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 8 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 324 343 306
Rank change year-on-year +19 -37 -74
Contract jobs citing NHS 332 180 231
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.72% 0.64% 0.72%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.09% 1.77% 2.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 240 124 140
10th Percentile £221 £161 £164
25th Percentile £325 £325 £259
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £450 £350
Median % change year-on-year +2.17% +28.57% +9.38%
75th Percentile £513 £550 £519
90th Percentile £588 £600 £639
UK median daily rate £450 £425 £350
% change year-on-year +5.88% +21.43% +14.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 9 16
10th Percentile £14.05 - £15.92
25th Percentile £15.34 £15.50 £17.59
Median hourly rate £17.10 £21.30 £22.10
Median % change year-on-year -19.72% -3.62% +10.50%
75th Percentile £26.72 £30.16 £25.49
90th Percentile £33.60 £31.14 £31.94
UK median hourly rate £17.00 £21.28 £23.60
% change year-on-year -20.09% -9.85% +18.00%

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 15,917 10,192 9,983
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.41% 36.42% 30.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,566 6,374 6,025
10th Percentile £325 £300 £294
25th Percentile £425 £412 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £543
Median % change year-on-year - -3.23% -1.36%
75th Percentile £644 £645 £675
90th Percentile £750 £763 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £518 £526
% change year-on-year +1.32% -1.49% -4.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,171 530 363
10th Percentile £13.81 £15.13 £15.92
25th Percentile £17.48 £18.87 £24.34
Median hourly rate £33.99 £30.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +13.30% -45.45% +19.49%
75th Percentile £67.86 £56.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.62 £73.75 £75.16
UK median hourly rate £36.00 £27.54 £47.50
% change year-on-year +30.74% -42.03% +6.15%

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 8 October 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 8 October 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 8 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 -15 140 £466 +9.53% 366
North of England -9 111 £454 -9.20% 281
Yorkshire +2 82 £488 -2.50% 127
North West -29 27 £350 -22.22% 121
East of England -23 26 £180 -29.31% 110
South East -52 25 £444 +18.33% 147
Midlands -42 13 £400 +6.67% 156
West Midlands -39 9 £434 +24.00% 103
South West -34 6 £474 +113.40% 79
East Midlands -10 4 £350 -12.50% 53
North East -39 2 - - 34
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 6 (1.81%) Palantir Foundry
2 4 (1.20%) Confluence
3 2 (0.60%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.30%) nginx
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 9 (2.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (2.11%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.90%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.60%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.30%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (1.81%) SystmOne
2 3 (0.90%) Oracle Assets
2 3 (0.90%) Oracle General Ledger
2 3 (0.90%) Oracle Payables
2 3 (0.90%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.60%) Cerner Millennium
3 2 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.60%) Lorenzo
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Cash Management
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Financials
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 1 (0.30%) SAP HCM
4 1 (0.30%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.30%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 49 (14.76%) AWS
