Developer Contract Job Trends in London

Developer
England > London

The median Developer daily rate in London is £525, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 24 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 5 5
Rank change year-on-year -6 0 -2
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 2,047 2,366 2,921
As % of all contract jobs in London 13.98% 16.98% 15.83%
As % of the Job Titles category 15.09% 18.15% 17.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,420 1,611 2,257
10th Percentile £378 £381 £400
25th Percentile £425 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% - -8.00%
75th Percentile £650 £700 £738
90th Percentile £800 £838 £850
England median daily rate £500 £540 £533
% change year-on-year -7.41% +1.31% -8.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 6 13
10th Percentile £35.00 £35.38 £33.03
25th Percentile £37.75 £36.00 £56.25
Median hourly rate £56.25 £38.75 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +45.16% -35.42% +4.35%
75th Percentile £78.75 £41.38 £72.50
90th Percentile £91.70 £51.63 £73.73
England median hourly rate £55.00 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -15.38% - +4.00%

All Contract IT Job Roles
London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in London. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in London with a recognized job title 13,565 13,038 17,170
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.61% 93.58% 93.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,017 8,376 12,394
10th Percentile £350 £338 £325
25th Percentile £425 £450 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% - -6.38%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £800 £788
England median daily rate £503 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.29% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 219 140 289
10th Percentile £18.25 £20.75 £16.02
25th Percentile £23.65 £24.42 £19.05
Median hourly rate £33.46 £35.00 £29.50
Median % change year-on-year -4.40% +18.64% -11.04%
75th Percentile £63.10 £53.75 £52.50
90th Percentile £76.58 £80.75 £66.40
England median hourly rate £29.60 £35.00 £38.45
% change year-on-year -15.43% -8.98% +9.86%

Developer
Job Vacancy Trend in London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Developer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in London.

Developer job vacancy trend in London

Developer
Daily Rate Trend in London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in London.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in London

Developer
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Developer in London over the 6 months to 24 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Developer in London

Developer
Hourly Rate Trend in London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in London.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in London

Developer
Hourly Rate Histogram in London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Developer in London over the 6 months to 24 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Developer in London

Developer
Contract Job Locations in London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Developer within the London region over the 6 months to 24 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
Central London -7 274 £525 -8.70% 174
South London -7 33 £505 -34.81% 35
West London -24 15 £509 +24.45% 29
East London -5 12 £1,000 +150.00% 24
Developer
England

Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London

For the 6 months to 24 January 2026, Developer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the London region featuring Developer in the job title.

1 526 (25.70%) SQL
2 524 (25.60%) Agile
3 517 (25.26%) Java
4 498 (24.33%) Python
5 487 (23.79%) CI/CD
6 443 (21.64%) Azure
7 402 (19.64%) AWS
8 384 (18.76%) C#
9 383 (18.71%) Problem-Solving
10 363 (17.73%) JavaScript
11 350 (17.10%) Security Cleared
12 337 (16.46%) DevOps
13 298 (14.56%) React
14 297 (14.51%) Microservices
15 295 (14.41%) .NET
16 291 (14.22%) Docker
17 285 (13.92%) SC Cleared
18 276 (13.48%) Kubernetes
19 271 (13.24%) Full-Stack Development
20 248 (12.12%) REST
21 247 (12.07%) Microsoft
22 235 (11.48%) Analytics
23 226 (11.04%) Git
24 215 (10.50%) TypeScript
25 212 (10.36%) Power Platform
26 196 (9.57%) Software Engineering
27 189 (9.23%) RESTful
28 188 (9.18%) Business Intelligence
29 187 (9.14%) Kafka
30 184 (8.99%) HTML

