Validation Contracts in England

Validation
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England requiring Validation skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Validation over the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 79 116 143
Rank change year-on-year +37 +27 +48
Contract jobs citing Validation 751 717 939
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 3.08% 1.93% 1.86%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.38% 2.23% 2.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 454 367 540
10th Percentile £356 £313 £357
25th Percentile £419 £410 £460
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year +7.50% -9.09% +8.70%
75th Percentile £638 £600 £700
90th Percentile £722 £700 £950
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 49 157 160
10th Percentile £25.24 £24.22 £42.50
25th Percentile £47.50 £52.50 £51.37
Median hourly rate £57.75 £62.00 £62.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.85% - +12.73%
75th Percentile £65.00 £75.16 £65.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.70 £75.77
UK median hourly rate £57.50 £60.50 £62.55
% change year-on-year -4.96% -3.28% +13.73%

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 22,202 32,193 45,529
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 91.16% 86.56% 90.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,534 21,105 31,969
10th Percentile £310 £300 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £445
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +2.33%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £675
90th Percentile £750 £750 £765
UK median daily rate £520 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 921 2,246 1,592
10th Percentile £14.42 £12.92 £10.87
25th Percentile £18.20 £16.01 £16.25
Median hourly rate £29.07 £36.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year -19.25% -4.00% +53.06%
75th Percentile £63.75 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £29.00 £35.65 £37.30
% change year-on-year -18.65% -4.42% +49.20%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing Validation as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for Validation in England

Validation
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Validation in England.

Daily rate trend for Validation in England

Validation
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Validation in England over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Validation in England

Validation
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Validation in England.

Hourly rate trend for Validation in England

Validation
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Validation in England over the 6 months to 1 May 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 1 May 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 +46 327 £550 - 581
South East +53 135 £500 -2.49% 412
South West +31 80 £575 +27.78% 171
North of England +13 79 £475 +6.74% 230
North West +35 60 £438 -12.50% 144
East of England 0 49 £450 -7.69% 221
Midlands +14 47 £475 +11.76% 219
West Midlands +10 31 £475 - 144
East Midlands +6 16 £459 +13.33% 63
Yorkshire -13 14 £445 +4.59% 64
North East -4 5 £725 +59.69% 23
Validation
UK

