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

6 months to
2 Oct 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 336 343 305
Rank change year-on-year +7 -38 -76
Contract jobs citing NHS 345 179 230
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.74% 0.64% 0.71%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.16% 1.76% 2.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 250 123 140
10th Percentile £221 £161 £164
25th Percentile £325 £313 £275
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £457 £450 £350
Median % change year-on-year +1.50% +28.57% +9.38%
75th Percentile £511 £544 £525
90th Percentile £588 £600 £650
UK median daily rate £450 £425 £350
% change year-on-year +5.88% +21.43% +12.90%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 9 16
10th Percentile £14.05 - £15.71
25th Percentile £15.56 £15.50 £17.11
Median hourly rate £17.20 £21.30 £21.70
Median % change year-on-year -19.25% -1.82% +8.48%
75th Percentile £28.51 £30.16 £24.51
90th Percentile £33.60 £31.14 £27.81
UK median hourly rate £17.10 £21.28 £22.40
% change year-on-year -19.62% -5.02% +12.00%

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 15,963 10,160 10,063
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.30% 36.30% 30.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,599 6,372 6,098
10th Percentile £325 £300 £294
25th Percentile £425 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £644 £648 £675
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £520 £535
% change year-on-year +0.96% -2.71% -2.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,147 520 375
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.13 £15.55
25th Percentile £17.69 £18.87 £24.18
Median hourly rate £35.00 £30.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% -47.69% +24.59%
75th Percentile £67.89 £56.25 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £73.88 £75.16
UK median hourly rate £36.00 £28.13 £49.75
% change year-on-year +28.00% -43.47% +10.56%

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 2 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 2 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 2 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 -10 145 £475 +11.76% 374
North of England -16 117 £450 -10.00% 299
Yorkshire +7 87 £475 -5.00% 136
North West -37 28 £350 -11.39% 138
East of England -14 26 £170 -33.24% 104
South East -53 24 £425 +21.43% 163
Midlands -44 15 £450 +20.00% 165
West Midlands -33 11 £459 +31.14% 101
South West -31 6 £474 +113.40% 108
East Midlands -12 4 £350 -12.50% 64
North East -41 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 8 (2.32%) Palantir Foundry
2 4 (1.16%) Confluence
3 3 (0.87%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.29%) nginx
4 1 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 8 (2.32%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (2.03%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.87%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.29%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 4 (1.16%) SystmOne
2 3 (0.87%) Oracle Assets
2 3 (0.87%) Oracle General Ledger
2 3 (0.87%) Oracle Payables
2 3 (0.87%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.58%) Cerner Millennium
3 2 (0.58%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.58%) Lorenzo
4 1 (0.29%) Oracle Cash Management
4 1 (0.29%) Oracle Financials
4 1 (0.29%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.29%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 1 (0.29%) SAP HCM
4 1 (0.29%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.29%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 54 (15.65%) AWS
2 44 (12.75%) Azure
3 26 (7.54%) Serverless
4 20 (5.80%) Amazon S3
5 19 (5.51%) Power Platform