Developer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London 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 63 (3.08%) SharePoint
2 43 (2.10%) Confluence
3 20 (0.98%) CMS
4 17 (0.83%) HCL Notes
5 16 (0.78%) IIS
6 15 (0.73%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 13 (0.64%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 10 (0.49%) Apache Airflow
8 10 (0.49%) Ethereum
8 10 (0.49%) Mendix
8 10 (0.49%) MQSeries
9 9 (0.44%) Apache
9 9 (0.44%) Oracle Workflow
10 8 (0.39%) Apache Spark
11 7 (0.34%) Hyperledger
11 7 (0.34%) WebLogic
12 6 (0.29%) Camunda
12 6 (0.29%) Headless CMS
12 6 (0.29%) Microsoft Exchange
12 6 (0.29%) WebSphere
Applications
1 52 (2.54%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (0.49%) Chatbot
3 7 (0.34%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.29%) Microsoft Office
5 5 (0.24%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.098%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.049%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.049%) Oracle Smart View
7 1 (0.049%) Trello
Business Applications
1 42 (2.05%) Dynamics CRM
2 18 (0.88%) Endur
3 13 (0.64%) Fidessa
4 11 (0.54%) Oracle EBS
4 11 (0.54%) Oracle ERP
5 9 (0.44%) Oracle Payables
6 8 (0.39%) Oracle Assets
6 8 (0.39%) Oracle Financials
7 7 (0.34%) Oracle General Ledger
8 6 (0.29%) BusinessWorks
8 6 (0.29%) Oracle EBS R12
8 6 (0.29%) Temenos T24
9 5 (0.24%) BASE24
9 5 (0.24%) Payment Gateway
10 4 (0.20%) Oracle 11i
10 4 (0.20%) ProductWriter
11 3 (0.15%) Oracle E-Business Tax
11 3 (0.15%) Oracle Receivables
11 3 (0.15%) SAP S/4HANA
12 2 (0.098%) Cloudability
Cloud Services
1 443 (21.64%) Azure
2 402 (19.64%) AWS
3 212 (10.36%) Power Platform
4 162 (7.91%) GitHub
5 136 (6.64%) Azure DevOps
6 128 (6.25%) Serverless
7 107 (5.23%) Power Automate
8 99 (4.84%) GCP
9 95 (4.64%) PowerApps
10 80 (3.91%) Dynamics 365
11 71 (3.47%) GitHub Actions
12 69 (3.37%) Azure Logic Apps
13 65 (3.18%) Azure Functions
14 56 (2.74%) AWS Lambda
15 50 (2.44%) Microsoft 365
16 48 (2.34%) Azure Service Bus
17 45 (2.20%) Amazon S3
18 43 (2.10%) Entra ID
19 40 (1.95%) Azure Monitor
20 34 (1.66%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 23 (1.12%) HTTP
2 12 (0.59%) SSL
3 11 (0.54%) HTTPS
3 11 (0.54%) Internet
4 8 (0.39%) FIX Connectivity
4 8 (0.39%) Network Security
4 8 (0.39%) TCP/IP
5 5 (0.24%) CTI
5 5 (0.24%) Firewall
5 5 (0.24%) SMS
5 5 (0.24%) VoIP
6 4 (0.20%) DNS
6 4 (0.20%) Multicast
7 3 (0.15%) 3GPP
7 3 (0.15%) MVNO
7 3 (0.15%) SMPP
8 2 (0.098%) DHCP
8 2 (0.098%) SSH
8 2 (0.098%) tcpdump
8 2 (0.098%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 168 (8.21%) SQL Server
2 138 (6.74%) PostgreSQL
3 133 (6.50%) Power BI
4 119 (5.81%) Relational Database
5 87 (4.25%) NoSQL
6 67 (3.27%) MongoDB
7 66 (3.22%) Oracle Database
8 43 (2.10%) Data Warehouse
9 39 (1.91%) Apache Cassandra
10 34 (1.66%) MySQL
11 25 (1.22%) Data Lake
11 25 (1.22%) RDBMS
12 24 (1.17%) Amazon RDS
12 24 (1.17%) DB2
12 24 (1.17%) KDB
13 23 (1.12%) Kdb+
13 23 (1.12%) Oracle Reports
14 22 (1.07%) SQL Server Integration Services
15 21 (1.03%) Azure SQL Database
