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

6 months to
13 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 35 24 18
Rank change year-on-year -11 -6 +9
Contract jobs citing Degree 187 155 225
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 5.08% 7.14% 8.31%
As % of the Qualifications category 18.19% 21.53% 28.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 111 91 108
10th Percentile £204 £317 £174
25th Percentile £367 £359 £313
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £447 £456 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.97% -13.14% +8.02%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £588
90th Percentile £620 £715 £667
England median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -6.98%
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 18 38
10th Percentile £17.25 £21.02 £14.91
25th Percentile £28.50 £27.19 £25.39
Median hourly rate £39.50 £32.50 £36.18
Median % change year-on-year +21.54% -10.18% -9.54%
75th Percentile £69.50 £68.87 £54.82
90th Percentile £178.75 £81.00 £72.58
England median hourly rate £43.75 £42.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year +2.94% - -14.63%

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 1,028 720 776
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.90% 33.18% 28.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 663 410 425
10th Percentile £345 £274 £259
25th Percentile £400 £400 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -3.85%
75th Percentile £620 £600 £600
90th Percentile £709 £713 £689
England median daily rate £525 £525 £537
% change year-on-year - -2.23% -2.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 66 138
10th Percentile £17.53 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £28.88 £22.16 £14.00
Median hourly rate £43.96 £31.00 £17.78
Median % change year-on-year +41.81% +74.33% -56.19%
75th Percentile £71.50 £59.98 £43.10
90th Percentile £87.95 £74.77 £62.50
England median hourly rate £54.00 £28.00 £43.00
% change year-on-year +92.86% -34.88% -21.82%

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 13 July 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 13 July 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 13 July 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 -17 87 £400 -12.81% 115
Cheshire 0 75 £465 +1.97% 33
Lancashire -6 12 £220 -59.35% 50
Cumbria -10 6 £475 - 8
Merseyside -17 6 £200 -54.29% 9
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 22 (11.76%) SharePoint
2 18 (9.63%) Confluence
3 7 (3.74%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (1.60%) SAS
5 2 (1.07%) Camunda
5 2 (1.07%) Skype for Business
6 1 (0.53%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.53%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.53%) JBoss
6 1 (0.53%) Mule
6 1 (0.53%) Mule ESB
6 1 (0.53%) WebLogic
Applications
1 53 (28.34%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (9.09%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (6.95%) MS Visio
4 12 (6.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (5.88%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.53%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.53%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 6 (3.21%) Primavera
1 6 (3.21%) SAP MM
2 5 (2.67%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (2.14%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (1.60%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.53%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.53%) Infor M3
5 1 (0.53%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.53%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.53%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 42 (22.46%) Azure
2 33 (17.65%) Microsoft 365
3 27 (14.44%) AWS
4 26 (13.90%) Power Platform
5 15 (8.02%) Entra ID
6 11 (5.88%) GCP
6 11 (5.88%) Power Automate
6 11 (5.88%) PowerApps
7 8 (4.28%) Azure DevOps
