Security Cleared Contract Job Trends in the North West

Security Clearance
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the North West with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 7 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 3 4
Rank change year-on-year 0 +1 -3
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 561 387 410
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 15.47% 18.34% 14.90%
As % of the Qualifications category 56.27% 55.05% 53.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 363 215 240
10th Percentile £360 £308 £350
25th Percentile £428 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £638
90th Percentile £770 £713 £729
England median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.33% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 35 61
10th Percentile £22.68 £22.16 -
25th Percentile £28.50 £25.15 £10.95
Median hourly rate £64.09 £35.00 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +83.11% +141.38% -65.88%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.95 £48.00
90th Percentile £83.75 £70.10 £62.50
England median hourly rate £63.14 £25.15 £57.50
% change year-on-year +151.03% -56.26% -4.17%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
North West

Security Cleared 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 997 703 772
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.49% 33.32% 28.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 641 401 426
10th Percentile £344 £290 £284
25th Percentile £400 £400 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £494 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.20% - -3.85%
75th Percentile £613 £600 £600
90th Percentile £692 £713 £698
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 62 129
10th Percentile £17.34 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £28.63 £22.16 £11.77
Median hourly rate £43.96 £31.00 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +41.81% +93.03% -60.43%
75th Percentile £71.50 £59.98 £43.75
90th Percentile £89.15 £75.58 £62.50
England median hourly rate £53.00 £28.18 £42.50
% change year-on-year +88.08% -33.69% -22.73%

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

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

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in the North West

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

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

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

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in the North West over the 6 months to 7 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Cleared in the North West

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

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

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

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Security Cleared in the North West over the 6 months to 7 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Security Cleared in the North West

Security Cleared
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 Security Cleared within the North West region over the 6 months to 7 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 -5 203 £525 +4.90% 139
Cumbria 0 159 £485 -7.97% 6
Lancashire +2 91 £700 +55.56% 33
Cheshire +20 83 £465 +20.00% 18
Merseyside -21 18 £650 +8.33% 6
Security Cleared
England

