PhD Contract Job Trends in Scotland

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil, EngD, Doctorate)
UK > Scotland

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Scotland with a requirement for PhD qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 4 October 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 117 - -
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs citing PhD 1 0 0
As % of all contract jobs in Scotland 0.062% - -
As % of the Qualifications category 0.24% - -
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £575 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 - -
75th Percentile £625 - -
90th Percentile - - -
UK median daily rate £566 £663 £750
% change year-on-year -14.57% -11.67% +11.11%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Scotland

PhD 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 Scotland.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 411 462 583
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Scotland 25.66% 24.68% 24.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 231 292 351
10th Percentile £175 £178 £230
25th Percentile £309 £319 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £425 £475
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% -10.53% +2.70%
75th Percentile £534 £575 £587
90th Percentile £606 £670 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 48 21 17
10th Percentile £16.84 £12.30 £43.50
25th Percentile £19.34 £13.50 £53.70
Median hourly rate £19.69 £18.00 £59.03
Median % change year-on-year +9.39% -69.51% +98.62%
75th Percentile £25.15 £30.75 £78.00
90th Percentile £28.57 £52.50 -
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £48.18 £53.58
% change year-on-year -47.80% -10.08% +19.07%

PhD
Job Vacancy Trend in Scotland

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing PhD relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Scotland.

PhD job vacancy trend in Scotland

PhD
Daily Rate Trend in Scotland

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing PhD.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing PhD

PhD
Hourly Rate Trend in Scotland

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing PhD.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing PhD

PhD
Contract Job Locations in Scotland

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing PhD within the Scotland region over the 6 months to 4 October 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
Edinburgh - 1 £600 - 13
PhD
UK

PhD
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Scotland 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:

Processes & Methodologies
1 1 (100.00%) Analytics
1 1 (100.00%) Data Science
1 1 (100.00%) Economics
1 1 (100.00%) Operations Research
1 1 (100.00%) People Management
Programming Languages
1 1 (100.00%) Python
Qualifications
1 1 (100.00%) Degree
1 1 (100.00%) Master's Degree