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 30 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 52 41 86
Rank change year-on-year -11 +45 +6
Contract jobs citing Computer Science 217 136 125
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 3.61% 4.64% 2.23%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.48% 5.07% 2.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 123 52 73
10th Percentile £183 £292 £263
25th Percentile £189 £391 £359
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £215 £481 £450
Median % change year-on-year -55.26% +6.94% -14.29%
75th Percentile £526 £525 £575
90th Percentile £625 £639 £638
England median daily rate £475 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -9.52% - -7.08%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 1 11
10th Percentile £49.45 - £20.12
25th Percentile £80.50 £20.85 £61.25
Median hourly rate £84.00 £21.90 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +283.56% -66.31% +217.54%
75th Percentile £88.00 £22.95 £66.01
90th Percentile - - £73.75
England median hourly rate £81.50 £53.50 £55.00
% change year-on-year +52.34% -2.73% +1.04%

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 4,840 2,680 4,684
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.60% 91.37% 83.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,112 1,719 2,712
10th Percentile £280 £250 £260
25th Percentile £410 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £511
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -2.15% +2.10%
75th Percentile £609 £600 £625
90th Percentile £700 £656 £700
England median daily rate £514 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.10% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 451 176 448
10th Percentile £15.05 £13.25 £13.00
25th Percentile £21.35 £15.00 £18.20
Median hourly rate £52.50 £27.88 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +88.31% -41.31% -8.83%
75th Percentile £82.25 £62.24 £62.50
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £76.90
England median hourly rate £47.00 £28.55 £37.18
% change year-on-year +64.62% -23.21% -0.85%

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 30 May 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 30 May 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 30 May 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 +19 113 £445 -6.81% 67
Berkshire +15 75 £208 -56.54% 28
Surrey -4 31 £209 -57.13% 17
Hampshire -20 31 £550 +10.00% 44
Kent +13 24 £215 -36.30% 14
Oxfordshire -7 21 £525 - 23
Buckinghamshire - 17 £582 - 19
West Sussex -19 10 £275 -4.84% 5
Home Counties - 3 - -
East Sussex -15 2 £461 - 3
Middlesex - 1 £198 - 6
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 4 (1.84%) Confluence
2 3 (1.38%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.92%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.46%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.46%) Apache
4 1 (0.46%) Apache Pulsar
4 1 (0.46%) CMS
Applications
1 6 (2.76%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.46%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.46%) Payment Gateway
1 1 (0.46%) SAP S/4HANA
1 1 (0.46%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 37 (17.05%) Azure
2 17 (7.83%) AWS
3 13 (5.99%) Entra ID
4 10 (4.61%) GCP
5 8 (3.69%) SaaS
6 7 (3.23%) GitHub
6 7 (3.23%) GitHub Actions
7 6 (2.76%) Microsoft 365
7 6 (2.76%) Power Platform
8 3 (1.38%) Sauce Labs
9 2 (0.92%) Amazon EKS
9 2 (0.92%) AWS CloudFormation
9 2 (0.92%) Azure Data Factory
9 2 (0.92%) Azure DevOps
9 2 (0.92%) Power Automate
9 2 (0.92%) PowerApps
9 2 (0.92%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 1 (0.46%) Amazon ECS