15 21 (1.03%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 226 (11.04%) Git
2 100 (4.89%) JIRA
3 95 (4.64%) Jenkins
4 65 (3.18%) GitLab
5 56 (2.74%) JUnit
6 32 (1.56%) Maven
7 30 (1.47%) Visual Studio
8 24 (1.17%) Gradle
9 23 (1.12%) Bitbucket
10 18 (0.88%) Cucumber
11 17 (0.83%) Mockito
12 16 (0.78%) Selenium
12 16 (0.78%) Sonatype Nexus
13 14 (0.68%) SpecFlow
14 13 (0.64%) Cypress.io
15 12 (0.59%) TeamCity
16 11 (0.54%) Android Studio
16 11 (0.54%) webpack
17 10 (0.49%) Octopus Deploy
17 10 (0.49%) SonarQube
General
1 579 (28.29%) Finance
2 448 (21.89%) Social Skills
3 337 (16.46%) Banking
4 182 (8.89%) Front Office
4 182 (8.89%) Public Sector
5 161 (7.87%) Analytical Skills
6 126 (6.16%) Investment Banking
7 61 (2.98%) Financial Institution
8 23 (1.12%) Marketing
9 18 (0.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 18 (0.88%) Law
10 16 (0.78%) Documentation Skills
11 11 (0.54%) Back Office
11 11 (0.54%) Telecoms
12 10 (0.49%) General Ledger
13 9 (0.44%) Military
13 9 (0.44%) Presentation Skills
13 9 (0.44%) Retail
14 8 (0.39%) Billing
14 8 (0.39%) Private Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 298 (14.56%) React
2 295 (14.41%) .NET
3 248 (12.12%) REST
4 189 (9.23%) RESTful
5 187 (9.14%) Kafka
6 184 (8.99%) HTML
7 167 (8.16%) CSS
7 167 (8.16%) Spring
8 166 (8.11%) AngularJS
8 166 (8.11%) Node.js
9 125 (6.11%) Spring Boot
10 87 (4.25%) SOAP
11 79 (3.86%) JSON
12 77 (3.76%) Web Services
13 75 (3.66%) .NET Framework
14 71 (3.47%) XML
15 63 (3.08%) Vue
16 50 (2.44%) FastAPI
16 50 (2.44%) NumPy
16 50 (2.44%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 113 (5.52%) Equities
2 107 (5.23%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
3 103 (5.03%) Derivative
4 97 (4.74%) Cloud Native
5 84 (4.10%) Distributed Systems
6 81 (3.96%) Algorithms
7 68 (3.32%) Data Structures
8 62 (3.03%) Product Ownership
9 59 (2.88%) Fixed Income
10 47 (2.30%) Data Protection Act
11 44 (2.15%) Greenfield Project
12 43 (2.10%) Management Information System
13 42 (2.05%) Mobile App
14 33 (1.61%) Hedge funds
15 31 (1.51%) Equity Derivative
16 30 (1.47%) Legacy Systems
17 28 (1.37%) AI Agents
17 28 (1.37%) Enterprise Software
18 27 (1.32%) Low-Code
18 27 (1.32%) Market Risk
Operating Systems
1 151 (7.38%) Linux
2 69 (3.37%) Windows
3 57 (2.78%) Unix
4 42 (2.05%) Android
5 37 (1.81%) Apple iOS
6 18 (0.88%) Windows Server
7 6 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 5 (0.24%) AIX
8 5 (0.24%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.20%) CentOS
10 3 (0.15%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.049%) VMS
11 1 (0.049%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.049%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 524 (25.60%) Agile
2 487 (23.79%) CI/CD
3 383 (18.71%) Problem-Solving
4 337 (16.46%) DevOps
5 297 (14.51%) Microservices
6 271 (13.24%) Full-Stack Development
7 235 (11.48%) Analytics
8 196 (9.57%) Software Engineering
9 188 (9.18%) Business Intelligence
10 174 (8.50%) Containerisation
11 172 (8.40%) Test Automation
12 158 (7.72%) Scrum
13 156 (7.62%) AI
14 129 (6.30%) TDD