6 17 (4.93%) AWS Lambda
7 15 (4.35%) Microsoft 365
8 13 (3.77%) GitHub
9 12 (3.48%) Amazon EC2
10 10 (2.90%) GitHub Actions
11 8 (2.32%) Azure DevOps
12 7 (2.03%) Azure Key Vault
12 7 (2.03%) Entra ID
13 6 (1.74%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 6 (1.74%) Azure Data Factory
13 6 (1.74%) Azure Functions
13 6 (1.74%) Virtual Private Cloud
14 5 (1.45%) Adobe Analytics
14 5 (1.45%) Azure Synapse Analytics
15 4 (1.16%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.32%) Firewall
1 8 (2.32%) LAN
1 8 (2.32%) WAN
2 6 (1.74%) Network Security
3 4 (1.16%) DNS
3 4 (1.16%) NGFW
3 4 (1.16%) Structured Cabling
3 4 (1.16%) Wireless
4 1 (0.29%) DHCP
4 1 (0.29%) HTTP
4 1 (0.29%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.29%) VPN
4 1 (0.29%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (5.51%) Electronic Patient Records
2 17 (4.93%) Data Warehouse
3 16 (4.64%) Power BI
4 10 (2.90%) Amazon RDS
4 10 (2.90%) SQL Server
5 6 (1.74%) Amazon Athena
5 6 (1.74%) DynamoDB
6 4 (1.16%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 3 (0.87%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.87%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.87%) OLAP
7 3 (0.87%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.87%) Tableau
8 2 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.58%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.58%) Delta Lake
8 2 (0.58%) DocumentDB
8 2 (0.58%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 2 (0.58%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.29%) Redis
Development Applications
1 9 (2.61%) Git
2 6 (1.74%) JIRA
3 4 (1.16%) GitLab
3 4 (1.16%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.29%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.29%) JMeter
4 1 (0.29%) Postman
4 1 (0.29%) Rational Rhapsody
4 1 (0.29%) Selenium
4 1 (0.29%) SonarQube
General
1 133 (38.55%) Public Sector
2 127 (36.81%) Social Skills
3 32 (9.28%) Finance
4 29 (8.41%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (3.77%) Digital Health
5 13 (3.77%) Local Government
6 12 (3.48%) Influencing Skills
6 12 (3.48%) Organisational Skills
7 7 (2.03%) Digital Healthcare
7 7 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 6 (1.74%) Pharmaceutical
9 4 (1.16%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (1.16%) General Ledger
10 3 (0.87%) Billing
10 3 (0.87%) Health Technology
10 3 (0.87%) Legal
10 3 (0.87%) Marketing
10 3 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
10 3 (0.87%) Social Housing
11 2 (0.58%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 41 (11.88%) Developer
2 37 (10.72%) Analyst
3 36 (10.43%) Senior
4 23 (6.67%) Architect
5 21 (6.09%) Project Manager
6 20 (5.80%) Designer
7 19 (5.51%) Lead
8 16 (4.64%) Business Analyst
8 16 (4.64%) Data Engineer
9 12 (3.48%) Administrator
9 12 (3.48%) Service Designer
10 10 (2.90%) Consultant
10 10 (2.90%) User Researcher
11 9 (2.61%) Delivery Manager
12 8 (2.32%) Data Architect
12 8 (2.32%) Python Developer
13 7 (2.03%) Data Warehouse Developer
13 7 (2.03%) NHS Project Manager
13 7 (2.03%) Service Analyst
13 7 (2.03%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (9.28%) Terraform
2 15 (4.35%) FHIR
3 13 (3.77%) REST
4 11 (3.19%) PySpark
4 11 (3.19%) RESTful
5 8 (2.32%) React
6 7 (2.03%) CSS
6 7 (2.03%) HTML
7 6 (1.74%) Node.js
7 6 (1.74%) OpenID
8 5 (1.45%) .NET
8 5 (1.45%) Vue
9 4 (1.16%) ARM Templates
9 4 (1.16%) CSS3
9 4 (1.16%) Django
9 4 (1.16%) HTML5
9 4 (1.16%) JSON
9 4 (1.16%) OAuth
9 4 (1.16%) OAuth2
9 4 (1.16%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 23 (6.67%) Cloud Native
2 20 (5.80%) Product Ownership
3 14 (4.06%) Onboarding
4 10 (2.90%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.61%) Data Structures
6 7 (2.03%) Legacy Systems
