Computer Science Contract Job Trends in the South East

Computer Science
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Computer Science skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 23 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 55 46 83
Rank change year-on-year -9 +37 +2
Contract jobs citing Computer Science 244 149 119
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 3.71% 4.36% 2.23%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.57% 4.84% 2.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 132 60 68
10th Percentile £176 £262 £203
25th Percentile £189 £344 £371
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £336 £476 £450
Median % change year-on-year -29.40% +5.83% -12.62%
75th Percentile £573 £525 £528
90th Percentile £625 £589 £627
England median daily rate £450 £500 £550
% change year-on-year -10.00% -9.09% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 65 5 9
10th Percentile £51.25 £40.91 £19.29
25th Percentile £80.50 £71.00 £27.75
Median hourly rate £84.00 £89.63 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.28% +37.89% +6.56%
75th Percentile £88.00 - -
90th Percentile - - £68.00
England median hourly rate £75.00 £60.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year +25.00% +9.09% -13.39%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Computer Science falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 5,340 3,077 4,420
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 81.20% 90.08% 82.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,367 1,920 2,631
10th Percentile £280 £250 £263
25th Percentile £413 £400 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £519
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -3.57% +0.68%
75th Percentile £611 £600 £638
90th Percentile £700 £665 £700
England median daily rate £525 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +2.44% -2.38% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 534 270 385
10th Percentile £15.75 £13.50 £13.25
25th Percentile £25.73 £15.13 £19.25
Median hourly rate £57.50 £22.29 £54.88
Median % change year-on-year +158.02% -59.39% +9.75%
75th Percentile £82.25 £51.10 £70.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £77.30
England median hourly rate £47.50 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +88.87% -37.13% -6.43%

Computer Science
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Computer Science relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Computer Science job vacancy trend in the South East

Computer Science
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Computer Science.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Computer Science

Computer Science
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Computer Science in the South East over the 6 months to 23 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Computer Science in the South East

Computer Science
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Computer Science.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Computer Science

Computer Science
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Computer Science in the South East over the 6 months to 23 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Computer Science in the South East

Computer Science
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 Computer Science within the South East region over the 6 months to 23 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
Thames Valley +23 137 £525 +5.00% 65
Berkshire +20 84 £363 -25.83% 31
Surrey +1 37 £209 -51.82% 18
Hampshire -29 33 £510 +3.87% 33
Oxfordshire +2 31 £550 - 21
Buckinghamshire -15 22 £593 +12.95% 14
Kent +18 19 £215 -49.34% 14
West Sussex -26 10 £300 +4.17% 7
Home Counties - 3 - -
East Sussex -14 2 £461 +139.03% 5
Middlesex - 2 £334 - 5
Computer Science
England

