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 16 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 21 18
Rank change year-on-year -3 -3 +18
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 1,417 1,219 1,572
As % of all contract jobs in London 9.29% 9.05% 8.50%
As % of the General category 14.51% 13.84% 13.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,035 767 1,082
10th Percentile £381 £350 £385
25th Percentile £431 £443 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.38% -4.55% -2.22%
75th Percentile £603 £638 £650
90th Percentile £675 £762 £745
England median daily rate £500 £520 £525
% change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 18 12
10th Percentile - £18.52 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.50 £22.00 £15.86
Median hourly rate £25.00 £29.50 £19.75
Median % change year-on-year -15.25% +49.37% -3.28%
75th Percentile £41.25 £41.18 £35.06
90th Percentile £53.00 £65.00 £77.03
England median hourly rate £22.00 £25.00 £21.00
% change year-on-year -12.00% +19.05% +5.00%

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 9,767 8,809 11,756
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 64.06% 65.39% 63.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,362 5,580 8,413
10th Percentile £350 £325 £335
25th Percentile £425 £450 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £537 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -6.61% - -4.17%
75th Percentile £669 £700 £688
90th Percentile £785 £825 £800
England median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 170 109 255
10th Percentile £17.50 £20.60 £16.00
25th Percentile £20.82 £26.25 £18.90
Median hourly rate £31.49 £38.11 £29.00
Median % change year-on-year -17.37% +31.41% +1.75%
75th Percentile £49.69 £55.25 £49.54
90th Percentile £72.50 £78.47 £73.71
England median hourly rate £23.00 £30.40 £25.71
% change year-on-year -24.36% +18.24% -11.04%

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 16 February 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 16 February 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 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
Central London -4 146 £550 +4.76% 39
South London +3 58 £500 -2.44% 10
West London -27 7 £531 +91.44% 15
North London -2 5 £650 +154.90% 6
East London -4 5 £638 +10.87% 14
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 58 (4.09%) Confluence
2 36 (2.54%) SharePoint
3 12 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
3 12 (0.85%) nginx
4 9 (0.64%) Apache
5 7 (0.49%) Apache Spark
5 7 (0.49%) Microsoft Exchange
6 4 (0.28%) CMS
6 4 (0.28%) SAS
7 3 (0.21%) ArcGIS
8 2 (0.14%) Camunda
8 2 (0.14%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.14%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.071%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.071%) Appian
9 1 (0.071%) GeoServer
9 1 (0.071%) JBoss
9 1 (0.071%) Oracle Workflow
9 1 (0.071%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.071%) WebSphere
Applications
1 49 (3.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 17 (1.20%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (0.56%) Microsoft Project
4 7 (0.49%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.35%) Adobe XD
