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 1 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 54 111 126
Rank change year-on-year +57 +15 +7
Contract jobs citing Validation 1,385 634 752
As % of all contract jobs in England 4.21% 2.39% 1.97%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.80% 2.67% 2.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 849 338 426
10th Percentile £325 £337 £317
25th Percentile £400 £409 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £528
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.47% -4.09%
75th Percentile £600 £619 £611
90th Percentile £700 £725 £731
UK median daily rate £492 £513 £538
% change year-on-year -4.00% -4.65% -1.01%
Number of hourly rates quoted 75 37 145
10th Percentile £31.95 £27.90 £28.76
25th Percentile £42.78 £47.50 £52.50
Median hourly rate £65.00 £57.54 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +12.96% -11.48% +2.80%
75th Percentile £68.75 £63.75 £77.00
90th Percentile £74.50 £66.60 £90.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £57.54 £65.00
% change year-on-year +12.96% -11.48% +2.80%

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 28,849 23,705 33,384
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 87.71% 89.48% 87.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,454 14,499 22,354
10th Percentile £305 £310 £300
25th Percentile £410 £413 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £528
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.47% -4.09%
75th Percentile £619 £643 £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 1,790 754 1,912
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.62 £13.50
25th Percentile £17.87 £21.00 £17.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £34.75 £36.00
Median % change year-on-year -27.63% -3.47% +2.86%
75th Percentile £60.00 £63.75 £62.12
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -22.62% -7.14% +7.69%

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 1 February 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 1 February 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 1 February 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 +76 655 £513 -5.09% 280
North of England +20 185 £417 -0.71% 134
South East +10 165 £500 - 217
Midlands +14 121 £500 +2.41% 114
North West +18 120 £400 +1.27% 65
South West +8 116 £475 -17.39% 95
West Midlands +15 101 £506 +3.48% 75
East of England +18 92 £478 +19.50% 98
Yorkshire -9 53 £487 -0.10% 60
East Midlands -10 20 £475 +58.33% 38
North East -7 14 £463 -36.21% 10
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 54 (3.90%) Confluence
2 31 (2.24%) SAS
3 30 (2.17%) Apache Spark
4 29 (2.09%) SharePoint
5 25 (1.81%) Apache Airflow
6 19 (1.37%) Microsoft Exchange
7 14 (1.01%) Skype for Business
8 11 (0.79%) Apache
9 9 (0.65%) Exchange Server 2013
10 8 (0.58%) CMS
11 7 (0.51%) Appian
11 7 (0.51%) Mattermost
12 5 (0.36%) OpenStack
13 4 (0.29%) Adobe Experience Manager
13 4 (0.29%) Anypoint
13 4 (0.29%) Jupyter
13 4 (0.29%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
14 3 (0.22%) ArcGIS
14 3 (0.22%) Smallworld
14 3 (0.22%) WebLogic
Applications
1 77 (5.56%) Microsoft Excel
