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 28 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Sep 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 329 343 316
Rank change year-on-year +14 -27 -91
Contract jobs citing NHS 338 175 230
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.73% 0.63% 0.71%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.15% 1.75% 2.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 248 120 135
10th Percentile £219 £160 £165
25th Percentile £322 £322 £275
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £457 £455 £350
Median % change year-on-year +0.38% +30.00% +8.62%
75th Percentile £513 £550 £525
90th Percentile £588 £600 £650
UK median daily rate £450 £425 £350
% change year-on-year +5.88% +21.43% +12.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 8 18
10th Percentile £14.59 £15.50 £15.40
25th Percentile £17.00 £19.81 £16.32
Median hourly rate £20.00 £24.40 £21.59
Median % change year-on-year -18.03% +13.02% +7.95%
75th Percentile £30.83 £30.31 £24.04
90th Percentile £38.48 £31.34 £26.88
UK median hourly rate £20.00 £21.30 £21.80
% change year-on-year -6.10% -2.29% +10.38%

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 15,715 10,023 10,096
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.06% 36.13% 30.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,478 6,288 6,128
10th Percentile £325 £300 £294
25th Percentile £425 £412 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £638 £650 £675
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £519 £538
% change year-on-year +1.25% -3.53% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,100 511 386
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.25 £15.50
25th Percentile £17.85 £18.87 £24.18
Median hourly rate £35.11 £30.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +17.03% -47.69% +25.00%
75th Percentile £67.89 £56.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £82.43 £73.75 £75.16
UK median hourly rate £36.00 £29.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year +24.14% -42.00% +12.36%

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 28 September 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 28 September 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 28 September 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 -1 148 £470 +10.65% 310
North of England -14 111 £454 -9.20% 243
Yorkshire -1 83 £481 -3.75% 117
East of England -9 26 £160 -37.16% 94
North West -44 26 £350 -11.39% 100
South East -53 20 £425 +21.43% 135
Midlands -34 15 £450 +20.00% 136
West Midlands -38 11 £459 +31.14% 83
South West -33 6 £474 +113.40% 101
East Midlands -13 4 £350 -12.50% 53
North East -37 2 - - 31
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 (2.96%) Palantir Foundry
2 3 (0.89%) Confluence
2 3 (0.89%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.30%) nginx
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 7 (2.07%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (2.07%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.89%) Spreadsheet
3 2 (0.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.30%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 4 (1.18%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.59%) Cerner Millennium
2 2 (0.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.59%) Lorenzo
2 2 (0.59%) Oracle Assets
2 2 (0.59%) Oracle General Ledger
2 2 (0.59%) Oracle Payables
2 2 (0.59%) Oracle Receivables
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 1 (0.30%) SAP HCM
3 1 (0.30%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.30%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 55 (16.27%) AWS
2 42 (12.43%) Azure
3 27 (7.99%) Serverless
4 21 (6.21%) Amazon S3
