Public Sector Contract Job Trends in London

Public Sector
England > London

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Public Sector in contract job vacancies in London. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Public Sector over the 6 months leading up to 30 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 26 19
Rank change year-on-year +4 -7 +8
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 1,667 884 1,440
As % of all contract jobs in London 9.02% 7.27% 8.24%
As % of the General category 15.06% 10.74% 13.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,248 629 1,027
10th Percentile £389 £400 £363
25th Percentile £450 £453 £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.55%
75th Percentile £624 £619 £650
90th Percentile £717 £726 £738
England median daily rate £504 £524 £525
% change year-on-year -3.94% -0.17% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 16 14
10th Percentile £16.91 £21.00 £15.00
25th Percentile £25.19 £22.27 £15.66
Median hourly rate £41.00 £25.08 £18.13
Median % change year-on-year +63.51% +38.31% -27.48%
75th Percentile £50.00 £44.69 £25.73
90th Percentile £75.55 £77.50 £65.90
England median hourly rate £23.83 £25.08 £22.75
% change year-on-year -4.99% +10.22% +10.22%

All General Skills
London

Public Sector falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills in London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 11,068 8,231 10,972
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 59.91% 67.65% 62.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,136 5,494 7,838
10th Percentile £350 £349 £336
25th Percentile £431 £435 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £549 £557 £575
Median % change year-on-year -1.56% -3.06% -4.17%
75th Percentile £675 £700 £700
90th Percentile £788 £825 £825
England median daily rate £515 £525 £535
% change year-on-year -1.90% -1.87% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 203 149 239
10th Percentile £18.75 £15.84 £15.90
25th Percentile £22.50 £24.66 £18.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £34.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +2.94% +13.33% -5.39%
75th Percentile £46.88 £50.50 £47.00
90th Percentile £68.50 £63.35 £65.01
England median hourly rate £30.81 £27.76 £30.44
% change year-on-year +10.99% -8.79% -4.89%

Public Sector
Job Vacancy Trend in London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Public Sector relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in London.

Public Sector job vacancy trend in London

Public Sector
Daily Rate Trend in London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Public Sector.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Public Sector

Public Sector
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Public Sector in London over the 6 months to 30 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Public Sector in London

Public Sector
Hourly Rate Trend in London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Public Sector.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Public Sector

Public Sector
Hourly Rate Histogram in London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Public Sector in London over the 6 months to 30 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Public Sector in London

Public Sector
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 Public Sector within the London region over the 6 months to 30 May 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 -1 150 £538 +2.38% 51
South London 0 67 £500 +1.52% 5
West London -32 11 £500 +16.96% 10
East London -7 9 £750 +30.43% 13
North London -2 2 £425 -19.05% 1
Public Sector
England

