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 17 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 25 23
Rank change year-on-year 0 -2 +1
Contract jobs citing Public Sector 1,719 997 1,229
As % of all contract jobs in London 8.56% 7.35% 7.60%
As % of the General category 14.09% 10.69% 12.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,304 719 867
10th Percentile £390 £363 £363
25th Percentile £456 £438 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £539 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.62% - -8.70%
75th Percentile £638 £619 £625
90th Percentile £725 £700 £700
England median daily rate £520 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +1.46% -2.38% -2.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 19 10
10th Percentile £17.11 £19.42 £16.40
25th Percentile £37.25 £23.18 £18.13
Median hourly rate £47.00 £26.45 £28.97
Median % change year-on-year +77.69% -8.68% -33.96%
75th Percentile £67.24 £46.25 £66.50
90th Percentile £76.45 £72.25 £83.50
England median hourly rate £21.50 £21.27 £27.00
% change year-on-year +1.08% -21.22% +35.00%

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 12,201 9,324 10,107
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 60.74% 68.75% 62.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,776 6,186 7,078
10th Percentile £350 £325 £338
25th Percentile £450 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year - -4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £700
90th Percentile £788 £800 £825
England median daily rate £525 £510 £538
% change year-on-year +2.94% -5.20% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 229 190 145
10th Percentile £18.40 £15.84 £17.25
25th Percentile £21.15 £24.50 £23.80
Median hourly rate £27.50 £30.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% -14.29% +1.10%
75th Percentile £43.75 £49.31 £51.75
90th Percentile £65.00 £63.75 £67.20
England median hourly rate £32.50 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +29.22% -34.02% +38.62%

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 17 August 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 17 August 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 17 August 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 +8 169 £550 +4.76% 65
South London 0 65 £525 +7.09% 14
West London -23 13 £500 +11.11% 38
East London +5 10 £750 +30.43% 17
North London -1 5 £400 -27.27% 2
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 73 (4.25%) Confluence
2 50 (2.91%) SharePoint
3 16 (0.93%) Microsoft Exchange
4 15 (0.87%) CMS
5 14 (0.81%) Apache Spark
6 13 (0.76%) Apache
7 11 (0.64%) Palantir Foundry
8 10 (0.58%) nginx
9 6 (0.35%) Apache Airflow
9 6 (0.35%) WordPress
10 5 (0.29%) SAS
10 5 (0.29%) Tomcat
11 3 (0.17%) Camunda
11 3 (0.17%) Drupal
12 2 (0.12%) Mendix
12 2 (0.12%) OpenROAD
12 2 (0.12%) WebLogic
13 1 (0.058%) Headless CMS
13 1 (0.058%) IIS
13 1 (0.058%) PowerExchange
Applications
1 35 (2.04%) Microsoft Excel
2 14 (0.81%) Microsoft Office
3 8 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (0.47%) Spreadsheet
4 5 (0.29%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (0.23%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.17%) Chatbot