5 19 (5.62%) Power Platform
6 18 (5.33%) AWS Lambda
7 14 (4.14%) Microsoft 365
8 13 (3.85%) GitHub
9 12 (3.55%) Amazon EC2
10 10 (2.96%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (2.07%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (2.07%) Entra ID
12 6 (1.78%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 6 (1.78%) Azure Data Factory
12 6 (1.78%) Azure Functions
12 6 (1.78%) Azure Key Vault
12 6 (1.78%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 5 (1.48%) Adobe Analytics
13 5 (1.48%) AWS Step Functions
13 5 (1.48%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.37%) Firewall
1 8 (2.37%) LAN
1 8 (2.37%) WAN
2 6 (1.78%) Network Security
3 4 (1.18%) NGFW
3 4 (1.18%) Structured Cabling
3 4 (1.18%) Wireless
4 3 (0.89%) DNS
5 1 (0.30%) DHCP
5 1 (0.30%) HTTP
5 1 (0.30%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.30%) VPN
5 1 (0.30%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (5.62%) Electronic Patient Records
2 17 (5.03%) Data Warehouse
3 16 (4.73%) Power BI
4 10 (2.96%) Amazon RDS
5 9 (2.66%) SQL Server
6 7 (2.07%) DynamoDB
7 6 (1.78%) Amazon Athena
8 4 (1.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 3 (0.89%) BusinessObjects
9 3 (0.89%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.89%) OLAP
9 3 (0.89%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.89%) Tableau
10 2 (0.59%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.59%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.59%) Delta Lake
10 2 (0.59%) DocumentDB
10 2 (0.59%) Oracle BI Publisher
10 2 (0.59%) Oracle Reports
11 1 (0.30%) Data Mart
Development Applications
1 9 (2.66%) Git
2 5 (1.48%) JIRA
3 4 (1.18%) GitLab
3 4 (1.18%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.30%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.30%) JMeter
4 1 (0.30%) Postman
4 1 (0.30%) Rational Rhapsody
4 1 (0.30%) Selenium
4 1 (0.30%) SonarQube
General
1 130 (38.46%) Public Sector
2 124 (36.69%) Social Skills
3 28 (8.28%) Analytical Skills
3 28 (8.28%) Finance
4 13 (3.85%) Local Government
5 11 (3.25%) Influencing Skills
6 10 (2.96%) Digital Health
7 9 (2.66%) Organisational Skills
8 7 (2.07%) Digital Healthcare
8 7 (2.07%) Pharmaceutical
9 4 (1.18%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (1.18%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 3 (0.89%) Billing
10 3 (0.89%) Health Technology
10 3 (0.89%) Law
10 3 (0.89%) Legal
10 3 (0.89%) Marketing
10 3 (0.89%) Presentation Skills
10 3 (0.89%) Social Housing
11 2 (0.59%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 41 (12.13%) Developer
2 37 (10.95%) Senior
3 36 (10.65%) Analyst
4 26 (7.69%) Architect
5 19 (5.62%) Lead
5 19 (5.62%) Project Manager
6 18 (5.33%) Data Engineer
6 18 (5.33%) Designer
7 15 (4.44%) Business Analyst
8 11 (3.25%) Service Designer
9 10 (2.96%) Consultant
9 10 (2.96%) Data Architect
9 10 (2.96%) User Researcher
10 9 (2.66%) Administrator
10 9 (2.66%) Delivery Manager
11 8 (2.37%) Python Developer
12 7 (2.07%) Data Warehouse Developer
12 7 (2.07%) NHS Project Manager
12 7 (2.07%) Performance Analyst
12 7 (2.07%) Service Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (9.47%) Terraform
2 16 (4.73%) FHIR
3 13 (3.85%) REST
4 11 (3.25%) PySpark
5 10 (2.96%) RESTful
6 8 (2.37%) React
7 7 (2.07%) Node.js
8 6 (1.78%) CSS
8 6 (1.78%) HTML
9 5 (1.48%) OpenID
9 5 (1.48%) Vue
10 4 (1.18%) .NET
10 4 (1.18%) ARM Templates
10 4 (1.18%) Django
10 4 (1.18%) JSON
10 4 (1.18%) OAuth
10 4 (1.18%) OAuth2
10 4 (1.18%) Playwright
11 3 (0.89%) HTML5
11 3 (0.89%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.51%) Cloud Native
2 19 (5.62%) Product Ownership
3 13 (3.85%) Onboarding
4 10 (2.96%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.66%) Data Structures
6 7 (2.07%) Legacy Systems
