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

6 months to
12 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 333 343 314
Rank change year-on-year +10 -29 -88
Contract jobs citing NHS 344 170 224
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.74% 0.61% 0.68%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.20% 1.70% 2.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 262 118 141
10th Percentile £237 £160 £175
25th Percentile £341 £300 £275
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £450 £350
Median % change year-on-year +3.39% +28.57% +4.48%
75th Percentile £537 £538 £519
90th Percentile £600 £594 £638
UK median daily rate £450 £420 £350
% change year-on-year +7.14% +20.00% +6.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 5 15
10th Percentile £17.00 £21.27 £12.82
25th Percentile £17.05 £21.30 £15.71
Median hourly rate £26.72 £30.11 £18.27
Median % change year-on-year -11.24% +64.78% -13.00%
75th Percentile £33.60 £30.75 £22.64
90th Percentile £49.50 £31.93 £25.49
UK median hourly rate £26.72 £30.11 £20.59
% change year-on-year -11.24% +46.21% +2.95%

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 15,653 10,005 10,138
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 33.77% 35.96% 30.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,494 6,293 6,311
10th Percentile £325 £300 £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 £675
90th Percentile £750 £775 £825
UK median daily rate £525 £515 £543
% change year-on-year +1.94% -5.07% -1.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,023 500 434
10th Percentile £14.17 £15.50 £14.17
25th Percentile £18.00 £18.87 £22.50
Median hourly rate £37.50 £32.95 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +13.83% -42.55% +25.00%
75th Percentile £69.13 £59.08 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £75.00 £75.16
UK median hourly rate £37.50 £30.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year +25.00% -40.00% +13.84%

