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 11 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 273 273 204
Rank change year-on-year 0 -69 -22
Contract jobs citing NHS 331 213 448
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.91% 0.86% 1.18%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.72% 2.56% 3.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 250 134 307
10th Percentile £242 £163 £162
25th Percentile £338 £206 £202
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £438 £356 £275
Median % change year-on-year +22.81% +29.55% -5.17%
75th Percentile £525 £488 £400
90th Percentile £600 £563 £538
UK median daily rate £438 £375 £290
% change year-on-year +16.67% +29.31% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 23 78
10th Percentile £6.00 £13.51 £11.42
25th Percentile £15.50 £16.67 £12.86
Median hourly rate £17.50 £24.18 £16.46
Median % change year-on-year -27.63% +46.90% -24.22%
75th Percentile £23.75 £33.75 £25.83
90th Percentile £28.89 - £38.46
UK median hourly rate £16.00 £24.18 £15.99
% change year-on-year -33.83% +51.27% -23.92%

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 12,186 8,309 11,775
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.57% 33.66% 30.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,722 5,318 7,675
10th Percentile £295 £287 £256
25th Percentile £412 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £548 £549
Median % change year-on-year -6.52% -0.14% -4.52%
75th Percentile £627 £673 £663
90th Percentile £750 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.71% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 604 284 804
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.81 £12.78
25th Percentile £19.00 £22.66 £15.75
Median hourly rate £36.16 £33.50 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +7.94% +11.67% +33.33%
75th Percentile £67.25 £67.06 £57.50
90th Percentile £83.53 £83.35 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £35.00 £32.50 £30.00
% change year-on-year +7.69% +8.33% +33.42%

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 11 March 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 11 March 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 11 March 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 -11 108 £438 +20.69% 50
North of England -33 91 £500 +25.00% 80
Yorkshire -25 73 £500 +5.26% 56
East of England +31 62 £278 +2.78% 15
South East -54 26 £400 +44.14% 38
Midlands -71 18 £400 -20.00% 52
West Midlands -62 15 £450 -5.26% 29
North West -47 13 £450 +28.57% 26
South West -13 8 £400 +33.33% 31
North East - 5 £400 - 1
East Midlands -34 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 10 (3.02%) SharePoint
2 7 (2.11%) Confluence
3 3 (0.91%) CMS
4 2 (0.60%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.30%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.30%) Palantir Foundry
5 1 (0.30%) Umbraco
Applications
1 17 (5.14%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (3.02%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.21%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.21%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.60%) Trello
Business Applications
1 13 (3.93%) SystmOne
2 3 (0.91%) Lorenzo
3 2 (0.60%) Cerner Millennium
3 2 (0.60%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.60%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.30%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 44 (13.29%) Azure
2 41 (12.39%) AWS
3 17 (5.14%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (4.83%) Serverless
5 15 (4.53%) GitHub
6 14 (4.23%) Azure DevOps
7 12 (3.63%) AWS Lambda
8 11 (3.32%) Amazon S3
9 10 (3.02%) GCP
10 9 (2.72%) GitHub Actions
10 9 (2.72%) Power Platform
11 7 (2.11%) Amazon ECS
11 7 (2.11%) Entra ID
12 6 (1.81%) Amazon EC2
13 5 (1.51%) AWS CloudFormation
