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

6 months to
13 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 316 364 301
Rank change year-on-year +48 -63 -84
Contract jobs citing NHS 340 153 244
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.75% 0.55% 0.73%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.23% 1.56% 2.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 266 105 165
10th Percentile £294 £208 £175
25th Percentile £400 £300 £273
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £350
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% +28.57% +8.62%
75th Percentile £538 £538 £513
90th Percentile £610 £575 £606
UK median daily rate £463 £425 £350
% change year-on-year +8.82% +21.43% +12.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 10 22
10th Percentile £20.26 £12.57 £14.24
25th Percentile £22.62 £13.98 £15.61
Median hourly rate £29.09 £19.20 £18.64
Median % change year-on-year +51.50% +3.05% +10.59%
75th Percentile £42.41 £29.64 £25.74
90th Percentile £60.00 £33.03 £25.83
UK median hourly rate £26.72 £21.25 £21.80
% change year-on-year +25.74% -2.52% +13.66%

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 15,250 9,787 10,262
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.47% 35.40% 30.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,356 6,184 6,654
10th Percentile £325 £305 £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 £676
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 899 490 542
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.48 £13.03
25th Percentile £19.50 £18.87 £18.91
Median hourly rate £43.56 £30.25 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +44.00% -36.32% +15.10%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £85.00 £80.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £43.50 £29.33 £45.00
% change year-on-year +48.31% -34.82% +12.74%