7 6 (1.74%) Driving Licence
7 6 (1.74%) Security Posture
8 5 (1.45%) IoT
9 4 (1.16%) Mobile App
10 3 (0.87%) Cloud Security Posture
10 3 (0.87%) Data Protection Act
10 3 (0.87%) Freedom of Information
10 3 (0.87%) LIMS
11 2 (0.58%) Analytical Mindset
11 2 (0.58%) Enterprise Software
11 2 (0.58%) Greenfield Project
11 2 (0.58%) Housing Association
11 2 (0.58%) Online Banking
11 2 (0.58%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 10 (2.90%) Windows
2 5 (1.45%) Windows 10
3 4 (1.16%) Windows Server
4 2 (0.58%) Android
4 2 (0.58%) Apple iOS
4 2 (0.58%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.29%) CentOS
5 1 (0.29%) Linux
5 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.29%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 105 (30.43%) Agile
2 93 (26.96%) Stakeholder Management
3 55 (15.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 53 (15.36%) Problem-Solving
5 51 (14.78%) CI/CD
6 45 (13.04%) Continuous Improvement
7 39 (11.30%) AI
8 37 (10.72%) Analytics
8 37 (10.72%) Infrastructure as Code
9 36 (10.43%) Decision-Making
9 36 (10.43%) DevOps
10 34 (9.86%) Digital Transformation Programme
11 33 (9.57%) Migration
12 30 (8.70%) Data Protection
12 30 (8.70%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
13 28 (8.12%) Validation
13 28 (8.12%) Workshop Facilitation
14 27 (7.83%) Information Governance
15 26 (7.54%) User Research
16 23 (6.67%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 37 (10.72%) SQL
2 34 (9.86%) Python
3 16 (4.64%) JavaScript
4 15 (4.35%) TypeScript
5 7 (2.03%) C#
5 7 (2.03%) Java
6 6 (1.74%) Bicep
7 5 (1.45%) PowerShell
8 4 (1.16%) T-SQL
9 2 (0.58%) Bash
9 2 (0.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 1 (0.29%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.29%) R
Qualifications
1 27 (7.83%) Security Cleared
2 21 (6.09%) SC Cleared
3 18 (5.22%) BPSS Clearance
4 9 (2.61%) Degree
5 4 (1.16%) AWS Certification
5 4 (1.16%) JNCIP
5 4 (1.16%) JNCIS
5 4 (1.16%) Microsoft Certification
6 3 (0.87%) Azure Certification
6 3 (0.87%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (0.58%) (ISC)2 CCSP
7 2 (0.58%) AAT
7 2 (0.58%) ACCA
7 2 (0.58%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 2 (0.58%) CIMA
7 2 (0.58%) CISSP
8 1 (0.29%) CRISC
8 1 (0.29%) DV Cleared
8 1 (0.29%) NVQ Level 3
8 1 (0.29%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.96%) Accessibility
2 23 (6.67%) Data Quality
2 23 (6.67%) QA
3 20 (5.80%) GDPR
4 14 (4.06%) HL7
4 14 (4.06%) WCAG
5 10 (2.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 4 (1.16%) Actionable Recommendations
6 4 (1.16%) NCSC
6 4 (1.16%) PMO
7 3 (0.87%) IEC 62304
7 3 (0.87%) SNOMED CT
8 2 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.58%) ISO 13485
9 1 (0.29%) DICOM
9 1 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.29%) NIST
9 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.29%) SLA
System Software
1 13 (3.77%) Docker
2 10 (2.90%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.58%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.29%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.29%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (3.48%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.58%) Grafana
2 2 (0.58%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.29%) Ansible
3 1 (0.29%) Puppet
Vendors
1 54 (15.65%) Microsoft
2 14 (4.06%) Palantir
3 11 (3.19%) Oracle
3 11 (3.19%) ServiceNow
4 10 (2.90%) Brio
4 10 (2.90%) Databricks
4 10 (2.90%) Foundry
5 8 (2.32%) Cerner
6 5 (1.45%) Adobe
6 5 (1.45%) Splunk
6 5 (1.45%) VMware
7 4 (1.16%) Juniper
7 4 (1.16%) Palo Alto
8 3 (0.87%) Cisco
8 3 (0.87%) Citrix
8 3 (0.87%) Google
9 2 (0.58%) Blue Prism
9 2 (0.58%) Dynatrace
9 2 (0.58%) Meraki
9 2 (0.58%) Zscaler
1,197 NHS jobs in England