15 126 (6.16%) Front End Development
16 115 (5.62%) Computer Science
17 114 (5.57%) Data Modelling
17 114 (5.57%) Design Patterns
18 113 (5.52%) Unit Testing
19 111 (5.42%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 526 (25.70%) SQL
2 517 (25.26%) Java
3 498 (24.33%) Python
4 384 (18.76%) C#
5 363 (17.73%) JavaScript
6 215 (10.50%) TypeScript
7 120 (5.86%) C++
8 82 (4.01%) PL/SQL
9 63 (3.08%) Go
10 51 (2.49%) Kotlin
11 47 (2.30%) T-SQL
12 40 (1.95%) Apex Code
13 37 (1.81%) PowerShell
14 36 (1.76%) VB
15 33 (1.61%) Ruby
15 33 (1.61%) Shell Script
16 30 (1.47%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 30 (1.47%) VBA
17 22 (1.07%) C
17 22 (1.07%) Swift
Qualifications
1 350 (17.10%) Security Cleared
2 285 (13.92%) SC Cleared
3 130 (6.35%) Degree
4 62 (3.03%) Computer Science Degree
5 24 (1.17%) Master's Degree
6 23 (1.12%) BPSS Clearance
7 21 (1.03%) DV Cleared
8 13 (0.64%) Numerate Degree
9 10 (0.49%) AWS Certification
10 6 (0.29%) MCP
10 6 (0.29%) Microsoft Certification
11 5 (0.24%) AWS Certified Developer
11 5 (0.24%) PhD
12 4 (0.20%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 4 (0.20%) Azure Certification
12 4 (0.20%) Oracle Certification
13 2 (0.098%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
13 2 (0.098%) OCP
13 2 (0.098%) Tableau Certification
14 1 (0.049%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 89 (4.35%) QA
2 56 (2.74%) Accessibility
3 32 (1.56%) Data Quality
4 22 (1.07%) WCAG
5 15 (0.73%) GDPR
6 7 (0.34%) ISO 8583
7 6 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 6 (0.29%) SLA
8 5 (0.24%) SEPA
9 4 (0.20%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.15%) GRC
10 3 (0.15%) ISO 20022
10 3 (0.15%) PSD2
11 2 (0.098%) HL7
12 1 (0.049%) HIPAA
12 1 (0.049%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.049%) MiFID
12 1 (0.049%) PMO
System Software
1 291 (14.22%) Docker
2 31 (1.51%) Active Directory
3 7 (0.34%) zsh
4 5 (0.24%) HDFS
5 3 (0.15%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.098%) GridGain
6 2 (0.098%) OpenAM
6 2 (0.098%) OpenDJ
6 2 (0.098%) OpenIDM
6 2 (0.098%) VMware ESXi
6 2 (0.098%) VMware Infrastructure
7 1 (0.049%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 276 (13.48%) Kubernetes
2 79 (3.86%) Terraform
3 33 (1.61%) Ansible
4 20 (0.98%) Grafana
5 19 (0.93%) Prometheus
6 16 (0.78%) Single Sign-On
7 12 (0.59%) Argo
8 7 (0.34%) Control-M
9 6 (0.29%) TIBCO Hawk
10 3 (0.15%) Kibana
10 3 (0.15%) Podman
11 2 (0.098%) CloudHub
11 2 (0.098%) Docker Swarm
11 2 (0.098%) Istio
11 2 (0.098%) Progress Chef
11 2 (0.098%) Puppet
11 2 (0.098%) rkt
12 1 (0.049%) ITRS Geneos
12 1 (0.049%) Microsoft Intune
12 1 (0.049%) Oracle Identity Management
Vendors
1 247 (12.07%) Microsoft
2 179 (8.74%) Oracle
3 71 (3.47%) Salesforce
4 54 (2.64%) ServiceNow
5 41 (2.00%) Google
6 38 (1.86%) Databricks
7 36 (1.76%) IBM
8 28 (1.37%) Adobe
8 28 (1.37%) Citrix
9 27 (1.32%) OpenAI
9 27 (1.32%) SAP
10 22 (1.07%) MuleSoft
11 19 (0.93%) Red Hat
12 18 (0.88%) Sybase
13 17 (0.83%) Lotus
14 14 (0.68%) Solace
15 13 (0.64%) Guidewire
16 12 (0.59%) OpenLink
17 11 (0.54%) Foundry
17 11 (0.54%) ION Trading