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 13 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 13 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 13 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 +5 150 £481 +13.24% 181
North of England -6 109 £475 -5.00% 166
Yorkshire +1 83 £500 - 69
North West -31 24 £350 +62.79% 77
South East -62 20 £456 +14.06% 94
East of England -14 13 £223 -1.90% 73
South West -27 12 £546 +33.23% 89
Midlands -50 12 £400 +14.29% 99
West Midlands -41 9 £450 +56.79% 58
East Midlands -15 3 £300 -25.00% 41
North East -41 2 - - 24
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 (3.24%) Palantir Foundry
2 5 (1.47%) Confluence
3 4 (1.18%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.59%) CMS
4 2 (0.59%) Microsoft Exchange
5 1 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.29%) nginx
5 1 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 3 (0.88%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (0.88%) Microsoft Office
1 3 (0.88%) Spreadsheet
2 2 (0.59%) Trello
3 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.29%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 4 (1.18%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.59%) Lorenzo
2 2 (0.59%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.29%) Cerner Millennium
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Assets
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Financials
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle General Ledger
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Receivables
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 56 (16.47%) AWS
2 49 (14.41%) Azure
3 27 (7.94%) Serverless
4 19 (5.59%) Amazon S3
5 18 (5.29%) AWS Lambda
6 15 (4.41%) GitHub
6 15 (4.41%) Power Platform
7 11 (3.24%) Amazon EC2
7 11 (3.24%) GitHub Actions
8 8 (2.35%) Microsoft 365
9 7 (2.06%) Azure Data Factory
9 7 (2.06%) Entra ID
10 6 (1.76%) AWS Step Functions
10 6 (1.76%) Azure DevOps
10 6 (1.76%) Azure Functions
10 6 (1.76%) Azure Key Vault
11 5 (1.47%) Adobe Analytics
11 5 (1.47%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 5 (1.47%) GCP
11 5 (1.47%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.35%) Firewall
1 8 (2.35%) LAN
1 8 (2.35%) WAN
2 5 (1.47%) NGFW
3 4 (1.18%) DNS
3 4 (1.18%) Network Security
3 4 (1.18%) Structured Cabling
3 4 (1.18%) Wireless
4 2 (0.59%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.29%) DHCP
5 1 (0.29%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (10.88%) Electronic Patient Records
2 14 (4.12%) Data Warehouse
3 13 (3.82%) SQL Server
4 12 (3.53%) Power BI
5 8 (2.35%) Amazon RDS
5 8 (2.35%) DynamoDB
6 6 (1.76%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (1.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.88%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.88%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.88%) OLAP
8 3 (0.88%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.59%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.59%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.59%) Delta Lake
9 2 (0.59%) DocumentDB
9 2 (0.59%) Geospatial Data
9 2 (0.59%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.59%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 2 (0.59%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 11 (3.24%) Git
2 6 (1.76%) GitLab
3 5 (1.47%) JIRA
4 3 (0.88%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.59%) Cypress.io
6 1 (0.29%) JUnit
6 1 (0.29%) Postman
6 1 (0.29%) Selenium
6 1 (0.29%) SonarQube
General
1 140 (41.18%) Public Sector
2 107 (31.47%) Social Skills
3 29 (8.53%) Analytical Skills
4 21 (6.18%) Finance
5 15 (4.41%) Local Government
6 14 (4.12%) Digital Health
7 10 (2.94%) Influencing Skills
8 6 (1.76%) Digital Healthcare
8 6 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
8 6 (1.76%) Pharmaceutical
9 4 (1.18%) Health Technology
9 4 (1.18%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 4 (1.18%) Law
9 4 (1.18%) Organisational Skills
10 3 (0.88%) Billing
10 3 (0.88%) Legal
10 3 (0.88%) Marketing
10 3 (0.88%) Social Housing
11 2 (0.59%) Military
11 2 (0.59%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 42 (12.35%) Developer
2 41 (12.06%) Senior
3 35 (10.29%) Architect
4 27 (7.94%) Analyst
5 23 (6.76%) Designer
6 22 (6.47%) Lead
7 21 (6.18%) Data Engineer
8 16 (4.71%) Business Analyst
8 16 (4.71%) User Researcher
9 15 (4.41%) Project Manager
10 12 (3.53%) Consultant
10 12 (3.53%) Delivery Manager
10 12 (3.53%) Solutions Architect
11 11 (3.24%) Data Architect
11 11 (3.24%) Service Designer
12 9 (2.65%) Python Developer
12 9 (2.65%) Senior User Researcher
13 8 (2.35%) Full-Stack Developer
14 7 (2.06%) Interaction Designer
14 7 (2.06%) NHS Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (7.65%) FHIR
2 13 (3.82%) REST
3 11 (3.24%) PySpark
4 10 (2.94%) RESTful
5 9 (2.65%) React
6 6 (1.76%) Node.js
6 6 (1.76%) Vue
7 5 (1.47%) .NET
7 5 (1.47%) CSS
7 5 (1.47%) HTML
7 5 (1.47%) OpenID
7 5 (1.47%) Playwright
8 4 (1.18%) ARM Templates
8 4 (1.18%) JSON
8 4 (1.18%) OAuth
8 4 (1.18%) OAuth2
9 3 (0.88%) Flask
9 3 (0.88%) Spring
9 3 (0.88%) Spring Boot
9 3 (0.88%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 26 (7.65%) Cloud Native
2 21 (6.18%) Product Ownership
3 17 (5.00%) Onboarding
4 7 (2.06%) Data Structures
5 6 (1.76%) IoT
5 6 (1.76%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (1.47%) Driving Licence
6 5 (1.47%) Management Information System
6 5 (1.47%) Security Posture
7 4 (1.18%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.18%) LIMS
7 4 (1.18%) Mobile App
7 4 (1.18%) Replication
8 3 (0.88%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (0.88%) Distributed Systems
8 3 (0.88%) Life Science
9 2 (0.59%) Cloud Security Posture
9 2 (0.59%) Distributed Architecture
9 2 (0.59%) Housing Association
9 2 (0.59%) PACS
Operating Systems
1 7 (2.06%) Windows
2 5 (1.47%) Windows Server
3 2 (0.59%) Android
3 2 (0.59%) Apple iOS
3 2 (0.59%) Linux
3 2 (0.59%) Mac OS
4 1 (0.29%) CentOS
4 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.29%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 121 (35.59%) Agile
2 73 (21.47%) Stakeholder Management
3 54 (15.88%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 51 (15.00%) CI/CD
5 43 (12.65%) Analytics
5 43 (12.65%) Continuous Improvement
6 38 (11.18%) Problem-Solving
7 37 (10.88%) User Research
8 35 (10.29%) Decision-Making
8 35 (10.29%) DevOps
8 35 (10.29%) Infrastructure as Code
9 31 (9.12%) Digital Transformation Programme
9 31 (9.12%) Migration
9 31 (9.12%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
10 30 (8.82%) AI
11 27 (7.94%) Service Design
11 27 (7.94%) Validation
12 26 (7.65%) Workshop Facilitation
13 22 (6.47%) Roadmaps
13 22 (6.47%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 37 (10.88%) Python
1 37 (10.88%) SQL
2 16 (4.71%) JavaScript
3 15 (4.41%) TypeScript
4 9 (2.65%) Java
5 8 (2.35%) C#
6 5 (1.47%) Bicep
6 5 (1.47%) PowerShell
6 5 (1.47%) T-SQL
7 2 (0.59%) Bash
8 1 (0.29%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.29%) R
Qualifications
1 34 (10.00%) Security Cleared
2 28 (8.24%) SC Cleared
3 23 (6.76%) BPSS Clearance
4 10 (2.94%) Degree
5 5 (1.47%) AWS Certification
6 4 (1.18%) JNCIP
6 4 (1.18%) JNCIS
6 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (0.88%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 3 (0.88%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.59%) Cisco Certification
8 2 (0.59%) DV Cleared
9 1 (0.29%) CCNA
9 1 (0.29%) CCSP
9 1 (0.29%) CISSP
9 1 (0.29%) CRISC
9 1 (0.29%) DBS Check
9 1 (0.29%) IIBA
9 1 (0.29%) NVQ Level 3
9 1 (0.29%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (7.94%) HL7
2 25 (7.35%) Accessibility
3 24 (7.06%) Data Quality
4 21 (6.18%) QA
5 17 (5.00%) GDPR
6 15 (4.41%) WCAG
7 11 (3.24%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (1.76%) SNOMED CT
9 5 (1.47%) NCSC
9 5 (1.47%) PMO
10 4 (1.18%) Actionable Recommendations
10 4 (1.18%) DICOM
11 3 (0.88%) IEC 62304
12 2 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.59%) ISO 13485
13 1 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.29%) NIST
13 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
13 1 (0.29%) SLA
System Software
1 15 (4.41%) Docker
2 8 (2.35%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.29%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 33 (9.71%) Terraform
2 12 (3.53%) Kubernetes
3 2 (0.59%) Jamf Pro
3 2 (0.59%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.29%) Ansible
4 1 (0.29%) Grafana
4 1 (0.29%) Puppet
Vendors
1 37 (10.88%) Microsoft
2 18 (5.29%) Palantir
3 15 (4.41%) Foundry
4 11 (3.24%) Databricks
5 8 (2.35%) Brio
5 8 (2.35%) Oracle
5 8 (2.35%) ServiceNow
6 5 (1.47%) Adobe
6 5 (1.47%) VMware
7 4 (1.18%) Google
7 4 (1.18%) Juniper
7 4 (1.18%) Palo Alto
7 4 (1.18%) Splunk
8 3 (0.88%) Cerner
8 3 (0.88%) Cisco
8 3 (0.88%) InterSystems
9 2 (0.59%) Blue Prism
9 2 (0.59%) Citrix
9 2 (0.59%) MEDITECH
9 2 (0.59%) Meraki