6 3 (0.17%) Sketch
6 3 (0.17%) Trello
7 2 (0.12%) Adobe XD
8 1 (0.058%) Adobe After Effects
8 1 (0.058%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 1 (0.058%) Gliffy
Business Applications
1 21 (1.22%) SAP S/4HANA
2 17 (0.99%) Dynamics CRM
2 17 (0.99%) Oracle EBS
3 15 (0.87%) Oracle ERP
4 11 (0.64%) NetSuite
5 6 (0.35%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
6 4 (0.23%) iTrent
6 4 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
6 4 (0.23%) SAP FI
7 3 (0.17%) Oracle Payroll
7 3 (0.17%) PeopleSoft HCM
7 3 (0.17%) Remedy ITSM
7 3 (0.17%) SAP CO
7 3 (0.17%) SAP FI/CO
7 3 (0.17%) SAP HR
8 2 (0.12%) Exchequer
8 2 (0.12%) Oracle Financials
8 2 (0.12%) SAP ERP
9 1 (0.058%) Primavera
9 1 (0.058%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 408 (23.73%) AWS
2 353 (20.54%) Azure
3 100 (5.82%) Power Platform
4 95 (5.53%) GCP
5 89 (5.18%) GitHub
6 76 (4.42%) Azure DevOps
7 71 (4.13%) Serverless
8 70 (4.07%) Amazon S3
9 69 (4.01%) Microsoft 365
10 63 (3.66%) Entra ID
10 63 (3.66%) GitHub Actions
11 45 (2.62%) AWS Lambda
11 45 (2.62%) SaaS
12 37 (2.15%) Amazon EKS
12 37 (2.15%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 35 (2.04%) Amazon EC2
14 33 (1.92%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 31 (1.80%) AWS CloudFormation
16 30 (1.75%) PowerApps
17 29 (1.69%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 47 (2.73%) Firewall
2 31 (1.80%) DNS
3 30 (1.75%) Network Security
4 14 (0.81%) VPN
5 13 (0.76%) LAN
5 13 (0.76%) WAN
6 10 (0.58%) NGFW
7 9 (0.52%) TCP/IP
8 8 (0.47%) DHCP
9 7 (0.41%) DKIM
9 7 (0.41%) Wi-Fi
10 6 (0.35%) Cisco IPT
10 6 (0.35%) DMARC
11 5 (0.29%) Reverse Proxy
11 5 (0.29%) Wireless
12 4 (0.23%) HTTP
12 4 (0.23%) HTTPS
12 4 (0.23%) Intranet
13 3 (0.17%) Kerberos
13 3 (0.17%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 63 (3.66%) Power BI
2 58 (3.37%) PostgreSQL
3 38 (2.21%) Data Warehouse
4 32 (1.86%) Amazon RDS
5 29 (1.69%) Metadata
6 27 (1.57%) Data Lake
7 25 (1.45%) MongoDB
7 25 (1.45%) SQL Server
8 24 (1.40%) NoSQL
9 23 (1.34%) Amazon Redshift
10 20 (1.16%) MySQL
11 18 (1.05%) Amazon Athena
11 18 (1.05%) Amazon Aurora
11 18 (1.05%) Delta Lake
12 15 (0.87%) Relational Database
13 14 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
13 14 (0.81%) Tableau
14 12 (0.70%) Redis
15 9 (0.52%) Oracle Database
16 8 (0.47%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 103 (5.99%) Git
2 99 (5.76%) JIRA
3 70 (4.07%) Jenkins
4 60 (3.49%) GitLab
5 13 (0.76%) SonarQube
6 12 (0.70%) JUnit
6 12 (0.70%) Mockito
7 10 (0.58%) CircleCI
8 9 (0.52%) Maven
9 8 (0.47%) Selenium
10 7 (0.41%) Cypress.io
10 7 (0.41%) Snyk
11 5 (0.29%) Artifactory
11 5 (0.29%) JMeter
11 5 (0.29%) Postman
12 4 (0.23%) Bitbucket
12 4 (0.23%) Bitbucket Server
12 4 (0.23%) Cucumber
12 4 (0.23%) DbUnit
12 4 (0.23%) jMock
General
1 501 (29.14%) Social Skills
2 188 (10.94%) Finance
3 148 (8.61%) Analytical Skills
4 104 (6.05%) Local Government
5 83 (4.83%) Military
6 64 (3.72%) Influencing Skills
7 45 (2.62%) Legal
8 40 (2.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 39 (2.27%) Organisational Skills
