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 23 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 57 114 127
Rank change year-on-year +57 +13 +5
Contract jobs citing Validation 1,345 614 713
As % of all contract jobs in England 4.14% 2.29% 1.93%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.70% 2.56% 2.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 822 324 403
10th Percentile £350 £336 £316
25th Percentile £410 £406 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £615 £612
90th Percentile £700 £714 £731
UK median daily rate £500 £511 £531
% change year-on-year -2.20% -3.76% -2.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 42 129
10th Percentile £31.55 £29.10 £35.65
25th Percentile £43.61 £46.56 £52.50
Median hourly rate £65.00 £57.65 £65.98
Median % change year-on-year +12.76% -12.63% +5.39%
75th Percentile £68.75 £63.75 £80.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £66.00 £90.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £57.65 £65.98
% change year-on-year +12.76% -12.63% +5.39%

All Process & 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 28,595 23,952 32,438
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 88.09% 89.37% 87.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,305 14,693 21,759
10th Percentile £305 £310 £300
25th Percentile £410 £413 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £534
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.69% -2.91%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £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 1,790 775 1,732
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.87 £20.88 £17.41
Median hourly rate £25.15 £34.00 £37.75
Median % change year-on-year -26.03% -9.93% +8.51%
75th Percentile £58.65 £63.93 £62.64
90th Percentile £69.99 £75.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £37.01
% change year-on-year -22.62% -12.19% +15.66%

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 23 January 2026.

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 23 January 2026.

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 23 January 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 +76 632 £513 -2.38% 195
North of England +29 181 £423 -3.43% 216
South East +15 161 £500 - 370
North West +24 115 £400 -3.03% 83
South West +12 113 £475 -17.82% 191
Midlands +9 113 £515 +8.42% 192
East of England +18 97 £482 +20.44% 204
West Midlands +4 93 £515 +8.42% 88
Yorkshire -8 53 £491 +8.21% 104
East Midlands -14 20 £475 +58.33% 101
North East -3 15 £463 -36.21% 30
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 53 (3.94%) Confluence
2 31 (2.30%) SAS
3 29 (2.16%) Apache Spark
4 28 (2.08%) SharePoint
5 20 (1.49%) Apache Airflow
5 20 (1.49%) Microsoft Exchange
6 14 (1.04%) Skype for Business
7 12 (0.89%) Apache
8 9 (0.67%) Exchange Server 2013
9 8 (0.59%) CMS
10 7 (0.52%) Mattermost
11 6 (0.45%) Appian
11 6 (0.45%) OpenStack
12 4 (0.30%) Adobe Experience Manager
12 4 (0.30%) Anypoint
12 4 (0.30%) Jupyter
12 4 (0.30%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
13 3 (0.22%) ArcGIS
13 3 (0.22%) GeoServer
13 3 (0.22%) Smallworld
Applications
1 70 (5.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 38 (2.83%) Microsoft Office
