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 13 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 21 18
Rank change year-on-year -2 -3 +26
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 1,276 1,224 1,595
As % of all contract jobs in London 9.00% 8.83% 8.80%
As % of the General category 13.75% 13.66% 13.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 923 768 1,115
10th Percentile £376 £344 £400
25th Percentile £443 £443 £456
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -3.34%
75th Percentile £623 £638 £660
90th Percentile £688 £750 £745
England median daily rate £500 £523 £538
% change year-on-year -4.44% -2.65% -0.46%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 14 9
10th Percentile - £20.60 £17.03
25th Percentile £17.50 £22.07 £19.50
Median hourly rate £20.84 £29.50 £26.24
Median % change year-on-year -29.36% +12.42% +28.50%
75th Percentile £41.25 £41.18 £45.00
90th Percentile £54.70 £58.72 £66.72
England median hourly rate £21.94 £23.41 £21.00
% change year-on-year -6.30% +11.48% +5.66%

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 9,279 8,960 11,691
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 65.47% 64.67% 64.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,034 5,679 8,365
10th Percentile £343 £325 £340
25th Percentile £425 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -6.52% - -4.17%
75th Percentile £673 £700 £700
90th Percentile £775 £825 £800
England median daily rate £500 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -5.70% -3.59% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 169 109 186
10th Percentile £17.50 £17.85 £16.25
25th Percentile £20.82 £24.18 £19.99
Median hourly rate £26.30 £35.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year -24.86% +16.67% +10.09%
75th Percentile £45.75 £50.75 £52.50
90th Percentile £70.40 £75.68 £74.38
England median hourly rate £23.02 £29.00 £30.48
% change year-on-year -20.64% -4.84% +18.53%

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 13 January 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 13 January 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 13 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 -5 148 £550 +5.77% 39
South London 0 41 £513 +3.80% 12
North London 0 5 £675 +164.71% 2
East London -3 4 £663 +1.92% 8
West London -25 4 £600 +54.84% 7
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 50 (3.92%) Confluence
2 41 (3.21%) SharePoint
3 16 (1.25%) nginx
4 12 (0.94%) Apache Airflow
5 10 (0.78%) Apache
6 7 (0.55%) Apache Spark
7 5 (0.39%) Microsoft Exchange
8 4 (0.31%) SAS
9 3 (0.24%) CMS
10 2 (0.16%) Anypoint
10 2 (0.16%) ArcGIS
10 2 (0.16%) Jupyter
11 1 (0.078%) GeoServer
11 1 (0.078%) IIS
11 1 (0.078%) Moodle
11 1 (0.078%) Mule
11 1 (0.078%) Mule ESB
11 1 (0.078%) Sitecore CMS
11 1 (0.078%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.078%) WordPress
Applications
1 45 (3.53%) Microsoft Excel
2 22 (1.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 18 (1.41%) Microsoft Office
4 8 (0.63%) Microsoft Project
4 8 (0.63%) Mozilla Thunderbird
5 7 (0.55%) Trello