Security Cleared
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 25 (4.46%) Microsoft Exchange
2 13 (2.32%) SharePoint
3 11 (1.96%) Skype for Business
4 6 (1.07%) Confluence
5 5 (0.89%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.71%) SAS
7 3 (0.53%) Apache
7 3 (0.53%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.36%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.36%) CICS
8 2 (0.36%) Oracle Workflow
8 2 (0.36%) SharePoint 2013
9 1 (0.18%) IIS
9 1 (0.18%) NetWeaver
9 1 (0.18%) nginx
9 1 (0.18%) OpenStack
Applications
1 19 (3.39%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (1.60%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.89%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.71%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.18%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 7 (1.25%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.07%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (0.71%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (0.53%) Primavera
4 3 (0.53%) SAP MM
5 2 (0.36%) Oracle Cash Management
5 2 (0.36%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.36%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 2 (0.36%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.18%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.18%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.18%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 102 (18.18%) AWS
2 85 (15.15%) Azure
3 28 (4.99%) Microsoft 365
4 23 (4.10%) Power Platform
5 19 (3.39%) Serverless
6 18 (3.21%) SaaS
7 16 (2.85%) Azure DevOps
8 15 (2.67%) GCP
8 15 (2.67%) OCI
9 13 (2.32%) Entra ID
10 11 (1.96%) GitHub
11 9 (1.60%) Google Workspace
12 8 (1.43%) Azure Monitor
13 7 (1.25%) Google Drive
14 6 (1.07%) Amazon S3
14 6 (1.07%) AWS Lambda
14 6 (1.07%) OpenShift
15 5 (0.89%) Power Automate
16 4 (0.71%) Dynamics 365
16 4 (0.71%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 66 (11.76%) Firewall
2 38 (6.77%) Wireless
3 32 (5.70%) VLAN
4 30 (5.35%) DNS
4 30 (5.35%) WAN
5 27 (4.81%) VPN
6 26 (4.63%) Network Security
7 23 (4.10%) LAN
8 22 (3.92%) DHCP
8 22 (3.92%) Structured Cabling
9 21 (3.74%) Wi-Fi
10 17 (3.03%) NAS
10 17 (3.03%) SAN
11 16 (2.85%) BGP
11 16 (2.85%) Cisco IOS
11 16 (2.85%) NX-OS
12 15 (2.67%) OSPF
13 11 (1.96%) Broadband
13 11 (1.96%) Converged Networks
13 11 (1.96%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (4.46%) SQL Server
2 18 (3.21%) Oracle Database
2 18 (3.21%) PostgreSQL
3 16 (2.85%) MySQL
3 16 (2.85%) Power BI
3 16 (2.85%) Relational Database
4 15 (2.67%) MongoDB
5 9 (1.60%) Elasticsearch
6 8 (1.43%) RDBMS
6 8 (1.43%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 7 (1.25%) Metadata
8 6 (1.07%) Oracle Exadata
9 5 (0.89%) Oracle Database 12c
10 4 (0.71%) Hadoop
10 4 (0.71%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.53%) Data Lake
11 3 (0.53%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.36%) Amazon Redshift
12 2 (0.36%) Oracle BI Publisher
12 2 (0.36%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 32 (5.70%) GitLab
2 13 (2.32%) Selenium
3 11 (1.96%) Git
3 11 (1.96%) JIRA
4 9 (1.60%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.43%) Jenkins
6 6 (1.07%) Cucumber
6 6 (1.07%) Gatling
7 5 (0.89%) MSI
7 5 (0.89%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.53%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.53%) JMeter
9 2 (0.36%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.36%) Postman
9 2 (0.36%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.36%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.18%) Rational Robot
10 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.18%) Visual Studio
10 1 (0.18%) Visual Studio Coded UI
General
1 128 (22.82%) Public Sector
2 114 (20.32%) Social Skills
3 44 (7.84%) Military
4 38 (6.77%) Analytical Skills
5 32 (5.70%) Documentation Skills
6 27 (4.81%) Finance
7 19 (3.39%) Legal
8 14 (2.50%) Aerospace
9 12 (2.14%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.25%) Banking
11 5 (0.89%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (0.71%) Aviation
12 4 (0.71%) Retail
13 3 (0.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (0.53%) Local Government
14 2 (0.36%) Corporate Banking
14 2 (0.36%) General Ledger
14 2 (0.36%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.36%) Organisational Skills
15 1 (0.18%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 83 (14.80%) Lead
2 79 (14.08%) Architect
3 48 (8.56%) Network Engineer
4 44 (7.84%) Developer
5 33 (5.88%) DBA
6 32 (5.70%) Administrator
7 31 (5.53%) Senior
8 28 (4.99%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 26 (4.63%) Analyst
10 24 (4.28%) Consultant
10 24 (4.28%) Unix Engineer
11 22 (3.92%) Technical Architect
12 20 (3.57%) Lead Architect
13 19 (3.39%) Data Engineer
14 17 (3.03%) DevOps Engineer
14 17 (3.03%) SQL DBA
15 16 (2.85%) Coordinator
15 16 (2.85%) Security Architect
16 15 (2.67%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 15 (2.67%) Wintel Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.63%) Spring
2 23 (4.10%) Node.js
2 23 (4.10%) Spring Boot
3 16 (2.85%) Kafka