6 4 (0.28%) Chatbot
6 4 (0.28%) Sketch
6 4 (0.28%) Trello
7 3 (0.21%) InVision
7 3 (0.21%) Mozilla Thunderbird
8 2 (0.14%) Adobe After Effects
8 2 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.071%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.071%) OmniGraffle
9 1 (0.071%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.071%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.071%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 20 (1.41%) Dynamics CRM
2 15 (1.06%) Oracle ERP
2 15 (1.06%) SAP S/4HANA
3 9 (0.64%) SAP Payroll
4 6 (0.42%) iTrent
5 4 (0.28%) Salesforce CRM
6 3 (0.21%) Exchequer
6 3 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
6 3 (0.21%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
7 2 (0.14%) Oracle Assets
7 2 (0.14%) Oracle General Ledger
7 2 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.14%) SAP Business One
7 2 (0.14%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.14%) SAP GRC
7 2 (0.14%) SAP HCM
7 2 (0.14%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.071%) Oracle Cash Management
8 1 (0.071%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.071%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
Cloud Services
1 289 (20.40%) AWS
2 268 (18.91%) Azure
3 94 (6.63%) Power Platform
4 81 (5.72%) Serverless
5 64 (4.52%) GitHub
6 58 (4.09%) Azure DevOps
7 50 (3.53%) AWS Lambda
8 49 (3.46%) GCP
9 45 (3.18%) Microsoft 365
10 39 (2.75%) Amazon S3
11 37 (2.61%) GitHub Actions
12 36 (2.54%) OCI
13 35 (2.47%) Dynamics 365
14 33 (2.33%) AWS CloudFormation
15 30 (2.12%) Amazon ECS
15 30 (2.12%) Amazon EKS
15 30 (2.12%) Power Automate
16 24 (1.69%) Entra ID
17 23 (1.62%) PaaS
17 23 (1.62%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 26 (1.83%) Network Security
2 25 (1.76%) Firewall
3 19 (1.34%) DNS
4 17 (1.20%) WAN
5 15 (1.06%) VPN
5 15 (1.06%) Wireless
6 13 (0.92%) LAN
6 13 (0.92%) Wi-Fi
7 11 (0.78%) TCP/IP
8 10 (0.71%) BGP
8 10 (0.71%) OSPF
9 7 (0.49%) SD-WAN
10 6 (0.42%) Internet
11 5 (0.35%) HTTP
11 5 (0.35%) SSL
12 4 (0.28%) NGFW
12 4 (0.28%) SMTP
12 4 (0.28%) WLAN
13 3 (0.21%) Cisco Wireless
13 3 (0.21%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (5.01%) Power BI
2 38 (2.68%) PostgreSQL
3 24 (1.69%) Data Lake
4 23 (1.62%) Metadata
5 20 (1.41%) SQL Server
6 19 (1.34%) Amazon RDS
7 18 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
8 15 (1.06%) Azure SQL Database
8 15 (1.06%) NoSQL
9 14 (0.99%) MongoDB
10 12 (0.85%) Relational Database
11 10 (0.71%) Amazon Athena
11 10 (0.71%) Tableau
12 9 (0.64%) Amazon Redshift
12 9 (0.64%) Data Hub
13 8 (0.56%) DynamoDB
13 8 (0.56%) Power Query
13 8 (0.56%) SQL Server Reporting Services
14 7 (0.49%) BigQuery
14 7 (0.49%) Delta Lake
Development Applications
1 84 (5.93%) JIRA
2 67 (4.73%) Git
3 41 (2.89%) GitLab
4 35 (2.47%) Jenkins
5 28 (1.98%) Postman
6 23 (1.62%) Selenium
7 9 (0.64%) JUnit
8 7 (0.49%) Cypress.io
9 6 (0.42%) JMeter
9 6 (0.42%) MLflow
10 5 (0.35%) Gradle
10 5 (0.35%) Liquibase
11 4 (0.28%) Cucumber
11 4 (0.28%) Mockito
12 3 (0.21%) Android Studio
12 3 (0.21%) Appium
12 3 (0.21%) Axure RP
12 3 (0.21%) Bitbucket
12 3 (0.21%) REST Assured
12 3 (0.21%) Vagrant
General
1 397 (28.02%) Social Skills
2 222 (15.67%) Finance