2 41 (12.35%) Azure
3 24 (7.23%) Serverless
4 19 (5.72%) Amazon S3
4 19 (5.72%) Power Platform
5 15 (4.52%) AWS Lambda
6 14 (4.22%) GitHub
6 14 (4.22%) Microsoft 365
7 12 (3.61%) Amazon EC2
8 11 (3.31%) GitHub Actions
9 8 (2.41%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (2.11%) Azure Key Vault
10 7 (2.11%) Entra ID
11 6 (1.81%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 6 (1.81%) Azure Data Factory
11 6 (1.81%) Azure Functions
11 6 (1.81%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 5 (1.51%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 4 (1.20%) Power Automate
14 3 (0.90%) AWS Step Functions
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.71%) Firewall
2 8 (2.41%) LAN
2 8 (2.41%) WAN
3 7 (2.11%) Network Security
4 5 (1.51%) Wireless
5 4 (1.20%) DNS
5 4 (1.20%) NGFW
5 4 (1.20%) Structured Cabling
6 1 (0.30%) DHCP
6 1 (0.30%) HTTP
6 1 (0.30%) TCP/IP
6 1 (0.30%) VLAN
6 1 (0.30%) VPN
6 1 (0.30%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (5.72%) Electronic Patient Records
2 16 (4.82%) Power BI
3 15 (4.52%) Data Warehouse
4 9 (2.71%) Amazon RDS
5 7 (2.11%) SQL Server
6 5 (1.51%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.90%) Amazon Athena
7 3 (0.90%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.90%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.90%) Tableau
8 2 (0.60%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.60%) Delta Lake
8 2 (0.60%) DocumentDB
8 2 (0.60%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 2 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
8 2 (0.60%) Power Query
9 1 (0.30%) BusinessObjects
9 1 (0.30%) Redis
9 1 (0.30%) Semantic Layer
9 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 10 (3.01%) Git
2 6 (1.81%) JIRA
3 4 (1.20%) GitLab
3 4 (1.20%) 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
1 126 (37.95%) Public Sector
2 124 (37.35%) Social Skills
3 35 (10.54%) Finance
4 27 (8.13%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (3.92%) Influencing Skills
6 12 (3.61%) Digital Health
6 12 (3.61%) Local Government
6 12 (3.61%) Organisational Skills
7 7 (2.11%) Digital Healthcare
7 7 (2.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 6 (1.81%) Pharmaceutical
9 5 (1.51%) General Ledger
10 4 (1.20%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (1.20%) Health Technology
10 4 (1.20%) Legal
11 3 (0.90%) Advertising
11 3 (0.90%) Banking
11 3 (0.90%) Billing
11 3 (0.90%) Marketing
11 3 (0.90%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 41 (12.35%) Developer
2 36 (10.84%) Senior
3 34 (10.24%) Analyst
4 21 (6.33%) Project Manager
5 20 (6.02%) Designer
6 18 (5.42%) Architect
6 18 (5.42%) Lead
7 15 (4.52%) Business Analyst
8 12 (3.61%) Administrator
8 12 (3.61%) Data Engineer
8 12 (3.61%) Service Designer
9 11 (3.31%) Consultant
10 10 (3.01%) User Researcher
11 9 (2.71%) Delivery Manager
12 7 (2.11%) Full-Stack Developer
12 7 (2.11%) Network Engineer
12 7 (2.11%) Python Developer
12 7 (2.11%) Service Analyst
12 7 (2.11%) ServiceNow Developer
12 7 (2.11%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (9.64%) Terraform
2 15 (4.52%) FHIR
3 14 (4.22%) REST
4 12 (3.61%) RESTful
5 10 (3.01%) PySpark
6 8 (2.41%) React
7 7 (2.11%) CSS
7 7 (2.11%) HTML
8 6 (1.81%) OpenID
9 5 (1.51%) .NET
9 5 (1.51%) Node.js
9 5 (1.51%) Playwright
9 5 (1.51%) Vue
10 4 (1.20%) ARM Templates
10 4 (1.20%) CSS3
10 4 (1.20%) Django
10 4 (1.20%) HTML5
10 4 (1.20%) JSON
10 4 (1.20%) OAuth
10 4 (1.20%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.63%) Cloud Native
2 19 (5.72%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.61%) Onboarding
4 11 (3.31%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.71%) Data Structures
