Validation Contract Job Trends in England

Validation
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Validation skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 7 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 65 107 145
Rank change year-on-year +42 +38 +6
Contract jobs citing Validation 1,130 713 715
As % of all contract jobs in England 3.80% 2.28% 1.80%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.20% 2.63% 2.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 681 372 423
10th Percentile £358 £325 £363
25th Percentile £425 £400 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -6.98% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £594 £638
90th Percentile £688 £667 £885
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £528
% change year-on-year - -5.30% -2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 78 91
10th Percentile £27.35 £28.00 £51.20
25th Percentile £41.25 £46.25 £56.30
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -7.41% +9.76%
75th Percentile £67.25 £65.75 £84.36
90th Percentile £75.00 £73.25 £90.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £67.50
% change year-on-year +4.00% -7.41% +11.11%

All Process and Methodology Skills
England

Validation falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 26,929 27,070 35,242
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 90.54% 86.59% 88.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,119 16,517 24,223
10th Percentile £299 £313 £313
25th Percentile £405 £419 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £509 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -3.05% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £535
% change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,746 975 1,480
10th Percentile £14.75 £15.00 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.87 £20.00 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £37.50 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -32.93% -15.73% +27.14%
75th Percentile £45.46 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.38 £74.48 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £35.03 £43.90
% change year-on-year -28.20% -20.21% +25.43%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Validation relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Validation job vacancy trend in England

Validation
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation

Validation
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Validation in England over the 6 months to 7 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Validation in England

Validation
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Validation

Validation
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Validation in England over the 6 months to 7 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Validation in England

Validation
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 Validation within the England region over the 6 months to 7 November 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 +65 512 £525 +5.00% 736
South East +17 154 £500 +2.56% 663
North of England +16 120 £430 -7.03% 172
East of England +24 110 £500 +33.33% 216
South West -9 99 £475 -18.59% 173
Midlands -7 97 £492 +0.51% 142
West Midlands -19 78 £500 -3.61% 73
North West +2 74 £425 -8.11% 118
Yorkshire -12 34 £430 -5.23% 31
East Midlands -10 18 £430 +5.85% 63
North East 0 12 £515 -10.43% 23
Validation
UK

