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 27 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 299 307 203
Rank change year-on-year +8 -104 -1
Contract jobs citing NHS 252 225 468
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.82% 0.72% 1.22%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.25% 2.28% 3.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 172 138 371
10th Percentile £177 £155 £169
25th Percentile £342 £236 £210
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £350 £306
Median % change year-on-year +28.57% +14.38% +6.43%
75th Percentile £538 £500 £488
90th Percentile £599 £575 £600
UK median daily rate £415 £350 £300
% change year-on-year +18.50% +16.67% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 19 37
10th Percentile £6.00 £17.20 £15.29
25th Percentile £15.50 £21.35 £16.92
Median hourly rate £16.00 £24.18 £20.71
Median % change year-on-year -33.83% +16.78% +16.85%
75th Percentile £21.40 £33.75 £29.00
90th Percentile £30.28 - £32.85
UK median hourly rate £16.00 £25.60 £20.50
% change year-on-year -37.50% +24.88% +15.69%

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 11,192 9,871 12,331
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 36.39% 31.62% 32.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,010 5,893 8,373
10th Percentile £285 £300 £270
25th Percentile £408 £413 £423
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.36% - -3.51%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £800 £775
UK median daily rate £505 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -6.05% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 587 317 459
10th Percentile £13.95 £15.83 £17.00
25th Percentile £18.27 £23.80 £21.25
Median hourly rate £29.00 £42.88 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -32.37% -3.64% +27.14%
75th Percentile £57.75 £70.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.19 £77.60
UK median hourly rate £27.21 £35.00 £44.25
% change year-on-year -22.26% -20.90% +26.43%

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 27 November 2025.

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 27 November 2025.

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 27 November 2025. 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 -19 81 £388 +10.71% 75
North of England -13 79 £500 +25.00% 76
Yorkshire -11 59 £500 +11.11% 33
East of England +10 30 £331 +23.29% 21
South East -8 22 £400 -21.95% 79
North West -30 15 £456 +15.51% 34
Midlands -44 12 £380 -36.67% 49
West Midlands -47 7 £390 +13.04% 22
South West -3 5 £391 +30.42% 20
East Midlands -10 5 £375 -48.28% 26
North East - 5 £400 - 12
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 (4.37%) Confluence
2 2 (0.79%) Apache
2 2 (0.79%) Apache Spark
2 2 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
2 2 (0.79%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.40%) Apache Airflow
3 1 (0.40%) CMS
3 1 (0.40%) Umbraco
Applications
1 11 (4.37%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.59%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.59%) Spreadsheet
3 3 (1.19%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.19%) Trello
4 2 (0.79%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.79%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.79%) Sketch
5 1 (0.40%) Adobe XD
Business Applications
1 4 (1.59%) Cerner Millennium
2 3 (1.19%) SystmOne
3 1 (0.40%) Academy Housing
3 1 (0.40%) Lorenzo
3 1 (0.40%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.40%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.40%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 46 (18.25%) AWS
2 43 (17.06%) Azure
3 17 (6.75%) GCP
4 14 (5.56%) Power Platform
5 12 (4.76%) Microsoft 365
5 12 (4.76%) Serverless
6 11 (4.37%) Azure DevOps
6 11 (4.37%) GitHub
7 9 (3.57%) GitHub Actions
8 8 (3.17%) Amazon S3
8 8 (3.17%) AWS Lambda
9 6 (2.38%) Amazon ECS
9 6 (2.38%) AWS CloudFormation
