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 11 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 70 99 95
Rank change year-on-year +29 -4 +51
Contract jobs citing Computer Science 134 78 126
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 3.16% 1.97% 2.41%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.66% 2.26% 2.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 90 50 77
10th Percentile £170 £203 £207
25th Percentile £184 £384 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £348 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -30.50% +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £537 £525 £588
90th Percentile £600 £603 £650
England median daily rate £475 £571 £550
% change year-on-year -16.85% +3.86% -8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 1 15
10th Percentile £76.59 - £39.39
25th Percentile £84.97 £27.75 £50.00
Median hourly rate £89.63 £28.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +214.49% -48.18% +121.86%
75th Percentile - £29.25 £72.50
90th Percentile - - £79.00
England median hourly rate £35.00 £52.50 £60.00
% change year-on-year -33.33% -12.50% +10.09%

All Process and 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 3,659 3,456 4,700
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 86.26% 87.25% 89.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,359 2,138 3,045
10th Percentile £220 £250 £214
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £523
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -1.91% +1.95%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £615
90th Percentile £675 £688 £688
England median daily rate £505 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -3.81% -3.67% -0.91%
Number of hourly rates quoted 388 152 243
10th Percentile £14.53 £18.71 £16.42
25th Percentile £16.89 £26.81 £25.00
Median hourly rate £22.00 £55.00 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year -60.00% +4.76% +23.01%
75th Percentile £42.93 £70.00 £65.93
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £76.53
England median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -28.14% -21.35% +18.67%

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 11 December 2025.

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
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 11 December 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
Thames Valley +27 57 £425 -15.84% 73
Berkshire +20 38 £438 -12.50% 31
Hampshire +18 29 £223 -61.30% 36
Surrey -16 19 £320 -36.00% 36
Buckinghamshire +14 13 £335 -33.00% 20
West Sussex -5 10 £282 -53.04% 10
East Sussex +10 9 £360 -10.00% 5
Kent - 8 £205 - 22
Oxfordshire -10 6 - - 22
Home Counties - 1 - -
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 5 (3.73%) Confluence
1 5 (3.73%) Smallworld
2 4 (2.99%) GeoServer
3 3 (2.24%) Apache
3 3 (2.24%) Apache Spark
4 2 (1.49%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (1.49%) nginx
5 1 (0.75%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.75%) CMS
5 1 (0.75%) Gunicorn
5 1 (0.75%) IIS
5 1 (0.75%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.75%) Tomcat
Applications
1 2 (1.49%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 4 (2.99%) SAP ERP
2 3 (2.24%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (1.49%) SAP GRC
4 1 (0.75%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 22 (16.42%) AWS
1 22 (16.42%) Azure
2 10 (7.46%) GCP
3 8 (5.97%) GitHub
4 6 (4.48%) GitHub Actions
5 4 (2.99%) Entra ID