Validation
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 49 (4.34%) Confluence
2 32 (2.83%) SharePoint
3 23 (2.04%) Apache Airflow
4 22 (1.95%) SAS
5 20 (1.77%) Apache Spark
6 15 (1.33%) Microsoft Exchange
6 15 (1.33%) Skype for Business
7 12 (1.06%) Apache
8 8 (0.71%) CMS
9 7 (0.62%) Exchange Server 2013
9 7 (0.62%) Mattermost
10 6 (0.53%) OpenStack
10 6 (0.53%) Smallworld
11 4 (0.35%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 4 (0.35%) WebLogic
12 3 (0.27%) Anypoint
12 3 (0.27%) ArcGIS
12 3 (0.27%) GeoServer
13 2 (0.18%) Documentum
13 2 (0.18%) Jupyter
Applications
1 79 (6.99%) Microsoft Excel
2 41 (3.63%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (1.77%) MS Visio
4 17 (1.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.53%) Sketch
5 6 (0.53%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.27%) Chatbot
6 3 (0.27%) Simulink
7 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
8 1 (0.088%) CANalyzer
8 1 (0.088%) NASTRAN
8 1 (0.088%) Notion
8 1 (0.088%) Siemens NX
8 1 (0.088%) Stateflow
8 1 (0.088%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 58 (5.13%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (1.33%) Oracle EBS
3 13 (1.15%) Aladdin
4 11 (0.97%) SAP EHS
5 9 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
5 9 (0.80%) SAP FI
5 9 (0.80%) SAP MDG
6 7 (0.62%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 6 (0.53%) Oracle Payables
7 6 (0.53%) SAP MM
8 5 (0.44%) Dynamics CRM
8 5 (0.44%) SAP PM
8 5 (0.44%) Workday HCM
9 4 (0.35%) Markit EDM
9 4 (0.35%) Oracle General Ledger
9 4 (0.35%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
9 4 (0.35%) Payment Gateway
9 4 (0.35%) Salesforce CRM
9 4 (0.35%) Teamcenter
10 3 (0.27%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 239 (21.15%) Azure
2 128 (11.33%) AWS
3 98 (8.67%) Power Platform
4 96 (8.50%) Azure DevOps
5 51 (4.51%) GCP
6 43 (3.81%) GitHub
7 34 (3.01%) SaaS
8 32 (2.83%) Entra ID
9 28 (2.48%) OCI
10 27 (2.39%) Serverless
10 27 (2.39%) Snowflake
11 26 (2.30%) Microsoft 365
12 24 (2.12%) GitHub Actions
13 23 (2.04%) OpenShift
14 19 (1.68%) Azure Data Factory
15 18 (1.59%) dbt
16 15 (1.33%) Azure Functions
16 15 (1.33%) Dynamics 365
17 14 (1.24%) OneDrive
18 13 (1.15%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 30 (2.65%) Firewall
2 28 (2.48%) DNS
2 28 (2.48%) TCP/IP
3 21 (1.86%) BGP
3 21 (1.86%) VPN
4 20 (1.77%) MPLS
5 18 (1.59%) Ethernet
6 16 (1.42%) WAN
7 15 (1.33%) 3GPP
7 15 (1.33%) Skype
8 14 (1.24%) LTE
9 12 (1.06%) OSPF
10 10 (0.88%) LAN
10 10 (0.88%) SSL
11 9 (0.80%) SD-WAN
11 9 (0.80%) SNMP
12 8 (0.71%) DMARC
12 8 (0.71%) Internet
12 8 (0.71%) IPsec
12 8 (0.71%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 92 (8.14%) Power BI
2 59 (5.22%) Data Warehouse
3 37 (3.27%) Metadata
4 32 (2.83%) Tableau
5 28 (2.48%) NoSQL
6 23 (2.04%) SQL Server
7 22 (1.95%) Oracle Database
7 22 (1.95%) Oracle Reports
8 20 (1.77%) Data Lake
8 20 (1.77%) Relational Database
9 17 (1.50%) SAS Enterprise Guide
10 14 (1.24%) Azure SQL Database
11 13 (1.15%) Amazon Redshift
11 13 (1.15%) BigQuery
12 12 (1.06%) PostgreSQL
13 11 (0.97%) SAP HANA
14 10 (0.88%) GIS
15 9 (0.80%) Amazon RDS
15 9 (0.80%) Big Data
15 9 (0.80%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 120 (10.62%) JIRA
2 56 (4.96%) Jenkins
3 54 (4.78%) Git
4 33 (2.92%) Selenium
5 30 (2.65%) Postman
6 28 (2.48%) GitLab
7 26 (2.30%) Oracle APEX
8 24 (2.12%) Visual Studio
