Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in England

Software Engineer
UK > England

The median Software Engineer daily rate in England is £600, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 120 95 123
Rank change year-on-year -25 +28 -10
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 726 773 786
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.33% 2.53% 2.05%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.56% 2.72% 2.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 369 422 492
10th Percentile £388 £400 £425
25th Percentile £463 £481 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £600 £600
75th Percentile £725 £825 £714
90th Percentile £850 £888 £788
UK median daily rate £575 £600 £575
% change year-on-year -4.17% +4.35% -2.34%
Number of hourly rates quoted 164 110 166
10th Percentile £46.08 £47.50 £49.10
25th Percentile £61.25 £60.75 £55.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
75th Percentile £67.25 £70.00 £68.94
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.88 £90.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in England. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in England with a recognized job title 28,364 28,410 35,800
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.17% 92.92% 93.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,196 17,553 24,633
10th Percentile £288 £300 £293
25th Percentile £404 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £525 £534
Median % change year-on-year -3.81% -1.69% -2.91%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,707 984 1,397
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.34 £15.32
25th Percentile £17.88 £21.17 £19.50
Median hourly rate £25.15 £37.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -32.93% -16.67% +36.36%
75th Percentile £57.50 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.50 £74.66 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £43.90
% change year-on-year -28.14% -20.27% +39.88%

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in England

Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in England.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in England

Software Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in England over the 6 months to 6 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Software Engineer in England

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in England.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in England

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineer in England over the 6 months to 6 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Engineer in England

Software Engineer
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 Software Engineer within the England region over the 6 months to 6 December 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 -18 322 £625 -7.41% 258
North of England +9 127 £550 +12.82% 289
East of England +12 112 £525 +5.00% 240
South West -31 74 £450 -18.18% 224
Yorkshire +14 65 £525 +3.70% 121
North West -10 52 £600 +26.32% 143
South East -52 38 £475 -5.00% 364
Midlands -43 29 £500 +5.26% 189
West Midlands -12 24 £525 +10.53% 91
North East +3 12 £575 - 25
East Midlands -34 5 £475 - 88
Software Engineer
UK

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 6 December 2025, Software Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the England region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 718 (98.90%) Software Engineering
2 288 (39.67%) Agile
3 238 (32.78%) AWS
4 234 (32.23%) Python
5 195 (26.86%) CI/CD
6 194 (26.72%) Java
7 187 (25.76%) C++
8 171 (23.55%) JavaScript
9 143 (19.70%) TypeScript
10 139 (19.15%) DevOps
11 135 (18.60%) Docker
12 133 (18.32%) Linux
13 131 (18.04%) C#
14 130 (17.91%) Microservices
15 129 (17.77%) React
16 127 (17.49%) Security Cleared
17 119 (16.39%) Node.js
18 110 (15.15%) Kubernetes
19 105 (14.46%) SC Cleared
20 104 (14.33%) SQL
21 94 (12.95%) Terraform
22 89 (12.26%) Azure
23 86 (11.85%) Containerisation
24 84 (11.57%) Serverless
25 81 (11.16%) GCP
25 81 (11.16%) Infrastructure as Code
25 81 (11.16%) Problem-Solving
26 79 (10.88%) Kafka
27 76 (10.47%) Test Automation
28 75 (10.33%) Degree