7 6 (1.78%) Driving Licence
7 6 (1.78%) Security Posture
8 5 (1.48%) IoT
9 4 (1.18%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.18%) Mobile App
10 3 (0.89%) Cloud Security Posture
10 3 (0.89%) Freedom of Information
10 3 (0.89%) LIMS
11 2 (0.59%) Analytical Mindset
11 2 (0.59%) CMDB
11 2 (0.59%) Distributed Systems
11 2 (0.59%) Enterprise Software
11 2 (0.59%) Greenfield Project
11 2 (0.59%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 10 (2.96%) Windows
2 5 (1.48%) Windows 10
3 4 (1.18%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.59%) Android
4 2 (0.59%) Apple iOS
4 2 (0.59%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.30%) CentOS
5 1 (0.30%) Linux
5 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.30%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 103 (30.47%) Agile
2 89 (26.33%) Stakeholder Management
3 53 (15.68%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 50 (14.79%) CI/CD
4 50 (14.79%) Problem-Solving
5 44 (13.02%) Continuous Improvement
6 39 (11.54%) Decision-Making
7 37 (10.95%) AI
7 37 (10.95%) Analytics
7 37 (10.95%) Infrastructure as Code
8 35 (10.36%) DevOps
9 32 (9.47%) Digital Transformation Programme
10 31 (9.17%) Migration
11 29 (8.58%) Data Protection
11 29 (8.58%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
12 28 (8.28%) Information Governance
12 28 (8.28%) Validation
13 26 (7.69%) Workshop Facilitation
14 23 (6.80%) Data Pipeline
14 23 (6.80%) User Research
Programming Languages
1 37 (10.95%) SQL
2 34 (10.06%) Python
3 15 (4.44%) JavaScript
3 15 (4.44%) TypeScript
4 7 (2.07%) Java
5 6 (1.78%) C#
6 5 (1.48%) Bicep
6 5 (1.48%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.18%) T-SQL
8 2 (0.59%) Bash
8 2 (0.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.30%) R
Qualifications
1 26 (7.69%) Security Cleared
2 20 (5.92%) SC Cleared
3 18 (5.33%) BPSS Clearance
4 9 (2.66%) Degree
5 4 (1.18%) AWS Certification
5 4 (1.18%) JNCIP
5 4 (1.18%) JNCIS
5 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Certification
6 3 (0.89%) Azure Certification
6 3 (0.89%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (0.59%) (ISC)2 CCSP
7 2 (0.59%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 2 (0.59%) CISSP
8 1 (0.30%) AAT
8 1 (0.30%) ACCA
8 1 (0.30%) CRISC
8 1 (0.30%) DV Cleared
8 1 (0.30%) Master's Degree
8 1 (0.30%) NVQ Level 3
8 1 (0.30%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (6.80%) Data Quality
2 22 (6.51%) Accessibility
2 22 (6.51%) QA
3 21 (6.21%) GDPR
4 15 (4.44%) HL7
5 14 (4.14%) WCAG
6 11 (3.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 4 (1.18%) Actionable Recommendations
7 4 (1.18%) NCSC
7 4 (1.18%) PMO
8 3 (0.89%) IEC 62304
8 3 (0.89%) SNOMED CT
9 2 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.59%) ISO 13485
10 1 (0.30%) DICOM
10 1 (0.30%) GRC
10 1 (0.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.30%) NIST
10 1 (0.30%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 13 (3.85%) Docker
2 10 (2.96%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.30%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.30%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (3.55%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.59%) Grafana
2 2 (0.59%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.30%) Ansible
3 1 (0.30%) Puppet
Vendors
1 47 (13.91%) Microsoft
2 16 (4.73%) Palantir
3 14 (4.14%) Foundry
4 11 (3.25%) Databricks
4 11 (3.25%) ServiceNow
5 10 (2.96%) Oracle
6 8 (2.37%) Cerner
7 7 (2.07%) Brio
8 5 (1.48%) Adobe
8 5 (1.48%) Splunk
8 5 (1.48%) VMware
9 4 (1.18%) Juniper
9 4 (1.18%) Palo Alto
10 3 (0.89%) Cisco
10 3 (0.89%) Citrix
10 3 (0.89%) Google
11 2 (0.59%) Blue Prism
11 2 (0.59%) BMC
11 2 (0.59%) Dynatrace
11 2 (0.59%) SAP
1,010 NHS jobs in England