Degree Contracts 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 14 August 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 25 22 22
Rank change year-on-year -3 0 +12
Contract jobs citing Degree 160 148 217
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 7.28% 6.14% 7.23%
As % of the Qualifications category 21.39% 21.39% 23.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 97 75 111
10th Percentile £322 £158 £250
25th Percentile £363 £425 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £538 £450
Median % change year-on-year -11.71% +19.56% -5.26%
75th Percentile £580 £600 £534
90th Percentile £716 £668 £627
England median daily rate £500 £513 £534
% change year-on-year -2.44% -4.03% +1.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 21 31
10th Percentile £21.02 £25.35 £15.75
25th Percentile £27.00 £37.55 £16.27
Median hourly rate £33.50 £52.19 £40.50
Median % change year-on-year -35.81% +28.86% +65.31%
75th Percentile £71.13 £69.75 £46.18
90th Percentile £81.00 £97.50 £55.25
England median hourly rate £42.50 £57.35 £49.57
% change year-on-year -25.89% +15.69% +12.66%

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 748 692 921
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 34.02% 28.71% 30.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 423 389 602
10th Percentile £313 £262 £301
25th Percentile £408 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £504 £506
Median % change year-on-year -0.79% -0.30% -1.37%
75th Percentile £617 £600 £627
90th Percentile £716 £713 £692
England median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.33% -2.27% +1.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 100 68
10th Percentile £17.37 £10.95 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.02 £12.00 £25.75
Median hourly rate £29.27 £16.93 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +72.94% -60.18% +17.25%
75th Percentile £59.90 £51.22 £48.38
90th Percentile £74.16 £63.23 £58.03
England median hourly rate £25.15 £47.50 £55.00
% change year-on-year -47.05% -13.64% +22.22%

Degree
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings citing Degree as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Degree in the North West

Degree
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the North West

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Degree in the North West.

Daily rate trend for Degree in the North West

Degree
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Degree in the North West over the 6 months to 14 August 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Degree in the North West

Degree
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Degree in the North West.

Hourly rate trend for Degree in the North West

Degree
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Degree in the North West over the 6 months to 14 August 2025.

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 14 August 2025. 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 +8 69 £475 -7.06% 390
Cheshire -7 66 £440 -17.65% 100
Lancashire -7 10 £540 +0.47% 366
Merseyside 0 7 £500 +38.89% 72
Cumbria -4 3 - - 33
Degree
England