Public Sector
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 70 (4.20%) Confluence
2 37 (2.22%) SharePoint
3 14 (0.84%) Microsoft Exchange
4 12 (0.72%) Apache Spark
5 9 (0.54%) Apache
5 9 (0.54%) nginx
5 9 (0.54%) Palantir Foundry
6 8 (0.48%) CMS
7 7 (0.42%) Apache Airflow
7 7 (0.42%) Tomcat
8 5 (0.30%) Camunda
9 4 (0.24%) WordPress
10 3 (0.18%) WebLogic
11 2 (0.12%) Drupal
11 2 (0.12%) OpenROAD
11 2 (0.12%) SAS
12 1 (0.060%) Apache Solr
12 1 (0.060%) Mule
12 1 (0.060%) Skype for Business
12 1 (0.060%) WebSphere
Applications
1 36 (2.16%) Microsoft Excel
2 14 (0.84%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (0.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.30%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.24%) Trello
6 3 (0.18%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.12%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.12%) Adobe XD
7 2 (0.12%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.12%) Sketch
8 1 (0.060%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 1 (0.060%) InVision
8 1 (0.060%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 21 (1.26%) Dynamics CRM
2 15 (0.90%) SAP S/4HANA
3 13 (0.78%) Oracle ERP
4 7 (0.42%) Oracle EBS
5 5 (0.30%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 4 (0.24%) Salesforce CRM
7 3 (0.18%) Exchequer
7 3 (0.18%) iTrent
7 3 (0.18%) PeopleSoft HCM
7 3 (0.18%) Remedy ITSM
7 3 (0.18%) SAP Payroll
8 2 (0.12%) Integrated Workplace Management System
8 2 (0.12%) Oracle Financials
8 2 (0.12%) SAP ERP
8 2 (0.12%) SAP HCM
8 2 (0.12%) Workday HCM
9 1 (0.060%) Endur
9 1 (0.060%) OpenText VIM for SAP
9 1 (0.060%) Oracle Payroll
9 1 (0.060%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 370 (22.20%) AWS
2 306 (18.36%) Azure
3 92 (5.52%) Power Platform
4 72 (4.32%) GCP
5 71 (4.26%) Serverless
6 64 (3.84%) GitHub
7 59 (3.54%) Azure DevOps
8 58 (3.48%) Microsoft 365
9 56 (3.36%) Amazon S3
10 47 (2.82%) AWS Lambda
11 42 (2.52%) Amazon EKS
12 41 (2.46%) Amazon EC2
13 40 (2.40%) Entra ID
14 38 (2.28%) SaaS
15 37 (2.22%) Dynamics 365
15 37 (2.22%) Virtual Private Cloud
16 36 (2.16%) GitHub Actions
17 33 (1.98%) Power Automate
18 29 (1.74%) AWS CloudFormation
19 28 (1.68%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 32 (1.92%) Firewall
2 28 (1.68%) Network Security
3 17 (1.02%) DNS
4 11 (0.66%) LAN
4 11 (0.66%) VPN
4 11 (0.66%) WAN
5 9 (0.54%) NGFW
5 9 (0.54%) TCP/IP
6 8 (0.48%) DKIM
6 8 (0.48%) Wi-Fi
7 6 (0.36%) DMARC
8 4 (0.24%) BGP
8 4 (0.24%) DHCP
8 4 (0.24%) OSPF
8 4 (0.24%) Reverse Proxy
8 4 (0.24%) Wireless
9 3 (0.18%) HTTP
9 3 (0.18%) SSL
9 3 (0.18%) VoIP
9 3 (0.18%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 60 (3.60%) Power BI
2 41 (2.46%) PostgreSQL
3 28 (1.68%) Amazon RDS
3 28 (1.68%) Data Warehouse
3 28 (1.68%) Metadata
4 24 (1.44%) SQL Server
5 22 (1.32%) Data Lake
6 21 (1.26%) MongoDB
7 18 (1.08%) NoSQL
8 15 (0.90%) Delta Lake
8 15 (0.90%) Tableau
9 11 (0.66%) Amazon Athena
9 11 (0.66%) Amazon Redshift
9 11 (0.66%) DynamoDB
10 10 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
11 8 (0.48%) Amazon QuickSight
11 8 (0.48%) Azure SQL Database
11 8 (0.48%) MySQL
12 7 (0.42%) Amazon Aurora
12 7 (0.42%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 97 (5.82%) JIRA
2 88 (5.28%) Git
3 56 (3.36%) GitLab
4 55 (3.30%) Jenkins
5 22 (1.32%) Selenium
6 17 (1.02%) Postman
7 12 (0.72%) JUnit
8 11 (0.66%) Mockito
9 10 (0.60%) SonarQube
10 9 (0.54%) CircleCI