10 36 (2.09%) Police
11 33 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
12 26 (1.51%) Law
13 24 (1.40%) Marketing
14 23 (1.34%) Telecoms
15 21 (1.22%) Banking
16 14 (0.81%) Presentation Skills
17 10 (0.58%) Publishing
18 8 (0.47%) Billing
18 8 (0.47%) Manufacturing
18 8 (0.47%) Retail
Job Titles
1 285 (16.58%) Architect
2 226 (13.15%) Developer
3 216 (12.57%) Lead
4 193 (11.23%) Senior
5 113 (6.57%) Analyst
6 77 (4.48%) Delivery Manager
6 77 (4.48%) Designer
7 69 (4.01%) DevOps Engineer
8 65 (3.78%) Solutions Architect
9 57 (3.32%) User Researcher
10 56 (3.26%) Data Engineer
10 56 (3.26%) Technical Architect
11 52 (3.03%) Business Analyst
12 49 (2.85%) Consultant
13 47 (2.73%) Data Architect
14 43 (2.50%) Software Engineer
15 41 (2.39%) AWS Engineer
15 41 (2.39%) Java Developer
16 39 (2.27%) Project Manager
17 36 (2.09%) AWS Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 71 (4.13%) REST
2 58 (3.37%) React
3 48 (2.79%) RESTful
4 47 (2.73%) Spring
5 44 (2.56%) Django
6 39 (2.27%) Node.js
7 38 (2.21%) Spring Boot
8 35 (2.04%) HTML
8 35 (2.04%) Oracle Fusion
9 34 (1.98%) Kafka
10 32 (1.86%) Lightning Web Components
11 30 (1.75%) .NET
11 30 (1.75%) SOAP
12 29 (1.69%) Web Services
13 28 (1.63%) AngularJS
14 27 (1.57%) PySpark
15 24 (1.40%) CSS
16 22 (1.28%) JSON
17 17 (0.99%) Middleware
18 16 (0.93%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 113 (6.57%) Cloud Native
2 79 (4.60%) Onboarding
3 58 (3.37%) NHS
4 56 (3.26%) Product Ownership
5 55 (3.20%) Legacy Systems
6 36 (2.09%) Distributed Systems
7 35 (2.04%) Management Information System
8 28 (1.63%) Enterprise Software
9 23 (1.34%) Analytical Mindset
10 18 (1.05%) Data Centre
10 18 (1.05%) Data Structures
10 18 (1.05%) Low-Code
11 16 (0.93%) AI Agents
12 15 (0.87%) Replication
13 13 (0.76%) Hybrid Cloud
13 13 (0.76%) Self-Motivation
14 12 (0.70%) Security Operations Centre
14 12 (0.70%) Virtual Team
15 11 (0.64%) Enterprise Cloud
15 11 (0.64%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 48 (2.79%) Linux
2 41 (2.39%) Windows
3 13 (0.76%) Windows Server
4 11 (0.64%) Android
4 11 (0.64%) Windows 10
5 9 (0.52%) Apple iOS
5 9 (0.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.35%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.23%) Amazon Linux
7 4 (0.23%) Solaris
7 4 (0.23%) Unix
7 4 (0.23%) Windows Server 2008
7 4 (0.23%) Windows Server 2019
8 3 (0.17%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.12%) VMS
9 2 (0.12%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 545 (31.70%) Agile
2 331 (19.26%) Stakeholder Management
3 307 (17.86%) CI/CD
3 307 (17.86%) DevOps
4 281 (16.35%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 275 (16.00%) Continuous Improvement
6 195 (11.34%) Decision-Making
7 184 (10.70%) AI
8 175 (10.18%) Infrastructure as Code
9 174 (10.12%) Problem-Solving
10 166 (9.66%) Roadmaps
11 163 (9.48%) Migration
12 154 (8.96%) Digital Transformation Programme
13 153 (8.90%) Analytics
14 146 (8.49%) Data Modelling
15 123 (7.16%) Containerisation
16 120 (6.98%) Technical Leadership
17 116 (6.75%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
18 115 (6.69%) User Research
19 105 (6.11%) Service Design