9 18 (1.59%) Eclipse
10 15 (1.33%) Rational DOORS
11 13 (1.15%) JUnit
11 13 (1.15%) TestRail
12 12 (1.06%) Cucumber
13 11 (0.97%) JMeter
14 10 (0.88%) Zephyr
15 9 (0.80%) Bitbucket
16 7 (0.62%) Cypress.io
16 7 (0.62%) MLflow
16 7 (0.62%) REST Assured
17 4 (0.35%) Locust
General
1 470 (41.59%) Social Skills
2 296 (26.19%) Finance
3 243 (21.50%) Analytical Skills
4 104 (9.20%) Public Sector
5 71 (6.28%) Banking
6 68 (6.02%) Documentation Skills
7 50 (4.42%) Presentation Skills
8 32 (2.83%) Aerospace
9 31 (2.74%) Front Office
10 29 (2.57%) Telecoms
11 28 (2.48%) Military
12 25 (2.21%) Electronics
12 25 (2.21%) Marketing
13 23 (2.04%) Investment Banking
14 22 (1.95%) Influencing Skills
14 22 (1.95%) Pharmaceutical
15 21 (1.86%) Manufacturing
16 19 (1.68%) Organisational Skills
17 15 (1.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 13 (1.15%) Legal
Job Titles
1 225 (19.91%) Analyst
2 107 (9.47%) Senior
3 104 (9.20%) Consultant
4 94 (8.32%) Business Analyst
5 89 (7.88%) Developer
5 89 (7.88%) Lead
6 64 (5.66%) Data Analyst
7 44 (3.89%) Architect
8 43 (3.81%) Software Engineer
9 42 (3.72%) Tester
10 37 (3.27%) Data Engineer
11 35 (3.10%) SAP Consultant
12 29 (2.57%) Senior Developer
13 28 (2.48%) Data Scientist
14 26 (2.30%) Test Analyst
15 25 (2.21%) Project Manager
16 23 (2.04%) Test Engineer
17 21 (1.86%) QA Engineer
18 20 (1.77%) C++ Software Engineer
19 19 (1.68%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 55 (4.87%) REST
2 39 (3.45%) JSON
3 29 (2.57%) XML
4 28 (2.48%) RESTful
5 27 (2.39%) Oracle Fusion
5 27 (2.39%) SOAP
6 26 (2.30%) Node.js
7 25 (2.21%) .NET
7 25 (2.21%) Web Services
8 19 (1.68%) SAP Fiori
9 16 (1.42%) Middleware
9 16 (1.42%) OAuth
10 15 (1.33%) Kafka
11 14 (1.24%) Playwright
12 13 (1.15%) PyTorch
12 13 (1.15%) React
13 12 (1.06%) Pandas
14 11 (0.97%) PySpark
14 11 (0.97%) pytest
14 11 (0.97%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 49 (4.34%) Legacy Systems
2 42 (3.72%) Product Ownership
3 39 (3.45%) Data Structures
3 39 (3.45%) Onboarding
4 36 (3.19%) Management Information System
5 30 (2.65%) FPGA
6 27 (2.39%) Cloud Native
7 26 (2.30%) Data Centre
8 23 (2.04%) Data Protection Act
9 18 (1.59%) IoT
10 17 (1.50%) SCADA
11 16 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
11 16 (1.42%) Derivative
12 15 (1.33%) Enterprise Software
12 15 (1.33%) NB-IoT
12 15 (1.33%) Virtual Team
13 13 (1.15%) Algorithms
13 13 (1.15%) Security Posture
13 13 (1.15%) Self-Motivation
14 12 (1.06%) Reinsurance
Operating Systems
1 99 (8.76%) Linux
2 75 (6.64%) Windows
3 28 (2.48%) Unix
4 8 (0.71%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 8 (0.71%) Windows Server
5 5 (0.44%) VMS
6 4 (0.35%) Android
7 3 (0.27%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.088%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.088%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.088%) MVS
9 1 (0.088%) Robot Operating System
9 1 (0.088%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.088%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.088%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.088%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.088%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 301 (26.64%) Agile
2 260 (23.01%) Problem-Solving
3 240 (21.24%) Migration
4 191 (16.90%) DevOps
5 181 (16.02%) CI/CD
6 179 (15.84%) Data Validation
7 170 (15.04%) Analytics
8 159 (14.07%) Stakeholder Management
