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 17 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 65 105 144
Rank change year-on-year +40 +39 +3
Contract jobs citing Validation 1,152 699 714
As % of all contract jobs in England 3.86% 2.26% 1.79%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.27% 2.61% 2.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 692 364 422
10th Percentile £356 £325 £350
25th Percentile £420 £401 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £534
Median % change year-on-year - -6.32% -2.95%
75th Percentile £620 £598 £638
90th Percentile £688 £672 £850
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -2.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 76 93
10th Percentile £29.02 £28.00 £50.24
25th Percentile £41.25 £45.99 £56.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -7.41% +9.76%
75th Percentile £67.44 £66.00 £84.36
90th Percentile £77.03 £75.00 £90.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £67.50
% change year-on-year +4.00% -7.41% +9.76%

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 26,975 26,819 35,366
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 90.28% 86.81% 88.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,111 16,369 24,234
10th Percentile £300 £313 £313
25th Percentile £405 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £525 £545
Median % change year-on-year -3.43% -3.67% -0.91%
75th Percentile £625 £643 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,784 960 1,488
10th Percentile £14.75 £15.10 £14.42
25th Percentile £17.87 £20.30 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £37.25 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -32.48% -16.29% +27.14%
75th Percentile £46.81 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.00 £74.76 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £43.84
% change year-on-year -28.14% -20.16% +25.24%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 +73 521 £525 +5.00% 511
South East +9 154 £500 +2.56% 267
North of England +19 124 £450 +7.14% 139
East of England +23 114 £500 +33.33% 151
South West +4 105 £475 -18.80% 138
Midlands -18 92 £492 -0.61% 115
North West +6 76 £428 -6.30% 99
West Midlands -18 74 £500 -3.61% 76
Yorkshire -13 36 £440 +4.76% 28
East Midlands -6 18 £430 +5.85% 37
North East +2 12 £515 -10.43% 12
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 46 (3.99%) Confluence
2 33 (2.86%) SharePoint
3 23 (2.00%) Apache Airflow
3 23 (2.00%) Apache Spark
4 22 (1.91%) SAS
5 15 (1.30%) Microsoft Exchange
5 15 (1.30%) Skype for Business
6 12 (1.04%) Apache
7 8 (0.69%) CMS
8 7 (0.61%) Exchange Server 2013
8 7 (0.61%) Mattermost
9 6 (0.52%) OpenStack
10 4 (0.35%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 4 (0.35%) Smallworld
10 4 (0.35%) WebLogic
11 3 (0.26%) Anypoint
11 3 (0.26%) GeoServer
12 2 (0.17%) ArcGIS
12 2 (0.17%) Documentum
12 2 (0.17%) Jupyter
Applications
1 80 (6.94%) Microsoft Excel
2 40 (3.47%) Microsoft Office
3 22 (1.91%) MS Visio
4 18 (1.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.52%) Chatbot
5 6 (0.52%) Sketch
5 6 (0.52%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.26%) Simulink