Software Engineer Skill Set
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 45 (6.20%) Apache
2 43 (5.92%) Apache Airflow
3 10 (1.38%) Apache Spark
3 10 (1.38%) Confluence
4 7 (0.96%) JBoss
5 5 (0.69%) WebLogic
6 4 (0.55%) SAS
7 2 (0.28%) Tomcat
8 1 (0.14%) CICS
8 1 (0.14%) CMS
8 1 (0.14%) Mule
8 1 (0.14%) Mule ESB
8 1 (0.14%) nginx
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.14%) Smallworld
8 1 (0.14%) Tuxedo
8 1 (0.14%) WordPress
Applications
1 6 (0.83%) Simulink
2 2 (0.28%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.14%) Chatbot
3 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 8 (1.10%) Temenos T24
2 2 (0.28%) FLEXCUBE
2 2 (0.28%) Oracle BPM
3 1 (0.14%) Aladdin
Cloud Services
1 238 (32.78%) AWS
2 89 (12.26%) Azure
3 84 (11.57%) Serverless
4 81 (11.16%) GCP
5 51 (7.02%) GitHub
6 43 (5.92%) dbt
7 39 (5.37%) AWS Lambda
8 31 (4.27%) GitHub Actions
9 30 (4.13%) Snowflake
10 27 (3.72%) Amazon ECS
11 25 (3.44%) Amazon S3
12 24 (3.31%) Azure DevOps
13 15 (2.07%) Amazon SQS
14 14 (1.93%) AWS CloudFormation
15 13 (1.79%) Amazon EKS
16 12 (1.65%) Amazon CloudWatch
16 12 (1.65%) Amazon EC2
17 10 (1.38%) AWS Step Functions
17 10 (1.38%) Azure Functions
18 9 (1.24%) Cloud Run
Communications & Networking
1 26 (3.58%) Ethernet
2 19 (2.62%) TCP/IP
3 7 (0.96%) NFC
3 7 (0.96%) PPP
4 3 (0.41%) BGP
4 3 (0.41%) Firewall
4 3 (0.41%) Network Security
4 3 (0.41%) Software-Defined Networking
4 3 (0.41%) VLAN
5 2 (0.28%) SSL
5 2 (0.28%) X.509
6 1 (0.14%) 5G
6 1 (0.14%) 5G NR
6 1 (0.14%) Internet
6 1 (0.14%) LTE
6 1 (0.14%) MQTT
6 1 (0.14%) Multicast
6 1 (0.14%) VPN
6 1 (0.14%) Wi-Fi
6 1 (0.14%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (7.16%) PostgreSQL
2 48 (6.61%) Amazon Athena
3 44 (6.06%) NoSQL
4 43 (5.92%) Apache Arrow
4 43 (5.92%) Apache Iceberg
4 43 (5.92%) Dremio
5 37 (5.10%) Data Lake
6 28 (3.86%) Apache Ignite
7 27 (3.72%) MongoDB
8 21 (2.89%) SQL Server
9 16 (2.20%) Apache Cassandra
10 14 (1.93%) Amazon RDS
11 13 (1.79%) Big Data
11 13 (1.79%) DynamoDB
12 12 (1.65%) MySQL
13 10 (1.38%) Relational Database
14 8 (1.10%) Elasticsearch
14 8 (1.10%) GIS
15 7 (0.96%) Hadoop
15 7 (0.96%) Redis
Development Applications
1 73 (10.06%) Git
2 51 (7.02%) Jenkins
3 42 (5.79%) GitLab
4 40 (5.51%) JIRA
5 28 (3.86%) Eclipse
6 26 (3.58%) Visual Studio
7 21 (2.89%) Liquibase
8 18 (2.48%) Rational DOORS
9 10 (1.38%) Cypress.io
10 8 (1.10%) Artifactory
10 8 (1.10%) Rational Rhapsody
10 8 (1.10%) SonarQube
11 7 (0.96%) JUnit
11 7 (0.96%) Valgrind
12 6 (0.83%) Gradle
12 6 (0.83%) Selenium
13 5 (0.69%) Postman
14 4 (0.55%) Maven
14 4 (0.55%) PVCS
15 3 (0.41%) Oracle APEX
General
1 167 (23.00%) Finance
2 132 (18.18%) Social Skills
3 78 (10.74%) Banking
4 77 (10.61%) Front Office
5 41 (5.65%) Investment Banking
5 41 (5.65%) Public Sector
6 35 (4.82%) Military
7 32 (4.41%) Analytical Skills
8 23 (3.17%) Electronics
9 21 (2.89%) Aerospace
10 18 (2.48%) Presentation Skills
11 17 (2.34%) Financial Institution
11 17 (2.34%) Law
12 9 (1.24%) Games
12 9 (1.24%) Manufacturing
12 9 (1.24%) Pharmaceutical
13 6 (0.83%) Automotive
13 6 (0.83%) Retail
14 5 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (0.69%) Organisational Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 129 (17.77%) React
2 119 (16.39%) Node.js
3 79 (10.88%) Kafka
4 69 (9.50%) .NET
5 55 (7.58%) REST
6 51 (7.02%) AngularJS
7 46 (6.34%) RESTful
8 45 (6.20%) NumPy
8 45 (6.20%) SciPy
9 43 (5.92%) Pandas
10 40 (5.51%) gRPC
11 31 (4.27%) Spring
11 31 (4.27%) Web Services
12 28 (3.86%) Protocol Buffers
13 26 (3.58%) JSON
13 26 (3.58%) Spring Boot
13 26 (3.58%) Vue
14 22 (3.03%) HTML
14 22 (3.03%) Redux
14 22 (3.03%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 64 (8.82%) Cloud Native
1 64 (8.82%) Fixed Income
2 57 (7.85%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
3 53 (7.30%) Distributed Systems
4 49 (6.75%) Equities
5 31 (4.27%) Hedge funds
6 30 (4.13%) Derivative
