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 29 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 70 112 148
Rank change year-on-year +42 +36 +39
Contract jobs citing Validation 818 740 829
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 3.42% 2.02% 1.74%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.74% 2.35% 1.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 505 373 474
10th Percentile £350 £320 £375
25th Percentile £413 £405 £461
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £500 £574
Median % change year-on-year +7.50% -12.85% +14.18%
75th Percentile £638 £588 £725
90th Percentile £715 £675 £950
UK median daily rate £525 £513 £550
% change year-on-year +2.44% -6.82% +7.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 53 166 140
10th Percentile £16.84 £26.88 £42.50
25th Percentile £36.48 £52.50 £51.25
Median hourly rate £57.50 £60.50 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year -4.96% -3.20% +24.38%
75th Percentile £65.00 £72.50 £65.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £76.86 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £56.04 £60.00 £63.23
% change year-on-year -6.60% -5.11% +24.78%

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 21,854 31,539 42,849
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 91.29% 85.92% 90.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,225 20,657 30,069
10th Percentile £305 £300 £325
25th Percentile £410 £413 £446
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +1.85%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £675
90th Percentile £750 £750 £767
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -2.38% -4.55% +2.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 952 2,292 1,514
10th Percentile £14.20 £12.84 £10.63
25th Percentile £17.87 £16.00 £15.75
Median hourly rate £28.00 £37.18 £37.32
Median % change year-on-year -24.69% -0.38% +49.28%
75th Percentile £60.00 £61.30 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £27.50 £36.50 £36.13
% change year-on-year -24.66% +1.04% +40.67%

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 29 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 29 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 29 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 +79 371 £550 +2.33% 773
South East +45 141 £500 -4.76% 1,235
North of England +3 80 £450 -2.70% 862
South West +3 78 £575 +9.52% 557
North West +18 59 £438 -12.50% 420
Midlands +5 59 £450 -15.09% 794
East of England +8 56 £450 -7.69% 671
West Midlands -1 41 £402 -26.44% 448
East Midlands +13 17 £459 +0.33% 298
Yorkshire -6 17 £450 +4.65% 331
North East -3 5 £588 +17.50% 113
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 72 (8.80%) Confluence
2 20 (2.44%) SharePoint
3 14 (1.71%) Apache Spark
4 9 (1.10%) SAS
5 6 (0.73%) Microsoft Exchange
6 5 (0.61%) Apache
6 5 (0.61%) Oracle Workflow
6 5 (0.61%) WebLogic
7 4 (0.49%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 3 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.24%) Smallworld
9 2 (0.24%) TPMS
10 1 (0.12%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.12%) CICS
10 1 (0.12%) CMS
10 1 (0.12%) Jupyter