10 1 (0.46%) AWS KMS
10 1 (0.46%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 6 (2.76%) DNS
2 5 (2.30%) TCP/IP
3 4 (1.84%) Firewall
3 4 (1.84%) Network Security
3 4 (1.84%) SSH
4 3 (1.38%) LAN
4 3 (1.38%) WAN
5 2 (0.92%) BGP
5 2 (0.92%) OSPF
6 1 (0.46%) Cisco Nexus
6 1 (0.46%) DHCP
6 1 (0.46%) Ethernet VPN
6 1 (0.46%) Intrusion Detection
6 1 (0.46%) IPsec
6 1 (0.46%) Software-Defined Networking
6 1 (0.46%) Structured Cabling
6 1 (0.46%) VPN
6 1 (0.46%) VXLAN
6 1 (0.46%) Wi-Fi
6 1 (0.46%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (6.45%) Relational Database
2 12 (5.53%) MySQL
3 11 (5.07%) SQL Server
4 6 (2.76%) Power BI
5 3 (1.38%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (1.38%) Tableau
6 2 (0.92%) Big Data
6 2 (0.92%) Hadoop
7 1 (0.46%) Amazon RDS
7 1 (0.46%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.46%) Metadata
7 1 (0.46%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.46%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 28 (12.90%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (3.23%) CircleCI
2 7 (3.23%) Gradle
3 6 (2.76%) Git
3 6 (2.76%) JUnit
4 5 (2.30%) GitLab
5 4 (1.84%) Jenkins
5 4 (1.84%) JIRA
6 3 (1.38%) Android Studio
6 3 (1.38%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (1.38%) Eclipse
6 3 (1.38%) Xcode
7 2 (0.92%) Selenium
7 2 (0.92%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.46%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.46%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.46%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.46%) Maven
8 1 (0.46%) TestNG
8 1 (0.46%) WebDriver
General
1 50 (23.04%) Aerospace
2 42 (19.35%) Social Skills
3 25 (11.52%) Public Sector
4 15 (6.91%) Analytical Skills
4 15 (6.91%) Documentation Skills
5 12 (5.53%) Finance
6 7 (3.23%) Manufacturing
7 5 (2.30%) Influencing Skills
8 4 (1.84%) Marketing
8 4 (1.84%) Military
8 4 (1.84%) Organisational Skills
9 3 (1.38%) Avionics
9 3 (1.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (1.38%) Law
9 3 (1.38%) Presentation Skills
10 2 (0.92%) Electronics
10 2 (0.92%) Legal
10 2 (0.92%) Telecoms
11 1 (0.46%) Banking
11 1 (0.46%) Humanities
Job Titles
1 32 (14.75%) Product Manager
2 29 (13.36%) Delivery Manager
3 28 (12.90%) Product Delivery Manager
4 22 (10.14%) Systems Delivery Manager
4 22 (10.14%) Systems Manager
5 15 (6.91%) Analyst
6 14 (6.45%) Lead
6 14 (6.45%) Technical Support
7 10 (4.61%) Architect
8 9 (4.15%) Senior
9 7 (3.23%) Developer
9 7 (3.23%) Support Engineer
9 7 (3.23%) Technical Engineer
9 7 (3.23%) Technical Support Engineer
10 6 (2.76%) Engineering Manager
10 6 (2.76%) IAM Specialist
11 5 (2.30%) Android Engineer
11 5 (2.30%) Designer
11 5 (2.30%) IT Manager
11 5 (2.30%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (5.07%) REST
2 9 (4.15%) SailPoint
3 8 (3.69%) OAuth
3 8 (3.69%) React
3 8 (3.69%) Web Services
4 7 (3.23%) OAuth2
4 7 (3.23%) OpenID
4 7 (3.23%) RAML
5 6 (2.76%) Android Jetpack
5 6 (2.76%) LDAP
5 6 (2.76%) SAML
6 5 (2.30%) CSS
6 5 (2.30%) Dagger
6 5 (2.30%) GraphQL
6 5 (2.30%) Jetpack Compose
6 5 (2.30%) OkHttp
6 5 (2.30%) RxJava
6 5 (2.30%) WireMock
7 4 (1.84%) AngularJS
8 3 (1.38%) Ajax
Miscellaneous
1 38 (17.51%) Product Ownership
2 24 (11.06%) Data Structures
3 20 (9.22%) Onboarding
4 15 (6.91%) Virtual Team
5 14 (6.45%) Management Information System
6 7 (3.23%) Data Protection Act
6 7 (3.23%) Legacy Code
6 7 (3.23%) Mobile App
7 6 (2.76%) Algorithms
7 6 (2.76%) Cloud Native
8 5 (2.30%) Cyberattack
8 5 (2.30%) Data Centre
8 5 (2.30%) Security Operations Centre
9 4 (1.84%) AI Agents
10 3 (1.38%) Distributed Systems
10 3 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (1.38%) Taxonomies