3 121 (8.54%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (4.66%) Telecoms
5 61 (4.30%) Local Government
6 60 (4.23%) Marketing
7 55 (3.88%) Manufacturing
8 45 (3.18%) Electronics
9 39 (2.75%) Military
10 34 (2.40%) Legal
11 30 (2.12%) Documentation Skills
12 29 (2.05%) Influencing Skills
13 27 (1.91%) Presentation Skills
14 21 (1.48%) Banking
15 20 (1.41%) Organisational Skills
15 20 (1.41%) Retail
16 18 (1.27%) Law
17 15 (1.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 13 (0.92%) Police
19 11 (0.78%) Billing
Job Titles
1 185 (13.06%) Developer
2 177 (12.49%) Architect
3 176 (12.42%) Senior
4 135 (9.53%) Analyst
5 120 (8.47%) Lead
6 83 (5.86%) Business Analyst
7 71 (5.01%) Designer
8 68 (4.80%) DevOps Engineer
9 55 (3.88%) Consultant
10 48 (3.39%) User Researcher
11 43 (3.03%) Project Manager
12 40 (2.82%) Solutions Architect
13 37 (2.61%) Service Designer
14 35 (2.47%) Data Engineer
14 35 (2.47%) Technical Architect
15 34 (2.40%) AWS Engineer
16 32 (2.26%) Azure Engineer
16 32 (2.26%) Senior Developer
17 29 (2.05%) Security Architect
17 29 (2.05%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (4.09%) REST
2 38 (2.68%) Node.js
2 38 (2.68%) Oracle Fusion
2 38 (2.68%) React
2 38 (2.68%) RESTful
3 33 (2.33%) .NET
3 33 (2.33%) Web Services
4 30 (2.12%) Spring
5 29 (2.05%) JSON
6 27 (1.91%) AngularJS
6 27 (1.91%) CSS
6 27 (1.91%) HTML
7 25 (1.76%) SOAP
8 24 (1.69%) Kafka
9 23 (1.62%) Lightning Web Components
9 23 (1.62%) Spring Boot
10 18 (1.27%) XML
11 17 (1.20%) OAuth
12 13 (0.92%) Middleware
12 13 (0.92%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 75 (5.29%) Cloud Native
2 56 (3.95%) Onboarding
3 39 (2.75%) Legacy Systems
4 38 (2.68%) Product Ownership
5 37 (2.61%) Data Centre
6 23 (1.62%) AI Agents
7 22 (1.55%) NHS
8 18 (1.27%) Management Information System
8 18 (1.27%) Public Cloud
9 16 (1.13%) Security Posture
10 15 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
11 13 (0.92%) Self-Motivation
12 12 (0.85%) Hybrid Cloud
12 12 (0.85%) Replication
13 11 (0.78%) Distributed Systems
13 11 (0.78%) Security Operations Centre
14 10 (0.71%) Data Protection Act
15 9 (0.64%) Data Structures
15 9 (0.64%) Greenfield Project
16 8 (0.56%) Algorithms
Operating Systems
1 52 (3.67%) Linux
2 50 (3.53%) Windows
3 18 (1.27%) Mac OS
4 16 (1.13%) Android
5 10 (0.71%) VMS
5 10 (0.71%) Windows Server
6 6 (0.42%) Apple iOS
6 6 (0.42%) Unix
7 4 (0.28%) Amazon Linux
7 4 (0.28%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.21%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.21%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.14%) Solaris
9 2 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
9 2 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.071%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 352 (24.84%) Agile
2 220 (15.53%) CI/CD
3 196 (13.83%) DevOps
4 182 (12.84%) Stakeholder Management
5 160 (11.29%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 150 (10.59%) Problem-Solving
7 124 (8.75%) AI
8 122 (8.61%) Continuous Improvement
9 121 (8.54%) Decision-Making
9 121 (8.54%) Roadmaps
10 119 (8.40%) Business Intelligence
11 116 (8.19%) Migration
12 110 (7.76%) Infrastructure as Code
13 102 (7.20%) User Research
14 98 (6.92%) Analytics
15 94 (6.63%) Containerisation
16 83 (5.86%) Test Automation