2 40 (2.89%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (1.73%) MS Visio
4 15 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.51%) Chatbot
7 6 (0.43%) Sketch
7 6 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
8 4 (0.29%) Notion
9 3 (0.22%) LaTeX
10 2 (0.14%) Simulink
11 1 (0.072%) CANalyzer
11 1 (0.072%) CATIA
11 1 (0.072%) OrCAD
11 1 (0.072%) Siemens NX
11 1 (0.072%) Stateflow
11 1 (0.072%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 64 (4.62%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (1.08%) Oracle EBS
3 11 (0.79%) Oracle General Ledger
3 11 (0.79%) Oracle Payables
3 11 (0.79%) SAP EHS
4 10 (0.72%) Aladdin
5 9 (0.65%) Remedy ITSM
5 9 (0.65%) SAP FI
6 8 (0.58%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 8 (0.58%) Oracle Receivables
6 8 (0.58%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 7 (0.51%) Dynamics CRM
7 7 (0.51%) NetSuite
7 7 (0.51%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 7 (0.51%) SAP MDG
8 6 (0.43%) Oracle Assets
8 6 (0.43%) SAP MM
9 5 (0.36%) Oracle EBS R12
9 5 (0.36%) Payment Gateway
9 5 (0.36%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 330 (23.83%) Azure
2 161 (11.62%) AWS
3 126 (9.10%) Azure DevOps
4 113 (8.16%) Power Platform
5 58 (4.19%) GCP
6 56 (4.04%) GitHub
7 54 (3.90%) Entra ID
8 46 (3.32%) SaaS
9 40 (2.89%) Serverless
10 38 (2.74%) Azure Data Factory
11 30 (2.17%) GitHub Actions
11 30 (2.17%) Snowflake
12 28 (2.02%) Microsoft 365
12 28 (2.02%) OCI
13 24 (1.73%) Amazon S3
14 23 (1.66%) OpenShift
15 19 (1.37%) AWS Lambda
16 18 (1.30%) Dynamics 365
17 17 (1.23%) Azure Functions
17 17 (1.23%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 41 (2.96%) Firewall
2 23 (1.66%) TCP/IP
3 20 (1.44%) Network Security
4 17 (1.23%) Ethernet
5 16 (1.16%) VPN
6 15 (1.08%) WAN
7 14 (1.01%) Skype
7 14 (1.01%) VLAN
8 12 (0.87%) BGP
8 12 (0.87%) DNS
8 12 (0.87%) Wireless
9 11 (0.79%) LAN
9 11 (0.79%) MPLS
9 11 (0.79%) OSPF
10 10 (0.72%) TACACS
11 7 (0.51%) HTTP
11 7 (0.51%) SD-WAN
12 6 (0.43%) Cisco ISE
12 6 (0.43%) SNMP
13 5 (0.36%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 107 (7.73%) Power BI
2 59 (4.26%) Metadata
3 55 (3.97%) Data Warehouse
4 39 (2.82%) Tableau
5 36 (2.60%) SQL Server
6 28 (2.02%) Data Lake
7 25 (1.81%) NoSQL
8 21 (1.52%) SAS Enterprise Guide
9 19 (1.37%) Amazon Redshift
9 19 (1.37%) Oracle Database
10 17 (1.23%) Relational Database
11 16 (1.16%) Pinecone
12 15 (1.08%) Oracle Reports
13 14 (1.01%) Big Data
13 14 (1.01%) Delta Lake
13 14 (1.01%) Elasticsearch
14 13 (0.94%) Azure SQL Database
15 12 (0.87%) SQL Server Integration Services
16 11 (0.79%) BigQuery
17 10 (0.72%) Looker
Development Applications
1 148 (10.69%) JIRA
2 66 (4.77%) Jenkins
3 64 (4.62%) Git
4 38 (2.74%) GitLab
4 38 (2.74%) Postman
5 37 (2.67%) Selenium
6 32 (2.31%) Oracle APEX
7 24 (1.73%) Rational DOORS
8 17 (1.23%) Visual Studio
9 15 (1.08%) JMeter
10 13 (0.94%) Cucumber
10 13 (0.94%) TestRail
11 11 (0.79%) Eclipse
11 11 (0.79%) MLflow
12 10 (0.72%) JUnit
12 10 (0.72%) REST Assured
12 10 (0.72%) Zephyr
13 9 (0.65%) Bitbucket
14 7 (0.51%) SpecFlow
15 6 (0.43%) Cypress.io
General
1 521 (37.62%) Social Skills
2 394 (28.45%) Finance