5 4 (2.99%) Microsoft 365
5 4 (2.99%) Power Platform
6 3 (2.24%) Amazon ECS
6 3 (2.24%) Amazon S3
6 3 (2.24%) AWS CloudFormation
6 3 (2.24%) IaaS
6 3 (2.24%) SaaS
7 2 (1.49%) Amazon EC2
7 2 (1.49%) Amazon EKS
8 1 (0.75%) Amazon SageMaker
8 1 (0.75%) Amazon SQS
8 1 (0.75%) iPaaS
8 1 (0.75%) PowerApps
8 1 (0.75%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 7 (5.22%) Firewall
1 7 (5.22%) Wireless
2 5 (3.73%) DNS
2 5 (3.73%) Network Security
2 5 (3.73%) TCP/IP
2 5 (3.73%) VPN
3 4 (2.99%) DHCP
4 3 (2.24%) VoIP
5 2 (1.49%) 5G
5 2 (1.49%) Internet
6 1 (0.75%) BGP
6 1 (0.75%) Intranet
6 1 (0.75%) MGCP
6 1 (0.75%) OSPF
6 1 (0.75%) Radio Access Network
6 1 (0.75%) SCCP
6 1 (0.75%) Software-Defined Networking
6 1 (0.75%) Structured Cabling
6 1 (0.75%) Telepresence
6 1 (0.75%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (8.96%) PostgreSQL
2 11 (8.21%) Relational Database
3 7 (5.22%) MySQL
4 5 (3.73%) Apache Cassandra
4 5 (3.73%) Big Data
4 5 (3.73%) Couchbase
4 5 (3.73%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (3.73%) GIS
4 5 (3.73%) NoSQL
5 4 (2.99%) Geospatial Data
5 4 (2.99%) Power BI
5 4 (2.99%) QGIS
6 3 (2.24%) Amazon RDS
6 3 (2.24%) Hadoop
6 3 (2.24%) Metadata
6 3 (2.24%) SQL Server
6 3 (2.24%) Tableau
7 2 (1.49%) Data Lake
7 2 (1.49%) Redis
8 1 (0.75%) Amazon Athena
Development Applications
1 18 (13.43%) Git
2 13 (9.70%) JIRA
3 9 (6.72%) Jenkins
4 6 (4.48%) GitLab
5 3 (2.24%) Subversion
6 2 (1.49%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.75%) Appium
7 1 (0.75%) Burp Suite
7 1 (0.75%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.75%) Selenium
General
1 63 (47.01%) Social Skills
2 42 (31.34%) Analytical Skills
3 9 (6.72%) Finance
3 9 (6.72%) Organisational Skills
4 4 (2.99%) Aerospace
4 4 (2.99%) Influencing Skills
4 4 (2.99%) Legal
4 4 (2.99%) Manufacturing
4 4 (2.99%) Military
5 3 (2.24%) Documentation Skills
5 3 (2.24%) Public Sector
6 2 (1.49%) Electronics
7 1 (0.75%) Advertising
7 1 (0.75%) Digital Healthcare
7 1 (0.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 1 (0.75%) Marketing
7 1 (0.75%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 22 (16.42%) Developer
2 10 (7.46%) Architect
2 10 (7.46%) Senior
3 9 (6.72%) Analyst
4 7 (5.22%) Senior Developer
4 7 (5.22%) Technical Support
5 6 (4.48%) Lead
6 4 (2.99%) Data Scientist
6 4 (2.99%) Delivery Manager
6 4 (2.99%) Informatica Developer
6 4 (2.99%) Service Delivery Manager
6 4 (2.99%) Service Manager
7 3 (2.24%) Android Developer
7 3 (2.24%) IT Analyst
7 3 (2.24%) Network Engineer
7 3 (2.24%) Principal Developer
7 3 (2.24%) SOC Analyst
7 3 (2.24%) Software Developer
7 3 (2.24%) Support Engineer
8 2 (1.49%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (8.21%) REST
2 8 (5.97%) Kafka
2 8 (5.97%) RabbitMQ
3 6 (4.48%) HTML
4 5 (3.73%) RESTful
5 4 (2.99%) CSS
5 4 (2.99%) Pandas
5 4 (2.99%) scikit-learn
6 3 (2.24%) GraphQL
6 3 (2.24%) gRPC
6 3 (2.24%) Material Design
6 3 (2.24%) Node.js
6 3 (2.24%) NumPy
6 3 (2.24%) Web Services
7 2 (1.49%) JSON
7 2 (1.49%) SOAP
7 2 (1.49%) XML
8 1 (0.75%) JSR 170
8 1 (0.75%) Spring
8 1 (0.75%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 9 (6.72%) Management Information System
2 7 (5.22%) Legacy Systems
3 6 (4.48%) Algorithms
4 5 (3.73%) Cloud Native
4 5 (3.73%) Data Centre
4 5 (3.73%) Mobile App
5 4 (2.99%) Security Posture
6 3 (2.24%) Analytical Mindset
6 3 (2.24%) Data Protection Act
6 3 (2.24%) Distributed Computing
6 3 (2.24%) Public Cloud
6 3 (2.24%) Virtual Team
