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 September 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 351 306 221
Rank change year-on-year -45 -85 -25
Contract jobs citing NHS 169 227 477
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 0.61% 0.69% 1.13%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.69% 2.23% 3.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 115 139 388
10th Percentile £160 £174 £170
25th Percentile £313 £276 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £350 £322
Median % change year-on-year +28.57% +8.62% +3.94%
75th Percentile £538 £531 £503
90th Percentile £594 £650 £600
UK median daily rate £425 £350 £313
% change year-on-year +21.43% +12.00% -3.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 15 25
10th Percentile £21.28 £12.82 £12.62
25th Percentile £22.54 £15.71 £16.25
Median hourly rate £28.80 £18.27 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +57.65% -8.65% +13.90%
75th Percentile £30.60 £22.64 £23.00
90th Percentile £31.73 £25.49 £31.05
UK median hourly rate £28.80 £20.59 £19.50
% change year-on-year +39.89% +5.59% +11.05%

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 9,986 10,162 13,778
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 35.91% 30.84% 32.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,279 6,263 9,542
10th Percentile £300 £300 £300
25th Percentile £408 £425 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% - -2.22%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £688
90th Percentile £775 £825 £790
UK median daily rate £515 £540 £550
% change year-on-year -4.63% -1.82% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 498 413 414
10th Percentile £15.48 £15.11 £17.00
25th Percentile £18.87 £23.80 £21.25
Median hourly rate £33.03 £57.35 £45.88
Median % change year-on-year -42.41% +25.00% +81.06%
75th Percentile £58.75 £70.00 £67.69
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.16 £78.00
UK median hourly rate £30.00 £50.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -40.00% +12.36% +71.15%

NHS
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing NHS as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for NHS 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 19 September 2025.

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
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 September 2025. 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 -21 66 £425 +21.43% 90
North of England -37 55 £500 +2.04% 122
Yorkshire -9 39 £500 +1.01% 52
South East +8 15 £350 -31.71% 72
North West -20 15 £395 -24.76% 61
East of England +5 11 £227 -26.12% 30
Midlands -34 6 £375 -37.50% 42
West Midlands -26 4 £350 -25.93% 22
South West +13 2 £222 +15.38% 34
East Midlands -5 2 £400 - 20
North East -8 1 £650 +100.00% 15
NHS
UK

NHS
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 9 (5.33%) Confluence
2 2 (1.18%) Apache
3 1 (0.59%) Apache Airflow
3 1 (0.59%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.59%) SharePoint
Applications
1 4 (2.37%) Spreadsheet
2 3 (1.78%) Trello
3 2 (1.18%) Sketch
4 1 (0.59%) Adobe XD
4 1 (0.59%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.59%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.59%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 2 (1.18%) Cerner Millennium
2 1 (0.59%) Academy Housing
2 1 (0.59%) NEC Housing
Cloud Services
1 24 (14.20%) AWS
1 24 (14.20%) Azure
2 15 (8.88%) Power Platform
3 12 (7.10%) GCP