Validation
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 63 (8.39%) Confluence
2 15 (2.00%) Apache Spark
2 15 (2.00%) SharePoint
3 12 (1.60%) SAS
4 6 (0.80%) Apache
5 5 (0.67%) Microsoft Exchange
6 4 (0.53%) Oracle Workflow
6 4 (0.53%) WebLogic
7 3 (0.40%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.27%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.27%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 2 (0.27%) TPMS
9 1 (0.13%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.13%) CICS
9 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.13%) WordPress
Applications
1 41 (5.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.46%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (1.60%) MS Visio
4 9 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.20%) Simulink
5 6 (0.80%) Oracle Smart View
6 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe Captivate
7 1 (0.13%) CANalyzer
7 1 (0.13%) Fusion 360
7 1 (0.13%) Revit
7 1 (0.13%) Siemens NX
7 1 (0.13%) Stateflow
7 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 21 (2.80%) Oracle EBS
1 21 (2.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.33%) Teamcenter
3 7 (0.93%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.93%) Oracle Payables
4 5 (0.67%) Oracle Assets
4 5 (0.67%) Oracle E-Business Tax
4 5 (0.67%) Oracle General Ledger
4 5 (0.67%) SAP CO
4 5 (0.67%) SAP QM
4 5 (0.67%) Workday HCM
5 4 (0.53%) Oracle EBS R12
5 4 (0.53%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.53%) Salesforce CRM
5 4 (0.53%) SAP FI
5 4 (0.53%) SAP FI/CO
5 4 (0.53%) SAP MDG
6 3 (0.40%) Bankmaster
6 3 (0.40%) Payment Gateway
6 3 (0.40%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 106 (14.11%) Azure
2 55 (7.32%) Power Platform
3 43 (5.73%) AWS
4 26 (3.46%) Azure DevOps
5 22 (2.93%) GCP
6 20 (2.66%) SaaS
7 18 (2.40%) Azure Data Factory
8 15 (2.00%) Entra ID
9 14 (1.86%) Microsoft 365
9 14 (1.86%) OCI
10 12 (1.60%) PaaS
11 11 (1.46%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 11 (1.46%) GitHub
12 9 (1.20%) Cloud Computing
12 9 (1.20%) Dynamics 365
12 9 (1.20%) PowerApps
13 8 (1.07%) Google Workspace
13 8 (1.07%) WhatsApp
14 7 (0.93%) Power Automate
14 7 (0.93%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 48 (6.39%) Firewall
2 24 (3.20%) VPN
3 22 (2.93%) Network Security
4 14 (1.86%) BGP
4 14 (1.86%) OSPF
5 11 (1.46%) 5G
5 11 (1.46%) SNMP
6 9 (1.20%) MPLS
6 9 (1.20%) PBX
6 9 (1.20%) Software-Defined Radio
6 9 (1.20%) VoIP
6 9 (1.20%) Wireless
7 8 (1.07%) Cisco IOS
8 6 (0.80%) 4G
8 6 (0.80%) Cisco Nexus
8 6 (0.80%) Ethernet
8 6 (0.80%) Internet
8 6 (0.80%) SSL
8 6 (0.80%) VXLAN
8 6 (0.80%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (6.26%) Power BI
2 43 (5.73%) Data Warehouse
3 25 (3.33%) SQL Server
3 25 (3.33%) Tableau
4 23 (3.06%) PostgreSQL
5 20 (2.66%) Oracle Reports
6 12 (1.60%) Big Data
6 12 (1.60%) Qlik Sense
7 11 (1.46%) NoSQL
8 10 (1.33%) Data Lake
8 10 (1.33%) Metadata
8 10 (1.33%) MySQL
9 8 (1.07%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 8 (1.07%) SAP Data Services
10 7 (0.93%) Azure SQL Database
10 7 (0.93%) MongoDB
10 7 (0.93%) Relational Database
11 6 (0.80%) BigQuery
11 6 (0.80%) Hadoop
11 6 (0.80%) Oracle ODI
Development Applications
1 87 (11.58%) JIRA
2 40 (5.33%) Git
2 40 (5.33%) Jenkins
3 24 (3.20%) Postman
