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

6 months to
13 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 273 274 194
Rank change year-on-year +1 -80 -15
Contract jobs citing NHS 324 222 459
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.95% 0.85% 1.21%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.77% 2.56% 3.90%
Number of daily rates quoted 241 136 324
10th Percentile £196 £164 £163
25th Percentile £313 £205 £205
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £350 £275
Median % change year-on-year +21.43% +27.27% -3.51%
75th Percentile £525 £488 £400
90th Percentile £600 £570 £538
UK median daily rate £415 £369 £290
% change year-on-year +12.54% +27.16% +1.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 17 77
10th Percentile £6.00 £16.97 £11.42
25th Percentile £15.50 £20.30 £12.86
Median hourly rate £16.00 £32.50 £16.94
Median % change year-on-year -50.77% +91.91% -19.38%
75th Percentile £22.06 £33.75 £23.50
90th Percentile £25.25 - £36.64
UK median hourly rate £16.00 £25.09 £15.99
% change year-on-year -36.23% +56.96% -22.02%

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 11,685 8,664 11,760
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 34.24% 33.25% 31.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,461 5,273 7,735
10th Percentile £275 £275 £255
25th Percentile £406 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £548 £549
Median % change year-on-year -6.93% -0.18% -4.52%
75th Percentile £630 £669 £660
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 582 246 747
10th Percentile £15.35 £18.51 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.82 £24.25 £16.96
Median hourly rate £32.50 £39.02 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -16.71% +20.06% +44.54%
75th Percentile £64.69 £66.38 £58.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £83.20 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £30.00 £35.00 £32.31
% change year-on-year -14.29% +8.33% +44.68%

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 February 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 February 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 February 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 -11 99 £400 +13.07% 34
North of England -23 92 £500 +28.53% 62
Yorkshire -23 69 £500 +11.11% 35
East of England +31 60 £278 +2.78% 27
South East -42 27 £388 +39.64% 49
North West -43 18 £450 +28.57% 23
Midlands -69 16 £400 -20.00% 47
West Midlands -60 13 £400 -2.44% 25
South West -11 7 £400 +33.33% 30
North East - 5 £400 - 6
East Midlands -31 3 £338 -53.45% 22
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 9 (2.78%) Confluence
1 9 (2.78%) SharePoint
2 3 (0.93%) CMS
3 2 (0.62%) Apache Spark
3 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.31%) Palantir Foundry
4 1 (0.31%) Umbraco
Applications
1 17 (5.25%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (3.09%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.54%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.23%) MS Visio
4 4 (1.23%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.31%) Adobe XD
6 1 (0.31%) Trello
Business Applications
1 12 (3.70%) SystmOne
2 3 (0.93%) Lorenzo
3 2 (0.62%) Cerner Millennium
4 1 (0.31%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.31%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 46 (14.20%) Azure
2 45 (13.89%) AWS
3 17 (5.25%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (4.94%) Serverless
5 14 (4.32%) Azure DevOps
6 12 (3.70%) AWS Lambda
6 12 (3.70%) GitHub
7 11 (3.40%) Amazon S3
7 11 (3.40%) GCP
7 11 (3.40%) Power Platform
8 8 (2.47%) Entra ID
8 8 (2.47%) GitHub Actions
9 7 (2.16%) Amazon EC2
9 7 (2.16%) Amazon ECS
9 7 (2.16%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.23%) Amazon EKS
10 4 (1.23%) Miro
11 3 (0.93%) Azure AKS
