6 14 (3.94%) Documentation Skills
7 11 (3.10%) Local Government
8 9 (2.54%) Legal
9 8 (2.25%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (1.97%) Telecoms
11 6 (1.69%) Marketing
12 5 (1.41%) Electronics
12 5 (1.41%) Health Technology
12 5 (1.41%) Manufacturing
13 4 (1.13%) Digital Healthcare
13 4 (1.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 4 (1.13%) Law
13 4 (1.13%) Publishing
14 3 (0.85%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 45 (12.68%) Analyst
2 35 (9.86%) Developer
2 35 (9.86%) Senior
3 33 (9.30%) Architect
4 28 (7.89%) Lead
5 25 (7.04%) Business Analyst
6 24 (6.76%) Designer
7 20 (5.63%) Project Manager
8 17 (4.79%) Consultant
9 15 (4.23%) User Researcher
10 13 (3.66%) Data Engineer
11 12 (3.38%) NHS Business Analyst
11 12 (3.38%) Service Designer
12 11 (3.10%) Data Architect
13 10 (2.82%) Administrator
13 10 (2.82%) Solutions Architect
14 9 (2.54%) Delivery Manager
14 9 (2.54%) NHS Project Manager
14 9 (2.54%) Senior User Researcher
15 8 (2.25%) Data Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (8.17%) FHIR
2 9 (2.54%) .NET
2 9 (2.54%) React
3 8 (2.25%) Node.js
4 5 (1.41%) RESTful
5 4 (1.13%) Middleware
5 4 (1.13%) Playwright
5 4 (1.13%) REST
6 3 (0.85%) GeoJSON
6 3 (0.85%) JSON
6 3 (0.85%) Spring
6 3 (0.85%) Spring Boot
7 2 (0.56%) AngularJS
7 2 (0.56%) ASP.NET
7 2 (0.56%) Kafka
7 2 (0.56%) Matplotlib
7 2 (0.56%) Oracle Fusion
7 2 (0.56%) Pandas
7 2 (0.56%) scikit-learn
7 2 (0.56%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 16 (4.51%) Cloud Native
2 15 (4.23%) Onboarding
3 14 (3.94%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.54%) Management Information System
5 8 (2.25%) Data Structures
5 8 (2.25%) LIMS
6 5 (1.41%) Analytical Mindset
6 5 (1.41%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (1.41%) PACS
7 4 (1.13%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.13%) Replication
7 4 (1.13%) Security Posture
8 3 (0.85%) Distributed Systems
8 3 (0.85%) Life Science
9 2 (0.56%) Cyber Threat
9 2 (0.56%) Cybercrime
9 2 (0.56%) Distributed Architecture
9 2 (0.56%) Freedom of Information
10 1 (0.28%) Data Centre
10 1 (0.28%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 15 (4.23%) Windows
2 8 (2.25%) Windows Server
3 5 (1.41%) Linux
4 3 (0.85%) Android
5 2 (0.56%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.28%) CentOS
6 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.28%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 91 (25.63%) Agile
2 49 (13.80%) Stakeholder Management
3 44 (12.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 36 (10.14%) User Research
5 35 (9.86%) Analytics
6 34 (9.58%) CI/CD
6 34 (9.58%) Information Governance
7 31 (8.73%) Decision-Making
8 29 (8.17%) DevOps
8 29 (8.17%) Problem-Solving
9 28 (7.89%) Service Design
10 26 (7.32%) Business Intelligence
10 26 (7.32%) Data Protection
10 26 (7.32%) Migration
11 25 (7.04%) Continuous Improvement
12 23 (6.48%) Digital Transformation Programme
12 23 (6.48%) Roadmaps
13 22 (6.20%) Data Governance
13 22 (6.20%) Infrastructure as Code
13 22 (6.20%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 38 (10.70%) SQL
2 23 (6.48%) Python
3 13 (3.66%) TypeScript
4 11 (3.10%) Java
5 9 (2.54%) JavaScript
6 6 (1.69%) C#
6 6 (1.69%) T-SQL
7 2 (0.56%) PowerShell
8 1 (0.28%) Bicep
8 1 (0.28%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.28%) R
Qualifications
1 22 (6.20%) Security Cleared
2 18 (5.07%) SC Cleared
3 17 (4.79%) BPSS Clearance
4 16 (4.51%) Degree
5 3 (0.85%) AWS Certification
6 2 (0.56%) DBS Check
6 2 (0.56%) DV Cleared
6 2 (0.56%) JNCIA
6 2 (0.56%) JNCIP
6 2 (0.56%) JNCIS
6 2 (0.56%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (0.56%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
6 2 (0.56%) TOGAF Certification
7 1 (0.28%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 1 (0.28%) ISEB
7 1 (0.28%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
7 1 (0.28%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
7 1 (0.28%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.28%) PMI Certification
7 1 (0.28%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (8.73%) HL7
2 20 (5.63%) Accessibility
3 15 (4.23%) Data Quality
3 15 (4.23%) GDPR
4 10 (2.82%) QA
4 10 (2.82%) WCAG
5 7 (1.97%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (1.69%) NCSC
6 6 (1.69%) PMO
7 5 (1.41%) DICOM
8 4 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.85%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (0.85%) NIST
9 3 (0.85%) SNOMED CT
10 1 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.28%) GRC
10 1 (0.28%) IEC 62304
10 1 (0.28%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.28%) SLA
10 1 (0.28%) SOC 2
System Software
1 13 (3.66%) Docker
2 8 (2.25%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 21 (5.92%) Terraform
2 14 (3.94%) Kubernetes
3 8 (2.25%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (0.56%) Nessus
5 1 (0.28%) Ansible
5 1 (0.28%) Argo
5 1 (0.28%) Puppet
Vendors
1 33 (9.30%) Microsoft
2 12 (3.38%) Oracle
3 10 (2.82%) Foundry
4 9 (2.54%) Brio
4 9 (2.54%) Palantir
5 7 (1.97%) Cerner
6 6 (1.69%) SAP
7 4 (1.13%) Databricks
7 4 (1.13%) Splunk
8 3 (0.85%) Google
8 3 (0.85%) InterSystems
8 3 (0.85%) Tenable
9 2 (0.56%) Adobe
9 2 (0.56%) Juniper
9 2 (0.56%) OneLogin
9 2 (0.56%) Rapid7
9 2 (0.56%) VMware
10 1 (0.28%) accuRx
10 1 (0.28%) BiZZdesign
10 1 (0.28%) Datix