4 20 (2.66%) Bitbucket
5 19 (2.53%) Selenium
6 15 (2.00%) JMeter
7 12 (1.60%) GitLab
8 11 (1.46%) Cucumber
8 11 (1.46%) Cypress.io
9 10 (1.33%) Eclipse
9 10 (1.33%) Robot Framework
10 9 (1.20%) GoogleTest
11 8 (1.07%) LoadRunner
11 8 (1.07%) Rational DOORS
12 6 (0.80%) Oracle Forms
12 6 (0.80%) REST Assured
12 6 (0.80%) SoapUI
13 5 (0.67%) Toad
14 4 (0.53%) Visual Studio
General
1 277 (36.88%) Social Skills
2 175 (23.30%) Analytical Skills
3 168 (22.37%) Finance
4 59 (7.86%) Banking
5 38 (5.06%) Public Sector
6 35 (4.66%) Presentation Skills
7 31 (4.13%) Telecoms
8 29 (3.86%) Marketing
9 27 (3.60%) Front Office
10 24 (3.20%) Retail
11 23 (3.06%) Investment Banking
11 23 (3.06%) Manufacturing
12 20 (2.66%) Documentation Skills
13 15 (2.00%) Legal
14 14 (1.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 12 (1.60%) Aerospace
15 12 (1.60%) Influencing Skills
15 12 (1.60%) Military
15 12 (1.60%) Organisational Skills
16 10 (1.33%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 144 (19.17%) Analyst
2 78 (10.39%) Senior
3 63 (8.39%) Business Analyst
4 60 (7.99%) Consultant
5 52 (6.92%) Data Analyst
6 46 (6.13%) Lead
7 42 (5.59%) Data Engineer
8 41 (5.46%) Developer
9 38 (5.06%) Architect
10 31 (4.13%) Systems Engineer
11 28 (3.73%) Network Engineer
12 25 (3.33%) Test Engineer
13 22 (2.93%) Tester
14 19 (2.53%) Project Manager
15 18 (2.40%) Senior Analyst
16 17 (2.26%) Test Analyst
17 16 (2.13%) Data Consultant
17 16 (2.13%) Technical Analyst
18 15 (2.00%) Test Leader
18 15 (2.00%) Virtualisation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.46%) REST
2 23 (3.06%) Web Services
3 19 (2.53%) CSS
3 19 (2.53%) HTML
4 18 (2.40%) SOAP
5 16 (2.13%) Oracle Fusion
6 14 (1.86%) Flash
6 14 (1.86%) Kafka
7 13 (1.73%) RESTful
7 13 (1.73%) SAP Fiori
8 11 (1.46%) XML
9 10 (1.33%) Middleware
10 9 (1.20%) Node.js
11 7 (0.93%) PySpark
11 7 (0.93%) pytest
12 6 (0.80%) JSON
12 6 (0.80%) Microsoft Graph
12 6 (0.80%) Pandas
12 6 (0.80%) Playwright
13 5 (0.67%) jQuery
Miscellaneous
1 39 (5.19%) Legacy Systems
2 29 (3.86%) Product Ownership
3 23 (3.06%) Management Information System
4 19 (2.53%) Onboarding
5 18 (2.40%) Data Structures
6 17 (2.26%) Self-Motivation
7 15 (2.00%) Credit Risk
8 14 (1.86%) Algorithms
8 14 (1.86%) Clustering
8 14 (1.86%) Derivative
9 13 (1.73%) FPGA
10 12 (1.60%) IoT
10 12 (1.60%) Replication
11 10 (1.33%) Data Protection Act
11 10 (1.33%) Verilog
12 9 (1.20%) Blackberry
12 9 (1.20%) Multi-touch
12 9 (1.20%) Operational Technology
12 9 (1.20%) Video Conferencing
13 8 (1.07%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 60 (7.99%) Linux
2 50 (6.66%) Windows
3 24 (3.20%) Unix
4 18 (2.40%) Windows Server
5 11 (1.46%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.53%) Android
7 3 (0.40%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.27%) VMS
9 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.13%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.13%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 219 (29.16%) Problem-Solving
2 190 (25.30%) Migration
3 181 (24.10%) Agile
4 97 (12.92%) Test Automation
5 96 (12.78%) Data Validation
6 95 (12.65%) Data Migration
7 90 (11.98%) Analytics
8 83 (11.05%) DevOps
9 82 (10.92%) User Acceptance Testing
10 81 (10.79%) ETL
11 80 (10.65%) Data Modelling
12 73 (9.72%) CI/CD
