Degree Contract Job Trends in the North West

Academic Degree
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the North West with a requirement for Degree qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 29 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 33 26 16
Rank change year-on-year -7 -10 +9
Contract jobs citing Degree 182 144 243
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 5.17% 7.07% 8.75%
As % of the Qualifications category 18.88% 20.96% 31.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 111 85 112
10th Percentile £200 £318 £183
25th Percentile £364 £359 £322
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £447 £456 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.97% -13.14% +8.02%
75th Percentile £530 £575 £600
90th Percentile £620 £700 £670
England median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 30 16 38
10th Percentile £17.25 £21.02 £11.77
25th Percentile £28.50 £25.31 £25.39
Median hourly rate £39.50 £32.50 £32.12
Median % change year-on-year +21.54% +1.20% -20.79%
75th Percentile £69.50 £66.29 £50.80
90th Percentile £178.75 £81.00 £62.50
England median hourly rate £49.25 £47.05 £41.50
% change year-on-year +4.67% +13.38% -13.79%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
North West

Degree falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the North West.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 964 687 771
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.38% 33.73% 27.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 623 399 422
10th Percentile £345 £304 £300
25th Percentile £400 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% - -3.85%
75th Percentile £612 £600 £600
90th Percentile £699 £713 £695
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 57 131
10th Percentile £18.63 £17.29 £10.95
25th Percentile £29.25 £21.02 £11.89
Median hourly rate £43.96 £32.00 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +37.38% +99.25% -60.43%
75th Percentile £73.57 £60.00 £43.43
90th Percentile £89.15 £75.97 £62.50
England median hourly rate £53.00 £29.27 £42.50
% change year-on-year +81.07% -31.13% -22.73%

Degree
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Degree relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Degree job vacancy trend in the North West

Degree
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Degree.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Degree

Degree
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Degree in the North West over the 6 months to 29 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Degree in the North West

Degree
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Degree.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Degree

Degree
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Degree in the North West over the 6 months to 29 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Degree in the North West

Degree
Contract Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Degree within the North West region over the 6 months to 29 June 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
Manchester -14 84 £400 -12.09% 118
Cheshire +1 78 £453 -1.36% 42
Merseyside -15 7 £249 -43.14% 15
Cumbria -8 6 £475 - 7
Lancashire -11 6 £519 -3.86% 53
Degree
England