17 78 (5.50%) Project Management
18 77 (5.43%) Data Modelling
19 76 (5.36%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 168 (11.86%) Python
2 119 (8.40%) SQL
3 83 (5.86%) Java
4 69 (4.87%) JavaScript
5 40 (2.82%) C#
6 37 (2.61%) TypeScript
7 35 (2.47%) PowerShell
8 31 (2.19%) Ruby
9 25 (1.76%) Bash
10 22 (1.55%) Apex Code
11 12 (0.85%) Go
12 10 (0.71%) PL/SQL
13 9 (0.64%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 9 (0.64%) R
14 8 (0.56%) Bicep
15 7 (0.49%) C
15 7 (0.49%) Kotlin
16 5 (0.35%) Shell Script
17 4 (0.28%) C++
17 4 (0.28%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 827 (58.36%) Security Cleared
2 613 (43.26%) SC Cleared
3 64 (4.52%) Degree
4 50 (3.53%) DV Cleared
5 34 (2.40%) BPSS Clearance
6 25 (1.76%) Azure Certification
7 17 (1.20%) CISSP
8 15 (1.06%) AWS Certification
9 14 (0.99%) PMP
10 13 (0.92%) CISM
11 11 (0.78%) Computer Science Degree
11 11 (0.78%) Microsoft Certification
12 10 (0.71%) APMP
12 10 (0.71%) CIMA
12 10 (0.71%) Cisco Certification
12 10 (0.71%) OSCP
13 9 (0.64%) ACCA
13 9 (0.64%) ISTQB
13 9 (0.64%) PMI Certification
14 8 (0.56%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 82 (5.79%) Accessibility
2 51 (3.60%) Data Quality
2 51 (3.60%) GDPR
3 49 (3.46%) QA
4 36 (2.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 28 (1.98%) NIST
5 28 (1.98%) PMO
6 26 (1.83%) NCSC
7 23 (1.62%) WCAG
8 14 (0.99%) GRC
9 11 (0.78%) Actionable Recommendations
10 10 (0.71%) HIPAA
11 8 (0.56%) SLA
12 6 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials
12 6 (0.42%) Government Security Classifications
13 5 (0.35%) NIST 800
14 4 (0.28%) PCI DSS
15 3 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 3 (0.21%) IFRS
15 3 (0.21%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 103 (7.27%) Docker
2 26 (1.83%) Active Directory
3 8 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
3 8 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.35%) Hyper-V
4 5 (0.35%) VMware ESXi
5 4 (0.28%) Squid
6 3 (0.21%) DFS Replication
6 3 (0.21%) Dovecot
6 3 (0.21%) Postfix
6 3 (0.21%) vSphere
7 2 (0.14%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.14%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.071%) IAG
8 1 (0.071%) NLBS
8 1 (0.071%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.071%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 136 (9.60%) Terraform
2 118 (8.33%) Kubernetes
3 22 (1.55%) Grafana
4 21 (1.48%) Ansible
5 19 (1.34%) Prometheus
6 9 (0.64%) Jamf Pro
6 9 (0.64%) Microsoft Intune
7 8 (0.56%) Argo
8 7 (0.49%) Packer
9 6 (0.42%) Single Sign-On
10 5 (0.35%) Consul
10 5 (0.35%) SCCM
11 4 (0.28%) FortiGate
11 4 (0.28%) Nessus
12 3 (0.21%) Proxmox
12 3 (0.21%) vCenter Server
13 2 (0.14%) Fluentd
13 2 (0.14%) Microsoft Clustering
13 2 (0.14%) Progress Chef
13 2 (0.14%) vRealize
Vendors
1 143 (10.09%) Microsoft
2 86 (6.07%) SAP
3 77 (5.43%) Oracle
4 69 (4.87%) Salesforce
5 42 (2.96%) ServiceNow
6 34 (2.40%) Databricks
7 30 (2.12%) Cisco
8 22 (1.55%) Google
8 22 (1.55%) VMware
9 17 (1.20%) MuleSoft
9 17 (1.20%) Virgin Media
10 16 (1.13%) Apple
10 16 (1.13%) Splunk
11 13 (0.92%) Palo Alto
12 12 (0.85%) Dell
12 12 (0.85%) IBM
12 12 (0.85%) Red Hat
13 11 (0.78%) Fortinet
13 11 (0.78%) HP
14 10 (0.71%) Atlassian