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

6 months to
16 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 55 108 121
Rank change year-on-year +53 +13 +12
Contract jobs citing Validation 1,459 632 741
As % of all contract jobs in England 4.29% 2.45% 1.95%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.91% 2.73% 2.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 897 356 416
10th Percentile £350 £346 £317
25th Percentile £404 £409 £437
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £613
90th Percentile £700 £725 £725
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 75 33 153
10th Percentile £31.95 £25.46 £25.54
25th Percentile £42.78 £47.50 £52.50
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -3.85% +3.92%
75th Percentile £68.75 £63.75 £75.25
90th Percentile £74.50 £74.75 £90.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +4.00% -3.85% +3.92%

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 29,729 23,178 33,190
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 87.40% 89.84% 87.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,995 14,353 22,084
10th Percentile £310 £309 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £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 1,873 724 1,981
10th Percentile £15.18 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £18.17 £21.20 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.77 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -26.37% - -
75th Percentile £60.25 £65.00 £61.25
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.18 £73.65
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £34.00
% change year-on-year -22.62% -4.41% -1.68%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 +71 688 £525 -4.55% 238
North of England +38 207 £420 - 109
South East +6 167 £505 +0.90% 214
North West +32 136 £400 +1.27% 72
Midlands +17 125 £492 +0.92% 118
South West +6 123 £475 -17.39% 76
West Midlands +13 102 £496 +1.38% 76
East of England +23 93 £482 +20.44% 84
Yorkshire -7 61 £475 -2.62% 30
East Midlands -7 22 £463 +26.02% 41
North East -4 12 £450 -45.45% 7
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 (3.70%) Confluence
2 30 (2.06%) Apache Spark
2 30 (2.06%) SharePoint
3 27 (1.85%) SAS
4 21 (1.44%) Apache Airflow
5 18 (1.23%) Microsoft Exchange
6 14 (0.96%) Skype for Business
7 13 (0.89%) Apache
8 9 (0.62%) Appian
8 9 (0.62%) Exchange Server 2013
9 7 (0.48%) Mattermost
10 6 (0.41%) CMS
11 5 (0.34%) Jupyter
11 5 (0.34%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
12 4 (0.27%) Adobe Experience Manager
12 4 (0.27%) Anypoint
13 3 (0.21%) ArcGIS
13 3 (0.21%) GeoServer
13 3 (0.21%) OpenStack
13 3 (0.21%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 81 (5.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 38 (2.60%) Microsoft Office
3 26 (1.78%) MS Visio
4 18 (1.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.55%) Chatbot
5 8 (0.55%) Microsoft Project
6 7 (0.48%) Spreadsheet
7 6 (0.41%) Sketch
8 4 (0.27%) Notion
9 3 (0.21%) LaTeX
10 2 (0.14%) Simulink
11 1 (0.069%) CANalyzer