14 3 (0.91%) Amazon EKS
14 3 (0.91%) Azure Functions
14 3 (0.91%) Microsoft Purview
14 3 (0.91%) Miro
14 3 (0.91%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 13 (3.93%) LAN
1 13 (3.93%) TCP/IP
1 13 (3.93%) WAN
2 12 (3.63%) DNS
3 10 (3.02%) Firewall
4 9 (2.72%) Wireless
5 8 (2.42%) VPN
6 6 (1.81%) Structured Cabling
7 4 (1.21%) Network Security
8 3 (0.91%) BGP
8 3 (0.91%) DHCP
8 3 (0.91%) Junos
8 3 (0.91%) OSPF
8 3 (0.91%) VLAN
9 1 (0.30%) Ethernet VPN
9 1 (0.30%) Internet
9 1 (0.30%) NGN
9 1 (0.30%) RS-232
9 1 (0.30%) SD-WAN
9 1 (0.30%) X.400
Database & Business Intelligence
1 54 (16.31%) Electronic Patient Records
2 11 (3.32%) SQL Server
3 10 (3.02%) Data Warehouse
4 7 (2.11%) Power BI
5 5 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (1.51%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (1.21%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.91%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.91%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.91%) Geospatial Data
7 3 (0.91%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.91%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 2 (0.60%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.60%) EDMS
8 2 (0.60%) ImageNet
8 2 (0.60%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.60%) QlikView
8 2 (0.60%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.60%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 2 (0.60%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (2.42%) Jenkins
1 8 (2.42%) JIRA
2 7 (2.11%) GitLab
3 3 (0.91%) CircleCI
4 2 (0.60%) Android Studio
4 2 (0.60%) ERwin
4 2 (0.60%) Git
4 2 (0.60%) MSI
5 1 (0.30%) Appium
5 1 (0.30%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.30%) Gradle
5 1 (0.30%) JUnit
5 1 (0.30%) Postman
5 1 (0.30%) Rational Rhapsody
5 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.30%) Team Foundation Server
5 1 (0.30%) Xcode
General
1 122 (36.86%) Public Sector
2 114 (34.44%) Social Skills
3 33 (9.97%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (8.16%) Finance
4 27 (8.16%) Organisational Skills
5 19 (5.74%) Digital Health
5 19 (5.74%) Documentation Skills
6 14 (4.23%) Legal
6 14 (4.23%) Telecoms
7 13 (3.93%) Health Technology
7 13 (3.93%) Marketing
8 12 (3.63%) Electronics
8 12 (3.63%) Manufacturing
9 9 (2.72%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (2.42%) Local Government
11 6 (1.81%) Digital Healthcare
12 4 (1.21%) Publishing
13 2 (0.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 2 (0.60%) Pharmaceutical
14 1 (0.30%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 54 (16.31%) Analyst
2 33 (9.97%) Lead
3 27 (8.16%) Senior
4 25 (7.55%) Developer
5 24 (7.25%) Project Manager
6 22 (6.65%) Business Analyst
7 19 (5.74%) Architect
8 18 (5.44%) Consultant
9 15 (4.53%) Technical Analyst
9 15 (4.53%) Technical Support
9 15 (4.53%) Technical Support Analyst
10 14 (4.23%) AWS Engineer
11 13 (3.93%) 2nd Line Support
12 12 (3.63%) Support Analyst
13 11 (3.32%) NHS Business Analyst
13 11 (3.32%) NHS Project Manager
13 11 (3.32%) User Researcher
14 10 (3.02%) Administrator
14 10 (3.02%) Designer
15 9 (2.72%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (9.67%) FHIR
2 15 (4.53%) .NET
3 12 (3.63%) RESTful
4 9 (2.72%) React
5 5 (1.51%) Spring
5 5 (1.51%) Spring Boot
5 5 (1.51%) Vue
6 4 (1.21%) .NET Core
7 3 (0.91%) Django
7 3 (0.91%) FastAPI
7 3 (0.91%) Flask
7 3 (0.91%) GeoJSON
7 3 (0.91%) Kafka
7 3 (0.91%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (0.91%) Spring Cloud
8 2 (0.60%) AngularJS
8 2 (0.60%) Matplotlib
8 2 (0.60%) Node.js
8 2 (0.60%) Oracle Fusion
8 2 (0.60%) Pandas
Miscellaneous
1 17 (5.14%) Management Information System
2 14 (4.23%) Onboarding
3 13 (3.93%) LIMS
3 13 (3.93%) Product Ownership
4 11 (3.32%) Cloud Native
5 9 (2.72%) PACS
6 8 (2.42%) Legacy Systems