3 23 (1.71%) MS Visio
4 13 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.52%) Chatbot
5 7 (0.52%) Microsoft Project
6 6 (0.45%) Sketch
7 4 (0.30%) Notion
8 3 (0.22%) LaTeX
8 3 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
9 2 (0.15%) Simulink
10 1 (0.074%) CANalyzer
10 1 (0.074%) CATIA
10 1 (0.074%) OrCAD
10 1 (0.074%) Siemens NX
10 1 (0.074%) Stateflow
10 1 (0.074%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 62 (4.61%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (1.12%) Oracle EBS
3 11 (0.82%) Oracle General Ledger
3 11 (0.82%) Oracle Payables
3 11 (0.82%) SAP EHS
3 11 (0.82%) SAP FI
4 9 (0.67%) Aladdin
4 9 (0.67%) Remedy ITSM
5 8 (0.59%) Oracle Receivables
5 8 (0.59%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 7 (0.52%) NetSuite
6 7 (0.52%) OpenText VIM for SAP
6 7 (0.52%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 7 (0.52%) SAP MDG
7 6 (0.45%) Dynamics CRM
7 6 (0.45%) Markit EDM
7 6 (0.45%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (0.45%) SAP MM
8 5 (0.37%) Oracle EBS R12
8 5 (0.37%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 319 (23.72%) Azure
2 154 (11.45%) AWS
3 123 (9.14%) Azure DevOps
4 109 (8.10%) Power Platform
5 57 (4.24%) GCP
6 54 (4.01%) GitHub
7 50 (3.72%) Entra ID
8 45 (3.35%) SaaS
9 37 (2.75%) Serverless
10 36 (2.68%) Azure Data Factory
11 30 (2.23%) GitHub Actions
12 29 (2.16%) OCI
13 27 (2.01%) Snowflake
14 26 (1.93%) Microsoft 365
15 24 (1.78%) OpenShift
16 18 (1.34%) Amazon S3
17 17 (1.26%) AWS Lambda
18 16 (1.19%) Azure Functions
18 16 (1.19%) Dynamics 365
18 16 (1.19%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 36 (2.68%) Firewall
2 25 (1.86%) TCP/IP
3 20 (1.49%) Network Security
4 19 (1.41%) Ethernet
5 18 (1.34%) WAN
6 15 (1.12%) VPN
7 14 (1.04%) Skype
8 13 (0.97%) VLAN
9 12 (0.89%) BGP
9 12 (0.89%) DNS
9 12 (0.89%) LAN
9 12 (0.89%) Wireless
10 11 (0.82%) MPLS
10 11 (0.82%) OSPF
10 11 (0.82%) TACACS
11 9 (0.67%) SD-WAN
12 8 (0.59%) SNMP
13 7 (0.52%) HTTP
14 6 (0.45%) Cisco ISE
14 6 (0.45%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 102 (7.58%) Power BI
2 59 (4.39%) Metadata
3 55 (4.09%) Data Warehouse
4 37 (2.75%) Tableau
5 32 (2.38%) SQL Server
6 29 (2.16%) Data Lake
7 25 (1.86%) NoSQL
8 21 (1.56%) SAS Enterprise Guide
9 18 (1.34%) Oracle Database
10 17 (1.26%) Relational Database
11 16 (1.19%) Pinecone
12 15 (1.12%) Big Data
12 15 (1.12%) Oracle Reports
13 14 (1.04%) Amazon Redshift
13 14 (1.04%) Elasticsearch
14 13 (0.97%) Azure SQL Database
15 12 (0.89%) Delta Lake
15 12 (0.89%) SQL Server Integration Services
16 11 (0.82%) BigQuery
17 10 (0.74%) Looker
Development Applications
1 147 (10.93%) JIRA
2 67 (4.98%) Jenkins
3 62 (4.61%) Git
4 39 (2.90%) GitLab
5 38 (2.83%) Selenium
6 37 (2.75%) Postman
7 32 (2.38%) Oracle APEX
8 24 (1.78%) Rational DOORS
9 19 (1.41%) Visual Studio
10 15 (1.12%) JMeter
11 13 (0.97%) Eclipse
11 13 (0.97%) TestRail
12 12 (0.89%) Cucumber
13 11 (0.82%) Bitbucket
13 11 (0.82%) MLflow
14 10 (0.74%) JUnit
14 10 (0.74%) Zephyr
15 9 (0.67%) REST Assured
16 8 (0.59%) SpecFlow
17 6 (0.45%) Cypress.io
General
1 511 (37.99%) Social Skills
2 373 (27.73%) Finance
3 295 (21.93%) Analytical Skills
4 129 (9.59%) Public Sector
5 113 (8.40%) Banking