Degree
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 12 (7.50%) SharePoint
2 10 (6.25%) Confluence
3 4 (2.50%) IBM Domino
4 2 (1.25%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (1.25%) Mule
4 2 (1.25%) Mule ESB
5 1 (0.63%) Anypoint
5 1 (0.63%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.63%) JBoss
5 1 (0.63%) nginx
5 1 (0.63%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.63%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.63%) WebLogic
Applications
1 15 (9.38%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (6.25%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (5.00%) MS Visio
4 7 (4.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (4.38%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (1.25%) Simulink
6 1 (0.63%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.63%) InVision
6 1 (0.63%) Trello
6 1 (0.63%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 11 (6.88%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (1.25%) SAP ERP
3 1 (0.63%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.63%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 1 (0.63%) Maximo
3 1 (0.63%) Remedy ITSM
3 1 (0.63%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.63%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 26 (16.25%) Azure
2 16 (10.00%) AWS
3 15 (9.38%) GCP
4 11 (6.88%) Microsoft 365
4 11 (6.88%) Power Platform
5 7 (4.38%) SaaS
6 5 (3.13%) OneDrive
6 5 (3.13%) Snowflake
7 4 (2.50%) Google Analytics
7 4 (2.50%) Microsoft Purview
7 4 (2.50%) Smartsheet
8 3 (1.88%) AWS Lambda
8 3 (1.88%) Azure Logic Apps
8 3 (1.88%) Azure Sentinel
8 3 (1.88%) GitHub
8 3 (1.88%) Serverless
9 2 (1.25%) Dynamics 365
9 2 (1.25%) Entra ID
9 2 (1.25%) OpenShift
9 2 (1.25%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 14 (8.75%) Network Security
2 13 (8.13%) VPN
3 11 (6.88%) Firewall
4 8 (5.00%) WAN
5 7 (4.38%) BGP
5 7 (4.38%) DNS
5 7 (4.38%) LAN
5 7 (4.38%) OSPF
5 7 (4.38%) Wi-Fi
6 6 (3.75%) TCP/IP
6 6 (3.75%) Wireless
7 5 (3.13%) DHCP
7 5 (3.13%) MPLS
7 5 (3.13%) VLAN
7 5 (3.13%) WLAN
8 4 (2.50%) SSH
9 3 (1.88%) Intrusion Detection
10 2 (1.25%) EIGRP
10 2 (1.25%) Internet
10 2 (1.25%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (6.25%) Power BI
2 6 (3.75%) Data Lake
2 6 (3.75%) Data Warehouse
3 5 (3.13%) SQL Server
4 4 (2.50%) Mixpanel
5 3 (1.88%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (1.88%) Relational Database
5 3 (1.88%) Tableau
6 2 (1.25%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (1.25%) Metadata
6 2 (1.25%) NoSQL
6 2 (1.25%) Star Schema
7 1 (0.63%) Amazon Athena
7 1 (0.63%) Big Data
7 1 (0.63%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.63%) Data Vault
7 1 (0.63%) MySQL
7 1 (0.63%) Power Query
7 1 (0.63%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.63%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 22 (13.75%) JIRA
2 5 (3.13%) GitLab
3 4 (2.50%) Jenkins
4 2 (1.25%) JUnit
4 2 (1.25%) TestRail
5 1 (0.63%) Ant
5 1 (0.63%) Axure RP
5 1 (0.63%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.63%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.63%) Eclipse
5 1 (0.63%) ERwin
5 1 (0.63%) Git
5 1 (0.63%) IntelliJ
5 1 (0.63%) JIRA Agile
5 1 (0.63%) NUnit
General
1 71 (44.38%) Social Skills
2 43 (26.88%) Analytical Skills
2 43 (26.88%) Finance
3 13 (8.13%) Banking
4 9 (5.63%) Manufacturing
5 8 (5.00%) Influencing Skills
5 8 (5.00%) Pharmaceutical
5 8 (5.00%) Presentation Skills
6 6 (3.75%) Legal
6 6 (3.75%) Organisational Skills
6 6 (3.75%) Public Sector
7 4 (2.50%) Aerospace
7 4 (2.50%) French Language
7 4 (2.50%) Publishing
8 3 (1.88%) Investment Banking
8 3 (1.88%) Local Government
9 2 (1.25%) Billing
9 2 (1.25%) Electronics
9 2 (1.25%) Law
9 2 (1.25%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 23 (14.38%) Analyst
2 17 (10.63%) Architect
2 17 (10.63%) Senior
3 13 (8.13%) Business Analyst
4 10 (6.25%) Network Engineer
5 9 (5.63%) Developer
6 6 (3.75%) Support Engineer
7 5 (3.13%) Cybersecurity Engineer
7 5 (3.13%) IT Engineer
7 5 (3.13%) Project Manager
7 5 (3.13%) ServiceNow Business Analyst
7 5 (3.13%) Solutions Architect
7 5 (3.13%) User Experience Researcher
8 4 (2.50%) Cybersecurity Specialist
8 4 (2.50%) Data Analytics Specialist