6 6 (0.47%) MS Visio
7 4 (0.31%) Adobe XD
7 4 (0.31%) Sketch
8 3 (0.24%) Chatbot
8 3 (0.24%) InVision
9 2 (0.16%) Adobe After Effects
9 2 (0.16%) Spreadsheet
10 1 (0.078%) Adobe Illustrator
10 1 (0.078%) OmniGraffle
10 1 (0.078%) Oracle Smart View
10 1 (0.078%) Photoshop
10 1 (0.078%) Siemens NX
10 1 (0.078%) UXPin
Business Applications
1 17 (1.33%) Dynamics CRM
1 17 (1.33%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (0.86%) Oracle ERP
3 7 (0.55%) SAP Payroll
4 6 (0.47%) iTrent
5 5 (0.39%) Oracle EBS
6 4 (0.31%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 4 (0.31%) Oracle Assets
6 4 (0.31%) Oracle General Ledger
6 4 (0.31%) Oracle Receivables
6 4 (0.31%) Salesforce CRM
7 3 (0.24%) Loan IQ
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Cash Management
7 3 (0.24%) SAP ERP
7 3 (0.24%) SAP HCM
8 2 (0.16%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.16%) SAP Business One
8 2 (0.16%) SAP GRC
8 2 (0.16%) SAP HR
8 2 (0.16%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 255 (19.98%) Azure
2 249 (19.51%) AWS
3 104 (8.15%) Power Platform
4 65 (5.09%) Microsoft 365
4 65 (5.09%) Serverless
5 56 (4.39%) GitHub
6 55 (4.31%) Azure DevOps
7 41 (3.21%) GCP
7 41 (3.21%) Power Automate
8 40 (3.13%) Amazon S3
9 37 (2.90%) AWS Lambda
10 35 (2.74%) GitHub Actions
11 32 (2.51%) PowerApps
12 31 (2.43%) Amazon ECS
12 31 (2.43%) Dynamics 365
13 30 (2.35%) OCI
14 28 (2.19%) AWS CloudFormation
15 25 (1.96%) Entra ID
16 21 (1.65%) Amazon CloudWatch
16 21 (1.65%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 32 (2.51%) Firewall
2 25 (1.96%) DNS
2 25 (1.96%) Network Security
3 17 (1.33%) WAN
4 16 (1.25%) VPN
4 16 (1.25%) Wireless
5 14 (1.10%) TCP/IP
6 13 (1.02%) LAN
7 12 (0.94%) BGP
7 12 (0.94%) OSPF
8 11 (0.86%) Wi-Fi
9 9 (0.71%) HTTP
9 9 (0.71%) SSL
10 8 (0.63%) FTP
10 8 (0.63%) IMAP
10 8 (0.63%) OpenLDAP
10 8 (0.63%) SD-WAN
10 8 (0.63%) SMTP
10 8 (0.63%) SSH
11 7 (0.55%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 68 (5.33%) Power BI
2 43 (3.37%) PostgreSQL
3 26 (2.04%) Metadata
4 20 (1.57%) Data Lake
5 19 (1.49%) Amazon RDS
5 19 (1.49%) SQL Server
6 16 (1.25%) Data Warehouse
7 15 (1.18%) Relational Database
8 12 (0.94%) Azure SQL Database
8 12 (0.94%) MongoDB
8 12 (0.94%) Oracle Database
9 11 (0.86%) NoSQL
10 9 (0.71%) Power Query
11 8 (0.63%) Amazon Athena
11 8 (0.63%) Amazon Aurora
11 8 (0.63%) Data Hub
12 7 (0.55%) Amazon Redshift
12 7 (0.55%) Tableau
13 6 (0.47%) Oracle BI Publisher
13 6 (0.47%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 77 (6.03%) JIRA
2 68 (5.33%) Git
3 31 (2.43%) Jenkins
4 28 (2.19%) GitLab
5 23 (1.80%) Postman
6 18 (1.41%) Selenium
7 8 (0.63%) JUnit
7 8 (0.63%) Vagrant
8 5 (0.39%) Cypress.io
8 5 (0.39%) Gradle
8 5 (0.39%) MLflow
8 5 (0.39%) Mockito
9 4 (0.31%) Cucumber
9 4 (0.31%) Liquibase
10 3 (0.24%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.24%) Axure RP
10 3 (0.24%) JMeter
10 3 (0.24%) Pa11y
10 3 (0.24%) REST Assured
11 2 (0.16%) Newman
General
1 385 (30.17%) Social Skills
2 202 (15.83%) Finance
3 121 (9.48%) Analytical Skills
4 71 (5.56%) Telecoms
5 66 (5.17%) Marketing