3 298 (21.52%) Analytical Skills
4 131 (9.46%) Public Sector
5 122 (8.81%) Banking
6 74 (5.34%) Documentation Skills
7 47 (3.39%) Presentation Skills
8 30 (2.17%) Influencing Skills
9 29 (2.09%) Aerospace
9 29 (2.09%) Manufacturing
9 29 (2.09%) Marketing
10 28 (2.02%) Front Office
10 28 (2.02%) Telecoms
11 27 (1.95%) Electronics
12 26 (1.88%) Military
13 24 (1.73%) Investment Banking
14 22 (1.59%) Legal
15 21 (1.52%) Financial Institution
15 21 (1.52%) Pharmaceutical
16 19 (1.37%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 279 (20.14%) Analyst
2 144 (10.40%) Senior
3 126 (9.10%) Business Analyst
4 122 (8.81%) Lead
5 105 (7.58%) Developer
6 103 (7.44%) Consultant
7 77 (5.56%) Architect
8 66 (4.77%) Data Analyst
9 60 (4.33%) Data Engineer
10 49 (3.54%) Software Engineer
11 43 (3.10%) Tester
12 42 (3.03%) Project Manager
13 37 (2.67%) Senior Analyst
14 34 (2.45%) Senior Developer
15 32 (2.31%) SAP Consultant
15 32 (2.31%) Test Manager
16 31 (2.24%) Test Analyst
17 28 (2.02%) Solutions Architect
18 27 (1.95%) Data Scientist
19 26 (1.88%) Embedded Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 91 (6.57%) REST
2 61 (4.40%) JSON
3 48 (3.47%) XML
4 46 (3.32%) Oracle Fusion
5 43 (3.10%) OAuth
6 39 (2.82%) SOAP
7 38 (2.74%) Middleware
8 30 (2.17%) .NET
8 30 (2.17%) Node.js
9 29 (2.09%) Kafka
9 29 (2.09%) RESTful
10 27 (1.95%) PySpark
10 27 (1.95%) PyTorch
10 27 (1.95%) Swagger
11 26 (1.88%) Web Services
12 24 (1.73%) TensorFlow
13 22 (1.59%) SAML
14 21 (1.52%) JWT
14 21 (1.52%) Playwright
15 20 (1.44%) OpenAPI
Miscellaneous
1 80 (5.78%) Legacy Systems
2 57 (4.12%) Data Structures
3 56 (4.04%) Product Ownership
4 52 (3.75%) Onboarding
5 38 (2.74%) Cloud Native
5 38 (2.74%) Management Information System
6 26 (1.88%) Analytical Mindset
7 25 (1.81%) Data Centre
8 24 (1.73%) Algorithms
9 23 (1.66%) Data Protection Act
10 20 (1.44%) Derivative
11 18 (1.30%) FPGA
12 17 (1.23%) Replication
13 14 (1.01%) Credit Risk
14 13 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
14 13 (0.94%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 13 (0.94%) Greenfield Project
14 13 (0.94%) Hybrid Cloud
14 13 (0.94%) Security Posture
15 12 (0.87%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 84 (6.06%) Linux
2 76 (5.49%) Windows
3 27 (1.95%) Unix
4 11 (0.79%) Android
5 5 (0.36%) Windows Server
5 5 (0.36%) zOS
6 4 (0.29%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.22%) Embedded Linux
8 2 (0.14%) Debian
8 2 (0.14%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.14%) Robot Operating System
8 2 (0.14%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.072%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.072%) pSOS
9 1 (0.072%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 386 (27.87%) Agile
2 332 (23.97%) Problem-Solving
3 312 (22.53%) Migration
4 261 (18.84%) DevOps
5 241 (17.40%) Stakeholder Management
6 223 (16.10%) CI/CD
7 222 (16.03%) Data Validation
8 210 (15.16%) Analytics
9 171 (12.35%) Test Automation
10 170 (12.27%) User Acceptance Testing
11 165 (11.91%) Data Modelling
12 158 (11.41%) Data Migration
13 155 (11.19%) AI
14 150 (10.83%) ETL
15 143 (10.32%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 140 (10.11%) Business Intelligence