11 1 (0.069%) CATIA
11 1 (0.069%) OrCAD
11 1 (0.069%) Siemens NX
11 1 (0.069%) Stateflow
11 1 (0.069%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 62 (4.25%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (1.23%) Oracle EBS
3 12 (0.82%) Oracle Payables
4 11 (0.75%) Oracle General Ledger
4 11 (0.75%) SAP EHS
4 11 (0.75%) Workday HCM
5 9 (0.62%) Aladdin
5 9 (0.62%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 9 (0.62%) Oracle Receivables
5 9 (0.62%) Remedy ITSM
6 8 (0.55%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 8 (0.55%) SAP FI
7 7 (0.48%) Dynamics CRM
7 7 (0.48%) NetSuite
7 7 (0.48%) Oracle Assets
7 7 (0.48%) SAP MDG
8 6 (0.41%) OpenText VIM for SAP
8 6 (0.41%) Payment Gateway
8 6 (0.41%) SAP MM
9 5 (0.34%) Oracle Financials
Cloud Services
1 336 (23.03%) Azure
2 158 (10.83%) AWS
3 121 (8.29%) Azure DevOps
4 118 (8.09%) Power Platform
5 60 (4.11%) GCP
5 60 (4.11%) GitHub
6 52 (3.56%) Entra ID
7 48 (3.29%) SaaS
8 41 (2.81%) Azure Data Factory
8 41 (2.81%) Serverless
9 33 (2.26%) GitHub Actions
10 31 (2.12%) Snowflake
11 30 (2.06%) OCI
12 27 (1.85%) Microsoft 365
12 27 (1.85%) OpenShift
13 25 (1.71%) Amazon S3
14 20 (1.37%) AWS Lambda
15 17 (1.17%) Dynamics 365
16 16 (1.10%) Amazon GuardDuty
16 16 (1.10%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 49 (3.36%) Firewall
2 26 (1.78%) TCP/IP
3 24 (1.64%) Network Security
4 16 (1.10%) Ethernet
4 16 (1.10%) VLAN
5 15 (1.03%) DNS
6 14 (0.96%) Skype
7 13 (0.89%) VPN
8 12 (0.82%) BGP
8 12 (0.82%) Wireless
9 11 (0.75%) OSPF
9 11 (0.75%) WAN
10 10 (0.69%) MPLS
11 9 (0.62%) LAN
12 8 (0.55%) HTTP
12 8 (0.55%) TACACS
13 7 (0.48%) SAN
14 6 (0.41%) Cisco ASA
14 6 (0.41%) Cisco ISE
14 6 (0.41%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 113 (7.75%) Power BI
2 66 (4.52%) Metadata
3 57 (3.91%) Data Warehouse
4 40 (2.74%) SQL Server
5 39 (2.67%) Tableau
6 30 (2.06%) Data Lake
7 25 (1.71%) NoSQL
8 20 (1.37%) Amazon Redshift
9 18 (1.23%) Pinecone
10 16 (1.10%) Oracle Database
10 16 (1.10%) Oracle Reports
10 16 (1.10%) Relational Database
10 16 (1.10%) SAS Enterprise Guide
11 15 (1.03%) Big Data
11 15 (1.03%) Delta Lake
12 14 (0.96%) Elasticsearch
13 13 (0.89%) Azure SQL Database
13 13 (0.89%) BigQuery
13 13 (0.89%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 11 (0.75%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 146 (10.01%) JIRA
2 68 (4.66%) Git
3 62 (4.25%) Jenkins
4 41 (2.81%) Postman
5 40 (2.74%) GitLab
5 40 (2.74%) Selenium
6 32 (2.19%) Oracle APEX
7 24 (1.64%) Rational DOORS
8 16 (1.10%) JMeter
9 15 (1.03%) Visual Studio
10 14 (0.96%) MLflow
11 13 (0.89%) Cucumber
12 12 (0.82%) JUnit
12 12 (0.82%) TestRail
13 11 (0.75%) REST Assured
14 10 (0.69%) Zephyr
15 9 (0.62%) Bitbucket
15 9 (0.62%) Eclipse
16 7 (0.48%) Cypress.io
16 7 (0.48%) Toad
General
1 548 (37.56%) Social Skills
2 435 (29.81%) Finance
3 309 (21.18%) Analytical Skills
4 127 (8.70%) Banking
5 126 (8.64%) Public Sector
6 77 (5.28%) Documentation Skills
7 45 (3.08%) Presentation Skills
8 32 (2.19%) Influencing Skills
9 30 (2.06%) Front Office
9 30 (2.06%) Manufacturing