7 1 (0.087%) CANalyzer
7 1 (0.087%) NASTRAN
7 1 (0.087%) Notion
7 1 (0.087%) Siemens NX
7 1 (0.087%) Stateflow
7 1 (0.087%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 57 (4.95%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.13%) Aladdin
3 11 (0.95%) SAP EHS
4 10 (0.87%) Remedy ITSM
4 10 (0.87%) SAP FI
5 9 (0.78%) Oracle EBS
5 9 (0.78%) SAP MDG
6 7 (0.61%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 6 (0.52%) SAP MM
8 5 (0.43%) Dynamics CRM
8 5 (0.43%) Oracle Payables
8 5 (0.43%) Workday HCM
9 4 (0.35%) Markit EDM
9 4 (0.35%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
9 4 (0.35%) Oracle Receivables
9 4 (0.35%) Payment Gateway
9 4 (0.35%) Salesforce CRM
9 4 (0.35%) Teamcenter
10 3 (0.26%) Oracle Applications
10 3 (0.26%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 253 (21.96%) Azure
2 123 (10.68%) AWS
3 106 (9.20%) Azure DevOps
4 101 (8.77%) Power Platform
5 51 (4.43%) GCP
6 43 (3.73%) GitHub
7 35 (3.04%) SaaS
8 33 (2.86%) Entra ID
9 26 (2.26%) Serverless
9 26 (2.26%) Snowflake
10 25 (2.17%) GitHub Actions
11 24 (2.08%) Microsoft 365
12 23 (2.00%) OpenShift
13 22 (1.91%) OCI
14 18 (1.56%) Azure Data Factory
15 16 (1.39%) dbt
16 15 (1.30%) Azure Functions
16 15 (1.30%) Dynamics 365
17 14 (1.22%) OneDrive
18 13 (1.13%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 32 (2.78%) Firewall
1 32 (2.78%) TCP/IP
2 28 (2.43%) DNS
3 22 (1.91%) BGP
3 22 (1.91%) Ethernet
3 22 (1.91%) VPN
4 21 (1.82%) MPLS
5 16 (1.39%) WAN
6 15 (1.30%) 3GPP
6 15 (1.30%) Skype
7 14 (1.22%) LTE
8 13 (1.13%) OSPF
9 10 (0.87%) LAN
9 10 (0.87%) SSL
10 9 (0.78%) SD-WAN
10 9 (0.78%) SNMP
10 9 (0.78%) Wireless
11 8 (0.69%) DMARC
11 8 (0.69%) HTTP
11 8 (0.69%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 96 (8.33%) Power BI
2 59 (5.12%) Data Warehouse
3 41 (3.56%) Metadata
4 36 (3.13%) Tableau
5 29 (2.52%) NoSQL
6 23 (2.00%) SQL Server
7 20 (1.74%) Relational Database
8 19 (1.65%) Oracle Database
9 18 (1.56%) Data Lake
10 17 (1.48%) SAS Enterprise Guide
11 16 (1.39%) Oracle Reports
12 13 (1.13%) Amazon Redshift
12 13 (1.13%) Azure SQL Database
12 13 (1.13%) BigQuery
13 12 (1.04%) PostgreSQL
14 11 (0.95%) Big Data
14 11 (0.95%) SAP HANA
15 9 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
15 9 (0.78%) Geospatial Data
15 9 (0.78%) Looker
Development Applications
1 120 (10.42%) JIRA
2 58 (5.03%) Git
3 57 (4.95%) Jenkins
4 33 (2.86%) Selenium
5 32 (2.78%) Oracle APEX
6 31 (2.69%) Postman
7 29 (2.52%) GitLab
8 27 (2.34%) Visual Studio
9 22 (1.91%) Eclipse
10 16 (1.39%) Rational DOORS
11 15 (1.30%) TestRail
12 14 (1.22%) Cucumber
13 12 (1.04%) JUnit
13 12 (1.04%) Zephyr
14 11 (0.95%) JMeter
15 9 (0.78%) Bitbucket
16 7 (0.61%) Cypress.io
16 7 (0.61%) MLflow
16 7 (0.61%) REST Assured
17 6 (0.52%) SpecFlow
General
1 486 (42.19%) Social Skills
2 304 (26.39%) Finance
3 255 (22.14%) Analytical Skills
4 107 (9.29%) Public Sector
5 77 (6.68%) Banking
6 72 (6.25%) Documentation Skills
7 54 (4.69%) Presentation Skills
8 33 (2.86%) Aerospace
8 33 (2.86%) Military
9 29 (2.52%) Marketing
9 29 (2.52%) Telecoms
10 27 (2.34%) Front Office
11 26 (2.26%) Electronics
12 25 (2.17%) Investment Banking