9 6 (2.38%) Entra ID
9 6 (2.38%) Miro
10 4 (1.59%) Amazon EC2
10 4 (1.59%) Figma
11 3 (1.19%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 3 (1.19%) Azure AKS
11 3 (1.19%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 15 (5.95%) LAN
2 13 (5.16%) TCP/IP
3 9 (3.57%) WAN
4 8 (3.17%) VPN
4 8 (3.17%) Wireless
5 7 (2.78%) DNS
5 7 (2.78%) Firewall
6 6 (2.38%) Structured Cabling
7 5 (1.98%) Network Security
8 4 (1.59%) DHCP
8 4 (1.59%) VLAN
9 2 (0.79%) BGP
9 2 (0.79%) Intranet
9 2 (0.79%) Junos
9 2 (0.79%) OSPF
9 2 (0.79%) VoIP
10 1 (0.40%) Remote Desktop
10 1 (0.40%) RS-232
10 1 (0.40%) Wi-Fi
10 1 (0.40%) X.400
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (14.68%) Electronic Patient Records
2 12 (4.76%) Power BI
3 10 (3.97%) SQL Server
4 8 (3.17%) Oracle Database
5 5 (1.98%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (1.59%) Data Lake
6 4 (1.59%) Metadata
6 4 (1.59%) NoSQL
6 4 (1.59%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (1.59%) Tableau
7 2 (0.79%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.79%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.79%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.79%) EDMS
7 2 (0.79%) ImageNet
7 2 (0.79%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.79%) Relational Database
7 2 (0.79%) Riak
7 2 (0.79%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 1 (0.40%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 12 (4.76%) JIRA
2 9 (3.57%) Jenkins
3 7 (2.78%) ERwin
4 5 (1.98%) CircleCI
5 3 (1.19%) GitLab
6 2 (0.79%) MSI
6 2 (0.79%) Rational Rhapsody
7 1 (0.40%) Android Studio
7 1 (0.40%) Gradle
7 1 (0.40%) Postman
7 1 (0.40%) Selenium
7 1 (0.40%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.40%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.40%) Xcode
General
1 102 (40.48%) Social Skills
2 99 (39.29%) Public Sector
3 30 (11.90%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (9.92%) Finance
5 15 (5.95%) Telecoms
6 13 (5.16%) Digital Health
7 12 (4.76%) Health Technology
7 12 (4.76%) Marketing
8 11 (4.37%) Electronics
8 11 (4.37%) Manufacturing
9 10 (3.97%) Legal
9 10 (3.97%) Local Government
10 9 (3.57%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (3.57%) Organisational Skills
11 6 (2.38%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (1.98%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (1.59%) Digital Healthcare
14 1 (0.40%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 45 (17.86%) Analyst
2 30 (11.90%) Architect
3 22 (8.73%) Lead
4 19 (7.54%) Senior
5 17 (6.75%) Developer
5 17 (6.75%) Support Analyst
6 15 (5.95%) Technical Analyst
6 15 (5.95%) Technical Support
6 15 (5.95%) Technical Support Analyst
7 14 (5.56%) AWS Engineer
8 12 (4.76%) Project Manager
9 10 (3.97%) 2nd Line Support
9 10 (3.97%) Consultant
10 9 (3.57%) Platform Engineer
10 9 (3.57%) Solutions Architect
11 8 (3.17%) Data Architect
11 8 (3.17%) DevOps Engineer
12 7 (2.78%) Business Analyst
12 7 (2.78%) Service Analyst
12 7 (2.78%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (9.92%) FHIR
2 11 (4.37%) .NET
3 9 (3.57%) RESTful
4 7 (2.78%) Kafka
5 6 (2.38%) React
6 5 (1.98%) .NET Core
7 3 (1.19%) Middleware
7 3 (1.19%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (1.19%) REST
7 3 (1.19%) Spring
7 3 (1.19%) Spring Boot
7 3 (1.19%) Spring Cloud
7 3 (1.19%) Vue
8 2 (0.79%) ADO
8 2 (0.79%) Django
8 2 (0.79%) Flask
8 2 (0.79%) Swagger
8 2 (0.79%) Web Services
8 2 (0.79%) XML
8 2 (0.79%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 14 (5.56%) LIMS
2 13 (5.16%) Management Information System
3 11 (4.37%) Cloud Native
4 9 (3.57%) PACS
5 8 (3.17%) Onboarding
6 7 (2.78%) Legacy Systems
6 7 (2.78%) Product Ownership
7 6 (2.38%) CMDB
7 6 (2.38%) Driving Licence
8 5 (1.98%) Security Posture
9 3 (1.19%) Analytical Mindset
9 3 (1.19%) IoT
9 3 (1.19%) Mobile App
9 3 (1.19%) Smartcard
10 2 (0.79%) Client/Server
10 2 (0.79%) Data Protection Act