10 1 (0.12%) MS Project Server
10 1 (0.12%) Oracle Spatial
10 1 (0.12%) Skype for Business
10 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
Applications
1 54 (6.60%) Microsoft Excel
2 34 (4.16%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (1.59%) MS Visio
4 10 (1.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.98%) Simulink
6 6 (0.73%) Oracle Smart View
7 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
7 3 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
8 2 (0.24%) Stateflow
9 1 (0.12%) Adobe Captivate
9 1 (0.12%) CANalyzer
9 1 (0.12%) Fusion 360
9 1 (0.12%) Revit
9 1 (0.12%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 28 (3.42%) Oracle EBS
1 28 (3.42%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.34%) Teamcenter
3 9 (1.10%) Oracle Payables
4 7 (0.86%) Oracle Assets
4 7 (0.86%) Oracle E-Business Tax
4 7 (0.86%) Oracle General Ledger
4 7 (0.86%) SAP MDG
5 6 (0.73%) Payment Gateway
6 5 (0.61%) Oracle EBS R12
6 5 (0.61%) Oracle ERP
6 5 (0.61%) SAP CO
6 5 (0.61%) SAP PM
7 4 (0.49%) Dynamics CRM
7 4 (0.49%) SAP FI
7 4 (0.49%) SAP FI/CO
7 4 (0.49%) Workday HCM
8 3 (0.37%) Bankmaster
8 3 (0.37%) Oracle Payroll
8 3 (0.37%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 103 (12.59%) Azure
2 60 (7.33%) AWS
3 53 (6.48%) Power Platform
4 28 (3.42%) OCI
5 24 (2.93%) Azure DevOps
5 24 (2.93%) GCP
6 23 (2.81%) SaaS
7 15 (1.83%) PaaS
8 14 (1.71%) Azure Data Factory
8 14 (1.71%) GitHub
9 13 (1.59%) Serverless
10 12 (1.47%) Cloud Computing
11 11 (1.34%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 10 (1.22%) Entra ID
13 9 (1.10%) Microsoft 365
14 8 (0.98%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (0.73%) Amazon Kinesis
15 6 (0.73%) Dynamics 365
15 6 (0.73%) PowerApps
15 6 (0.73%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 48 (5.87%) Firewall
2 30 (3.67%) VPN
3 21 (2.57%) Network Security
4 20 (2.44%) BGP
5 16 (1.96%) OSPF
6 15 (1.83%) MPLS
7 11 (1.34%) 5G
8 10 (1.22%) VoIP
9 9 (1.10%) Cisco IOS
9 9 (1.10%) PBX
9 9 (1.10%) SNMP
10 8 (0.98%) DNS
10 8 (0.98%) Wireless
11 7 (0.86%) Cisco Nexus
11 7 (0.86%) Ethernet
11 7 (0.86%) Software-Defined Radio
11 7 (0.86%) VXLAN
11 7 (0.86%) WAN
12 6 (0.73%) LAN
12 6 (0.73%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (5.87%) Power BI
2 42 (5.13%) Data Warehouse
3 29 (3.55%) Oracle Reports
4 24 (2.93%) Tableau
5 23 (2.81%) SQL Server
6 22 (2.69%) PostgreSQL
7 17 (2.08%) NoSQL
8 13 (1.59%) Metadata
9 11 (1.34%) MySQL
9 11 (1.34%) Oracle BI Publisher
10 10 (1.22%) Amazon Redshift
10 10 (1.22%) SAP Data Services
11 9 (1.10%) Data Lake
11 9 (1.10%) Oracle Database
11 9 (1.10%) Qlik Sense
11 9 (1.10%) Relational Database
12 8 (0.98%) Azure SQL Database
13 7 (0.86%) Delta Lake
13 7 (0.86%) MongoDB
14 6 (0.73%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 101 (12.35%) JIRA
2 41 (5.01%) Git
3 40 (4.89%) Jenkins
4 26 (3.18%) Postman
5 18 (2.20%) Selenium
6 16 (1.96%) Bitbucket
7 14 (1.71%) JMeter
8 13 (1.59%) GitLab
9 11 (1.34%) Cucumber
10 10 (1.22%) Cypress.io
11 9 (1.10%) Eclipse
11 9 (1.10%) LoadRunner
12 8 (0.98%) Rational DOORS
12 8 (0.98%) Robot Framework
13 7 (0.86%) GoogleTest
14 6 (0.73%) Oracle Forms