11 2 (0.92%) Greenfield Project
11 2 (0.92%) Life Science
11 2 (0.92%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 35 (16.13%) Windows
2 32 (14.75%) Linux
3 23 (10.60%) Unix
4 13 (5.99%) Android
5 8 (3.69%) Windows Server
6 5 (2.30%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.92%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (27.19%) Agile
2 46 (21.20%) Systems Engineering
3 42 (19.35%) Change Control
4 40 (18.43%) Continuous Improvement
5 34 (15.67%) Scaled Agile Framework
6 33 (15.21%) PRINCE2
7 30 (13.82%) Programme Management
8 29 (13.36%) Cybersecurity
8 29 (13.36%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 27 (12.44%) Configuration Management
9 27 (12.44%) ITSM
9 27 (12.44%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
9 27 (12.44%) Problem-Solving
10 25 (11.52%) Requirements Management
11 23 (10.60%) CI/CD
11 23 (10.60%) Information Security
11 23 (10.60%) SysML
11 23 (10.60%) UML
12 21 (9.68%) DoDAF
13 20 (9.22%) AI
Programming Languages
1 42 (19.35%) Python
2 20 (9.22%) PowerShell
2 20 (9.22%) SQL
3 18 (8.29%) Java
4 17 (7.83%) JavaScript
5 12 (5.53%) Perl
6 8 (3.69%) Kotlin
7 3 (1.38%) C++
8 2 (0.92%) Ada
8 2 (0.92%) Bash
8 2 (0.92%) C
8 2 (0.92%) C#
8 2 (0.92%) Go
8 2 (0.92%) R
8 2 (0.92%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.46%) Bicep
9 1 (0.46%) Objective-C
9 1 (0.46%) Swift
9 1 (0.46%) Tcl
9 1 (0.46%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 157 (72.35%) Degree
2 95 (43.78%) Security Cleared
3 66 (30.41%) Computer Science Degree
4 45 (20.74%) SC Cleared
5 12 (5.53%) DV Cleared
6 7 (3.23%) Master's Degree
7 6 (2.76%) BPSS Clearance
8 5 (2.30%) CompTIA CySA+
8 5 (2.30%) CompTIA Security+
9 4 (1.84%) DBS Check
9 4 (1.84%) Microsoft Certification
9 4 (1.84%) PMI Certification
9 4 (1.84%) PMP
10 3 (1.38%) CCNP
10 3 (1.38%) Cisco Certification
11 2 (0.92%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.92%) CCNA
11 2 (0.92%) ISTQB
11 2 (0.92%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
12 1 (0.46%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (11.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 21 (9.68%) NIST
3 10 (4.61%) QA
4 9 (4.15%) Data Quality
5 7 (3.23%) NIST 800
6 6 (2.76%) NCSC
7 5 (2.30%) Government Security Classifications
7 5 (2.30%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 4 (1.84%) Accessibility
9 3 (1.38%) DO-254
9 3 (1.38%) IEC 61508
9 3 (1.38%) ISO 26262
9 3 (1.38%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.46%) DICOM
10 1 (0.46%) GDPR
10 1 (0.46%) GRC
10 1 (0.46%) HL7
10 1 (0.46%) ISO 20022
10 1 (0.46%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.46%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 21 (9.68%) Active Directory
2 8 (3.69%) Docker
3 3 (1.38%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.92%) Firmware
4 2 (0.92%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.46%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 9 (4.15%) Kubernetes
2 6 (2.76%) Terraform
3 4 (1.84%) Grafana
4 3 (1.38%) Prometheus
5 2 (0.92%) Ansible
5 2 (0.92%) Microsoft Intune
5 2 (0.92%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.46%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.46%) Istio
6 1 (0.46%) Kubeflow
6 1 (0.46%) linkerd
6 1 (0.46%) Puppet
Vendors
1 27 (12.44%) Microsoft
2 25 (11.52%) IBM
3 20 (9.22%) Oracle
4 9 (4.15%) BeyondTrust
4 9 (4.15%) CyberArk
4 9 (4.15%) Splunk
5 5 (2.30%) Cisco
5 5 (2.30%) ServiceNow
6 3 (1.38%) Dell
6 3 (1.38%) Palo Alto
6 3 (1.38%) VMware
7 2 (0.92%) Databricks
7 2 (0.92%) Google
7 2 (0.92%) HP
8 1 (0.46%) Adobe
8 1 (0.46%) CheckPoint
8 1 (0.46%) Fortinet
8 1 (0.46%) Hitachi
8 1 (0.46%) Red Hat
8 1 (0.46%) SAP