6 61 (4.78%) Manufacturing
7 60 (4.70%) Local Government
8 52 (4.08%) Electronics
9 35 (2.74%) Military
10 34 (2.66%) Legal
11 29 (2.27%) Influencing Skills
12 25 (1.96%) Documentation Skills
12 25 (1.96%) Presentation Skills
13 20 (1.57%) Organisational Skills
14 19 (1.49%) Retail
15 17 (1.33%) Law
16 16 (1.25%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 13 (1.02%) Police
18 12 (0.94%) Banking
19 8 (0.63%) Billing
Job Titles
1 168 (13.17%) Developer
2 160 (12.54%) Architect
3 152 (11.91%) Senior
4 129 (10.11%) Analyst
5 128 (10.03%) Lead
6 70 (5.49%) Business Analyst
7 62 (4.86%) Consultant
8 54 (4.23%) Designer
8 54 (4.23%) DevOps Engineer
9 42 (3.29%) Solutions Architect
10 41 (3.21%) Project Manager
11 35 (2.74%) Technical Architect
12 34 (2.66%) Data Engineer
12 34 (2.66%) User Researcher
13 30 (2.35%) AWS Engineer
13 30 (2.35%) Service Designer
14 27 (2.12%) Senior Analyst
15 24 (1.88%) Azure Engineer
15 24 (1.88%) Senior Business Analyst
16 23 (1.80%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (4.62%) REST
2 37 (2.90%) Oracle Fusion
3 35 (2.74%) RESTful
4 34 (2.66%) .NET
5 33 (2.59%) React
6 31 (2.43%) Web Services
7 28 (2.19%) JSON
8 26 (2.04%) HTML
8 26 (2.04%) Node.js
9 25 (1.96%) CSS
10 24 (1.88%) AngularJS
10 24 (1.88%) Kafka
10 24 (1.88%) SOAP
10 24 (1.88%) Spring
11 21 (1.65%) Lightning Web Components
11 21 (1.65%) XML
12 20 (1.57%) Spring Boot
13 16 (1.25%) OAuth
14 13 (1.02%) LDAP
15 12 (0.94%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 62 (4.86%) Cloud Native
2 49 (3.84%) Onboarding
3 34 (2.66%) Legacy Systems
4 32 (2.51%) Product Ownership
5 27 (2.12%) Data Centre
6 26 (2.04%) AI Agents
7 25 (1.96%) NHS
8 20 (1.57%) Management Information System
9 18 (1.41%) Replication
10 15 (1.18%) Public Cloud
11 13 (1.02%) Data Structures
11 13 (1.02%) Security Posture
11 13 (1.02%) Virtual Team
12 11 (0.86%) Distributed Systems
13 10 (0.78%) Analytical Mindset
13 10 (0.78%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (0.78%) Security Operations Centre
14 9 (0.71%) Data Protection Act
15 8 (0.63%) Cyber Threat
15 8 (0.63%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 48 (3.76%) Linux
1 48 (3.76%) Windows
2 16 (1.25%) Mac OS
3 15 (1.18%) VMS
4 12 (0.94%) Android
5 8 (0.63%) Amazon Linux
5 8 (0.63%) Ubuntu
6 7 (0.55%) Unix
7 5 (0.39%) Windows Server
8 3 (0.24%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.24%) Windows 10
9 2 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.078%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 347 (27.19%) Agile
2 191 (14.97%) CI/CD
3 173 (13.56%) DevOps
4 161 (12.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 159 (12.46%) Stakeholder Management
6 149 (11.68%) Problem-Solving
7 131 (10.27%) Business Intelligence
8 121 (9.48%) AI
9 120 (9.40%) Continuous Improvement
10 111 (8.70%) Decision-Making
11 102 (7.99%) Roadmaps
12 100 (7.84%) Migration
13 89 (6.97%) Infrastructure as Code
14 80 (6.27%) Analytics
14 80 (6.27%) Containerisation
14 80 (6.27%) User Research
15 76 (5.96%) Project Management
16 73 (5.72%) Programme Management
17 71 (5.56%) Service Design