11 3 (0.93%) Azure Functions
11 3 (0.93%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 13 (4.01%) LAN
1 13 (4.01%) WAN
2 12 (3.70%) DNS
2 12 (3.70%) TCP/IP
3 9 (2.78%) Firewall
3 9 (2.78%) VPN
3 9 (2.78%) Wireless
4 6 (1.85%) Network Security
4 6 (1.85%) Structured Cabling
5 4 (1.23%) DHCP
5 4 (1.23%) VLAN
6 3 (0.93%) BGP
6 3 (0.93%) Junos
6 3 (0.93%) OSPF
7 1 (0.31%) Ethernet VPN
7 1 (0.31%) NGN
7 1 (0.31%) Remote Desktop
7 1 (0.31%) RS-232
7 1 (0.31%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.31%) X.400
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (14.81%) Electronic Patient Records
2 11 (3.40%) Data Warehouse
3 9 (2.78%) SQL Server
4 8 (2.47%) Power BI
5 5 (1.54%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (1.54%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 4 (1.23%) Data Lake
6 4 (1.23%) Tableau
7 3 (0.93%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.93%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.93%) Metadata
7 3 (0.93%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.93%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 2 (0.62%) DocumentDB
8 2 (0.62%) EDMS
8 2 (0.62%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.62%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.62%) QlikView
8 2 (0.62%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.62%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 10 (3.09%) JIRA
2 8 (2.47%) Jenkins
3 7 (2.16%) ERwin
4 6 (1.85%) GitLab
5 3 (0.93%) CircleCI
6 2 (0.62%) Android Studio
6 2 (0.62%) MSI
6 2 (0.62%) Rational Rhapsody
7 1 (0.31%) Appium
7 1 (0.31%) Git
7 1 (0.31%) Gradle
7 1 (0.31%) Postman
7 1 (0.31%) Selenium
7 1 (0.31%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.31%) Team Foundation Server
7 1 (0.31%) Xcode
General
1 120 (37.04%) Social Skills
2 116 (35.80%) Public Sector
3 34 (10.49%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (9.57%) Finance
5 25 (7.72%) Organisational Skills
6 17 (5.25%) Digital Health
6 17 (5.25%) Telecoms
7 16 (4.94%) Documentation Skills
8 15 (4.63%) Marketing
9 14 (4.32%) Electronics
9 14 (4.32%) Legal
9 14 (4.32%) Manufacturing
10 12 (3.70%) Health Technology
11 8 (2.47%) Influencing Skills
12 7 (2.16%) Digital Healthcare
13 4 (1.23%) Local Government
13 4 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.93%) Publishing
15 2 (0.62%) Presentation Skills
16 1 (0.31%) Law
Job Titles
1 49 (15.12%) Analyst
2 32 (9.88%) Lead
3 25 (7.72%) Architect
4 24 (7.41%) Developer
5 23 (7.10%) Senior
6 20 (6.17%) Project Manager
7 17 (5.25%) Business Analyst
8 15 (4.63%) Consultant
9 14 (4.32%) AWS Engineer
9 14 (4.32%) Technical Analyst
9 14 (4.32%) Technical Support
9 14 (4.32%) Technical Support Analyst
10 12 (3.70%) Support Analyst
11 11 (3.40%) 2nd Line Support
11 11 (3.40%) Designer
12 10 (3.09%) Administrator
12 10 (3.09%) IT Support
13 9 (2.78%) Data Architect
13 9 (2.78%) NHS Business Analyst
13 9 (2.78%) Trainer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (8.95%) FHIR
2 16 (4.94%) .NET
3 11 (3.40%) RESTful
4 8 (2.47%) React
5 5 (1.54%) Vue
6 4 (1.23%) .NET Core
6 4 (1.23%) Spring
6 4 (1.23%) Spring Boot
7 3 (0.93%) AngularJS
7 3 (0.93%) Django
7 3 (0.93%) FastAPI
7 3 (0.93%) Flask
7 3 (0.93%) Kafka
7 3 (0.93%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (0.93%) Spring Cloud
8 2 (0.62%) ADO
8 2 (0.62%) Node.js
8 2 (0.62%) OpenAPI
8 2 (0.62%) Swagger
8 2 (0.62%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 20 (6.17%) Management Information System
2 13 (4.01%) LIMS
3 12 (3.70%) Cloud Native
4 11 (3.40%) Onboarding
5 10 (3.09%) Product Ownership
6 9 (2.78%) PACS
7 8 (2.47%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (1.85%) CMDB
8 6 (1.85%) Driving Licence
9 5 (1.54%) Analytical Mindset
9 5 (1.54%) Security Posture
10 4 (1.23%) Freedom of Information
11 3 (0.93%) Data Protection Act