11 8 (0.48%) Cypress.io
12 7 (0.42%) Artifactory
12 7 (0.42%) JMeter
12 7 (0.42%) Snyk
13 5 (0.30%) Maven
14 4 (0.24%) Bitbucket Server
14 4 (0.24%) Cucumber
14 4 (0.24%) DbUnit
14 4 (0.24%) Gradle
14 4 (0.24%) jMock
General
1 406 (24.36%) Social Skills
2 208 (12.48%) Finance
3 130 (7.80%) Analytical Skills
4 76 (4.56%) Local Government
5 58 (3.48%) Military
6 44 (2.64%) Documentation Skills
7 42 (2.52%) Influencing Skills
8 36 (2.16%) Marketing
8 36 (2.16%) Telecoms
9 33 (1.98%) Banking
10 32 (1.92%) Legal
11 30 (1.80%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 30 (1.80%) Organisational Skills
11 30 (1.80%) Police
12 26 (1.56%) Law
13 21 (1.26%) Presentation Skills
14 15 (0.90%) Retail
15 11 (0.66%) Manufacturing
16 10 (0.60%) Billing
16 10 (0.60%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 253 (15.18%) Architect
2 239 (14.34%) Developer
3 173 (10.38%) Lead
4 170 (10.20%) Senior
5 121 (7.26%) Analyst
6 89 (5.34%) Designer
7 73 (4.38%) DevOps Engineer
8 66 (3.96%) Business Analyst
9 59 (3.54%) User Researcher
10 56 (3.36%) Solutions Architect
11 55 (3.30%) Project Manager
11 55 (3.30%) Technical Architect
12 51 (3.06%) Data Engineer
13 49 (2.94%) Consultant
14 47 (2.82%) AWS Engineer
14 47 (2.82%) Delivery Manager
15 42 (2.52%) Salesforce Developer
16 40 (2.40%) Security Architect
16 40 (2.40%) Senior Developer
17 39 (2.34%) Java Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (2.94%) React
2 46 (2.76%) REST
2 46 (2.76%) RESTful
3 43 (2.58%) Node.js
4 41 (2.46%) Lightning Web Components
5 40 (2.40%) Spring
6 34 (2.04%) Oracle Fusion
7 33 (1.98%) .NET
7 33 (1.98%) HTML
8 32 (1.92%) Spring Boot
8 32 (1.92%) Web Services
9 31 (1.86%) Kafka
10 28 (1.68%) AngularJS
11 24 (1.44%) SOAP
12 23 (1.38%) CSS
13 21 (1.26%) Django
14 19 (1.14%) JSON
15 17 (1.02%) Middleware
16 15 (0.90%) OAuth
16 15 (0.90%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 109 (6.54%) Cloud Native
2 62 (3.72%) Onboarding
3 48 (2.88%) Legacy Systems
4 43 (2.58%) Product Ownership
5 40 (2.40%) NHS
6 29 (1.74%) Data Centre
7 27 (1.62%) Management Information System
8 25 (1.50%) Distributed Systems
9 22 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
10 18 (1.08%) Hybrid Cloud
11 17 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
12 14 (0.84%) Data Structures
12 14 (0.84%) Virtual Team
13 12 (0.72%) Analytical Mindset
13 12 (0.72%) Security Posture
14 11 (0.66%) Enterprise Cloud
14 11 (0.66%) Low-Code
14 11 (0.66%) Public Cloud
15 10 (0.60%) AI Agents
15 10 (0.60%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 54 (3.24%) Linux
2 43 (2.58%) Windows
3 16 (0.96%) Windows Server
4 14 (0.84%) Android
5 11 (0.66%) Apple iOS
6 9 (0.54%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 8 (0.48%) Windows 10
8 6 (0.36%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.36%) Solaris
8 6 (0.36%) Windows Server 2008
8 6 (0.36%) Windows Server 2019
9 5 (0.30%) Unix
10 4 (0.24%) VMS
11 3 (0.18%) Amazon Linux
11 3 (0.18%) Ubuntu
11 3 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 423 (25.37%) Agile
2 265 (15.90%) CI/CD
3 264 (15.84%) DevOps
4 229 (13.74%) Stakeholder Management
5 203 (12.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 169 (10.14%) Continuous Improvement
7 160 (9.60%) Decision-Making
8 151 (9.06%) Migration
9 149 (8.94%) Roadmaps
10 145 (8.70%) Problem-Solving
11 139 (8.34%) Infrastructure as Code
12 128 (7.68%) AI