12 25 (2.17%) Pharmaceutical
13 23 (2.00%) Influencing Skills
14 22 (1.91%) Manufacturing
15 20 (1.74%) Organisational Skills
16 15 (1.30%) Automotive
17 14 (1.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 227 (19.70%) Analyst
2 111 (9.64%) Senior
3 101 (8.77%) Consultant
4 100 (8.68%) Developer
5 97 (8.42%) Business Analyst
6 87 (7.55%) Lead
7 65 (5.64%) Data Analyst
8 47 (4.08%) Architect
9 45 (3.91%) Software Engineer
10 44 (3.82%) Tester
11 38 (3.30%) Data Engineer
12 35 (3.04%) Senior Developer
13 34 (2.95%) SAP Consultant
14 33 (2.86%) Data Scientist
15 26 (2.26%) Test Analyst
16 24 (2.08%) Project Manager
16 24 (2.08%) QA Engineer
17 21 (1.82%) C++ Software Engineer
17 21 (1.82%) Network Engineer
17 21 (1.82%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (5.03%) REST
2 41 (3.56%) JSON
3 34 (2.95%) Node.js
4 31 (2.69%) XML
5 29 (2.52%) Web Services
6 28 (2.43%) Oracle Fusion
6 28 (2.43%) RESTful
7 27 (2.34%) .NET
7 27 (2.34%) SOAP
8 19 (1.65%) SAP Fiori
9 17 (1.48%) OAuth
10 16 (1.39%) Middleware
11 15 (1.30%) Kafka
11 15 (1.30%) Playwright
11 15 (1.30%) PyTorch
12 13 (1.13%) Pandas
12 13 (1.13%) React
12 13 (1.13%) TensorFlow
13 12 (1.04%) PySpark
13 12 (1.04%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 48 (4.17%) Legacy Systems
2 42 (3.65%) Product Ownership
3 40 (3.47%) Data Structures
4 36 (3.13%) Onboarding
5 35 (3.04%) Management Information System
6 31 (2.69%) FPGA
7 27 (2.34%) Cloud Native
8 24 (2.08%) Data Centre
9 22 (1.91%) Data Protection Act
10 17 (1.48%) Algorithms
11 16 (1.39%) Derivative
11 16 (1.39%) Enterprise Software
11 16 (1.39%) IoT
12 15 (1.30%) NB-IoT
12 15 (1.30%) Virtual Team
13 14 (1.22%) Analytical Mindset
14 13 (1.13%) SCADA
14 13 (1.13%) Security Posture
14 13 (1.13%) Self-Motivation
15 12 (1.04%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 101 (8.77%) Linux
2 78 (6.77%) Windows
3 27 (2.34%) Unix
4 8 (0.69%) Windows Server
5 7 (0.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 5 (0.43%) Android
7 4 (0.35%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.35%) VMS
8 2 (0.17%) Robot Operating System
8 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2003
8 2 (0.17%) zOS
9 1 (0.087%) Debian
9 1 (0.087%) Embedded Linux
9 1 (0.087%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.087%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.087%) MVS
9 1 (0.087%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.087%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.087%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.087%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 321 (27.86%) Agile
2 271 (23.52%) Problem-Solving
3 230 (19.97%) Migration
4 204 (17.71%) DevOps
5 191 (16.58%) CI/CD
6 177 (15.36%) Analytics
7 170 (14.76%) Data Validation
8 159 (13.80%) Stakeholder Management
9 145 (12.59%) Test Automation
10 127 (11.02%) Data Migration
11 123 (10.68%) Business Intelligence
12 114 (9.90%) Data Analysis
13 112 (9.72%) Data Modelling
14 110 (9.55%) ETL
14 110 (9.55%) User Acceptance Testing
15 107 (9.29%) Data Governance
16 106 (9.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 101 (8.77%) Scrum