Computer Science
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 3 (1.23%) Confluence
1 3 (1.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 2 (0.82%) Apache Spark
2 2 (0.82%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.41%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 1 (0.41%) Apache Pulsar
3 1 (0.41%) CMS
Applications
1 14 (5.74%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (3.28%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (2.05%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (1.23%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.41%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 3 (1.23%) Primavera
1 3 (1.23%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.41%) Payment Gateway
2 1 (0.41%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 54 (22.13%) Azure
2 23 (9.43%) AWS
2 23 (9.43%) Entra ID
3 17 (6.97%) GCP
4 13 (5.33%) SaaS
5 9 (3.69%) Power Platform
6 6 (2.46%) Microsoft 365
7 4 (1.64%) GitHub
7 4 (1.64%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 3 (1.23%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 3 (1.23%) Azure Monitor
8 3 (1.23%) Azure Sentinel
8 3 (1.23%) GitHub Actions
8 3 (1.23%) Power Automate
8 3 (1.23%) PowerApps
8 3 (1.23%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
8 3 (1.23%) Sauce Labs
9 2 (0.82%) Azure Data Factory
9 2 (0.82%) Serverless
10 1 (0.41%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 8 (3.28%) DNS
1 8 (3.28%) Firewall
1 8 (3.28%) SSH
2 7 (2.87%) Network Security
2 7 (2.87%) TCP/IP
3 6 (2.46%) VPN
4 4 (1.64%) BGP
4 4 (1.64%) Cisco Nexus
4 4 (1.64%) DHCP
4 4 (1.64%) LAN
4 4 (1.64%) OSPF
4 4 (1.64%) WAN
5 3 (1.23%) BIG-IP
5 3 (1.23%) Cisco ASA
5 3 (1.23%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 3 (1.23%) IPsec
5 3 (1.23%) MPLS
5 3 (1.23%) SD-WAN
5 3 (1.23%) VLAN
5 3 (1.23%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (6.56%) SQL Server
2 9 (3.69%) Power BI
2 9 (3.69%) Relational Database
3 7 (2.87%) MySQL
4 4 (1.64%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (1.23%) Metadata
5 3 (1.23%) Tableau
6 2 (0.82%) Big Data
6 2 (0.82%) Hadoop
7 1 (0.41%) Apache Iceberg
7 1 (0.41%) BigQuery
7 1 (0.41%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.41%) Data Warehouse
Development Applications
1 31 (12.70%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (2.87%) Git
3 4 (1.64%) GitLab
3 4 (1.64%) Gradle
3 4 (1.64%) Jenkins
3 4 (1.64%) JIRA
4 3 (1.23%) Android Studio
4 3 (1.23%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (1.23%) CircleCI
4 3 (1.23%) Eclipse
4 3 (1.23%) JUnit
4 3 (1.23%) Xcode
5 2 (0.82%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.41%) Maven
6 1 (0.41%) MLflow
6 1 (0.41%) Selenium
6 1 (0.41%) TestNG
6 1 (0.41%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 63 (25.82%) Social Skills
2 51 (20.90%) Aerospace
3 38 (15.57%) Analytical Skills
4 34 (13.93%) Public Sector
5 21 (8.61%) Documentation Skills
6 19 (7.79%) Finance
7 12 (4.92%) Military
8 10 (4.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 8 (3.28%) Organisational Skills
10 7 (2.87%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (2.87%) Marketing
10 7 (2.87%) Telecoms
11 6 (2.46%) Manufacturing
11 6 (2.46%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (2.05%) Legal
13 3 (1.23%) Avionics
14 2 (0.82%) Electronics
14 2 (0.82%) Law
15 1 (0.41%) Banking
15 1 (0.41%) Humanities
Job Titles
1 32 (13.11%) Product Manager
2 29 (11.89%) Delivery Manager
3 28 (11.48%) Product Delivery Manager
4 22 (9.02%) Systems Delivery Manager
4 22 (9.02%) Systems Manager
5 19 (7.79%) Lead
6 15 (6.15%) Analyst
6 15 (6.15%) Architect
6 15 (6.15%) Senior
7 10 (4.10%) Change Manager
7 10 (4.10%) IAM Specialist
8 8 (3.28%) Developer
8 8 (3.28%) Support Engineer
8 8 (3.28%) Technical Leader
8 8 (3.28%) Technical Support
9 7 (2.87%) Product Owner
9 7 (2.87%) Technical Architect
9 7 (2.87%) Technical Engineer
9 7 (2.87%) Technical Support Engineer
10 6 (2.46%) Engineering Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (6.15%) OAuth
1 15 (6.15%) SailPoint
2 14 (5.74%) OpenID
3 12 (4.92%) LDAP
3 12 (4.92%) OAuth2
3 12 (4.92%) React
3 12 (4.92%) SAML
3 12 (4.92%) Web Services
4 7 (2.87%) CSS
4 7 (2.87%) REST
5 5 (2.05%) AngularJS
5 5 (2.05%) GraphQL
6 4 (1.64%) .NET
6 4 (1.64%) ARM Templates
6 4 (1.64%) HTML
7 3 (1.23%) Ajax
7 3 (1.23%) Android Jetpack