7 28 (3.86%) Pricing Data
8 21 (2.89%) Algorithms
8 21 (2.89%) Public Cloud
9 17 (2.34%) Data Structures
10 16 (2.20%) Embedded Systems
11 14 (1.93%) Greenfield Project
11 14 (1.93%) Product Ownership
12 13 (1.79%) Data Protection Act
13 12 (1.65%) CUDA
14 11 (1.52%) PCIe
15 9 (1.24%) Self-Motivation
15 9 (1.24%) Virtual Reality
16 8 (1.10%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 133 (18.32%) Linux
2 62 (8.54%) Windows
3 20 (2.75%) Unix
4 19 (2.62%) Android
5 11 (1.52%) Apple iOS
6 9 (1.24%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.83%) Windows Server
8 5 (0.69%) FreeRTOS
8 5 (0.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.41%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.14%) Debian
10 1 (0.14%) Robot Operating System
10 1 (0.14%) Windows Embedded Compact
10 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.14%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 718 (98.90%) Software Engineering
2 288 (39.67%) Agile
3 195 (26.86%) CI/CD
4 139 (19.15%) DevOps
5 130 (17.91%) Microservices
6 86 (11.85%) Containerisation
7 81 (11.16%) Infrastructure as Code
7 81 (11.16%) Problem-Solving
8 76 (10.47%) Test Automation
9 74 (10.19%) Full-Stack Development
9 74 (10.19%) TDD
10 65 (8.95%) Mentoring
10 65 (8.95%) Unit Testing
11 61 (8.40%) Investment Management
12 56 (7.71%) AI
12 56 (7.71%) Continuous Integration
13 54 (7.44%) Computer Science
14 53 (7.30%) Clean Code
15 51 (7.02%) Asset Management
16 50 (6.89%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 234 (32.23%) Python
2 194 (26.72%) Java
3 187 (25.76%) C++
4 171 (23.55%) JavaScript
5 143 (19.70%) TypeScript
6 131 (18.04%) C#
7 104 (14.33%) SQL
8 59 (8.13%) Go
9 55 (7.58%) C
10 31 (4.27%) Ada
11 14 (1.93%) Embedded C++
11 14 (1.93%) PHP
12 13 (1.79%) Embedded C
13 11 (1.52%) Bicep
13 11 (1.52%) MATLAB
14 10 (1.38%) PowerShell
14 10 (1.38%) Shell Script
15 9 (1.24%) Bash
16 7 (0.96%) Rust
17 6 (0.83%) R
Qualifications
1 127 (17.49%) Security Cleared
2 105 (14.46%) SC Cleared
3 75 (10.33%) Degree
4 37 (5.10%) Computer Science Degree
5 20 (2.75%) Master's Degree
6 17 (2.34%) DV Cleared
7 9 (1.24%) AWS Certification
8 7 (0.96%) BPSS Clearance
9 5 (0.69%) MCP
10 4 (0.55%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 4 (0.55%) Postgraduate
11 3 (0.41%) AWS Certified Developer
11 3 (0.41%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
12 1 (0.14%) Azure Certification
12 1 (0.14%) CCNA
12 1 (0.14%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (3.03%) QA
2 19 (2.62%) Def Stans
3 18 (2.48%) MISRA
4 11 (1.52%) IEC 61508
5 10 (1.38%) MISRA C
6 8 (1.10%) Data Quality
6 8 (1.10%) DO-178B
7 5 (0.69%) Software Quality Assurance
8 4 (0.55%) Accessibility
8 4 (0.55%) GDPR
8 4 (0.55%) HL7
9 3 (0.41%) WCAG
10 2 (0.28%) PMO
11 1 (0.14%) AUTOSAR
11 1 (0.14%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 135 (18.60%) Docker
2 10 (1.38%) Virtual Machines
3 9 (1.24%) Firmware
4 5 (0.69%) Active Directory
5 4 (0.55%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.14%) Embedded Firmware
6 1 (0.14%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 110 (15.15%) Kubernetes
2 94 (12.95%) Terraform
3 27 (3.72%) Ansible
4 22 (3.03%) Prometheus
5 19 (2.62%) Grafana
6 6 (0.83%) Kibana
7 5 (0.69%) Argo
8 4 (0.55%) Podman
9 3 (0.41%) SELinux
10 2 (0.28%) Puppet
10 2 (0.28%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.14%) Bitnami
11 1 (0.14%) CA Endevor
11 1 (0.14%) Functional Safety
11 1 (0.14%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 46 (6.34%) Microsoft
2 26 (3.58%) Google
2 26 (3.58%) Oracle
3 19 (2.62%) Splunk
4 10 (1.38%) Red Hat
4 10 (1.38%) Temenos
5 9 (1.24%) Databricks
6 7 (0.96%) IBM
7 5 (0.69%) SAP
7 5 (0.69%) VMware
7 5 (0.69%) Workday
8 4 (0.55%) ANSYS
8 4 (0.55%) OpenAI
8 4 (0.55%) Salesforce
9 3 (0.41%) Atlassian
9 3 (0.41%) Brio
9 3 (0.41%) Cisco
9 3 (0.41%) Foundry
9 3 (0.41%) NVIDIA
9 3 (0.41%) webMethods