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 12 September 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 12 September 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 12 September 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 +3 145 £481 +13.24% 233
North of England -20 113 £475 -2.81% 196
Yorkshire +3 85 £488 -2.50% 97
North West -36 26 £350 +7.69% 87
East of England -6 25 £191 -15.87% 64
South East -57 17 £450 +56.52% 124
Midlands -42 15 £375 +7.14% 130
South West -32 12 £570 +156.76% 89
West Midlands -42 12 £425 +48.08% 82
East Midlands -16 3 £300 -25.00% 48
North East -44 2 - - 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 11 (3.20%) Palantir Foundry
2 3 (0.87%) Confluence
2 3 (0.87%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.58%) CMS
4 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.29%) nginx
4 1 (0.29%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 7 (2.03%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.87%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.29%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 4 (1.16%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.58%) Cerner Millennium
2 2 (0.58%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.58%) Lorenzo
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Assets
3 1 (0.29%) Oracle Cash Management
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 62 (18.02%) AWS
2 48 (13.95%) Azure
3 28 (8.14%) Serverless
4 21 (6.10%) Amazon S3
5 20 (5.81%) Power Platform
6 19 (5.52%) AWS Lambda
7 14 (4.07%) GitHub
8 13 (3.78%) Microsoft 365
9 12 (3.49%) Amazon EC2
10 10 (2.91%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (2.03%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (2.03%) Entra ID
12 6 (1.74%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 6 (1.74%) Azure Data Factory
12 6 (1.74%) Azure Functions
12 6 (1.74%) Azure Key Vault
12 6 (1.74%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 5 (1.45%) Adobe Analytics
13 5 (1.45%) AWS Step Functions
13 5 (1.45%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.03%) Firewall
1 7 (2.03%) LAN
1 7 (2.03%) WAN
2 5 (1.45%) Network Security
3 4 (1.16%) NGFW
3 4 (1.16%) Structured Cabling
3 4 (1.16%) Wireless
4 3 (0.87%) DNS
5 1 (0.29%) DHCP
5 1 (0.29%) HTTP
5 1 (0.29%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.29%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (8.43%) Electronic Patient Records
2 17 (4.94%) Data Warehouse
2 17 (4.94%) Power BI
3 11 (3.20%) SQL Server
4 10 (2.91%) Amazon RDS
5 8 (2.33%) DynamoDB
6 6 (1.74%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (1.16%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.87%) BusinessObjects
8 3 (0.87%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.87%) OLAP
8 3 (0.87%) Relational Database
8 3 (0.87%) Tableau
9 2 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.58%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.58%) Delta Lake
9 2 (0.58%) DocumentDB
9 2 (0.58%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.58%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 2 (0.58%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 10 (2.91%) Git
2 5 (1.45%) GitLab
2 5 (1.45%) JIRA
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
1 135 (39.24%) Public Sector
2 123 (35.76%) Social Skills
3 32 (9.30%) Analytical Skills
4 22 (6.40%) Finance
5 13 (3.78%) Local Government
6 12 (3.49%) Digital Health
7 11 (3.20%) Influencing Skills
8 8 (2.33%) Digital Healthcare
8 8 (2.33%) Pharmaceutical
9 6 (1.74%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (1.45%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (1.16%) Law
11 4 (1.16%) Legal
12 3 (0.87%) Billing
12 3 (0.87%) Health Technology
12 3 (0.87%) Marketing
12 3 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.87%) Social Housing
13 2 (0.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 2 (0.58%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 45 (13.08%) Developer
2 39 (11.34%) Senior
3 35 (10.17%) Analyst
4 32 (9.30%) Architect
5 22 (6.40%) Designer
6 20 (5.81%) Data Engineer
7 19 (5.52%) Lead
8 16 (4.65%) Project Manager
9 15 (4.36%) Business Analyst
10 12 (3.49%) Data Architect
11 11 (3.20%) Consultant
11 11 (3.20%) Service Designer
12 9 (2.62%) Delivery Manager
12 9 (2.62%) Python Developer
12 9 (2.62%) Solutions Architect
12 9 (2.62%) User Researcher
13 8 (2.33%) Administrator
13 8 (2.33%) Full-Stack Developer
13 8 (2.33%) Performance Analyst
14 7 (2.03%) Service Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (9.88%) Terraform
2 25 (7.27%) FHIR
3 14 (4.07%) REST
4 11 (3.20%) PySpark
4 11 (3.20%) RESTful
5 9 (2.62%) React
6 7 (2.03%) Node.js
7 6 (1.74%) Vue
8 5 (1.45%) .NET
8 5 (1.45%) CSS
8 5 (1.45%) HTML
8 5 (1.45%) JSON
8 5 (1.45%) OpenID
8 5 (1.45%) Playwright
9 4 (1.16%) ARM Templates
9 4 (1.16%) Django
9 4 (1.16%) OAuth
9 4 (1.16%) OAuth2
10 3 (0.87%) Flask
10 3 (0.87%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 25 (7.27%) Cloud Native
2 19 (5.52%) Product Ownership
3 15 (4.36%) Onboarding
4 10 (2.91%) Data Structures
4 10 (2.91%) Management Information System
5 8 (2.33%) Legacy Systems
6 6 (1.74%) Driving Licence
6 6 (1.74%) IoT
6 6 (1.74%) Security Posture
7 5 (1.45%) Data Protection Act
8 4 (1.16%) Distributed Systems
8 4 (1.16%) LIMS
8 4 (1.16%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.16%) Replication
9 3 (0.87%) Cloud Security Posture
10 2 (0.58%) Analytical Mindset
10 2 (0.58%) Distributed Architecture
10 2 (0.58%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.58%) Greenfield Project
10 2 (0.58%) Housing Association
Operating Systems
1 10 (2.91%) 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%) Linux
4 2 (0.58%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.29%) CentOS
5 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.29%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 115 (33.43%) Agile
2 79 (22.97%) Stakeholder Management
3 56 (16.28%) CI/CD
4 54 (15.70%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 48 (13.95%) Problem-Solving
6 46 (13.37%) Continuous Improvement
7 42 (12.21%) Analytics
8 41 (11.92%) Decision-Making
9 38 (11.05%) Infrastructure as Code
10 37 (10.76%) DevOps
11 34 (9.88%) AI
12 33 (9.59%) Digital Transformation Programme
13 29 (8.43%) Migration
13 29 (8.43%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
13 29 (8.43%) Validation
14 28 (8.14%) Information Governance
15 27 (7.85%) Data Protection
16 26 (7.56%) Workshop Facilitation
17 25 (7.27%) Business Intelligence
18 24 (6.98%) Data Modelling
Programming Languages
1 38 (11.05%) SQL
2 37 (10.76%) Python
3 15 (4.36%) JavaScript
3 15 (4.36%) TypeScript
4 8 (2.33%) Java
5 7 (2.03%) C#
6 5 (1.45%) Bicep
6 5 (1.45%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.16%) T-SQL
8 2 (0.58%) Bash
8 2 (0.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 1 (0.29%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.29%) R
Qualifications
1 32 (9.30%) Security Cleared
2 25 (7.27%) SC Cleared
3 17 (4.94%) BPSS Clearance
4 9 (2.62%) Degree
5 5 (1.45%) AWS Certification
6 4 (1.16%) JNCIP
6 4 (1.16%) JNCIS
6 4 (1.16%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (0.87%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 3 (0.87%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.58%) Cisco Certification
8 2 (0.58%) DV Cleared
8 2 (0.58%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
9 1 (0.29%) CCNA
9 1 (0.29%) CCSP
9 1 (0.29%) CISSP
9 1 (0.29%) CRISC
9 1 (0.29%) NVQ Level 3
9 1 (0.29%) PMI Certification
9 1 (0.29%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.98%) HL7
2 23 (6.69%) Accessibility
2 23 (6.69%) Data Quality
2 23 (6.69%) GDPR
3 21 (6.10%) QA
4 16 (4.65%) WCAG
5 11 (3.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 5 (1.45%) SNOMED CT
7 4 (1.16%) DICOM
7 4 (1.16%) NCSC
7 4 (1.16%) PMO
8 3 (0.87%) Actionable Recommendations
8 3 (0.87%) IEC 62304
9 2 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.58%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.58%) ISO 13485
10 1 (0.29%) GRC
10 1 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.29%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.29%) SLA
System Software
1 14 (4.07%) Docker
2 8 (2.33%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.58%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.29%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 12 (3.49%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.58%) Grafana
2 2 (0.58%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.29%) Ansible
3 1 (0.29%) Puppet
Vendors
1 44 (12.79%) Microsoft
2 17 (4.94%) Palantir
3 15 (4.36%) Foundry
4 11 (3.20%) Databricks
4 11 (3.20%) ServiceNow
5 9 (2.62%) Cerner
5 9 (2.62%) Oracle
6 8 (2.33%) Brio
7 5 (1.45%) Adobe
7 5 (1.45%) Splunk
7 5 (1.45%) VMware
8 4 (1.16%) Google
8 4 (1.16%) Juniper
8 4 (1.16%) Palo Alto
9 3 (0.87%) Cisco
9 3 (0.87%) Citrix
9 3 (0.87%) InterSystems
10 2 (0.58%) Blue Prism
10 2 (0.58%) BMC
10 2 (0.58%) Meraki