11 3 (0.93%) IoT
12 2 (0.62%) Cybercrime
12 2 (0.62%) Data Structures
12 2 (0.62%) Linux Command Line
12 2 (0.62%) Mobile App
12 2 (0.62%) Reference Data
12 2 (0.62%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 35 (10.80%) Windows
2 19 (5.86%) Windows Server
3 11 (3.40%) Linux
4 6 (1.85%) Windows Server 2012
5 5 (1.54%) Windows Server 2003
6 4 (1.23%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.62%) Android
7 2 (0.62%) VMS
8 1 (0.31%) Amazon Linux
8 1 (0.31%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.31%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.31%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 64 (19.75%) Agile
2 49 (15.12%) Problem-Solving
3 44 (13.58%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 44 (13.58%) Stakeholder Management
4 39 (12.04%) CI/CD
5 36 (11.11%) DevOps
6 33 (10.19%) Information Governance
7 29 (8.95%) Analytics
8 28 (8.64%) Business Intelligence
8 28 (8.64%) Continuous Improvement
8 28 (8.64%) Data Governance
8 28 (8.64%) Digital Transformation Programme
8 28 (8.64%) Infrastructure as Code
9 24 (7.41%) Mentoring
9 24 (7.41%) Project Delivery
10 23 (7.10%) Programme Management
11 22 (6.79%) Cybersecurity
11 22 (6.79%) Data Protection
11 22 (6.79%) Migration
12 19 (5.86%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 34 (10.49%) Python
2 26 (8.02%) SQL
3 11 (3.40%) Java
4 10 (3.09%) TypeScript
5 9 (2.78%) C#
6 8 (2.47%) JavaScript
6 8 (2.47%) PL/SQL
7 7 (2.16%) Bash
8 4 (1.23%) PowerShell
9 3 (0.93%) C++
9 3 (0.93%) PHP
10 2 (0.62%) R
10 2 (0.62%) Ruby
10 2 (0.62%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.31%) Bicep
11 1 (0.31%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.31%) Swift
11 1 (0.31%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 24 (7.41%) Degree
2 21 (6.48%) Security Cleared
3 19 (5.86%) SC Cleared
4 10 (3.09%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (2.16%) ECDL
6 6 (1.85%) HND
6 6 (1.85%) ITIL Certification
7 5 (1.54%) HNC
7 5 (1.54%) MCSE
7 5 (1.54%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (1.54%) Microsoft Certified Professional
8 4 (1.23%) CISM
8 4 (1.23%) CISSP
8 4 (1.23%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 4 (1.23%) JNCIA
8 4 (1.23%) JNCIP
8 4 (1.23%) JNCIS
9 3 (0.93%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (0.93%) ISEB
10 2 (0.62%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (8.33%) HL7
2 18 (5.56%) Data Quality
3 15 (4.63%) GDPR
4 14 (4.32%) Accessibility
5 12 (3.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 8 (2.47%) NCSC
7 7 (2.16%) Cyber Essentials
7 7 (2.16%) QA
8 6 (1.85%) PMO
9 5 (1.54%) NIST
10 2 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.62%) DICOM
10 2 (0.62%) GRC
10 2 (0.62%) SLA
10 2 (0.62%) WCAG
11 1 (0.31%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.31%) SNOMED CT
11 1 (0.31%) SOC 2
System Software
1 29 (8.95%) Active Directory
2 18 (5.56%) Docker
3 5 (1.54%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (1.23%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.62%) Xen
7 1 (0.31%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 30 (9.26%) Terraform
2 19 (5.86%) Kubernetes
3 9 (2.78%) Microsoft Intune
4 6 (1.85%) Grafana
5 4 (1.23%) SCCM
6 3 (0.93%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.62%) Ansible
7 2 (0.62%) Nessus
7 2 (0.62%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.31%) Argo
8 1 (0.31%) Packer
Vendors
1 40 (12.35%) Microsoft
2 14 (4.32%) Oracle
2 14 (4.32%) SAP
3 11 (3.40%) Brio
4 10 (3.09%) Cerner
5 8 (2.47%) Cisco
6 6 (1.85%) VMware
7 5 (1.54%) Juniper
8 4 (1.23%) Databricks
8 4 (1.23%) Palantir
9 3 (0.93%) Splunk
10 2 (0.62%) Aruba
10 2 (0.62%) Cribl.io
10 2 (0.62%) Fortinet
10 2 (0.62%) MEDITECH
10 2 (0.62%) Rapid7
10 2 (0.62%) Tenable
11 1 (0.31%) BiZZdesign
11 1 (0.31%) Meraki
11 1 (0.31%) OneLogin