13 70 (9.32%) Business Intelligence
14 69 (9.19%) Data Analysis
15 63 (8.39%) Stakeholder Management
16 57 (7.59%) Computer Science
17 54 (7.19%) Data Management
18 51 (6.79%) Verification and Validation
19 50 (6.66%) System Testing
20 49 (6.52%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 178 (23.70%) SQL
2 142 (18.91%) Python
3 34 (4.53%) JavaScript
4 30 (3.99%) Java
5 28 (3.73%) Bash
5 28 (3.73%) PowerShell
6 26 (3.46%) PL/SQL
7 20 (2.66%) C++
8 14 (1.86%) Shell Script
9 13 (1.73%) C#
9 13 (1.73%) R
10 11 (1.46%) Tcl
11 10 (1.33%) ABAP
11 10 (1.33%) SystemVerilog
12 9 (1.20%) MATLAB
12 9 (1.20%) VBA
13 8 (1.07%) Apex Code
13 8 (1.07%) Perl
13 8 (1.07%) TypeScript
14 7 (0.93%) Scala
Qualifications
1 141 (18.77%) Security Cleared
2 116 (15.45%) SC Cleared
3 103 (13.72%) Degree
4 54 (7.19%) Cisco Certification
5 44 (5.86%) CCNP
6 39 (5.19%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 28 (3.73%) Computer Science Degree
8 26 (3.46%) CCNA
9 22 (2.93%) DV Cleared
10 19 (2.53%) BPSS Clearance
11 18 (2.40%) Master's Degree
12 13 (1.73%) ISTQB
13 11 (1.46%) CISSP
14 10 (1.33%) OCA
14 10 (1.33%) Oracle Certification
14 10 (1.33%) PhD
14 10 (1.33%) RHCA
14 10 (1.33%) RHCE
15 8 (1.07%) CISM
16 6 (0.80%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 89 (11.85%) QA
2 81 (10.79%) Data Quality
3 16 (2.13%) GDPR
4 10 (1.33%) GxP
5 8 (1.07%) IFRS
5 8 (1.07%) IFRS 9
5 8 (1.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (1.07%) NIST
6 7 (0.93%) ISO/IEC 17025
6 7 (0.93%) MiFID
6 7 (0.93%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 6 (0.80%) HIPAA
8 5 (0.67%) Accessibility
8 5 (0.67%) Actionable Recommendations
8 5 (0.67%) PCI DSS
9 4 (0.53%) PMO
9 4 (0.53%) SLA
10 2 (0.27%) DICOM
10 2 (0.27%) HL7
10 2 (0.27%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 39 (5.19%) VMware Infrastructure
2 28 (3.73%) Active Directory
3 17 (2.26%) VMware NSX
4 14 (1.86%) VMware ESXi
5 10 (1.33%) Docker
5 10 (1.33%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.67%) Firmware
7 3 (0.40%) OpenAM
7 3 (0.40%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.27%) FreeRADIUS
8 2 (0.27%) iptables
9 1 (0.13%) Embedded Firmware
9 1 (0.13%) KVM
9 1 (0.13%) QEMU
9 1 (0.13%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.13%) Xen
Systems Management
1 39 (5.19%) Ansible
2 29 (3.86%) vCenter Server
3 18 (2.40%) Kubernetes
4 15 (2.00%) Puppet
5 14 (1.86%) Progress Chef
6 13 (1.73%) Terraform
7 5 (0.67%) EnCase
7 5 (0.67%) FTK
7 5 (0.67%) Grafana
7 5 (0.67%) vRealize
8 3 (0.40%) Functional Safety
8 3 (0.40%) PowerCLI
8 3 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.40%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 2 (0.27%) Cacti
9 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Intune
9 2 (0.27%) Nagios
9 2 (0.27%) Netcool
9 2 (0.27%) SCOM
9 2 (0.27%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 98 (13.05%) Microsoft
2 89 (11.85%) Oracle
3 75 (9.99%) SAP
4 52 (6.92%) Cisco
5 46 (6.13%) VMware
6 32 (4.26%) Salesforce
7 29 (3.86%) Atlassian
8 27 (3.60%) Google
8 27 (3.60%) ServiceNow
9 20 (2.66%) Databricks
10 19 (2.53%) Workday
11 15 (2.00%) Informatica
12 12 (1.60%) Adobe
12 12 (1.60%) Palo Alto
13 11 (1.46%) Juniper
13 11 (1.46%) Nokia
14 10 (1.33%) F5
14 10 (1.33%) Xilinx
15 9 (1.20%) Fortinet
15 9 (1.20%) Ribbon