13 125 (7.50%) Containerisation
13 125 (7.50%) Data Modelling
14 120 (7.20%) User Research
15 117 (7.02%) Analytics
16 115 (6.90%) Digital Transformation Programme
17 105 (6.30%) Service Design
18 104 (6.24%) Test Automation
19 84 (5.04%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 191 (11.46%) Python
2 138 (8.28%) SQL
3 114 (6.84%) Java
4 83 (4.98%) JavaScript
5 52 (3.12%) TypeScript
6 42 (2.52%) Apex Code
7 39 (2.34%) C#
8 38 (2.28%) PowerShell
9 35 (2.10%) Ruby
10 29 (1.74%) Bash
11 21 (1.26%) PL/SQL
12 14 (0.84%) Bicep
13 11 (0.66%) Kotlin
14 10 (0.60%) Shell Script
15 9 (0.54%) Go
15 9 (0.54%) R
16 7 (0.42%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 5 (0.30%) Scala
18 4 (0.24%) C
18 4 (0.24%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 938 (56.27%) Security Cleared
2 728 (43.67%) SC Cleared
3 67 (4.02%) DV Cleared
4 50 (3.00%) Degree
5 44 (2.64%) BPSS Clearance
6 28 (1.68%) CISSP
7 25 (1.50%) Azure Certification
8 23 (1.38%) AWS Certification
9 21 (1.26%) Microsoft Certification
10 18 (1.08%) Cisco Certification
11 16 (0.96%) CISM
12 14 (0.84%) PMP
13 12 (0.72%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 10 (0.60%) APMP
15 9 (0.54%) CIMA
15 9 (0.54%) ITIL Certification
16 8 (0.48%) ACCA
16 8 (0.48%) CCSP
16 8 (0.48%) CTC Cleared
16 8 (0.48%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 124 (7.44%) Accessibility
2 73 (4.38%) Data Quality
3 71 (4.26%) QA
4 48 (2.88%) WCAG
5 45 (2.70%) GDPR
6 38 (2.28%) NCSC
6 38 (2.28%) PMO
7 29 (1.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 14 (0.84%) Cyber Essentials
8 14 (0.84%) SLA
9 13 (0.78%) NIST
10 11 (0.66%) PCI DSS
11 10 (0.60%) Actionable Recommendations
12 9 (0.54%) Government Security Classifications
12 9 (0.54%) GRC
13 8 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 6 (0.36%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 5 (0.30%) IFRS
16 4 (0.24%) IFRS 9
17 3 (0.18%) NIST 800
System Software
1 118 (7.08%) Docker
2 33 (1.98%) Active Directory
3 7 (0.42%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
5 4 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.18%) Oracle RAC
6 3 (0.18%) Postfix
6 3 (0.18%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.12%) Squid
8 1 (0.060%) FreeRADIUS
8 1 (0.060%) NLBS
8 1 (0.060%) Sendmail
8 1 (0.060%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.060%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 144 (8.64%) Terraform
2 124 (7.44%) Kubernetes
3 37 (2.22%) Grafana
4 34 (2.04%) Prometheus
5 31 (1.86%) Ansible
6 13 (0.78%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (0.60%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (0.48%) Puppet
9 6 (0.36%) Argo
9 6 (0.36%) Kibana
10 3 (0.18%) Oracle RMAN
10 3 (0.18%) Salt
10 3 (0.18%) SCCM
11 2 (0.12%) Consul
11 2 (0.12%) Istio
11 2 (0.12%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.12%) Microsoft Clustering
11 2 (0.12%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.060%) RSA Archer
12 1 (0.060%) Sysdig
Vendors
1 169 (10.14%) Microsoft
2 96 (5.76%) Oracle
2 96 (5.76%) Salesforce
3 53 (3.18%) Databricks
4 48 (2.88%) SAP
5 45 (2.70%) ServiceNow
6 40 (2.40%) Google
7 19 (1.14%) IBM
8 18 (1.08%) Cisco
8 18 (1.08%) MuleSoft
9 16 (0.96%) Atlassian
9 16 (0.96%) Foundry
10 14 (0.84%) Red Hat
10 14 (0.84%) Splunk
11 11 (0.66%) OpenAI
11 11 (0.66%) Palo Alto
11 11 (0.66%) VMware
12 10 (0.60%) Fortinet
12 10 (0.60%) Virgin Media
13 9 (0.54%) Palantir