18 70 (5.49%) Digital Transformation Programme
Programming Languages
1 156 (12.23%) Python
2 130 (10.19%) SQL
3 80 (6.27%) Java
4 60 (4.70%) JavaScript
5 42 (3.29%) PowerShell
6 38 (2.98%) C#
7 30 (2.35%) TypeScript
8 27 (2.12%) Ruby
9 21 (1.65%) Bash
10 20 (1.57%) Apex Code
11 14 (1.10%) PL/SQL
12 13 (1.02%) Go
13 10 (0.78%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 8 (0.63%) Groovy
14 8 (0.63%) Kotlin
15 7 (0.55%) Bicep
15 7 (0.55%) C
15 7 (0.55%) C++
15 7 (0.55%) R
16 4 (0.31%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 754 (59.09%) Security Cleared
2 569 (44.59%) SC Cleared
3 67 (5.25%) Degree
4 52 (4.08%) DV Cleared
5 31 (2.43%) BPSS Clearance
6 28 (2.19%) Azure Certification
7 20 (1.57%) AWS Certification
8 19 (1.49%) CISSP
9 13 (1.02%) CISM
9 13 (1.02%) PMP
10 12 (0.94%) Microsoft Certification
10 12 (0.94%) PMI Certification
11 11 (0.86%) Computer Science Degree
12 9 (0.71%) APMP
12 9 (0.71%) OSCP
13 8 (0.63%) TOGAF Certification
14 7 (0.55%) CREST Certified
14 7 (0.55%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 7 (0.55%) ISTQB
15 6 (0.47%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (4.31%) Accessibility
2 51 (4.00%) GDPR
3 49 (3.84%) QA
4 44 (3.45%) Data Quality
5 40 (3.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 29 (2.27%) NIST
7 28 (2.19%) NCSC
8 27 (2.12%) PMO
9 14 (1.10%) GRC
10 13 (1.02%) WCAG
11 12 (0.94%) Cyber Essentials
12 10 (0.78%) HIPAA
13 8 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
14 5 (0.39%) NIST 800
14 5 (0.39%) SLA
15 3 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 3 (0.24%) PCI DSS
15 3 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
16 2 (0.16%) California Consumer Privacy Act
16 2 (0.16%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 91 (7.13%) Docker
2 27 (2.12%) Active Directory
3 9 (0.71%) Squid
4 8 (0.63%) DFS Replication
4 8 (0.63%) Dovecot
4 8 (0.63%) Postfix
5 6 (0.47%) Virtual Machines
5 6 (0.47%) VMware Infrastructure
6 5 (0.39%) Hyper-V
7 4 (0.31%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.16%) vSphere
9 1 (0.078%) IAG
9 1 (0.078%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.078%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 115 (9.01%) Terraform
2 100 (7.84%) Kubernetes
3 24 (1.88%) Grafana
4 20 (1.57%) Ansible
4 20 (1.57%) Prometheus
5 9 (0.71%) Nessus
6 8 (0.63%) Jamf Pro
6 8 (0.63%) Microsoft Intune
6 8 (0.63%) Proxmox
6 8 (0.63%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (0.55%) Packer
8 5 (0.39%) Argo
8 5 (0.39%) Consul
9 4 (0.31%) CSIRT
9 4 (0.31%) QRadar
9 4 (0.31%) SCCM
10 3 (0.24%) FortiGate
11 2 (0.16%) Fluentd
11 2 (0.16%) vCenter Server
11 2 (0.16%) vRealize
Vendors
1 166 (13.01%) Microsoft
2 97 (7.60%) SAP
3 76 (5.96%) Oracle
4 60 (4.70%) Salesforce
5 41 (3.21%) ServiceNow
6 31 (2.43%) Cisco
7 22 (1.72%) Databricks
8 19 (1.49%) VMware
9 17 (1.33%) Google
9 17 (1.33%) Splunk
10 16 (1.25%) Apple
10 16 (1.25%) MuleSoft
11 14 (1.10%) Fortinet
11 14 (1.10%) Palo Alto
11 14 (1.10%) Virgin Media
12 10 (0.78%) HP
12 10 (0.78%) Juniper
13 9 (0.71%) CyberArk
13 9 (0.71%) Dell
14 8 (0.63%) Foundry