4 5 (2.96%) Miro
5 4 (2.37%) Amazon S3
5 4 (2.37%) Figma
5 4 (2.37%) GitHub
5 4 (2.37%) Serverless
6 3 (1.78%) Amazon EC2
6 3 (1.78%) AWS CloudFormation
6 3 (1.78%) AWS Lambda
6 3 (1.78%) Azure DevOps
6 3 (1.78%) GitHub Actions
6 3 (1.78%) Microsoft 365
7 2 (1.18%) Cloud Run
7 2 (1.18%) Entra ID
7 2 (1.18%) SaaS
8 1 (0.59%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 1 (0.59%) Azure Machine Learning
Communications & Networking
1 8 (4.73%) LAN
2 5 (2.96%) TCP/IP
3 3 (1.78%) Network Security
4 2 (1.18%) DNS
4 2 (1.18%) Intranet
4 2 (1.18%) VLAN
4 2 (1.18%) VoIP
4 2 (1.18%) WAN
5 1 (0.59%) DHCP
5 1 (0.59%) Firewall
5 1 (0.59%) MPLS
5 1 (0.59%) VPN
5 1 (0.59%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (10.65%) Electronic Patient Records
2 14 (8.28%) Power BI
3 9 (5.33%) SQL Server
4 8 (4.73%) Oracle Database
5 6 (3.55%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (2.37%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (2.37%) Tableau
7 3 (1.78%) Amazon Redshift
7 3 (1.78%) Metadata
7 3 (1.78%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (1.18%) Big Data
8 2 (1.18%) MongoDB
8 2 (1.18%) MySQL
8 2 (1.18%) NoSQL
8 2 (1.18%) Riak
9 1 (0.59%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.59%) Azure SQL Database
9 1 (0.59%) Data Lake
9 1 (0.59%) QlikView
9 1 (0.59%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 9 (5.33%) JIRA
2 5 (2.96%) ERwin
3 3 (1.78%) CircleCI
3 3 (1.78%) Jenkins
4 2 (1.18%) Git
4 2 (1.18%) Selenium
5 1 (0.59%) Postman
5 1 (0.59%) Rational Rhapsody
5 1 (0.59%) SpecFlow
5 1 (0.59%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.59%) Team Foundation Server
5 1 (0.59%) tSQLt
General
1 61 (36.09%) Public Sector
1 61 (36.09%) Social Skills
2 24 (14.20%) Analytical Skills
3 14 (8.28%) Finance
4 11 (6.51%) Digital Health
5 10 (5.92%) Local Government
6 9 (5.33%) Telecoms
7 7 (4.14%) Legal
8 5 (2.96%) Electronics
8 5 (2.96%) Health Technology
8 5 (2.96%) Manufacturing
8 5 (2.96%) Marketing
8 5 (2.96%) Pharmaceutical
9 4 (2.37%) Documentation Skills
10 3 (1.78%) Digital Healthcare
11 2 (1.18%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (1.18%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.59%) Law
12 1 (0.59%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 26 (15.38%) Analyst
1 26 (15.38%) Architect
2 16 (9.47%) Developer
3 14 (8.28%) Senior
4 11 (6.51%) Lead
5 7 (4.14%) Solutions Architect
5 7 (4.14%) Technical Architect
6 6 (3.55%) Consultant
6 6 (3.55%) Data Architect
6 6 (3.55%) Python Developer
6 6 (3.55%) Service Analyst
6 6 (3.55%) Service Desk Analyst
6 6 (3.55%) Support Engineer
7 5 (2.96%) AWS Developer
7 5 (2.96%) Data Analyst
7 5 (2.96%) Project Manager
7 5 (2.96%) Support Analyst
7 5 (2.96%) Technical Analyst
7 5 (2.96%) Technical Support
7 5 (2.96%) Technical Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (7.69%) FHIR
2 7 (4.14%) .NET
3 4 (2.37%) Kafka
4 3 (1.78%) Middleware
4 3 (1.78%) Node.js
4 3 (1.78%) React
4 3 (1.78%) REST
4 3 (1.78%) Web Services
5 2 (1.18%) .NET Core
5 2 (1.18%) Apache NiFi
5 2 (1.18%) CSS
5 2 (1.18%) HTML
5 2 (1.18%) PySpark
5 2 (1.18%) React Native
5 2 (1.18%) XML
6 1 (0.59%) AngularJS
6 1 (0.59%) ASP.NET Web API
6 1 (0.59%) CSS3
6 1 (0.59%) Next.js
6 1 (0.59%) Unity DI Container
Miscellaneous
1 7 (4.14%) Cloud Native
1 7 (4.14%) LIMS
2 5 (2.96%) Management Information System
3 4 (2.37%) PACS
3 4 (2.37%) Product Ownership
4 3 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
4 3 (1.78%) Reference Data
