1st Line Service Desk Analyst Contract Job Trends in the South East

First Line Service Desk Analyst
England > South East

The median First Line Service Desk Analyst daily rate in the South East is £185, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 14 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 181 159 190
Rank change year-on-year -22 +31 +37
Contract jobs requiring a 1st Line Service Desk Analyst 3 5 11
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 0.068% 0.15% 0.22%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.076% 0.16% 0.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 5 11
10th Percentile - - £121
25th Percentile - - £149
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £185 £170 £165
Median % change year-on-year +8.82% +3.03% +2.33%
75th Percentile - £210 £173
90th Percentile - - -
England median daily rate £193 £158 £160
% change year-on-year +22.22% -1.56% -

All Contract IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the South East. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the South East with a recognized job title 3,971 3,108 4,661
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.50% 92.64% 93.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,584 1,940 2,995
10th Percentile £238 £237 £205
25th Percentile £400 £400 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £600 £613 £608
90th Percentile £688 £675 £688
England median daily rate £501 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.67% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 352 117 282
10th Percentile £13.88 £19.06 £16.00
25th Percentile £16.50 £24.50 £24.38
Median hourly rate £25.15 £42.50 £54.44
Median % change year-on-year -40.82% -21.94% +25.16%
75th Percentile £57.50 £62.50 £65.19
90th Percentile £84.25 £69.75 £76.53
England median hourly rate £27.50 £35.00 £43.63
% change year-on-year -21.43% -19.77% +24.64%

1st Line Service Desk Analyst
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '1st Line Service Desk Analyst' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

1st Line Service Desk Analyst job vacancy trend in the South East

1st Line Service Desk Analyst
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 1st Line Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 1st Line Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the South East

1st Line Service Desk Analyst
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 1st Line Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 1st Line Service Desk Analyst job vacancies in the South East

1st Line Service Desk Analyst
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 1st Line Service Desk Analyst within the South East region over the 6 months to 14 January 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
Thames Valley -11 3 £185 -11.90% 2
Berkshire - 2 - -
Buckinghamshire -5 1 £185 -11.90%
1st Line Service Desk Analyst
England

1st Line Service Desk Analyst Skill Set
Top 28 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 14 January 2026, 1st Line Service Desk Analyst contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the South East region featuring 1st Line Service Desk Analyst in the job title.

1 3 (100.00%) Active Directory
1 3 (100.00%) Customer Service
1 3 (100.00%) Degree
1 3 (100.00%) Microsoft
1 3 (100.00%) Microsoft 365
1 3 (100.00%) Problem-Solving
1 3 (100.00%) ServiceNow
1 3 (100.00%) Windows
1 3 (100.00%) Windows 10
2 2 (66.67%) Azure
2 2 (66.67%) DNS
2 2 (66.67%) Microsoft Certification
2 2 (66.67%) Microsoft Intune
2 2 (66.67%) Power Platform
2 2 (66.67%) SCCM
2 2 (66.67%) User Experience
2 2 (66.67%) Wi-Fi
3 1 (33.33%) Critical Thinking
3 1 (33.33%) DV Cleared
3 1 (33.33%) Entra ID
3 1 (33.33%) ITIL
3 1 (33.33%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
3 1 (33.33%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared
3 1 (33.33%) Security Cleared
3 1 (33.33%) Service Management
3 1 (33.33%) SLA
3 1 (33.33%) Virtual Environments

1st Line Service Desk Analyst Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 1 (33.33%) Microsoft Exchange
Cloud Services
1 3 (100.00%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (66.67%) Azure
2 2 (66.67%) Power Platform
3 1 (33.33%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 2 (66.67%) DNS
1 2 (66.67%) Wi-Fi
General
1 3 (100.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 2 (66.67%) Video Conferencing
2 1 (33.33%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 3 (100.00%) Windows
1 3 (100.00%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 3 (100.00%) Customer Service
1 3 (100.00%) Problem-Solving
2 2 (66.67%) User Experience
3 1 (33.33%) Critical Thinking
3 1 (33.33%) ITIL
3 1 (33.33%) Service Management
3 1 (33.33%) Virtual Environments
Qualifications
1 3 (100.00%) Degree
2 2 (66.67%) Microsoft Certification
3 1 (33.33%) DV Cleared
3 1 (33.33%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
3 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared
3 1 (33.33%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (33.33%) SLA
System Software
1 3 (100.00%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 2 (66.67%) Microsoft Intune
1 2 (66.67%) SCCM
Vendors
1 3 (100.00%) Microsoft
1 3 (100.00%) ServiceNow