7 8 (4.28%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 7 (3.74%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 6 (3.21%) Azure Monitor
10 5 (2.67%) Microsoft Copilot
10 5 (2.67%) OneDrive
11 4 (2.14%) Figma
11 4 (2.14%) SaaS
12 3 (1.60%) Amazon S3
12 3 (1.60%) Dynamics 365
12 3 (1.60%) OpenShift
13 2 (1.07%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 24 (12.83%) Firewall
2 17 (9.09%) VPN
3 12 (6.42%) Wireless
4 11 (5.88%) DNS
5 9 (4.81%) WAN
5 9 (4.81%) Wi-Fi
6 8 (4.28%) SSL
7 7 (3.74%) LAN
7 7 (3.74%) Network Security
7 7 (3.74%) VLAN
8 6 (3.21%) Skype
9 4 (2.14%) BGP
9 4 (2.14%) Internet
9 4 (2.14%) MPLS
9 4 (2.14%) OSPF
9 4 (2.14%) TCP/IP
10 3 (1.60%) Cisco ISE
10 3 (1.60%) DHCP
10 3 (1.60%) FTP
10 3 (1.60%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (10.70%) Power BI
2 10 (5.35%) SQL Server
3 6 (3.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 5 (2.67%) MySQL
5 3 (1.60%) Amazon Redshift
5 3 (1.60%) Data Vault
5 3 (1.60%) Hadoop
5 3 (1.60%) Relational Database
5 3 (1.60%) Tableau
6 2 (1.07%) Apache Cassandra
6 2 (1.07%) MongoDB
6 2 (1.07%) NoSQL
6 2 (1.07%) Oracle Database
6 2 (1.07%) PostgreSQL
6 2 (1.07%) Power Query
6 2 (1.07%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.53%) Big Data
7 1 (0.53%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.53%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.53%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 28 (14.97%) JIRA
2 7 (3.74%) Git
3 5 (2.67%) Postman
4 2 (1.07%) ClearCase
4 2 (1.07%) Cucumber
4 2 (1.07%) GitLab
4 2 (1.07%) JUnit
5 1 (0.53%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.53%) Eclipse
5 1 (0.53%) IntelliJ
5 1 (0.53%) MLflow
5 1 (0.53%) Selenium
5 1 (0.53%) SoapUI
5 1 (0.53%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 75 (40.11%) Social Skills
2 58 (31.02%) Finance
3 43 (22.99%) Analytical Skills
4 16 (8.56%) Banking
4 16 (8.56%) Manufacturing
4 16 (8.56%) Public Sector
5 9 (4.81%) Documentation Skills
5 9 (4.81%) Legal
5 9 (4.81%) Telecoms
6 8 (4.28%) Influencing Skills
7 7 (3.74%) Organisational Skills
8 4 (2.14%) Presentation Skills
9 3 (1.60%) Corporate Banking
9 3 (1.60%) Marketing
10 2 (1.07%) Aerospace
10 2 (1.07%) Agriculture
10 2 (1.07%) Aviation
10 2 (1.07%) French Language
10 2 (1.07%) Pharmaceutical
10 2 (1.07%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 39 (20.86%) Analyst
2 16 (8.56%) IT Analyst
3 14 (7.49%) Business Analyst
3 14 (7.49%) Support Analyst
4 13 (6.95%) IT Support
4 13 (6.95%) IT Support Analyst
5 12 (6.42%) Architect
5 12 (6.42%) Senior
6 10 (5.35%) Consultant
6 10 (5.35%) Security Engineer
7 9 (4.81%) Network Engineer
7 9 (4.81%) Security Consultant
8 8 (4.28%) Developer
8 8 (4.28%) Project Manager
9 6 (3.21%) Coordinator
9 6 (3.21%) Designer
9 6 (3.21%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
9 6 (3.21%) Operations Analyst
9 6 (3.21%) Project Coordinator
9 6 (3.21%) UX Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (4.81%) XML
2 8 (4.28%) 802.1X
3 7 (3.74%) HTML
3 7 (3.74%) REST
4 6 (3.21%) JSON
5 5 (2.67%) .NET
5 5 (2.67%) SOAP
6 4 (2.14%) CSS
6 4 (2.14%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (1.60%) LangChain
7 3 (1.60%) Middleware
7 3 (1.60%) PySpark
7 3 (1.60%) PyTorch
7 3 (1.60%) Swagger
8 2 (1.07%) AngularJS
8 2 (1.07%) Kafka
8 2 (1.07%) Oracle Fusion
8 2 (1.07%) Web Services
8 2 (1.07%) WinForms
8 2 (1.07%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 31 (16.58%) Management Information System
2 15 (8.02%) Onboarding
3 14 (7.49%) Cloud Native
3 14 (7.49%) Security Posture
4 7 (3.74%) PKI
4 7 (3.74%) Product Ownership
5 5 (2.67%) Life Science
6 4 (2.14%) Data Structures
6 4 (2.14%) Legacy Systems
6 4 (2.14%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (1.60%) AI Agents
7 3 (1.60%) Clustering
7 3 (1.60%) Digital Wallet
7 3 (1.60%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (1.60%) Enterprise Cloud
7 3 (1.60%) Graphic Design