10 2 (0.79%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.79%) Freedom of Information
10 2 (0.79%) Reference Data
10 2 (0.79%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 34 (13.49%) Windows
2 20 (7.94%) Windows Server
3 10 (3.97%) Linux
4 6 (2.38%) Windows 10
4 6 (2.38%) Windows Server 2012
5 5 (1.98%) Windows Server 2003
6 2 (0.79%) VMS
7 1 (0.40%) Amazon Linux
7 1 (0.40%) Android
7 1 (0.40%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.40%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.40%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.40%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 53 (21.03%) Agile
2 49 (19.44%) Problem-Solving
3 44 (17.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 32 (12.70%) DevOps
4 32 (12.70%) Stakeholder Management
5 28 (11.11%) Infrastructure as Code
6 27 (10.71%) CI/CD
6 27 (10.71%) Digital Transformation Programme
7 26 (10.32%) Business Intelligence
8 23 (9.13%) Continuous Improvement
9 21 (8.33%) Data Governance
10 20 (7.94%) ITIL
11 19 (7.54%) Analytics
11 19 (7.54%) Data Modelling
12 18 (7.14%) Mentoring
12 18 (7.14%) Migration
13 17 (6.75%) Information Governance
13 17 (6.75%) Service Design
14 15 (5.95%) Cybersecurity
14 15 (5.95%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 33 (13.10%) Python
2 21 (8.33%) SQL
3 10 (3.97%) C#
4 9 (3.57%) Bash
5 8 (3.17%) Java
5 8 (3.17%) PL/SQL
6 7 (2.78%) JavaScript
6 7 (2.78%) TypeScript
7 4 (1.59%) C++
8 3 (1.19%) PHP
8 3 (1.19%) PowerShell
8 3 (1.19%) R
9 2 (0.79%) Ruby
9 2 (0.79%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.40%) Bicep
10 1 (0.40%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 1 (0.40%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.40%) Swift
10 1 (0.40%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 23 (9.13%) Degree
2 20 (7.94%) SC Cleared
2 20 (7.94%) Security Cleared
3 11 (4.37%) HND
3 11 (4.37%) Microsoft Certification
4 10 (3.97%) HNC
4 10 (3.97%) MCP
4 10 (3.97%) MCSE
5 9 (3.57%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (2.78%) ECDL
7 6 (2.38%) ITIL Certification
8 5 (1.98%) CISSP
9 4 (1.59%) CISM
9 4 (1.59%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 2 (0.79%) AWS Certification
10 2 (0.79%) CCNP
10 2 (0.79%) Cisco Certification
10 2 (0.79%) ISEB
10 2 (0.79%) ISEB Practitioner
10 2 (0.79%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (8.33%) HL7
2 15 (5.95%) GDPR
3 14 (5.56%) Accessibility
4 13 (5.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 11 (4.37%) Data Quality
6 6 (2.38%) NCSC
6 6 (2.38%) QA
7 5 (1.98%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.98%) NIST
8 4 (1.59%) PMO
8 4 (1.59%) WCAG
9 2 (0.79%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.79%) DICOM
9 2 (0.79%) GRC
9 2 (0.79%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.79%) Section 508
9 2 (0.79%) SNOMED CT
10 1 (0.40%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.40%) SLA
System Software
1 27 (10.71%) Active Directory
2 14 (5.56%) Docker
3 6 (2.38%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.98%) Hyper-V
5 3 (1.19%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.79%) Xen
7 1 (0.40%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 38 (15.08%) Terraform
2 13 (5.16%) Kubernetes
3 8 (3.17%) Grafana
4 5 (1.98%) Prometheus
4 5 (1.98%) SCCM
5 3 (1.19%) Microsoft Intune
6 2 (0.79%) Ansible
6 2 (0.79%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.40%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.40%) Packer
Vendors
1 35 (13.89%) Microsoft
2 15 (5.95%) Oracle
3 12 (4.76%) SAP
4 11 (4.37%) Brio
5 9 (3.57%) Cerner
6 8 (3.17%) Cisco
6 8 (3.17%) Google
7 7 (2.78%) VMware
8 6 (2.38%) Databricks
9 5 (1.98%) Citrix
10 4 (1.59%) MuleSoft
10 4 (1.59%) Splunk
11 3 (1.19%) Juniper
11 3 (1.19%) OneLogin
12 2 (0.79%) Aruba
12 2 (0.79%) Cribl.io
12 2 (0.79%) Fortinet
12 2 (0.79%) MEDITECH
12 2 (0.79%) NEC
12 2 (0.79%) Palantir