14 6 (0.73%) REST Assured
14 6 (0.73%) SoapUI
14 6 (0.73%) Visual Studio
15 5 (0.61%) Toad
General
1 332 (40.59%) Social Skills
2 193 (23.59%) Finance
3 183 (22.37%) Analytical Skills
4 65 (7.95%) Banking
5 43 (5.26%) Presentation Skills
6 39 (4.77%) Public Sector
7 38 (4.65%) Front Office
8 33 (4.03%) Telecoms
9 28 (3.42%) Marketing
10 27 (3.30%) Retail
11 26 (3.18%) Documentation Skills
12 22 (2.69%) Investment Banking
13 17 (2.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 15 (1.83%) Manufacturing
15 14 (1.71%) Legal
15 14 (1.71%) Organisational Skills
16 13 (1.59%) Electronics
16 13 (1.59%) Military
17 12 (1.47%) Influencing Skills
18 10 (1.22%) General Ledger
Job Titles
1 158 (19.32%) Analyst
2 82 (10.02%) Senior
3 73 (8.92%) Business Analyst
4 72 (8.80%) Consultant
5 59 (7.21%) Lead
6 53 (6.48%) Data Analyst
7 39 (4.77%) Architect
7 39 (4.77%) Data Engineer
8 33 (4.03%) Network Engineer
9 32 (3.91%) Developer
10 28 (3.42%) Systems Engineer
11 25 (3.06%) Test Engineer
12 24 (2.93%) Tester
13 23 (2.81%) Project Manager
14 19 (2.32%) Senior Analyst
15 17 (2.08%) Data Consultant
15 17 (2.08%) Technical Analyst
15 17 (2.08%) Test Analyst
16 16 (1.96%) SAP Consultant
17 15 (1.83%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (3.42%) REST
2 25 (3.06%) Web Services
3 20 (2.44%) SOAP
4 19 (2.32%) Oracle Fusion
5 18 (2.20%) Kafka
6 17 (2.08%) CSS
6 17 (2.08%) HTML
7 15 (1.83%) RESTful
8 14 (1.71%) Flash
9 13 (1.59%) XML
10 12 (1.47%) Middleware
10 12 (1.47%) SAP Fiori
11 10 (1.22%) Node.js
12 9 (1.10%) JSON
13 8 (0.98%) Pandas
14 5 (0.61%) CSS3
14 5 (0.61%) jQuery
14 5 (0.61%) pytest
14 5 (0.61%) Spine.js
14 5 (0.61%) Visualforce
Miscellaneous
1 43 (5.26%) Legacy Systems
2 32 (3.91%) Product Ownership
3 27 (3.30%) Onboarding
4 26 (3.18%) Management Information System
5 23 (2.81%) Data Structures
6 17 (2.08%) FPGA
7 16 (1.96%) Self-Motivation
8 14 (1.71%) Clustering
8 14 (1.71%) Verilog
9 13 (1.59%) Credit Risk
9 13 (1.59%) Derivative
10 12 (1.47%) Algorithms
10 12 (1.47%) Cloud Native
10 12 (1.47%) IoT
10 12 (1.47%) Replication
10 12 (1.47%) SCADA
11 11 (1.34%) Analytical Mindset
12 10 (1.22%) Data Centre
12 10 (1.22%) Data Protection Act
12 10 (1.22%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 63 (7.70%) Linux
2 48 (5.87%) Windows
3 25 (3.06%) Unix
4 17 (2.08%) Windows Server
5 11 (1.34%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.49%) Android
6 4 (0.49%) VMS
7 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2012
8 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.12%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.12%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 230 (28.12%) Problem-Solving
2 197 (24.08%) Migration
3 193 (23.59%) Agile
4 116 (14.18%) Data Validation
5 103 (12.59%) Data Migration
6 102 (12.47%) Test Automation
7 91 (11.12%) Analytics
7 91 (11.12%) ETL
7 91 (11.12%) User Acceptance Testing
8 84 (10.27%) Data Analysis
9 83 (10.15%) Data Modelling
9 83 (10.15%) Stakeholder Management
10 80 (9.78%) CI/CD
11 79 (9.66%) DevOps
12 76 (9.29%) Business Intelligence
13 60 (7.33%) Computer Science
13 60 (7.33%) Data Governance
13 60 (7.33%) Project Management