7 2 (1.49%) AI Agents
7 2 (1.49%) Private Cloud
7 2 (1.49%) Replication
8 1 (0.75%) Cyber Defence
8 1 (0.75%) Cyber Threat
8 1 (0.75%) Linux Command Line
8 1 (0.75%) Onboarding
8 1 (0.75%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 23 (17.16%) Windows
2 18 (13.43%) Linux
3 10 (7.46%) Mac OS
4 7 (5.22%) Unix
5 4 (2.99%) Android
5 4 (2.99%) Apple iOS
6 3 (2.24%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.75%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.75%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 46 (34.33%) Problem-Solving
2 34 (25.37%) Agile
3 18 (13.43%) DevOps
4 17 (12.69%) Analytics
5 16 (11.94%) ITIL
5 16 (11.94%) Migration
6 15 (11.19%) Decision-Making
7 14 (10.45%) CI/CD
8 13 (9.70%) Continuous Improvement
8 13 (9.70%) Continuous Integration
8 13 (9.70%) Data Science
8 13 (9.70%) Stakeholder Management
9 11 (8.21%) AI
9 11 (8.21%) Microservices
9 11 (8.21%) Visualisation
10 10 (7.46%) Data Governance
10 10 (7.46%) Machine Learning
10 10 (7.46%) Process Improvement
11 9 (6.72%) Mathematics
11 9 (6.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 35 (26.12%) Python
2 19 (14.18%) Java
3 18 (13.43%) SQL
4 13 (9.70%) JavaScript
5 8 (5.97%) Go
6 7 (5.22%) Perl
6 7 (5.22%) PowerShell
7 6 (4.48%) Bash
8 4 (2.99%) Shell Script
9 3 (2.24%) Kotlin
9 3 (2.24%) Objective-C
9 3 (2.24%) Swift
10 2 (1.49%) Ada
10 2 (1.49%) Assembly Language
10 2 (1.49%) C
10 2 (1.49%) C#
10 2 (1.49%) MATLAB
11 1 (0.75%) ABAP
11 1 (0.75%) Magik
Qualifications
1 96 (71.64%) Degree
2 71 (52.99%) Computer Science Degree
3 16 (11.94%) Master's Degree
3 16 (11.94%) Security Cleared
4 13 (9.70%) DBS Check
4 13 (9.70%) SC Cleared
5 7 (5.22%) CISSP
5 7 (5.22%) Microsoft Certification
6 5 (3.73%) A+ Certification
6 5 (3.73%) Cisco Certification
7 4 (2.99%) AWS Certification
7 4 (2.99%) PMP
8 3 (2.24%) CFCE
8 3 (2.24%) Citrix Certification
8 3 (2.24%) GCFA
8 3 (2.24%) GCIA
8 3 (2.24%) GCIH
9 2 (1.49%) DV Cleared
9 2 (1.49%) PMI Certification
9 2 (1.49%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (11.19%) GDPR
2 10 (7.46%) Data Quality
3 7 (5.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (3.73%) QA
5 3 (2.24%) GRC
5 3 (2.24%) HIPAA
5 3 (2.24%) NIST
6 2 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 19770
6 2 (1.49%) PMO
7 1 (0.75%) Def Stans
7 1 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 17025
7 1 (0.75%) JSP 440
7 1 (0.75%) NCSC
System Software
1 13 (9.70%) Docker
2 5 (3.73%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (2.99%) Active Directory
4 2 (1.49%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.75%) VMware NSX
5 1 (0.75%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 6 (4.48%) Kubernetes
2 4 (2.99%) Terraform
3 3 (2.24%) Ansible
3 3 (2.24%) SCCM
4 2 (1.49%) Grafana
4 2 (1.49%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (1.49%) Puppet
4 2 (1.49%) vCenter Server
5 1 (0.75%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 1 (0.75%) Nessus
5 1 (0.75%) Nmap
5 1 (0.75%) vRealize
5 1 (0.75%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 17 (12.69%) Microsoft
2 9 (6.72%) SAP
3 8 (5.97%) Cisco
3 8 (5.97%) Oracle
3 8 (5.97%) ServiceNow
4 5 (3.73%) Atlassian
4 5 (3.73%) CheckPoint
4 5 (3.73%) Google
4 5 (3.73%) Palo Alto
4 5 (3.73%) VMware
5 4 (2.99%) ESRI
5 4 (2.99%) Informatica
5 4 (2.99%) Intergraph
6 3 (2.24%) Apple
6 3 (2.24%) ArcSight
6 3 (2.24%) CA Agile Central
6 3 (2.24%) Citrix
6 3 (2.24%) LogRhythm
6 3 (2.24%) Snow
6 3 (2.24%) Splunk