7 6 (1.81%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (1.81%) CMDB
7 6 (1.81%) Driving Licence
8 5 (1.51%) Data Structures
9 4 (1.21%) Security Posture
10 3 (0.91%) Freedom of Information
10 3 (0.91%) IoT
10 3 (0.91%) Life Science
11 2 (0.60%) Data Protection Act
11 2 (0.60%) Mobile App
11 2 (0.60%) Reference Data
11 2 (0.60%) Robotics
11 2 (0.60%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 35 (10.57%) Windows
2 18 (5.44%) Windows Server
3 11 (3.32%) Linux
4 5 (1.51%) Windows Server 2003
4 5 (1.51%) Windows Server 2012
5 4 (1.21%) Windows 10
6 2 (0.60%) Android
6 2 (0.60%) VMS
7 1 (0.30%) Amazon Linux
7 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (21.75%) Agile
2 50 (15.11%) Stakeholder Management
3 46 (13.90%) Problem-Solving
4 45 (13.60%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 39 (11.78%) CI/CD
6 35 (10.57%) DevOps
7 32 (9.67%) Analytics
7 32 (9.67%) Information Governance
8 30 (9.06%) Digital Transformation Programme
9 29 (8.76%) Data Governance
9 29 (8.76%) Infrastructure as Code
10 26 (7.85%) Business Intelligence
10 26 (7.85%) Continuous Improvement
11 25 (7.55%) Migration
11 25 (7.55%) User Research
12 24 (7.25%) Project Delivery
13 22 (6.65%) Mentoring
13 22 (6.65%) Programme Management
13 22 (6.65%) Project Management
13 22 (6.65%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 35 (10.57%) Python
2 28 (8.46%) SQL
3 12 (3.63%) TypeScript
4 11 (3.32%) Java
5 9 (2.72%) C#
6 8 (2.42%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.11%) Bash
8 4 (1.21%) PowerShell
9 3 (0.91%) PHP
9 3 (0.91%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.91%) T-SQL
10 2 (0.60%) Ruby
11 1 (0.30%) Bicep
11 1 (0.30%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.30%) Swift
Qualifications
1 28 (8.46%) Degree
2 18 (5.44%) Security Cleared
3 16 (4.83%) SC Cleared
4 14 (4.23%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (2.11%) ECDL
6 6 (1.81%) HND
7 5 (1.51%) HNC
7 5 (1.51%) MCSE
7 5 (1.51%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (1.51%) Microsoft Certified Professional
8 4 (1.21%) ITIL Certification
8 4 (1.21%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.21%) JNCIA
8 4 (1.21%) JNCIP
8 4 (1.21%) JNCIS
9 3 (0.91%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (0.91%) CISM
9 3 (0.91%) CISSP
10 2 (0.60%) ISEB
10 2 (0.60%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (8.76%) HL7
2 20 (6.04%) Data Quality
3 15 (4.53%) Accessibility
4 10 (3.02%) GDPR
4 10 (3.02%) QA
5 9 (2.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 7 (2.11%) PMO
7 6 (1.81%) Cyber Essentials
7 6 (1.81%) NCSC
8 4 (1.21%) NIST
9 2 (0.60%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.60%) GRC
9 2 (0.60%) SNOMED CT
9 2 (0.60%) WCAG
10 1 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.30%) DICOM
10 1 (0.30%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.30%) SLA
10 1 (0.30%) SOC 2
System Software
1 26 (7.85%) Active Directory
2 19 (5.74%) Docker
3 3 (0.91%) Hyper-V
3 3 (0.91%) Virtual Machines
3 3 (0.91%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.60%) Xen
5 1 (0.30%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 30 (9.06%) Terraform
2 20 (6.04%) Kubernetes
3 11 (3.32%) Microsoft Intune
4 6 (1.81%) Grafana
5 4 (1.21%) SCCM
6 3 (0.91%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.60%) Ansible
7 2 (0.60%) Nessus
7 2 (0.60%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.30%) Argo
8 1 (0.30%) Packer
Vendors
1 40 (12.08%) Microsoft
2 15 (4.53%) Oracle
3 12 (3.63%) SAP
4 10 (3.02%) Brio
4 10 (3.02%) Cerner
5 7 (2.11%) Cisco
6 5 (1.51%) Juniper
6 5 (1.51%) Palantir
7 4 (1.21%) Databricks
7 4 (1.21%) Splunk
8 3 (0.91%) VMware
9 2 (0.60%) Aruba
9 2 (0.60%) Cribl.io
9 2 (0.60%) Fortinet
9 2 (0.60%) OneLogin
9 2 (0.60%) Rapid7
9 2 (0.60%) Tenable
10 1 (0.30%) accuRx
10 1 (0.30%) BiZZdesign
10 1 (0.30%) Datix