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 5 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 34 26 16
Rank change year-on-year -8 -10 +11
Contract jobs citing Degree 171 140 239
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 5.36% 7.11% 8.86%
As % of the Qualifications category 19.21% 19.83% 29.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 115 79 103
10th Percentile £191 £259 £158
25th Percentile £350 £357 £248
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £400 £456 £500
Median % change year-on-year -12.28% -8.80% +11.11%
75th Percentile £488 £578 £604
90th Percentile £601 £700 £686
England median daily rate £500 £515 £511
% change year-on-year -2.91% +0.76% -5.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 18 32
10th Percentile £28.50 £22.65 £11.77
25th Percentile £37.25 £27.19 £22.51
Median hourly rate £55.00 £32.50 £26.39
Median % change year-on-year +69.23% +23.15% -34.98%
75th Percentile £178.75 £33.75 £43.87
90th Percentile - £58.18 £61.44
England median hourly rate £65.00 £53.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +22.64% +32.50% -11.11%

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 890 706 816
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.87% 35.84% 30.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 591 404 469
10th Percentile £330 £230 £268
25th Percentile £394 £398 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £494 £513
Median % change year-on-year -3.80% -3.66% +0.49%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £650
90th Percentile £688 £650 £725
England median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 42 126
10th Percentile £22.68 £17.70 £10.95
25th Percentile £30.00 £25.26 £11.77
Median hourly rate £52.78 £32.50 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +62.38% +102.37% -59.85%
75th Percentile £74.26 £60.00 £41.76
90th Percentile £111.15 £83.13 £71.32
England median hourly rate £47.50 £44.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +7.95% +10.00% -23.81%

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 5 May 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 5 May 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 5 May 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
Cheshire -4 77 £402 -14.39% 92
Manchester -23 68 £400 -14.67% 265
Lancashire -2 8 - - 67
Cumbria -3 8 £475 +15.09% 5
Merseyside -16 8 £188 -57.14% 28
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 19 (11.11%) Confluence
1 19 (11.11%) SharePoint
2 7 (4.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (1.17%) SAS
3 2 (1.17%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.58%) Apache
4 1 (0.58%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.58%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.58%) Camunda
4 1 (0.58%) JBoss
4 1 (0.58%) Mule
4 1 (0.58%) Mule ESB
4 1 (0.58%) WebLogic
Applications
1 44 (25.73%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (6.43%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (6.43%) Microsoft Project
2 11 (6.43%) MS Visio
3 10 (5.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.58%) AutoCAD
4 1 (0.58%) MicroStation
4 1 (0.58%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 10 (5.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (2.34%) Payment Gateway
2 4 (2.34%) Primavera
3 3 (1.75%) SAP MM
4 2 (1.17%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.58%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.58%) Infor M3
5 1 (0.58%) SAP HCM
5 1 (0.58%) SAP Payroll
5 1 (0.58%) SAP PM
5 1 (0.58%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 29 (16.96%) Microsoft 365
2 24 (14.04%) AWS
2 24 (14.04%) Azure
3 13 (7.60%) Power Platform
4 11 (6.43%) Entra ID
5 8 (4.68%) Apigee
6 7 (4.09%) GCP
7 6 (3.51%) Azure DevOps