Degree
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 21 (11.54%) Confluence
1 21 (11.54%) SharePoint
2 7 (3.85%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.10%) Camunda
3 2 (1.10%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.55%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.55%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.55%) JBoss
4 1 (0.55%) Mule
4 1 (0.55%) Mule ESB
4 1 (0.55%) SAS
4 1 (0.55%) WebLogic
Applications
1 55 (30.22%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (9.89%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (8.24%) MS Visio
4 12 (6.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 10 (5.49%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.55%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.55%) MicroStation
6 1 (0.55%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 7 (3.85%) Primavera
2 6 (3.30%) SAP MM
3 5 (2.75%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (2.75%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (1.65%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.55%) Infor M3
5 1 (0.55%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.55%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.55%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 39 (21.43%) Azure
2 32 (17.58%) Microsoft 365
3 26 (14.29%) AWS
4 24 (13.19%) Power Platform
5 14 (7.69%) Entra ID
6 11 (6.04%) GCP
6 11 (6.04%) Power Automate
6 11 (6.04%) PowerApps
7 8 (4.40%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 7 (3.85%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (3.85%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 5 (2.75%) Microsoft Copilot
9 5 (2.75%) OneDrive
10 4 (2.20%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (2.20%) Figma
10 4 (2.20%) SaaS
11 3 (1.65%) Dynamics 365
11 3 (1.65%) OpenShift
12 2 (1.10%) Adobe Creative Cloud
12 2 (1.10%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 24 (13.19%) Firewall
2 17 (9.34%) VPN
3 12 (6.59%) DNS
3 12 (6.59%) Wireless
4 9 (4.95%) WAN
4 9 (4.95%) Wi-Fi
5 7 (3.85%) LAN
5 7 (3.85%) Network Security
5 7 (3.85%) Skype
5 7 (3.85%) VLAN
6 6 (3.30%) SSL
7 4 (2.20%) BGP
7 4 (2.20%) DHCP
7 4 (2.20%) Internet
7 4 (2.20%) MPLS
7 4 (2.20%) OSPF
7 4 (2.20%) TCP/IP
8 3 (1.65%) Cisco ISE
8 3 (1.65%) FTP
8 3 (1.65%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (9.89%) Power BI
2 8 (4.40%) SQL Server
3 3 (1.65%) Hadoop
3 3 (1.65%) MySQL
3 3 (1.65%) Relational Database
3 3 (1.65%) Tableau
4 2 (1.10%) Apache Cassandra
4 2 (1.10%) MongoDB
4 2 (1.10%) NoSQL
4 2 (1.10%) Oracle Database
4 2 (1.10%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (1.10%) Power Query
4 2 (1.10%) RDBMS
4 2 (1.10%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.55%) Amazon Redshift
5 1 (0.55%) Data Lake
5 1 (0.55%) Data Mining
5 1 (0.55%) Data Vault
5 1 (0.55%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.55%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 31 (17.03%) JIRA
2 5 (2.75%) Git
2 5 (2.75%) Postman
3 2 (1.10%) ClearCase
3 2 (1.10%) Cucumber
3 2 (1.10%) GitLab
3 2 (1.10%) JUnit
4 1 (0.55%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.55%) Eclipse
4 1 (0.55%) IntelliJ
4 1 (0.55%) MLflow
4 1 (0.55%) Selenium
4 1 (0.55%) SoapUI
4 1 (0.55%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 78 (42.86%) Social Skills
2 63 (34.62%) Finance
3 45 (24.73%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (10.99%) Banking
5 16 (8.79%) Public Sector
6 14 (7.69%) Manufacturing
7 10 (5.49%) Telecoms
8 9 (4.95%) Documentation Skills
8 9 (4.95%) Influencing Skills
9 8 (4.40%) Organisational Skills
10 7 (3.85%) Legal
11 4 (2.20%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (1.65%) Corporate Banking
12 3 (1.65%) Marketing
13 2 (1.10%) Agriculture
13 2 (1.10%) Aviation
13 2 (1.10%) Environmental Health
13 2 (1.10%) Pharmaceutical
13 2 (1.10%) Publishing
13 2 (1.10%) Retail
Job Titles
1 42 (23.08%) Analyst
2 17 (9.34%) Business Analyst
2 17 (9.34%) IT Analyst
3 15 (8.24%) Support Analyst
4 14 (7.69%) IT Support
4 14 (7.69%) IT Support Analyst
5 12 (6.59%) Architect
6 11 (6.04%) Senior
7 10 (5.49%) Consultant
7 10 (5.49%) Security Engineer
8 9 (4.95%) Network Engineer
8 9 (4.95%) Security Consultant
9 8 (4.40%) Developer
10 6 (3.30%) Coordinator
10 6 (3.30%) Designer
10 6 (3.30%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
10 6 (3.30%) Microsoft Engineer
10 6 (3.30%) Project Coordinator
10 6 (3.30%) Project Manager
10 6 (3.30%) UX Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (5.49%) XML
2 8 (4.40%) 802.1X
2 8 (4.40%) REST
3 7 (3.85%) HTML
3 7 (3.85%) JSON
4 6 (3.30%) SOAP
5 5 (2.75%) .NET
6 4 (2.20%) CSS
6 4 (2.20%) Swagger