7 3 (1.23%) Lightning Web Components
7 3 (1.23%) Middleware
7 3 (1.23%) RAML
Miscellaneous
1 47 (19.26%) Product Ownership
2 31 (12.70%) Onboarding
3 28 (11.48%) Management Information System
4 25 (10.25%) Data Structures
5 12 (4.92%) Virtual Team
6 9 (3.69%) Cloud Native
7 8 (3.28%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (2.87%) Algorithms
8 7 (2.87%) Data Centre
8 7 (2.87%) Data Protection Act
8 7 (2.87%) Mobile App
9 4 (1.64%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.23%) AI Agents
10 3 (1.23%) ARM Cortex
10 3 (1.23%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 3 (1.23%) Distributed Systems
10 3 (1.23%) Driving Licence
10 3 (1.23%) Legacy Code
10 3 (1.23%) Private Cloud
10 3 (1.23%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 32 (13.11%) Windows
2 29 (11.89%) Linux
3 23 (9.43%) Unix
4 13 (5.33%) Windows Server
5 10 (4.10%) Android
6 4 (1.64%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.82%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (31.97%) Agile
2 54 (22.13%) Continuous Improvement
3 51 (20.90%) Change Control
4 48 (19.67%) Systems Engineering
5 43 (17.62%) ITSM
6 42 (17.21%) Problem-Solving
7 40 (16.39%) PRINCE2
8 38 (15.57%) Cybersecurity
8 38 (15.57%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 34 (13.93%) Scaled Agile Framework
10 32 (13.11%) ITIL
11 31 (12.70%) CI/CD
11 31 (12.70%) Information Security
12 30 (12.30%) Programme Management
13 29 (11.89%) Stakeholder Management
14 28 (11.48%) Requirements Management
15 27 (11.07%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
15 27 (11.07%) Runbook
16 26 (10.66%) AI
16 26 (10.66%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 55 (22.54%) Python
2 35 (14.34%) PowerShell
3 19 (7.79%) SQL
4 16 (6.56%) Java
5 14 (5.74%) JavaScript
6 6 (2.46%) Perl
7 5 (2.05%) Bash
7 5 (2.05%) C
7 5 (2.05%) Kotlin
8 4 (1.64%) Bicep
9 3 (1.23%) Apex Code
9 3 (1.23%) C++
9 3 (1.23%) Lua
9 3 (1.23%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.82%) Ada
10 2 (0.82%) C#
10 2 (0.82%) Go
10 2 (0.82%) R
10 2 (0.82%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.41%) X++
Qualifications
1 186 (76.23%) Degree
2 117 (47.95%) Security Cleared
3 60 (24.59%) Computer Science Degree
4 58 (23.77%) SC Cleared
5 17 (6.97%) DV Cleared
6 13 (5.33%) Microsoft Certification
7 12 (4.92%) BPSS Clearance
8 11 (4.51%) Master's Degree
9 10 (4.10%) PMI Certification
9 10 (4.10%) PMP
10 8 (3.28%) CISSP
11 7 (2.87%) Azure Certification
12 6 (2.46%) AWS Certification
12 6 (2.46%) Cisco Certification
13 4 (1.64%) CCNP
14 3 (1.23%) CSPO
14 3 (1.23%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
14 3 (1.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 2 (0.82%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
15 2 (0.82%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (15.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 33 (13.52%) NIST
3 14 (5.74%) Data Quality
4 10 (4.10%) QA
5 9 (3.69%) NCSC
6 7 (2.87%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 7 (2.87%) NIST 800
7 5 (2.05%) Government Security Classifications
8 4 (1.64%) Accessibility
9 3 (1.23%) DO-254
9 3 (1.23%) GDPR
9 3 (1.23%) GRC
9 3 (1.23%) IEC 61508
9 3 (1.23%) ISO 26262
9 3 (1.23%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 2 (0.82%) ISO 9001
10 2 (0.82%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.41%) DICOM
11 1 (0.41%) HL7
11 1 (0.41%) ISO 20022
System Software
1 34 (13.93%) Active Directory
2 13 (5.33%) Docker
3 7 (2.87%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (1.64%) VMware NSX
5 2 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 10 (4.10%) Kubernetes
2 9 (3.69%) Terraform
3 5 (2.05%) Ansible
3 5 (2.05%) Microsoft Intune
3 5 (2.05%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (1.23%) Grafana
4 3 (1.23%) Prometheus
4 3 (1.23%) SCCM
5 1 (0.41%) CASB
5 1 (0.41%) Istio
5 1 (0.41%) Kubeflow
5 1 (0.41%) linkerd
Vendors
1 48 (19.67%) Microsoft
2 28 (11.48%) IBM
3 20 (8.20%) Oracle
4 15 (6.15%) BeyondTrust
4 15 (6.15%) CyberArk
5 11 (4.51%) ServiceNow
6 9 (3.69%) VMware
7 7 (2.87%) Google
8 6 (2.46%) Cisco
9 5 (2.05%) Splunk
10 4 (1.64%) F5
10 4 (1.64%) Palo Alto
11 3 (1.23%) CrowdStrike
11 3 (1.23%) Dell
11 3 (1.23%) ForgeRock
11 3 (1.23%) Okta
11 3 (1.23%) Ping Identity
11 3 (1.23%) Salesforce
11 3 (1.23%) SolarWinds
12 2 (0.82%) Databricks