7 3 (1.60%) Replication
7 3 (1.60%) Tandem
8 2 (1.07%) Hybrid Cloud
8 2 (1.07%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 45 (24.06%) Windows
2 23 (12.30%) Linux
3 15 (8.02%) Windows 10
4 12 (6.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 7 (3.74%) Unix
6 5 (2.67%) Windows Server
7 3 (1.60%) AIX
8 2 (1.07%) VMS
8 2 (1.07%) Windows 7
9 1 (0.53%) Android
9 1 (0.53%) Apple iOS
9 1 (0.53%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 61 (32.62%) Agile
2 47 (25.13%) Problem-Solving
3 44 (23.53%) ITIL
4 41 (21.93%) Computer Science
5 34 (18.18%) DevOps
6 33 (17.65%) Change Management
7 30 (16.04%) Stakeholder Management
8 29 (15.51%) Roadmaps
9 24 (12.83%) AI
9 24 (12.83%) CI/CD
10 23 (12.30%) Continuous Improvement
11 21 (11.23%) Scrum
12 20 (10.70%) Analytics
12 20 (10.70%) Service Management
13 19 (10.16%) Customer Service
13 19 (10.16%) Project Management
14 18 (9.63%) Data Analysis
14 18 (9.63%) Decision-Making
14 18 (9.63%) Generative AI
15 17 (9.09%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 41 (21.93%) Python
2 27 (14.44%) PowerShell
3 26 (13.90%) SQL
4 18 (9.63%) Java
5 13 (6.95%) Bash
6 5 (2.67%) C#
6 5 (2.67%) JavaScript
7 4 (2.14%) T-SQL
7 4 (2.14%) VB
8 2 (1.07%) Bicep
8 2 (1.07%) C++
8 2 (1.07%) Perl
8 2 (1.07%) R
8 2 (1.07%) Scala
8 2 (1.07%) Shell Script
8 2 (1.07%) TypeScript
8 2 (1.07%) VB6
8 2 (1.07%) VBScript
9 1 (0.53%) Groovy
9 1 (0.53%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 34 (18.18%) Computer Science Degree
2 26 (13.90%) Security Cleared
3 22 (11.76%) CISSP
4 21 (11.23%) Microsoft Certification
5 19 (10.16%) SC Cleared
6 15 (8.02%) Azure Certification
7 12 (6.42%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (5.88%) AWS Certification
8 11 (5.88%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (5.35%) CCNP
10 9 (4.81%) Master's Degree
11 8 (4.28%) A+ Certification
11 8 (4.28%) CCNA
11 8 (4.28%) Network+ Certification
12 7 (3.74%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (3.21%) CISM
14 5 (2.67%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 5 (2.67%) PMI Certification
14 5 (2.67%) PMP
15 4 (2.14%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (5.35%) NIST
2 8 (4.28%) QA
3 7 (3.74%) GRC
4 6 (3.21%) GDPR
4 6 (3.21%) SLA
5 5 (2.67%) Accessibility
5 5 (2.67%) Data Quality
5 5 (2.67%) PCI DSS
6 4 (2.14%) IFRS
6 4 (2.14%) PSD2
7 3 (1.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 2 (1.07%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 2 (1.07%) GAAP
8 2 (1.07%) HIPAA
8 2 (1.07%) IFRS 17
8 2 (1.07%) ISO 8583
8 2 (1.07%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.53%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.53%) ISO 20022
9 1 (0.53%) PMO
System Software
1 19 (10.16%) Active Directory
2 13 (6.95%) Docker
3 5 (2.67%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (1.60%) NFS
4 3 (1.60%) Veritas Volume Manager
5 2 (1.07%) BitLocker
5 2 (1.07%) Firmware
6 1 (0.53%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.53%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 15 (8.02%) Terraform
2 14 (7.49%) Kubernetes
3 11 (5.88%) Progress Chef
4 8 (4.28%) Ansible
5 4 (2.14%) SCOM
6 3 (1.60%) Cisco Prime
6 3 (1.60%) PowerBroker
6 3 (1.60%) SCCM
6 3 (1.60%) Tivoli
6 3 (1.60%) Tivoli Storage Manager
7 2 (1.07%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 1 (0.53%) CA Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.53%) Microsoft Intune
8 1 (0.53%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 65 (34.76%) Microsoft
2 22 (11.76%) ServiceNow
3 19 (10.16%) SAP
4 18 (9.63%) Cisco
5 14 (7.49%) Red Hat
6 13 (6.95%) Google
7 10 (5.35%) Oracle
7 10 (5.35%) Splunk
8 8 (4.28%) Databricks
9 7 (3.74%) Remedy
10 6 (3.21%) Aruba
10 6 (3.21%) ForeScout
10 6 (3.21%) Fortinet
10 6 (3.21%) IBM
11 5 (2.67%) Bomgar
11 5 (2.67%) CyberArk
11 5 (2.67%) UiPath
12 4 (2.14%) Adobe
12 4 (2.14%) CheckPoint
12 4 (2.14%) Citrix