7 3 (1.65%) LangChain
7 3 (1.65%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (1.65%) Middleware
7 3 (1.65%) PyTorch
8 2 (1.10%) OAuth
8 2 (1.10%) Oracle Fusion
8 2 (1.10%) React
8 2 (1.10%) scikit-learn
8 2 (1.10%) Web Services
8 2 (1.10%) WinForms
8 2 (1.10%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 30 (16.48%) Management Information System
2 16 (8.79%) Onboarding
3 14 (7.69%) Cloud Native
3 14 (7.69%) Security Posture
4 7 (3.85%) PKI
4 7 (3.85%) Product Ownership
5 5 (2.75%) Life Science
6 4 (2.20%) Data Structures
6 4 (2.20%) Legacy Systems
6 4 (2.20%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (1.65%) AI Agents
7 3 (1.65%) Digital Wallet
7 3 (1.65%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (1.65%) Enterprise Cloud
7 3 (1.65%) Graphic Design
7 3 (1.65%) Tandem
8 2 (1.10%) Clustering
8 2 (1.10%) Hybrid Cloud
8 2 (1.10%) Replication
8 2 (1.10%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 45 (24.73%) Windows
2 23 (12.64%) Linux
3 16 (8.79%) Windows 10
4 12 (6.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 7 (3.85%) Unix
6 5 (2.75%) Windows Server
7 3 (1.65%) AIX
8 2 (1.10%) VMS
8 2 (1.10%) Windows 7
8 2 (1.10%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.55%) Android
9 1 (0.55%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 62 (34.07%) Agile
2 46 (25.27%) Problem-Solving
3 42 (23.08%) Computer Science
4 41 (22.53%) ITIL
5 33 (18.13%) Change Management
6 32 (17.58%) DevOps
7 30 (16.48%) Roadmaps
7 30 (16.48%) Stakeholder Management
8 24 (13.19%) AI
9 23 (12.64%) CI/CD
10 22 (12.09%) Scrum
11 21 (11.54%) Service Management
12 20 (10.99%) Analytics
12 20 (10.99%) Customer Service
12 20 (10.99%) Project Management
13 19 (10.44%) Continuous Improvement
14 18 (9.89%) Data Analysis
14 18 (9.89%) Generative AI
14 18 (9.89%) ITSM
15 17 (9.34%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 36 (19.78%) Python
2 25 (13.74%) PowerShell
2 25 (13.74%) SQL
3 15 (8.24%) Java
4 13 (7.14%) Bash
5 5 (2.75%) C#
5 5 (2.75%) JavaScript
6 4 (2.20%) VB
7 2 (1.10%) Bicep
7 2 (1.10%) C++
7 2 (1.10%) Perl
7 2 (1.10%) R
7 2 (1.10%) Shell Script
7 2 (1.10%) T-SQL
7 2 (1.10%) TypeScript
7 2 (1.10%) VB6
7 2 (1.10%) VBScript
8 1 (0.55%) Groovy
8 1 (0.55%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.55%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 35 (19.23%) Computer Science Degree
2 24 (13.19%) Security Cleared
3 21 (11.54%) CISSP
4 19 (10.44%) Microsoft Certification
5 17 (9.34%) SC Cleared
6 13 (7.14%) Azure Certification
6 13 (7.14%) BPSS Clearance
7 12 (6.59%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (6.59%) Master's Degree
8 11 (6.04%) AWS Certification
9 10 (5.49%) CCNP
10 9 (4.95%) A+ Certification
10 9 (4.95%) Network+ Certification
11 8 (4.40%) CCNA
12 7 (3.85%) ITIL Certification
13 5 (2.75%) CISM
13 5 (2.75%) MBA
14 4 (2.20%) CEH
14 4 (2.20%) PMI Certification
14 4 (2.20%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (5.49%) NIST
2 7 (3.85%) GRC
3 6 (3.30%) GDPR
3 6 (3.30%) SLA
4 5 (2.75%) Accessibility
4 5 (2.75%) IFRS
4 5 (2.75%) PCI DSS
4 5 (2.75%) QA
5 4 (2.20%) PSD2
6 3 (1.65%) Data Quality
6 3 (1.65%) IFRS 17
6 3 (1.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (1.10%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 2 (1.10%) GAAP
7 2 (1.10%) HIPAA
7 2 (1.10%) ISO 8583
7 2 (1.10%) PMO
7 2 (1.10%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.55%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.55%) Basel III
System Software
1 20 (10.99%) Active Directory
2 13 (7.14%) Docker
3 4 (2.20%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (1.65%) NFS
4 3 (1.65%) Veritas Volume Manager
5 2 (1.10%) BitLocker
5 2 (1.10%) Firmware
5 2 (1.10%) Hyper-V
5 2 (1.10%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 14 (7.69%) Kubernetes
2 13 (7.14%) Terraform
3 11 (6.04%) Progress Chef
4 8 (4.40%) Ansible
5 3 (1.65%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (1.65%) PowerBroker
5 3 (1.65%) Tivoli
5 3 (1.65%) Tivoli Storage Manager
6 2 (1.10%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 2 (1.10%) SCCM
6 2 (1.10%) SCOM
7 1 (0.55%) CA Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.55%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.55%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 64 (35.16%) Microsoft
2 19 (10.44%) SAP
3 18 (9.89%) Cisco
3 18 (9.89%) ServiceNow
4 14 (7.69%) Red Hat
5 13 (7.14%) Google
6 10 (5.49%) Oracle
7 9 (4.95%) Splunk
8 7 (3.85%) Remedy
9 6 (3.30%) Aruba
9 6 (3.30%) Databricks
9 6 (3.30%) ForeScout
9 6 (3.30%) Fortinet
9 6 (3.30%) IBM
10 5 (2.75%) Citrix
10 5 (2.75%) CyberArk
10 5 (2.75%) UiPath
11 4 (2.20%) Adobe
11 4 (2.20%) Bomgar
11 4 (2.20%) CheckPoint