14 58 (7.09%) System Testing
15 57 (6.97%) Data Management
Programming Languages
1 198 (24.21%) SQL
2 159 (19.44%) Python
3 33 (4.03%) Java
4 31 (3.79%) JavaScript
5 29 (3.55%) PowerShell
6 28 (3.42%) PL/SQL
7 25 (3.06%) Bash
8 18 (2.20%) Shell Script
9 17 (2.08%) C++
10 15 (1.83%) C#
10 15 (1.83%) Tcl
11 14 (1.71%) R
11 14 (1.71%) SystemVerilog
12 11 (1.34%) VBA
13 10 (1.22%) ABAP
14 9 (1.10%) MATLAB
14 9 (1.10%) Scala
15 8 (0.98%) Perl
15 8 (0.98%) TypeScript
16 7 (0.86%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 150 (18.34%) Security Cleared
2 122 (14.91%) SC Cleared
3 110 (13.45%) Degree
4 58 (7.09%) Cisco Certification
5 48 (5.87%) CCNP
6 39 (4.77%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 29 (3.55%) Computer Science Degree
8 26 (3.18%) CCNA
9 24 (2.93%) BPSS Clearance
9 24 (2.93%) DV Cleared
10 21 (2.57%) Master's Degree
11 12 (1.47%) AWS Certification
11 12 (1.47%) ISTQB
11 12 (1.47%) PhD
12 11 (1.34%) CISSP
13 10 (1.22%) OCA
13 10 (1.22%) Oracle Certification
13 10 (1.22%) RHCA
13 10 (1.22%) RHCE
14 8 (0.98%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 84 (10.27%) Data Quality
2 80 (9.78%) QA
3 19 (2.32%) GDPR
3 19 (2.32%) MiFID
4 10 (1.22%) EMIR
4 10 (1.22%) GxP
4 10 (1.22%) IFRS
4 10 (1.22%) IFRS 9
4 10 (1.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.22%) NIST
5 9 (1.10%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 7 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 17025
7 5 (0.61%) Accessibility
7 5 (0.61%) Actionable Recommendations
7 5 (0.61%) PCI DSS
7 5 (0.61%) PMO
7 5 (0.61%) SLA
8 4 (0.49%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.37%) COBIT
9 3 (0.37%) GRC
System Software
1 42 (5.13%) VMware Infrastructure
2 22 (2.69%) VMware ESXi
3 20 (2.44%) Active Directory
4 17 (2.08%) VMware NSX
5 13 (1.59%) Docker
6 10 (1.22%) Virtual Machines
7 6 (0.73%) Firmware
7 6 (0.73%) vSphere
8 3 (0.37%) OpenAM
9 2 (0.24%) FreeRADIUS
9 2 (0.24%) iptables
9 2 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.12%) Embedded Firmware
10 1 (0.12%) KVM
10 1 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.12%) QEMU
10 1 (0.12%) Time Sharing Option
10 1 (0.12%) Xen
Systems Management
1 42 (5.13%) Ansible
2 29 (3.55%) vCenter Server
3 22 (2.69%) Kubernetes
4 15 (1.83%) Puppet
5 13 (1.59%) Progress Chef
5 13 (1.59%) Terraform
6 5 (0.61%) EnCase
6 5 (0.61%) FTK
6 5 (0.61%) Grafana
6 5 (0.61%) vRealize
7 4 (0.49%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.37%) PowerCLI
8 3 (0.37%) SCCM
8 3 (0.37%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
9 2 (0.24%) Cacti
9 2 (0.24%) Nagios
9 2 (0.24%) Netcool
9 2 (0.24%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 2 (0.24%) SCOM
9 2 (0.24%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 114 (13.94%) Oracle
2 104 (12.71%) Microsoft
3 79 (9.66%) SAP
4 54 (6.60%) Cisco
4 54 (6.60%) VMware
5 32 (3.91%) Salesforce
6 30 (3.67%) Atlassian
7 29 (3.55%) ServiceNow
8 25 (3.06%) Google
9 21 (2.57%) Databricks
10 17 (2.08%) Workday
11 16 (1.96%) Informatica
12 14 (1.71%) Xilinx
13 12 (1.47%) Palo Alto
14 11 (1.34%) Juniper
14 11 (1.34%) Nokia
15 10 (1.22%) F5
16 9 (1.10%) Avaya
16 9 (1.10%) Fortinet
16 9 (1.10%) Ribbon