10 29 (1.99%) Electronics
11 28 (1.92%) Marketing
12 27 (1.85%) Aerospace
13 26 (1.78%) Telecoms
14 25 (1.71%) Military
15 23 (1.58%) Legal
16 22 (1.51%) Investment Banking
16 22 (1.51%) Pharmaceutical
17 21 (1.44%) Financial Institution
18 19 (1.30%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 296 (20.29%) Analyst
2 148 (10.14%) Senior
3 130 (8.91%) Lead
4 129 (8.84%) Business Analyst
5 106 (7.27%) Developer
6 103 (7.06%) Consultant
7 96 (6.58%) Architect
8 73 (5.00%) Data Engineer
9 71 (4.87%) Data Analyst
10 48 (3.29%) Software Engineer
11 45 (3.08%) Project Manager
12 41 (2.81%) Tester
13 38 (2.60%) Senior Analyst
14 33 (2.26%) Senior Developer
14 33 (2.26%) Test Analyst
15 32 (2.19%) Solutions Architect
15 32 (2.19%) Test Manager
16 31 (2.12%) SAP Consultant
17 28 (1.92%) Embedded Engineer
18 27 (1.85%) Data Scientist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 95 (6.51%) REST
2 66 (4.52%) JSON
3 49 (3.36%) XML
4 47 (3.22%) OAuth
4 47 (3.22%) Oracle Fusion
5 41 (2.81%) Middleware
6 39 (2.67%) Kafka
7 38 (2.60%) SOAP
8 32 (2.19%) .NET
8 32 (2.19%) RESTful
9 30 (2.06%) PyTorch
9 30 (2.06%) Swagger
10 28 (1.92%) Node.js
10 28 (1.92%) PySpark
11 27 (1.85%) TensorFlow
12 26 (1.78%) Web Services
13 24 (1.64%) Pandas
13 24 (1.64%) Playwright
14 23 (1.58%) JWT
14 23 (1.58%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 88 (6.03%) Legacy Systems
2 61 (4.18%) Data Structures
3 51 (3.50%) Onboarding
3 51 (3.50%) Product Ownership
4 39 (2.67%) Cloud Native
4 39 (2.67%) Management Information System
5 27 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
6 26 (1.78%) Data Protection Act
7 24 (1.64%) Algorithms
8 22 (1.51%) Data Centre
9 20 (1.37%) Derivative
10 19 (1.30%) Replication
11 18 (1.23%) FPGA
11 18 (1.23%) Hybrid Cloud
12 16 (1.10%) Distributed Systems
13 15 (1.03%) Greenfield Project
13 15 (1.03%) Security Posture
14 14 (0.96%) Credit Risk
14 14 (0.96%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
15 12 (0.82%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 85 (5.83%) Linux
2 82 (5.62%) Windows
3 30 (2.06%) Unix
4 10 (0.69%) Android
5 6 (0.41%) zOS
6 5 (0.34%) Mac OS
6 5 (0.34%) Windows Server
7 3 (0.21%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.21%) Embedded Linux
8 2 (0.14%) Debian
8 2 (0.14%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.069%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.069%) pSOS
9 1 (0.069%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.069%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 385 (26.39%) Agile
2 347 (23.78%) Problem-Solving
3 325 (22.28%) Migration
4 262 (17.96%) Stakeholder Management
5 248 (17.00%) DevOps
6 235 (16.11%) Data Validation
7 228 (15.63%) Analytics
8 221 (15.15%) CI/CD
9 192 (13.16%) Data Modelling
10 180 (12.34%) Data Migration
11 178 (12.20%) Test Automation
12 177 (12.13%) User Acceptance Testing
13 174 (11.93%) AI
14 168 (11.51%) ETL
15 151 (10.35%) Business Intelligence
16 145 (9.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 135 (9.25%) Continuous Improvement
18 131 (8.98%) Data Analysis