17 101 (8.77%) Visualisation
18 100 (8.68%) AI
Programming Languages
1 286 (24.83%) SQL
2 266 (23.09%) Python
3 93 (8.07%) JavaScript
4 65 (5.64%) C#
5 63 (5.47%) Java
6 48 (4.17%) C++
7 47 (4.08%) PL/SQL
8 38 (3.30%) Bash
9 36 (3.13%) PowerShell
10 26 (2.26%) R
11 17 (1.48%) Shell Script
11 17 (1.48%) TypeScript
12 16 (1.39%) C
13 15 (1.30%) VBA
14 13 (1.13%) T-SQL
15 11 (0.95%) ABAP
15 11 (0.95%) Groovy
16 10 (0.87%) Tcl
17 9 (0.78%) Apex Code
18 8 (0.69%) Data Analysis Expressions
Qualifications
1 264 (22.92%) Security Cleared
2 204 (17.71%) SC Cleared
3 130 (11.28%) Degree
4 32 (2.78%) Computer Science Degree
5 31 (2.69%) DV Cleared
6 26 (2.26%) BPSS Clearance
7 24 (2.08%) Master's Degree
8 23 (2.00%) ISTQB
9 19 (1.65%) Cisco Certification
10 18 (1.56%) PMI Certification
11 17 (1.48%) AWS Certification
12 15 (1.30%) PhD
13 12 (1.04%) CCNP
13 12 (1.04%) CISSP
14 11 (0.95%) CBAP
15 10 (0.87%) Oracle Certification
16 9 (0.78%) CCIE
16 9 (0.78%) ITIL Certification
16 9 (0.78%) PMP
17 8 (0.69%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 133 (11.55%) QA
2 126 (10.94%) Data Quality
3 50 (4.34%) GDPR
4 37 (3.21%) NIST
5 22 (1.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 21 (1.82%) Accessibility
7 14 (1.22%) EU AI Act
8 11 (0.95%) MiFID
9 9 (0.78%) Def Stans
9 9 (0.78%) EMIR
10 8 (0.69%) GxP
10 8 (0.69%) IFRS
10 8 (0.69%) PCI DSS
11 7 (0.61%) PMO
12 6 (0.52%) COBIT
12 6 (0.52%) MISRA
12 6 (0.52%) NCSC
12 6 (0.52%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 5 (0.43%) DO-178B
14 4 (0.35%) Basel III
System Software
1 46 (3.99%) Active Directory
2 37 (3.21%) Docker
3 35 (3.04%) VMware Infrastructure
4 19 (1.65%) VMware ESXi
5 15 (1.30%) Firmware
6 14 (1.22%) vSphere
7 9 (0.78%) VMware NSX
8 6 (0.52%) Dovecot
8 6 (0.52%) Postfix
9 3 (0.26%) QEMU
9 3 (0.26%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.17%) Embedded Firmware
10 2 (0.17%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.087%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.087%) Hyper-V
11 1 (0.087%) KVM
11 1 (0.087%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.087%) Squid
11 1 (0.087%) Time Sharing Option
11 1 (0.087%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 51 (4.43%) Kubernetes
2 47 (4.08%) Ansible
3 42 (3.65%) Terraform
4 14 (1.22%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (0.95%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (0.87%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 10 (0.87%) SCCM
7 9 (0.78%) Nessus
8 8 (0.69%) Argo
8 8 (0.69%) Istio
8 8 (0.69%) SCOM
9 7 (0.61%) Grafana
9 7 (0.61%) HP SiteScope
9 7 (0.61%) Puppet
10 6 (0.52%) Kibana
10 6 (0.52%) Nmap
11 5 (0.43%) HP ALM
11 5 (0.43%) vCenter Server
12 4 (0.35%) CASB
12 4 (0.35%) Kubeflow
Vendors
1 189 (16.41%) Microsoft
2 134 (11.63%) Oracle
3 87 (7.55%) SAP
4 52 (4.51%) VMware
5 51 (4.43%) ServiceNow
6 40 (3.47%) Salesforce
7 35 (3.04%) Cisco
8 27 (2.34%) Splunk
9 24 (2.08%) Databricks
10 22 (1.91%) Google
10 22 (1.91%) Workday
11 14 (1.22%) Red Hat
11 14 (1.22%) Remedy
12 12 (1.04%) MuleSoft
13 11 (0.95%) CyberArk
13 11 (0.95%) EMC
13 11 (0.95%) IBM
14 10 (0.87%) F5
14 10 (0.87%) Fortinet
15 9 (0.78%) Murex