4 3 (1.78%) Security Posture
5 2 (1.18%) Analytical Mindset
5 2 (1.18%) Client/Server
5 2 (1.18%) Cloud Security Posture
5 2 (1.18%) Enterprise Software
5 2 (1.18%) Freedom of Information
5 2 (1.18%) IoT
5 2 (1.18%) Robotics
5 2 (1.18%) Smartcard
6 1 (0.59%) CSOC
6 1 (0.59%) Digital Signage
6 1 (0.59%) Greenfield Project
6 1 (0.59%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 17 (10.06%) Windows
2 8 (4.73%) Windows Server
3 4 (2.37%) Linux
3 4 (2.37%) Windows 10
4 2 (1.18%) Windows Server 2012
5 1 (0.59%) Android
5 1 (0.59%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.59%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
5 1 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 29 (17.16%) Problem-Solving
2 28 (16.57%) Agile
3 23 (13.61%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 20 (11.83%) Business Intelligence
5 18 (10.65%) Migration
6 16 (9.47%) DevOps
7 13 (7.69%) Data Modelling
7 13 (7.69%) Infrastructure as Code
7 13 (7.69%) Stakeholder Management
8 12 (7.10%) Data Governance
9 11 (6.51%) Continuous Improvement
9 11 (6.51%) Data Protection
9 11 (6.51%) Service Design
10 10 (5.92%) Digital Transformation Programme
10 10 (5.92%) Risk Management
10 10 (5.92%) Roadmaps
10 10 (5.92%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
11 9 (5.33%) Data Integration
11 9 (5.33%) Scrum
11 9 (5.33%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 22 (13.02%) SQL
2 17 (10.06%) Python
3 6 (3.55%) C#
3 6 (3.55%) PL/SQL
4 4 (2.37%) C++
5 3 (1.78%) Bash
5 3 (1.78%) R
5 3 (1.78%) T-SQL
5 3 (1.78%) TypeScript
6 2 (1.18%) Bicep
6 2 (1.18%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.59%) Java
7 1 (0.59%) PowerShell
7 1 (0.59%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 10 (5.92%) SC Cleared
1 10 (5.92%) Security Cleared
2 8 (4.73%) BPSS Clearance
2 8 (4.73%) Degree
3 6 (3.55%) Microsoft Certification
4 5 (2.96%) HNC
4 5 (2.96%) HND
4 5 (2.96%) MCP
4 5 (2.96%) MCSE
5 3 (1.78%) CISSP
6 2 (1.18%) AWS Certification
6 2 (1.18%) CISM
6 2 (1.18%) ISTQB
6 2 (1.18%) ITIL Certification
6 2 (1.18%) TOGAF Certification
7 1 (0.59%) Azure Certification
7 1 (0.59%) CITP
7 1 (0.59%) CompTIA Security+
7 1 (0.59%) ISEB Practitioner
7 1 (0.59%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (7.10%) GDPR
2 11 (6.51%) HL7
2 11 (6.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 9 (5.33%) Accessibility
4 5 (2.96%) NCSC
5 4 (2.37%) NIST
6 3 (1.78%) Data Quality
6 3 (1.78%) WCAG
7 2 (1.18%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (1.18%) DICOM
7 2 (1.18%) HIPAA
7 2 (1.18%) Section 508
7 2 (1.18%) SNOMED CT
8 1 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 1 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 1 (0.59%) PMO
8 1 (0.59%) QA
8 1 (0.59%) SLA
System Software
1 8 (4.73%) Active Directory
2 3 (1.78%) Docker
2 3 (1.78%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (1.18%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 20 (11.83%) Terraform
2 4 (2.37%) Kubernetes
3 3 (1.78%) Grafana
3 3 (1.78%) Prometheus
3 3 (1.78%) SCCM
4 1 (0.59%) Cisco CUCM
Vendors
1 19 (11.24%) Microsoft
2 11 (6.51%) Oracle
3 8 (4.73%) Google
4 6 (3.55%) SAP
5 5 (2.96%) Citrix
6 4 (2.37%) Brio
6 4 (2.37%) Cerner
6 4 (2.37%) MuleSoft
6 4 (2.37%) VMware
7 3 (1.78%) Cisco
7 3 (1.78%) OneLogin
8 2 (1.18%) Databricks
8 2 (1.18%) NEC
9 1 (0.59%) Aruba
9 1 (0.59%) Foundry
9 1 (0.59%) Liquidlogic
9 1 (0.59%) MEDITECH
9 1 (0.59%) OpenAI
9 1 (0.59%) Qualys
9 1 (0.59%) RedGate