9 142 (12.57%) Test Automation
10 139 (12.30%) Data Migration
11 121 (10.71%) Business Intelligence
12 113 (10.00%) ETL
13 111 (9.82%) Data Modelling
14 109 (9.65%) Data Analysis
14 109 (9.65%) User Acceptance Testing
15 107 (9.47%) Data Governance
16 106 (9.38%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 95 (8.41%) Scrum
18 93 (8.23%) Visualisation
19 91 (8.05%) AI
Programming Languages
1 280 (24.78%) SQL
2 254 (22.48%) Python
3 81 (7.17%) JavaScript
4 58 (5.13%) C#
5 57 (5.04%) Java
6 41 (3.63%) C++
7 39 (3.45%) PL/SQL
8 38 (3.36%) Bash
8 38 (3.36%) PowerShell
9 21 (1.86%) R
10 18 (1.59%) Shell Script
11 17 (1.50%) TypeScript
12 16 (1.42%) C
13 15 (1.33%) VBA
14 13 (1.15%) T-SQL
15 11 (0.97%) ABAP
16 10 (0.88%) Groovy
16 10 (0.88%) Tcl
17 9 (0.80%) Apex Code
18 8 (0.71%) SystemVerilog
Qualifications
1 256 (22.65%) Security Cleared
2 198 (17.52%) SC Cleared
3 127 (11.24%) Degree
4 32 (2.83%) DV Cleared
5 31 (2.74%) Computer Science Degree
6 28 (2.48%) BPSS Clearance
7 22 (1.95%) Master's Degree
8 21 (1.86%) ISTQB
9 19 (1.68%) Cisco Certification
9 19 (1.68%) PMI Certification
10 18 (1.59%) AWS Certification
11 14 (1.24%) PhD
12 12 (1.06%) CCNP
12 12 (1.06%) CISSP
13 11 (0.97%) CBAP
14 10 (0.88%) PMP
15 9 (0.80%) CCIE
16 8 (0.71%) CIMA
16 8 (0.71%) ITIL Certification
16 8 (0.71%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 130 (11.50%) Data Quality
2 124 (10.97%) QA
3 49 (4.34%) GDPR
4 39 (3.45%) NIST
5 23 (2.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 21 (1.86%) Accessibility
7 14 (1.24%) EU AI Act
7 14 (1.24%) MiFID
8 10 (0.88%) EMIR
9 8 (0.71%) COBIT
9 8 (0.71%) Def Stans
9 8 (0.71%) GxP
9 8 (0.71%) IFRS
9 8 (0.71%) PCI DSS
10 7 (0.62%) PMO
10 7 (0.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 6 (0.53%) MISRA
12 5 (0.44%) DO-178B
12 5 (0.44%) GRC
12 5 (0.44%) NCSC
System Software
1 46 (4.07%) Active Directory
2 36 (3.19%) Docker
3 34 (3.01%) VMware Infrastructure
4 20 (1.77%) VMware ESXi
5 16 (1.42%) vSphere
6 13 (1.15%) Firmware
7 9 (0.80%) VMware NSX
8 6 (0.53%) Dovecot
8 6 (0.53%) Postfix
9 3 (0.27%) QEMU
9 3 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.18%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.088%) Embedded Firmware
11 1 (0.088%) Hyper-V
11 1 (0.088%) KVM
11 1 (0.088%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.088%) Squid
11 1 (0.088%) Time Sharing Option
11 1 (0.088%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 49 (4.34%) Kubernetes
2 45 (3.98%) Ansible
3 44 (3.89%) Terraform
4 14 (1.24%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (0.97%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (0.88%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 10 (0.88%) SCCM
7 9 (0.80%) Nessus
8 8 (0.71%) Argo
8 8 (0.71%) Istio
8 8 (0.71%) SCOM
9 7 (0.62%) Grafana
9 7 (0.62%) HP SiteScope
9 7 (0.62%) Puppet
10 6 (0.53%) HP ALM
10 6 (0.53%) Kibana
10 6 (0.53%) Nmap
11 5 (0.44%) vCenter Server
12 4 (0.35%) CASB
12 4 (0.35%) Kubeflow
Vendors
1 189 (16.73%) Microsoft
2 139 (12.30%) Oracle
3 90 (7.96%) SAP
4 53 (4.69%) VMware
5 48 (4.25%) ServiceNow
6 41 (3.63%) Salesforce
7 33 (2.92%) Cisco
8 28 (2.48%) Splunk
9 24 (2.12%) Databricks
10 22 (1.95%) Google
11 21 (1.86%) Workday
12 15 (1.33%) Red Hat
13 13 (1.15%) Remedy
14 12 (1.06%) EMC
14 12 (1.06%) MuleSoft
15 11 (0.97%) Informatica
16 10 (0.88%) CyberArk
16 10 (0.88%) F5
16 10 (0.88%) Fortinet
17 9 (0.80%) Juniper