7 6 (3.51%) Kong
8 5 (2.92%) Microsoft Copilot
8 5 (2.92%) OneDrive
8 5 (2.92%) Power Automate
8 5 (2.92%) PowerApps
9 4 (2.34%) Figma
9 4 (2.34%) GitHub
9 4 (2.34%) GitHub Copilot
9 4 (2.34%) SaaS
10 3 (1.75%) Dynamics 365
10 3 (1.75%) OpenShift
11 2 (1.17%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 13 (7.60%) VPN
2 12 (7.02%) Skype
3 11 (6.43%) Firewall
4 9 (5.26%) Wireless
5 8 (4.68%) DNS
6 6 (3.51%) LAN
6 6 (3.51%) WAN
7 5 (2.92%) DHCP
7 5 (2.92%) Network Security
7 5 (2.92%) VLAN
7 5 (2.92%) Wi-Fi
8 4 (2.34%) TCP/IP
9 3 (1.75%) Cisco ISE
10 2 (1.17%) HTTP
10 2 (1.17%) HTTPS
10 2 (1.17%) Internet
10 2 (1.17%) SAN
10 2 (1.17%) SSL
11 1 (0.58%) BGP
11 1 (0.58%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (4.68%) Relational Database
2 7 (4.09%) Power BI
3 6 (3.51%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (3.51%) SQL Server
4 4 (2.34%) MySQL
5 3 (1.75%) Data Warehouse
5 3 (1.75%) Hadoop
5 3 (1.75%) RDBMS
6 2 (1.17%) Apache Cassandra
6 2 (1.17%) MongoDB
6 2 (1.17%) NoSQL
6 2 (1.17%) Oracle Database
6 2 (1.17%) SAP HANA
6 2 (1.17%) Tableau
7 1 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
7 1 (0.58%) Cognos Framework Manager
7 1 (0.58%) Cognos Report Studio
7 1 (0.58%) Cognos Transformer
7 1 (0.58%) OLAP Cube
7 1 (0.58%) SAS Data Integration Studio
Development Applications
1 28 (16.37%) JIRA
2 11 (6.43%) Git
3 7 (4.09%) Postman
4 5 (2.92%) GitLab
5 2 (1.17%) Jenkins
5 2 (1.17%) JUnit
6 1 (0.58%) ClearCase
6 1 (0.58%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.58%) Eclipse
6 1 (0.58%) IntelliJ
6 1 (0.58%) MLflow
6 1 (0.58%) SoapUI
General
1 81 (47.37%) Social Skills
2 69 (40.35%) Finance
3 40 (23.39%) Analytical Skills
4 30 (17.54%) Banking
5 21 (12.28%) Public Sector
6 13 (7.60%) Organisational Skills
7 11 (6.43%) Influencing Skills
8 10 (5.85%) Telecoms
9 8 (4.68%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (4.68%) Legal
10 7 (4.09%) Presentation Skills
11 5 (2.92%) Corporate Banking
11 5 (2.92%) Manufacturing
11 5 (2.92%) Retail
12 3 (1.75%) Marketing
12 3 (1.75%) Retail Banking
13 2 (1.17%) Agriculture
13 2 (1.17%) Law
13 2 (1.17%) Local Government
13 2 (1.17%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 43 (25.15%) Analyst
2 25 (14.62%) Business Analyst
3 17 (9.94%) Developer
4 14 (8.19%) IT Analyst
5 13 (7.60%) Support Analyst
6 12 (7.02%) IT Support
6 12 (7.02%) IT Support Analyst
7 10 (5.85%) 1st Line Support
7 10 (5.85%) Project Manager
7 10 (5.85%) Senior
8 9 (5.26%) Architect
9 8 (4.68%) Designer
9 8 (4.68%) Java Developer
9 8 (4.68%) Lead
9 8 (4.68%) UX Designer
10 6 (3.51%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
10 6 (3.51%) Microsoft Engineer
10 6 (3.51%) Network Engineer
10 6 (3.51%) Technical Analyst
10 6 (3.51%) Technical Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (10.53%) XML
2 15 (8.77%) JSON
3 14 (8.19%) REST
4 12 (7.02%) SOAP
5 10 (5.85%) Swagger
6 9 (5.26%) OAuth
7 8 (4.68%) JWT
8 7 (4.09%) HTML
8 7 (4.09%) Spring
8 7 (4.09%) Spring Boot
9 6 (3.51%) .NET
9 6 (3.51%) 802.1X
9 6 (3.51%) Hibernate
9 6 (3.51%) OpenAPI
9 6 (3.51%) RESTful
10 4 (2.34%) Middleware
10 4 (2.34%) Spring MVC
10 4 (2.34%) Spring Security
11 3 (1.75%) CSS
11 3 (1.75%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 14 (8.19%) Management Information System
2 13 (7.60%) Onboarding
3 12 (7.02%) Product Ownership
4 5 (2.92%) Security Posture
4 5 (2.92%) Self-Motivation
4 5 (2.92%) Virtual Team
5 4 (2.34%) Cloud Native
5 4 (2.34%) Digital Wallet
5 4 (2.34%) PKI
6 3 (1.75%) AI Agents
6 3 (1.75%) Data Structures
6 3 (1.75%) Graphic Design
6 3 (1.75%) IoT
6 3 (1.75%) Life Science
6 3 (1.75%) PMI
7 2 (1.17%) Cloud Security Posture
7 2 (1.17%) Enterprise Software
7 2 (1.17%) Linux Command Line
7 2 (1.17%) Social Media
