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 18 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 331 344 305
Rank change year-on-year +13 -39 -92
Contract jobs citing NHS 331 157 238
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.72% 0.57% 0.72%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.16% 1.60% 2.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 260 112 160
10th Percentile £283 £208 £174
25th Percentile £391 £322 £250
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £468 £350
Median % change year-on-year +1.60% +33.57% +9.38%
75th Percentile £538 £541 £507
90th Percentile £602 £593 £609
UK median daily rate £463 £450 £350
% change year-on-year +2.78% +28.57% +12.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 7 21
10th Percentile £19.92 £13.08 £14.17
25th Percentile £26.72 £17.16 £15.50
Median hourly rate £31.47 £26.32 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year +19.55% +38.53% -5.00%
75th Percentile £45.00 £31.73 £25.83
90th Percentile £60.00 £33.98 -
UK median hourly rate £29.09 £28.16 £22.10
% change year-on-year +3.31% +27.42% +15.22%

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 15,334 9,790 10,210
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.52% 35.46% 30.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,401 6,159 6,625
10th Percentile £325 £306 £300
25th Percentile £425 £408 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £638 £650 £684
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 922 498 525
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.48 £12.60
25th Percentile £19.34 £18.87 £18.50
Median hourly rate £42.40 £31.18 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +35.98% -34.36% +11.11%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £85.00 £80.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £29.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year +44.07% -34.44% +11.23%

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 18 August 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 18 August 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 18 August 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 +9 146 £488 +8.33% 180
North of England -23 108 £475 -5.00% 191
Yorkshire -6 82 £500 - 82
North West -34 24 £350 +62.79% 94
South East -75 19 £450 +12.50% 105
East of England -18 12 £223 -1.90% 73
South West -30 12 £546 +33.23% 82
Midlands -47 12 £400 +14.29% 121
West Midlands -42 9 £450 +56.79% 76
East Midlands -17 3 £300 -25.00% 45
North East -38 2 - - 20
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 (3.32%) Palantir Foundry
2 5 (1.51%) Confluence
3 4 (1.21%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.60%) CMS
4 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.30%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.30%) nginx
5 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 3 (0.91%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (0.91%) Microsoft Office
1 3 (0.91%) Spreadsheet
2 2 (0.60%) Trello
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.30%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 4 (1.21%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.60%) Lorenzo
2 2 (0.60%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.30%) Cerner Millennium
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Assets
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Receivables
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 57 (17.22%) AWS
2 49 (14.80%) Azure
3 27 (8.16%) Serverless
4 19 (5.74%) Amazon S3
5 18 (5.44%) AWS Lambda
6 14 (4.23%) GitHub
6 14 (4.23%) Power Platform
7 11 (3.32%) Amazon EC2
7 11 (3.32%) GitHub Actions
8 8 (2.42%) Microsoft 365
9 7 (2.11%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (2.11%) Entra ID
10 6 (1.81%) AWS Step Functions
10 6 (1.81%) Azure Data Factory
10 6 (1.81%) Azure Functions
10 6 (1.81%) Azure Key Vault
11 5 (1.51%) Adobe Analytics
11 5 (1.51%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 5 (1.51%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 4 (1.21%) Amazon SQS
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.42%) Firewall
2 7 (2.11%) LAN
2 7 (2.11%) WAN
3 5 (1.51%) Network Security
3 5 (1.51%) NGFW
4 4 (1.21%) Structured Cabling
4 4 (1.21%) Wireless
5 3 (0.91%) DNS
6 1 (0.30%) DHCP
6 1 (0.30%) TCP/IP
6 1 (0.30%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (10.27%) Electronic Patient Records
2 14 (4.23%) Data Warehouse
3 13 (3.93%) SQL Server
4 11 (3.32%) Power BI
5 8 (2.42%) Amazon RDS
5 8 (2.42%) DynamoDB
6 6 (1.81%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (1.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.91%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.91%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.91%) OLAP
8 3 (0.91%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.60%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.60%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.60%) Delta Lake
9 2 (0.60%) DocumentDB
9 2 (0.60%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.60%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 2 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
9 2 (0.60%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 11 (3.32%) Git
2 6 (1.81%) GitLab
2 6 (1.81%) JIRA
3 3 (0.91%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.60%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.30%) Postman
5 1 (0.30%) Rational Rhapsody