4 13 (2.32%) OAuth
5 12 (2.14%) REST
6 8 (1.43%) Playwright
7 7 (1.25%) OpenID
8 6 (1.07%) 802.1X
8 6 (1.07%) Oracle GoldenGate
8 6 (1.07%) RESTful
9 5 (0.89%) Apache NiFi
9 5 (0.89%) Leaflet
9 5 (0.89%) Nunjucks
9 5 (0.89%) Spring Cloud
10 4 (0.71%) AWS CDK
10 4 (0.71%) ModSecurity
10 4 (0.71%) React
11 3 (0.53%) OAuth2
11 3 (0.53%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 33 (5.88%) Data Centre
2 27 (4.81%) Onboarding
3 24 (4.28%) Clustering
4 23 (4.10%) Replication
5 20 (3.57%) Cloud Native
6 16 (2.85%) Operational Technology
7 14 (2.50%) Product Ownership
8 12 (2.14%) Legacy Systems
9 10 (1.78%) Management Information System
10 9 (1.60%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (1.25%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.25%) Public Cloud
12 5 (0.89%) Data Protection Act
12 5 (0.89%) Private Cloud
12 5 (0.89%) Security Posture
13 4 (0.71%) Cyber Threat
14 3 (0.53%) CMDB
14 3 (0.53%) Enterprise Cloud
14 3 (0.53%) Fat Client
14 3 (0.53%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 58 (10.34%) Windows
2 30 (5.35%) Solaris
2 30 (5.35%) Unix
3 29 (5.17%) Linux
4 23 (4.10%) Windows 10
5 20 (3.57%) Windows Server
6 11 (1.96%) Windows 7
7 8 (1.43%) AIX
7 8 (1.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (0.71%) VMS
9 3 (0.53%) CentOS
9 3 (0.53%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.36%) Android
10 2 (0.36%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.18%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (13.37%) DevOps
2 67 (11.94%) CI/CD
3 64 (11.41%) Agile
4 57 (10.16%) ITSM
5 55 (9.80%) Problem-Solving
6 54 (9.63%) Continuous Improvement
6 54 (9.63%) Stakeholder Management
7 51 (9.09%) High Availability
7 51 (9.09%) Migration
7 51 (9.09%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 47 (8.38%) Project Delivery
9 46 (8.20%) Cybersecurity
10 45 (8.02%) Service Management
11 38 (6.77%) ITIL
12 36 (6.42%) Disaster Recovery
13 35 (6.24%) Microservices
13 35 (6.24%) Risk Management
13 35 (6.24%) Technical Leadership
14 28 (4.99%) Infrastructure as Code
15 27 (4.81%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 57 (10.16%) Python
2 53 (9.45%) Java
3 49 (8.73%) PowerShell
4 42 (7.49%) SQL
5 26 (4.63%) JavaScript
6 16 (2.85%) TypeScript
7 13 (2.32%) VBScript
8 11 (1.96%) VB
9 5 (0.89%) Rust
10 4 (0.71%) C#
10 4 (0.71%) Go
10 4 (0.71%) T-SQL
11 3 (0.53%) Bash
11 3 (0.53%) Bicep
12 2 (0.36%) ABAP
12 2 (0.36%) COBOL
12 2 (0.36%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.18%) Perl
13 1 (0.18%) Scala
13 1 (0.18%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 413 (73.62%) SC Cleared
2 65 (11.59%) DV Cleared
3 42 (7.49%) BPSS Clearance
4 41 (7.31%) Cisco Certification
5 39 (6.95%) CCNA
6 31 (5.53%) Microsoft Certification
7 26 (4.63%) CCNP
7 26 (4.63%) Degree
8 15 (2.67%) Network+ Certification
8 15 (2.67%) Server+ Certification
9 14 (2.50%) Azure Certification
10 12 (2.14%) MCSA
10 12 (2.14%) MCSE
10 12 (2.14%) VCAP
10 12 (2.14%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 11 (1.96%) CISSP
12 9 (1.60%) AWS Certification
13 6 (1.07%) DBS Check
13 6 (1.07%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 5 (0.89%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (5.17%) NIST
2 24 (4.28%) PMO
3 17 (3.03%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 15 (2.67%) QA
4 15 (2.67%) SLA
5 13 (2.32%) Accessibility
5 13 (2.32%) Data Quality
6 12 (2.14%) GRC
6 12 (2.14%) JSP 440
7 11 (1.96%) GDPR
8 8 (1.43%) NCSC
9 6 (1.07%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.18%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.18%) RMADS
10 1 (0.18%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.18%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 29 (5.17%) Active Directory
2 24 (4.28%) Docker
3 20 (3.57%) Virtual Machines
3 20 (3.57%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (2.85%) VMware ESXi
5 15 (2.67%) vSphere
6 13 (2.32%) BitLocker
7 10 (1.78%) Oracle RAC
8 3 (0.53%) Virtual Desktop
9 1 (0.18%) GPFS
9 1 (0.18%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.18%) NFS
9 1 (0.18%) Squid
Systems Management
1 47 (8.38%) Terraform
2 31 (5.53%) Ansible
3 29 (5.17%) Kubernetes
4 21 (3.74%) SCCM
5 15 (2.67%) vCenter Server
6 11 (1.96%) Grafana
6 11 (1.96%) Oracle RMAN
7 10 (1.78%) Data Guard
8 7 (1.25%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.89%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.71%) Microsoft Intune
10 4 (0.71%) SCOM
11 3 (0.53%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.53%) McAfee ePO
11 3 (0.53%) Oracle ZFS
12 2 (0.36%) Nagios
12 2 (0.36%) WSUS
13 1 (0.18%) Netcool
13 1 (0.18%) Norton AntiVirus
13 1 (0.18%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 87 (15.51%) Microsoft
2 62 (11.05%) Cisco
3 52 (9.27%) Oracle
4 49 (8.73%) ServiceNow
5 29 (5.17%) SAP
6 27 (4.81%) Palo Alto
7 21 (3.74%) VMware
8 14 (2.50%) Aruba
9 12 (2.14%) CheckPoint
9 12 (2.14%) F5
10 10 (1.78%) Google
11 9 (1.60%) Splunk
12 8 (1.43%) Citrix
13 6 (1.07%) Arista
13 6 (1.07%) SolarWinds
14 5 (0.89%) Ekahau
14 5 (0.89%) IBM
14 5 (0.89%) Meraki
15 4 (0.71%) McAfee
15 4 (0.71%) Remedy