6 7 (2.11%) Legacy Systems
7 6 (1.81%) Driving Licence
7 6 (1.81%) Security Posture
8 5 (1.51%) IoT
8 5 (1.51%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.90%) Cloud Security Posture
9 3 (0.90%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (0.90%) Freedom of Information
9 3 (0.90%) Life Science
9 3 (0.90%) Online Banking
9 3 (0.90%) Self-Motivation
10 2 (0.60%) CMDB
10 2 (0.60%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.60%) Housing Association
10 2 (0.60%) LIMS
Operating Systems
1 10 (3.01%) Windows
2 5 (1.51%) Windows 10
3 4 (1.20%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.60%) Android
4 2 (0.60%) Apple iOS
4 2 (0.60%) 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 99 (29.82%) Agile
2 90 (27.11%) Stakeholder Management
3 54 (16.27%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 53 (15.96%) Problem-Solving
5 51 (15.36%) CI/CD
6 41 (12.35%) Continuous Improvement
7 37 (11.14%) AI
8 36 (10.84%) Infrastructure as Code
9 35 (10.54%) Digital Transformation Programme
10 34 (10.24%) Analytics
11 33 (9.94%) Decision-Making
12 32 (9.64%) DevOps
13 31 (9.34%) Migration
14 28 (8.43%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 27 (8.13%) Data Protection
15 27 (8.13%) Validation
16 26 (7.83%) Information Governance
16 26 (7.83%) User Research
17 25 (7.53%) Workshop Facilitation
18 24 (7.23%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 33 (9.94%) SQL
2 32 (9.64%) Python
3 15 (4.52%) TypeScript
4 14 (4.22%) JavaScript
5 7 (2.11%) C#
6 6 (1.81%) Bicep
6 6 (1.81%) Java
7 5 (1.51%) PowerShell
8 3 (0.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 3 (0.90%) T-SQL
9 2 (0.60%) Bash
10 1 (0.30%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.30%) R
Qualifications
1 26 (7.83%) Security Cleared
2 21 (6.33%) SC Cleared
3 17 (5.12%) BPSS Clearance
4 7 (2.11%) Degree
5 4 (1.20%) AWS Certification
5 4 (1.20%) Cisco Certification
5 4 (1.20%) JNCIP
5 4 (1.20%) JNCIS
5 4 (1.20%) Microsoft Certification
6 3 (0.90%) AAT
6 3 (0.90%) ACCA
6 3 (0.90%) Azure Certification
6 3 (0.90%) CIMA
7 2 (0.60%) (ISC)2 CCSP
7 2 (0.60%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 2 (0.60%) CCNA
7 2 (0.60%) CISSP
8 1 (0.30%) CISM
8 1 (0.30%) Master's Degree
8 1 (0.30%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (7.23%) Accessibility
2 23 (6.93%) QA
3 22 (6.63%) Data Quality
4 20 (6.02%) GDPR
5 14 (4.22%) WCAG
6 13 (3.92%) HL7
7 11 (3.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (1.51%) PMO
9 4 (1.20%) Actionable Recommendations
9 4 (1.20%) NCSC
10 3 (0.90%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.90%) SNOMED CT
11 2 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.60%) IEC 62304
11 2 (0.60%) ISO 13485
12 1 (0.30%) GRC
12 1 (0.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.30%) NIST
12 1 (0.30%) P3O
12 1 (0.30%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 13 (3.92%) Docker
2 10 (3.01%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.60%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.30%) Firmware
4 1 (0.30%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.30%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (3.61%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.60%) Grafana
2 2 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.30%) Ansible
3 1 (0.30%) Puppet
Vendors
1 51 (15.36%) Microsoft
2 12 (3.61%) Palantir
3 11 (3.31%) Oracle
3 11 (3.31%) ServiceNow
4 10 (3.01%) Brio
5 8 (2.41%) Cerner
5 8 (2.41%) Databricks
6 6 (1.81%) Foundry
7 5 (1.51%) VMware
8 4 (1.20%) Cisco
8 4 (1.20%) Juniper
8 4 (1.20%) Palo Alto
9 3 (0.90%) Adobe
9 3 (0.90%) Citrix
10 2 (0.60%) BMC
10 2 (0.60%) Google
10 2 (0.60%) MEDITECH
10 2 (0.60%) Meraki
10 2 (0.60%) SAP
10 2 (0.60%) Zscaler
1,155 NHS jobs in England