5 1 (0.30%) Selenium
5 1 (0.30%) SonarQube
General
1 135 (40.79%) Public Sector
2 106 (32.02%) Social Skills
3 25 (7.55%) Analytical Skills
4 22 (6.65%) Finance
5 15 (4.53%) Digital Health
6 13 (3.93%) Local Government
7 10 (3.02%) Influencing Skills
8 7 (2.11%) Digital Healthcare
9 6 (1.81%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (1.81%) Pharmaceutical
10 4 (1.21%) Health Technology
10 4 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 4 (1.21%) Law
11 3 (0.91%) Billing
11 3 (0.91%) Legal
11 3 (0.91%) Marketing
11 3 (0.91%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (0.91%) Social Housing
12 2 (0.60%) Military
12 2 (0.60%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 41 (12.39%) Developer
1 41 (12.39%) Senior
2 32 (9.67%) Architect
3 26 (7.85%) Analyst
4 22 (6.65%) Designer
5 20 (6.04%) Data Engineer
5 20 (6.04%) Lead
6 15 (4.53%) Business Analyst
6 15 (4.53%) Project Manager
6 15 (4.53%) User Researcher
7 13 (3.93%) Delivery Manager
8 12 (3.63%) Consultant
9 11 (3.32%) Data Architect
9 11 (3.32%) Service Designer
10 10 (3.02%) Solutions Architect
11 9 (2.72%) Python Developer
12 8 (2.42%) Full-Stack Developer
12 8 (2.42%) Senior User Researcher
13 7 (2.11%) NHS Project Manager
13 7 (2.11%) ServiceNow Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (7.55%) FHIR
2 13 (3.93%) REST
3 11 (3.32%) PySpark
4 10 (3.02%) RESTful
5 9 (2.72%) React
6 6 (1.81%) Node.js
6 6 (1.81%) Vue
7 5 (1.51%) .NET
7 5 (1.51%) CSS
7 5 (1.51%) HTML
7 5 (1.51%) OpenID
7 5 (1.51%) Playwright
8 4 (1.21%) ARM Templates
8 4 (1.21%) JSON
8 4 (1.21%) OAuth
8 4 (1.21%) OAuth2
9 3 (0.91%) Django
9 3 (0.91%) Flask
9 3 (0.91%) XML
10 2 (0.60%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 26 (7.85%) Cloud Native
2 19 (5.74%) Product Ownership
3 17 (5.14%) Onboarding
4 7 (2.11%) Data Structures
4 7 (2.11%) Legacy Systems
5 6 (1.81%) IoT
5 6 (1.81%) Management Information System
5 6 (1.81%) Security Posture
6 5 (1.51%) Driving Licence
7 4 (1.21%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.21%) LIMS
7 4 (1.21%) Mobile App
7 4 (1.21%) Replication
8 3 (0.91%) Cloud Security Posture
8 3 (0.91%) Distributed Systems
9 2 (0.60%) Analytical Mindset
9 2 (0.60%) CMDB
9 2 (0.60%) Distributed Architecture
9 2 (0.60%) Housing Association
9 2 (0.60%) PACS
Operating Systems
1 5 (1.51%) Windows
2 4 (1.21%) Windows Server
3 2 (0.60%) Android
3 2 (0.60%) Apple iOS
3 2 (0.60%) Linux
3 2 (0.60%) Mac OS
4 1 (0.30%) CentOS
4 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.30%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 119 (35.95%) Agile
2 71 (21.45%) Stakeholder Management
3 56 (16.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 52 (15.71%) CI/CD
5 43 (12.99%) Continuous Improvement
6 42 (12.69%) Analytics
7 38 (11.48%) Problem-Solving
8 37 (11.18%) Infrastructure as Code
9 35 (10.57%) Decision-Making
9 35 (10.57%) DevOps
10 34 (10.27%) Migration
11 33 (9.97%) User Research
12 32 (9.67%) AI
12 32 (9.67%) Digital Transformation Programme
13 30 (9.06%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 29 (8.76%) Validation
15 25 (7.55%) Workshop Facilitation
16 24 (7.25%) Service Design
17 23 (6.95%) Data Protection
18 22 (6.65%) Information Governance
Programming Languages
1 37 (11.18%) Python
2 35 (10.57%) SQL
3 16 (4.83%) JavaScript
4 14 (4.23%) TypeScript
5 8 (2.42%) Java
6 7 (2.11%) C#
7 5 (1.51%) Bicep
7 5 (1.51%) PowerShell
7 5 (1.51%) T-SQL
8 2 (0.60%) Bash
9 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.30%) R
Qualifications
1 33 (9.97%) Security Cleared
2 27 (8.16%) SC Cleared
3 19 (5.74%) BPSS Clearance
4 6 (1.81%) Degree
5 5 (1.51%) AWS Certification
6 4 (1.21%) JNCIP
6 4 (1.21%) JNCIS
6 4 (1.21%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (0.91%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 3 (0.91%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.60%) Cisco Certification
8 2 (0.60%) DV Cleared
9 1 (0.30%) CCNA
9 1 (0.30%) CCSP
9 1 (0.30%) CISSP
9 1 (0.30%) CRISC
9 1 (0.30%) DBS Check
9 1 (0.30%) NVQ Level 3
9 1 (0.30%) PMI Certification
9 1 (0.30%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (7.85%) HL7
2 22 (6.65%) Data Quality
3 21 (6.34%) Accessibility
4 20 (6.04%) QA
5 18 (5.44%) GDPR
6 15 (4.53%) WCAG
7 12 (3.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (1.81%) SNOMED CT
9 5 (1.51%) NCSC
9 5 (1.51%) PMO
10 4 (1.21%) DICOM
11 3 (0.91%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.91%) IEC 62304
12 2 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.60%) ISO 13485
13 1 (0.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.30%) NIST
13 1 (0.30%) PCI DSS
13 1 (0.30%) SLA
System Software
1 14 (4.23%) Docker
2 7 (2.11%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.60%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.30%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 34 (10.27%) Terraform
2 12 (3.63%) Kubernetes
3 2 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
4 1 (0.30%) Ansible
4 1 (0.30%) Grafana
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.30%) Puppet
Vendors
1 37 (11.18%) Microsoft
2 18 (5.44%) Palantir
3 15 (4.53%) Foundry
4 11 (3.32%) Databricks
4 11 (3.32%) ServiceNow
5 8 (2.42%) Brio
6 6 (1.81%) Oracle
7 5 (1.51%) Adobe
7 5 (1.51%) VMware
8 4 (1.21%) Google
8 4 (1.21%) Juniper
8 4 (1.21%) Palo Alto
8 4 (1.21%) Splunk
9 3 (0.91%) Cerner
9 3 (0.91%) Cisco
9 3 (0.91%) InterSystems
10 2 (0.60%) Blue Prism
10 2 (0.60%) BMC
10 2 (0.60%) Citrix
10 2 (0.60%) MEDITECH