8 4 (2.50%) Designer
8 4 (2.50%) IT Support
8 4 (2.50%) Lead
8 4 (2.50%) Senior Architect
8 4 (2.50%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (5.63%) HTML
2 6 (3.75%) AngularJS
2 6 (3.75%) CSS
2 6 (3.75%) Web Services
3 5 (3.13%) Middleware
3 5 (3.13%) REST
3 5 (3.13%) Spring
3 5 (3.13%) XML
4 4 (2.50%) JSON
4 4 (2.50%) SOAP
5 3 (1.88%) J2EE
5 3 (1.88%) LDAP
5 3 (1.88%) RESTful
5 3 (1.88%) SAP PI
5 3 (1.88%) Spring Boot
6 2 (1.25%) Kafka
6 2 (1.25%) Node.js
6 2 (1.25%) React
6 2 (1.25%) scikit-learn
6 2 (1.25%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 27 (16.88%) Management Information System
2 11 (6.88%) CMDB
3 7 (4.38%) Hybrid Cloud
3 7 (4.38%) Product Ownership
4 6 (3.75%) Video Conferencing
5 5 (3.13%) Cloud Native
5 5 (3.13%) Data Protection Act
5 5 (3.13%) Onboarding
5 5 (3.13%) Virtual Team
6 4 (2.50%) Cyberattack
6 4 (2.50%) Enterprise Software
6 4 (2.50%) Life Science
6 4 (2.50%) Tandem
7 3 (1.88%) Greenfield Project
7 3 (1.88%) PMI
8 2 (1.25%) Analogue Electronics
8 2 (1.25%) Analytical Mindset
8 2 (1.25%) Distributed Systems
8 2 (1.25%) Self-Motivation
9 1 (0.63%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 13 (8.13%) Windows
2 4 (2.50%) Unix
3 1 (0.63%) Android
3 1 (0.63%) Apple iOS
3 1 (0.63%) Windows 10
3 1 (0.63%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 66 (41.25%) Computer Science
2 54 (33.75%) Problem-Solving
3 37 (23.13%) Stakeholder Management
4 36 (22.50%) Agile
5 29 (18.13%) ITIL
6 26 (16.25%) Analytics
6 26 (16.25%) ITSM
6 26 (16.25%) Project Management
7 24 (15.00%) Service Management
8 19 (11.88%) Change Management
9 18 (11.25%) Continuous Improvement
10 17 (10.63%) Cybersecurity
11 16 (10.00%) CI/CD
12 15 (9.38%) Collaborative Working
12 15 (9.38%) User Acceptance Testing
13 14 (8.75%) Business Analysis
14 13 (8.13%) Data Protection
14 13 (8.13%) DevOps
14 13 (8.13%) Incident Response
15 12 (7.50%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 12 (7.50%) SQL
2 11 (6.88%) Python
3 10 (6.25%) Java
3 10 (6.25%) PowerShell
4 8 (5.00%) JavaScript
5 3 (1.88%) Kusto Query Language
6 2 (1.25%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.63%) Bash
7 1 (0.63%) C#
7 1 (0.63%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.63%) Perl
7 1 (0.63%) R
7 1 (0.63%) TypeScript
7 1 (0.63%) VB
7 1 (0.63%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 47 (29.38%) Computer Science Degree
2 16 (10.00%) Master's Degree
3 13 (8.13%) Cisco Certification
4 12 (7.50%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (6.88%) Security Cleared
6 9 (5.63%) SC Cleared
7 8 (5.00%) PMI Certification
7 8 (5.00%) PMP
8 7 (4.38%) Azure Certification
8 7 (4.38%) CCNA
8 7 (4.38%) CCNP
9 6 (3.75%) ITIL Certification
10 5 (3.13%) CCIE
11 4 (2.50%) A+ Certification
11 4 (2.50%) AWS Certification
11 4 (2.50%) CISSP
11 4 (2.50%) JNCIE
12 3 (1.88%) BPSS Clearance
12 3 (1.88%) CISA
12 3 (1.88%) GSEC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (5.63%) QA
2 6 (3.75%) PMO
3 5 (3.13%) Data Quality
3 5 (3.13%) GDPR
4 4 (2.50%) NIST
5 3 (1.88%) Accessibility
5 3 (1.88%) HIPAA
5 3 (1.88%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (1.88%) P3O
5 3 (1.88%) PCI DSS
6 2 (1.25%) COBIT
7 1 (0.63%) Basel III
7 1 (0.63%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 1 (0.63%) GRC
7 1 (0.63%) NCSC
7 1 (0.63%) PSD2
7 1 (0.63%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 3 (1.88%) Active Directory
1 3 (1.88%) Docker
2 1 (0.63%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 5 (3.13%) Ansible
2 4 (2.50%) Kubernetes
2 4 (2.50%) QRadar
2 4 (2.50%) Terraform
3 3 (1.88%) Single Sign-On
4 2 (1.25%) HP ALM
4 2 (1.25%) Microsoft Intune
5 1 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 1 (0.63%) Grafana
5 1 (0.63%) Jamf Pro
5 1 (0.63%) Microsoft Clustering
5 1 (0.63%) SCCM
Vendors
1 39 (24.38%) Microsoft
2 19 (11.88%) ServiceNow
3 17 (10.63%) Cisco
4 14 (8.75%) SAP
5 12 (7.50%) Google
6 7 (4.38%) Splunk
7 6 (3.75%) Oracle
8 5 (3.13%) Fortinet
8 5 (3.13%) IBM
9 4 (2.50%) ArcSight
9 4 (2.50%) Ariba
9 4 (2.50%) F5
9 4 (2.50%) Hotjar
9 4 (2.50%) Zscaler
10 3 (1.88%) Meraki
10 3 (1.88%) Palo Alto
10 3 (1.88%) Planview
11 2 (1.25%) Anaplan
11 2 (1.25%) AppDynamics
11 2 (1.25%) Dynatrace