19 128 (8.77%) Data Governance
20 120 (8.22%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 366 (25.09%) SQL
2 310 (21.25%) Python
3 90 (6.17%) JavaScript
4 80 (5.48%) Java
5 57 (3.91%) C#
6 51 (3.50%) PL/SQL
7 43 (2.95%) PowerShell
8 42 (2.88%) C++
9 41 (2.81%) Bash
10 39 (2.67%) C
11 27 (1.85%) TypeScript
12 24 (1.64%) R
13 18 (1.23%) Bicep
14 17 (1.17%) Ada
14 17 (1.17%) Groovy
15 15 (1.03%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 14 (0.96%) Shell Script
17 12 (0.82%) Scala
18 11 (0.75%) T-SQL
18 11 (0.75%) VBA
Qualifications
1 312 (21.38%) Security Cleared
2 226 (15.49%) SC Cleared
3 151 (10.35%) Degree
4 55 (3.77%) Computer Science Degree
5 43 (2.95%) BPSS Clearance
6 37 (2.54%) Master's Degree
7 36 (2.47%) DV Cleared
8 28 (1.92%) PMI Certification
9 26 (1.78%) ISTQB
10 21 (1.44%) PMP
11 17 (1.17%) AWS Certification
12 16 (1.10%) CBAP
13 12 (0.82%) Cisco Certification
14 11 (0.75%) Azure Certification
14 11 (0.75%) CISSP
14 11 (0.75%) Oracle Certification
15 10 (0.69%) Microsoft Certification
16 9 (0.62%) CCNP
16 9 (0.62%) ITIL Certification
17 8 (0.55%) CCIE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 198 (13.57%) Data Quality
2 179 (12.27%) QA
3 78 (5.35%) GDPR
4 60 (4.11%) NIST
5 38 (2.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 29 (1.99%) Accessibility
7 20 (1.37%) IFRS
8 18 (1.23%) IFRS 17
9 15 (1.03%) Def Stans
10 14 (0.96%) PCI DSS
11 13 (0.89%) EU AI Act
12 12 (0.82%) NCSC
13 11 (0.75%) COBIT
14 10 (0.69%) GRC
14 10 (0.69%) MiFID
14 10 (0.69%) MISRA
15 9 (0.62%) DO-178B
15 9 (0.62%) GxP
15 9 (0.62%) PMO
16 7 (0.48%) GMP
System Software
1 57 (3.91%) Docker
2 44 (3.02%) Active Directory
3 29 (1.99%) VMware Infrastructure
4 20 (1.37%) Firmware
5 12 (0.82%) VMware NSX
6 8 (0.55%) Virtual Desktop
7 7 (0.48%) Hyper-V
7 7 (0.48%) VMware ESXi
8 4 (0.27%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
8 4 (0.27%) NFS
8 4 (0.27%) vSphere
9 3 (0.21%) Embedded Firmware
9 3 (0.21%) KVM
10 2 (0.14%) Ceph
10 2 (0.14%) OpenAM
10 2 (0.14%) OpenDJ
10 2 (0.14%) OpenIDM
10 2 (0.14%) QEMU
10 2 (0.14%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.14%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 83 (5.69%) Kubernetes
2 66 (4.52%) Terraform
3 38 (2.60%) Ansible
4 21 (1.44%) Single Sign-On
5 17 (1.17%) Microsoft Intune
6 15 (1.03%) Kibana
6 15 (1.03%) Prometheus
7 14 (0.96%) Puppet
7 14 (0.96%) SCCM
8 12 (0.82%) Grafana
9 11 (0.75%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 9 (0.62%) Nessus
11 8 (0.55%) Nmap
11 8 (0.55%) SCOM
12 7 (0.48%) HP SiteScope
13 4 (0.27%) CASB
13 4 (0.27%) EMC VPLEX
13 4 (0.27%) Iperf
13 4 (0.27%) vMotion
14 3 (0.21%) CloudHub
Vendors
1 201 (13.78%) Microsoft
2 150 (10.28%) Oracle
3 113 (7.75%) SAP
4 60 (4.11%) ServiceNow
5 58 (3.98%) Databricks
6 50 (3.43%) Splunk
7 40 (2.74%) Cisco
8 36 (2.47%) Salesforce
9 35 (2.40%) VMware
10 34 (2.33%) Google
11 29 (1.99%) Workday
12 21 (1.44%) MuleSoft
13 19 (1.30%) Murex
14 18 (1.23%) IBM
14 18 (1.23%) Palo Alto
15 17 (1.17%) Informatica
15 17 (1.17%) Sage
16 14 (0.96%) Avaloq
16 14 (0.96%) Bloomberg
17 13 (0.89%) Remedy