7 2 (1.17%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 32 (18.71%) Windows
2 22 (12.87%) Windows 10
3 9 (5.26%) Linux
4 4 (2.34%) Windows Server
5 3 (1.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 3 (1.75%) Windows Server 2019
6 2 (1.17%) Unix
6 2 (1.17%) Windows 7
7 1 (0.58%) AIX
7 1 (0.58%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.58%) Solaris
7 1 (0.58%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 73 (42.69%) Agile
2 51 (29.82%) Problem-Solving
3 47 (27.49%) Computer Science
4 33 (19.30%) ITIL
5 32 (18.71%) Stakeholder Management
6 29 (16.96%) DevOps
7 26 (15.20%) Change Management
8 24 (14.04%) AI
8 24 (14.04%) ITSM
9 23 (13.45%) Customer Service
10 22 (12.87%) Project Management
11 21 (12.28%) CI/CD
11 21 (12.28%) Continuous Improvement
12 20 (11.70%) Workshop Facilitation
13 18 (10.53%) Project Delivery
13 18 (10.53%) Requirements Gathering
13 18 (10.53%) Service Management
14 17 (9.94%) Microservices
14 17 (9.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 16 (9.36%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 26 (15.20%) SQL
2 15 (8.77%) Python
3 14 (8.19%) Java
4 10 (5.85%) PowerShell
5 6 (3.51%) C#
6 4 (2.34%) Bash
7 3 (1.75%) C++
7 3 (1.75%) JavaScript
7 3 (1.75%) R
7 3 (1.75%) TypeScript
7 3 (1.75%) VB
8 2 (1.17%) PL/SQL
8 2 (1.17%) Shell Script
8 2 (1.17%) VBScript
9 1 (0.58%) Groovy
9 1 (0.58%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.58%) Perl
9 1 (0.58%) SAS Macro
9 1 (0.58%) VB6
Qualifications
1 42 (24.56%) Computer Science Degree
2 29 (16.96%) Security Cleared
3 17 (9.94%) Master's Degree
4 15 (8.77%) BPSS Clearance
4 15 (8.77%) Microsoft Certification
5 13 (7.60%) SC Cleared
6 10 (5.85%) A+ Certification
7 9 (5.26%) CCNA
7 9 (5.26%) Cisco Certification
7 9 (5.26%) MBA
7 9 (5.26%) Network+ Certification
8 7 (4.09%) CCNP
8 7 (4.09%) CISSP
8 7 (4.09%) PMI Certification
8 7 (4.09%) PMP
9 6 (3.51%) ITIL Certification
10 4 (2.34%) Azure Certification
10 4 (2.34%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
11 3 (1.75%) AWS Certification
11 3 (1.75%) SAFe Agilist
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (5.85%) NIST
2 8 (4.68%) GDPR
2 8 (4.68%) QA
3 7 (4.09%) Accessibility
4 6 (3.51%) GRC
4 6 (3.51%) PSD2
4 6 (3.51%) SLA
5 5 (2.92%) PCI DSS
6 3 (1.75%) Basel III
6 3 (1.75%) IFRS
6 3 (1.75%) IFRS 17
6 3 (1.75%) ISO 8583
6 3 (1.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (1.17%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 2 (1.17%) Data Quality
7 2 (1.17%) HIPAA
7 2 (1.17%) ISO 20022
7 2 (1.17%) P3O
7 2 (1.17%) PMO
8 1 (0.58%) SEPA
System Software
1 20 (11.70%) Active Directory
2 12 (7.02%) Docker
3 4 (2.34%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (1.75%) Hyper-V
5 2 (1.17%) BitLocker
5 2 (1.17%) Firmware
6 1 (0.58%) NFS
6 1 (0.58%) Veritas Volume Manager
6 1 (0.58%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.58%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 12 (7.02%) Kubernetes
2 6 (3.51%) Ansible
3 3 (1.75%) Cisco Prime
3 3 (1.75%) SCCM
3 3 (1.75%) Terraform
4 2 (1.17%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 2 (1.17%) Progress Chef
5 1 (0.58%) CA Single Sign-On
5 1 (0.58%) PowerBroker
5 1 (0.58%) Red Hat Satellite
5 1 (0.58%) SCOM
5 1 (0.58%) SCOrch
5 1 (0.58%) Single Sign-On
5 1 (0.58%) Tivoli
5 1 (0.58%) Tivoli Storage Manager
5 1 (0.58%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 57 (33.33%) Microsoft
2 18 (10.53%) Cisco
3 12 (7.02%) Oracle
3 12 (7.02%) ServiceNow
4 11 (6.43%) Citrix
5 10 (5.85%) Remedy
6 9 (5.26%) SAP
7 8 (4.68%) Splunk
8 7 (4.09%) Aruba
9 6 (3.51%) ForeScout
9 6 (3.51%) MuleSoft
10 5 (2.92%) CheckPoint
10 5 (2.92%) CyberArk
10 5 (2.92%) Palo Alto
10 5 (2.92%) Red Hat
11 4 (2.34%) Broadcom
11 4 (2.34%) Ekahau
11 4 (2.34%) VMware
12 3 (1.75%) EMC
12 3 (1.75%) Veritas