17 123 (8.88%) Data Governance
18 120 (8.66%) Continuous Improvement
19 118 (8.52%) Data Analysis
20 113 (8.16%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 357 (25.78%) SQL
2 300 (21.66%) Python
3 92 (6.64%) JavaScript
4 80 (5.78%) Java
5 58 (4.19%) C#
6 51 (3.68%) PL/SQL
7 45 (3.25%) C++
7 45 (3.25%) PowerShell
8 44 (3.18%) Bash
9 38 (2.74%) C
10 26 (1.88%) TypeScript
11 24 (1.73%) R
12 17 (1.23%) Groovy
13 16 (1.16%) Ada
14 15 (1.08%) Bicep
15 13 (0.94%) Shell Script
16 12 (0.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 12 (0.87%) Scala
17 11 (0.79%) T-SQL
18 9 (0.65%) ABAP
Qualifications
1 301 (21.73%) Security Cleared
2 218 (15.74%) SC Cleared
3 143 (10.32%) Degree
4 55 (3.97%) Computer Science Degree
5 37 (2.67%) BPSS Clearance
6 35 (2.53%) DV Cleared
7 34 (2.45%) Master's Degree
8 26 (1.88%) ISTQB
8 26 (1.88%) PMI Certification
9 19 (1.37%) AWS Certification
9 19 (1.37%) PMP
10 16 (1.16%) CBAP
11 13 (0.94%) Cisco Certification
11 13 (0.94%) Oracle Certification
12 11 (0.79%) Azure Certification
13 9 (0.65%) CCIE
13 9 (0.65%) ITIL Certification
13 9 (0.65%) OCA
14 8 (0.58%) CCNP
14 8 (0.58%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 178 (12.85%) Data Quality
2 170 (12.27%) QA
3 77 (5.56%) GDPR
4 57 (4.12%) NIST
5 37 (2.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 27 (1.95%) Accessibility
7 18 (1.30%) IFRS
8 16 (1.16%) IFRS 17
9 15 (1.08%) Def Stans
10 14 (1.01%) PCI DSS
11 13 (0.94%) EU AI Act
12 11 (0.79%) NCSC
13 10 (0.72%) GxP
13 10 (0.72%) MiFID
13 10 (0.72%) MISRA
14 9 (0.65%) COBIT
14 9 (0.65%) DO-178B
14 9 (0.65%) GRC
14 9 (0.65%) PMO
15 8 (0.58%) PSD2
System Software
1 55 (3.97%) Docker
2 43 (3.10%) Active Directory
3 26 (1.88%) VMware Infrastructure
4 21 (1.52%) Firmware
5 12 (0.87%) VMware NSX
6 7 (0.51%) Virtual Desktop
6 7 (0.51%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.43%) Hyper-V
8 4 (0.29%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
8 4 (0.29%) Embedded Firmware
8 4 (0.29%) vSphere
9 3 (0.22%) KVM
9 3 (0.22%) QEMU
10 2 (0.14%) Ceph
10 2 (0.14%) Lustre
10 2 (0.14%) NFS
10 2 (0.14%) OpenAM
10 2 (0.14%) OpenDJ
10 2 (0.14%) OpenIDM
10 2 (0.14%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 73 (5.27%) Kubernetes
2 64 (4.62%) Terraform
3 43 (3.10%) Ansible
4 21 (1.52%) Single Sign-On
5 15 (1.08%) Microsoft Intune
6 14 (1.01%) Kibana
6 14 (1.01%) Puppet
7 11 (0.79%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 10 (0.72%) Grafana
8 10 (0.72%) SCCM
9 7 (0.51%) HP SiteScope
9 7 (0.51%) Nmap
9 7 (0.51%) SCOM
10 6 (0.43%) Nessus
10 6 (0.43%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.22%) Iperf
11 3 (0.22%) Istio
11 3 (0.22%) OMEGAMON
11 3 (0.22%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 195 (14.08%) Microsoft
2 147 (10.61%) Oracle
3 108 (7.80%) SAP
4 58 (4.19%) ServiceNow
5 51 (3.68%) Databricks
6 40 (2.89%) Cisco
7 38 (2.74%) Splunk
8 34 (2.45%) Salesforce
9 33 (2.38%) Google
10 31 (2.24%) VMware
11 20 (1.44%) Workday
12 19 (1.37%) Murex
13 18 (1.30%) MuleSoft
14 17 (1.23%) IBM
14 17 (1.23%) Palo Alto
15 13 (0.94%) Avaloq
15 13 (0.94%) Bloomberg
15 13 (0.94%) Informatica
15 13 (0.94%) Sage
16 12 (0.87%) Adobe