6 70 (5.20%) Documentation Skills
7 49 (3.64%) Presentation Skills
8 29 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
8 29 (2.16%) Marketing
9 28 (2.08%) Aerospace
9 28 (2.08%) Electronics
10 27 (2.01%) Front Office
10 27 (2.01%) Military
10 27 (2.01%) Telecoms
11 26 (1.93%) Manufacturing
12 23 (1.71%) Investment Banking
13 22 (1.64%) Pharmaceutical
14 21 (1.56%) Financial Institution
15 20 (1.49%) Legal
16 18 (1.34%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 270 (20.07%) Analyst
2 140 (10.41%) Senior
3 122 (9.07%) Business Analyst
4 118 (8.77%) Lead
5 104 (7.73%) Consultant
6 102 (7.58%) Developer
7 72 (5.35%) Architect
8 62 (4.61%) Data Analyst
9 56 (4.16%) Data Engineer
10 51 (3.79%) Software Engineer
11 42 (3.12%) Tester
12 41 (3.05%) Project Manager
13 34 (2.53%) Senior Developer
14 33 (2.45%) SAP Consultant
14 33 (2.45%) Senior Analyst
15 30 (2.23%) Test Analyst
15 30 (2.23%) Test Manager
16 27 (2.01%) Data Scientist
17 25 (1.86%) QA Engineer
18 24 (1.78%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 87 (6.47%) REST
2 56 (4.16%) JSON
3 47 (3.49%) Oracle Fusion
3 47 (3.49%) XML
4 39 (2.90%) Middleware
5 38 (2.83%) OAuth
6 37 (2.75%) SOAP
7 31 (2.30%) Node.js
8 28 (2.08%) RESTful
9 27 (2.01%) .NET
9 27 (2.01%) Kafka
9 27 (2.01%) PySpark
9 27 (2.01%) PyTorch
10 25 (1.86%) Swagger
10 25 (1.86%) Web Services
11 24 (1.78%) TensorFlow
12 23 (1.71%) Playwright
13 20 (1.49%) JWT
13 20 (1.49%) SAML
13 20 (1.49%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 72 (5.35%) Legacy Systems
2 55 (4.09%) Data Structures
3 50 (3.72%) Product Ownership
4 49 (3.64%) Onboarding
5 38 (2.83%) Management Information System
6 34 (2.53%) Cloud Native
7 25 (1.86%) Algorithms
7 25 (1.86%) Data Centre
8 23 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
9 22 (1.64%) Data Protection Act
10 19 (1.41%) Derivative
10 19 (1.41%) FPGA
11 15 (1.12%) Replication
12 13 (0.97%) Credit Risk
12 13 (0.97%) Distributed Systems
12 13 (0.97%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 12 (0.89%) PCIe
14 11 (0.82%) Embedded Systems
14 11 (0.82%) Enterprise Software
14 11 (0.82%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 87 (6.47%) Linux
2 75 (5.58%) Windows
3 29 (2.16%) Unix
4 11 (0.82%) Android
5 6 (0.45%) Windows Server
6 5 (0.37%) zOS
7 4 (0.30%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.22%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.15%) Debian
9 2 (0.15%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.15%) Robot Operating System
10 1 (0.074%) FreeRTOS
10 1 (0.074%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.074%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 387 (28.77%) Agile
2 314 (23.35%) Problem-Solving
3 291 (21.64%) Migration
4 261 (19.41%) DevOps
5 226 (16.80%) Stakeholder Management
6 224 (16.65%) CI/CD
7 211 (15.69%) Data Validation
8 200 (14.87%) Analytics
9 169 (12.57%) Test Automation
10 158 (11.75%) User Acceptance Testing
11 156 (11.60%) Data Modelling
12 150 (11.15%) Data Migration
13 149 (11.08%) AI
14 141 (10.48%) ETL
15 138 (10.26%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 132 (9.81%) Business Intelligence
17 120 (8.92%) Data Analysis
18 116 (8.62%) Data Governance