Programming Languages
1 229 (13.32%) Python
2 169 (9.83%) SQL
3 120 (6.98%) Java
4 94 (5.47%) JavaScript
5 60 (3.49%) TypeScript
6 41 (2.39%) PowerShell
7 34 (1.98%) C#
8 31 (1.80%) Bash
9 30 (1.75%) Apex Code
10 26 (1.51%) Bicep
11 24 (1.40%) Ruby
12 22 (1.28%) PL/SQL
13 20 (1.16%) Groovy
14 12 (0.70%) Kotlin
14 12 (0.70%) R
15 11 (0.64%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 8 (0.47%) Scala
17 7 (0.41%) Shell Script
18 6 (0.35%) Go
18 6 (0.35%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 971 (56.49%) Security Cleared
2 843 (49.04%) SC Cleared
3 85 (4.94%) DV Cleared
4 78 (4.54%) BPSS Clearance
5 42 (2.44%) Degree
6 40 (2.33%) AWS Certification
7 33 (1.92%) Azure Certification
8 32 (1.86%) CISSP
9 28 (1.63%) Microsoft Certification
10 20 (1.16%) Cisco Certification
10 20 (1.16%) CISM
11 12 (0.70%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 11 (0.64%) ITIL Certification
13 10 (0.58%) CCNP
13 10 (0.58%) CTC Cleared
14 9 (0.52%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 8 (0.47%) APMG
15 8 (0.47%) Master's Degree
16 7 (0.41%) PMI Certification
16 7 (0.41%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 133 (7.74%) Accessibility
2 88 (5.12%) Data Quality
3 69 (4.01%) QA
4 54 (3.14%) GDPR
5 53 (3.08%) WCAG
6 45 (2.62%) PMO
7 41 (2.39%) NCSC
8 32 (1.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 25 (1.45%) NIST
10 20 (1.16%) Cyber Essentials
11 13 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 12 (0.70%) GRC
12 12 (0.70%) SLA
13 11 (0.64%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 11 (0.64%) PCI DSS
14 9 (0.52%) Government Security Classifications
15 8 (0.47%) Actionable Recommendations
16 5 (0.29%) NIST 800
17 4 (0.23%) PERC
17 4 (0.23%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 135 (7.85%) Docker
2 41 (2.39%) Active Directory
3 8 (0.47%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.17%) Postfix
6 2 (0.12%) Oracle RAC
6 2 (0.12%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.12%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.058%) Ceph
7 1 (0.058%) FreeRADIUS
7 1 (0.058%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.058%) Sendmail
7 1 (0.058%) Squid
Systems Management
1 173 (10.06%) Terraform
2 132 (7.68%) Kubernetes
3 40 (2.33%) Grafana
4 31 (1.80%) Prometheus
5 28 (1.63%) Ansible
6 21 (1.22%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (0.58%) Kibana
7 10 (0.58%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (0.47%) Argo
9 6 (0.35%) Puppet
9 6 (0.35%) SCCM
10 5 (0.29%) Istio
11 3 (0.17%) Jamf Pro
11 3 (0.17%) Salt
12 2 (0.12%) Consul
12 2 (0.12%) Docker Swarm
12 2 (0.12%) Karpenter
12 2 (0.12%) Kustomize
12 2 (0.12%) Oracle RMAN
13 1 (0.058%) SELinux
Vendors
1 220 (12.80%) Microsoft
2 116 (6.75%) Oracle
3 91 (5.29%) Salesforce
4 61 (3.55%) Google
5 57 (3.32%) Databricks
6 56 (3.26%) ServiceNow
7 39 (2.27%) SAP
8 20 (1.16%) Cisco
8 20 (1.16%) Foundry
9 18 (1.05%) Palantir
10 16 (0.93%) IBM
10 16 (0.93%) Palo Alto
11 11 (0.64%) Atlassian
11 11 (0.64%) MuleSoft
12 10 (0.58%) Juniper
12 10 (0.58%) OpenAI
13 9 (0.52%) Informatica
13 9 (0.52%) VMware
14 8 (0.47%) Red Hat
14 8 (0.47%) Splunk