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 19 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 19 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 331 | 330 | 299 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -1 | -31 | -77 |
| Contract jobs citing NHS | 357 | 195 | 236 |
| As % of all contract jobs in England | 0.77% | 0.69% | 0.74% |
| As % of the Miscellaneous category | 2.20% | 1.90% | 2.37% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 252 | 128 | 143 |
| 10th Percentile | £222 | £163 | £159 |
| 25th Percentile | £325 | £337 | £267 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £454 | £450 | £350 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +0.89% | +28.57% | +7.69% |
| 75th Percentile | £511 | £550 | £512 |
| 90th Percentile | £575 | £608 | £594 |
| UK median daily rate | £450 | £425 | £350 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.88% | +21.43% | +13.64% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 43 | 15 | 15 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.15 | £9.80 | £16.60 |
| 25th Percentile | £15.56 | £15.50 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £20.00 | £16.00 | £23.60 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +25.00% | -32.20% | +18.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £27.74 | £25.03 | £27.81 |
| 90th Percentile | £35.52 | £30.51 | £33.75 |
| UK median hourly rate | £20.00 | £16.00 | £23.99 |
| % change year-on-year | +25.00% | -33.31% | +21.47% |
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.
| 6 months to 19 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills | 16,219 | 10,281 | 9,941 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England | 34.91% | 36.54% | 31.22% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 9,739 | 6,420 | 5,970 |
| 10th Percentile | £320 | £298 | £297 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £410 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £525 | £550 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | -4.55% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £644 | £640 | £675 |
| 90th Percentile | £750 | £750 | £813 |
| UK median daily rate | £525 | £515 | £533 |
| % change year-on-year | +1.94% | -3.38% | -3.09% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1,253 | 553 | 339 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.69 | £14.46 | £17.22 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.48 | £18.50 | £25.20 |
| Median hourly rate | £33.98 | £27.53 | £52.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +23.43% | -47.56% | +16.12% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.50 | £52.50 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £73.60 | £75.16 |
| UK median hourly rate | £35.82 | £26.64 | £46.18 |
| % change year-on-year | +34.46% | -42.31% | +3.78% |
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 Daily Rate Trend in England
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 19 October 2026.
NHS Hourly Rate Trend in England
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 19 October 2026.
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 19 October 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 | -18 | 149 | £466 | +9.53% | 230 |
| North of England | -18 | 114 | £450 | -10.00% | 112 |
| Yorkshire | +8 | 85 | £475 | -5.00% | 48 |
| South East | -39 | 34 | £468 | +16.88% | 56 |
| East of England | -23 | 28 | £183 | -41.97% | 34 |
| North West | -37 | 27 | £363 | -19.44% | 54 |
| Midlands | -33 | 15 | £400 | +3.23% | 62 |
| West Midlands | -45 | 10 | £400 | +6.67% | 37 |
| South West | -28 | 6 | £474 | +113.40% | 31 |
| East Midlands | -11 | 5 | £363 | -6.45% | 25 |
| North East | -42 | 2 | - | - | 11 |
| NHS UK |
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NHS Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Miscellaneous
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloud Native | 6.2% | 22 |
| 2 | Product Ownership | 5.6% | 20 |
| 3 | Management Information System | 3.6% | 13 |
| 3 | Onboarding | 3.6% | 13 |
| 5 | Data Structures | 2.5% | 9 |
| 6 | Legacy Systems | 2.0% | 7 |
| 7 | Driving Licence | 1.7% | 6 |
| 7 | Mobile App | 1.7% | 6 |
| 9 | Data Protection Act | 1.4% | 5 |
| 9 | IoT | 1.4% | 5 |
| 9 | Life Science | 1.4% | 5 |
| 9 | Security Posture | 1.4% | 5 |
| 13 | Freedom of Information | 1.1% | 4 |
| 13 | Self-Motivation | 1.1% | 4 |
| 15 | Cloud Security Posture | 0.8% | 3 |
| 15 | Distributed Systems | 0.8% | 3 |
| 15 | Housing Association | 0.8% | 3 |
| 15 | Online Banking | 0.8% | 3 |
| 19 | Analytical Mindset | 0.6% | 2 |
| 19 | CMDB | 0.6% | 2 |