19 114 (8.48%) Continuous Improvement
20 110 (8.18%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 345 (25.65%) SQL
2 295 (21.93%) Python
3 93 (6.91%) JavaScript
4 79 (5.87%) Java
5 59 (4.39%) C#
6 50 (3.72%) PL/SQL
7 49 (3.64%) C++
8 43 (3.20%) Bash
9 41 (3.05%) PowerShell
10 36 (2.68%) C
11 24 (1.78%) R
11 24 (1.78%) TypeScript
12 16 (1.19%) Groovy
13 14 (1.04%) Ada
13 14 (1.04%) Shell Script
14 12 (0.89%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 12 (0.89%) Scala
15 10 (0.74%) T-SQL
16 9 (0.67%) ABAP
16 9 (0.67%) VBA
Qualifications
1 292 (21.71%) Security Cleared
2 212 (15.76%) SC Cleared
3 135 (10.04%) Degree
4 55 (4.09%) Computer Science Degree
5 35 (2.60%) BPSS Clearance
5 35 (2.60%) DV Cleared
6 33 (2.45%) Master's Degree
7 27 (2.01%) PMI Certification
8 24 (1.78%) ISTQB
9 20 (1.49%) AWS Certification
9 20 (1.49%) PMP
10 15 (1.12%) CBAP
11 13 (0.97%) Cisco Certification
11 13 (0.97%) Oracle Certification
12 10 (0.74%) Azure Certification
13 9 (0.67%) CCIE
13 9 (0.67%) ITIL Certification
13 9 (0.67%) OCA
14 8 (0.59%) CISSP
15 7 (0.52%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 168 (12.49%) QA
2 164 (12.19%) Data Quality
3 76 (5.65%) GDPR
4 57 (4.24%) NIST
5 36 (2.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 28 (2.08%) Accessibility
7 19 (1.41%) IFRS
8 15 (1.12%) IFRS 17
9 14 (1.04%) Def Stans
10 13 (0.97%) EU AI Act
11 12 (0.89%) GxP
11 12 (0.89%) PCI DSS
12 10 (0.74%) MiFID
12 10 (0.74%) MISRA
12 10 (0.74%) NCSC
13 9 (0.67%) DO-178B
13 9 (0.67%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 8 (0.59%) COBIT
14 8 (0.59%) GRC
15 7 (0.52%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 55 (4.09%) Docker
2 44 (3.27%) Active Directory
3 23 (1.71%) VMware Infrastructure
4 22 (1.64%) Firmware
5 11 (0.82%) VMware NSX
6 7 (0.52%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.30%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
8 4 (0.30%) Embedded Firmware
8 4 (0.30%) vSphere
9 3 (0.22%) Hyper-V
9 3 (0.22%) KVM
9 3 (0.22%) QEMU
10 2 (0.15%) Ceph
10 2 (0.15%) Lustre
10 2 (0.15%) OpenAM
10 2 (0.15%) OpenDJ
10 2 (0.15%) OpenIDM
10 2 (0.15%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.074%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 70 (5.20%) Kubernetes
2 61 (4.54%) Terraform
3 45 (3.35%) Ansible
4 19 (1.41%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (1.12%) Microsoft Intune
6 14 (1.04%) Kibana
6 14 (1.04%) Puppet
7 10 (0.74%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 10 (0.74%) SCCM
8 9 (0.67%) Grafana
9 7 (0.52%) HP SiteScope
9 7 (0.52%) SCOM
10 6 (0.45%) Nessus
10 6 (0.45%) Nmap
11 4 (0.30%) Prometheus
12 3 (0.22%) Argo
12 3 (0.22%) CloudHub
12 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.22%) Istio
12 3 (0.22%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 187 (13.90%) Microsoft
2 146 (10.86%) Oracle
3 100 (7.43%) SAP
4 56 (4.16%) ServiceNow
5 50 (3.72%) Databricks
6 40 (2.97%) Cisco
7 35 (2.60%) Splunk
8 34 (2.53%) Salesforce
9 33 (2.45%) Google
10 29 (2.16%) VMware
11 20 (1.49%) Workday
12 19 (1.41%) IBM
13 18 (1.34%) MuleSoft
14 17 (1.26%) Murex
15 15 (1.12%) Bloomberg
15 15 (1.12%) Palo Alto
16 12 (0.89%) Adobe
16 12 (0.89%) Avaloq
16 12 (0.89%) Informatica
17 11 (0.82%) Fortinet