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 4 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 62 51 85
Rank change year-on-year -11 +34 +4
Contract jobs citing Computer Science 214 132 104
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 3.27% 3.82% 2.24%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.06% 4.28% 2.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 135 59 62
10th Percentile £178 £170 £203
25th Percentile £189 £232 £352
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £375 £400 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% -11.11% -10.00%
75th Percentile £581 £519 £566
90th Percentile £625 £588 £625
England median daily rate £470 £491 £550
% change year-on-year -4.28% -10.73% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 5 6
10th Percentile £51.25 £40.91 £18.06
25th Percentile £66.50 £71.00 £22.03
Median hourly rate £83.00 £89.63 £44.25
Median % change year-on-year -7.40% +102.55% -26.25%
75th Percentile £88.00 - £64.38
90th Percentile - - £72.50
England median hourly rate £59.50 £62.50 £52.50
% change year-on-year -4.80% +19.05% -16.00%

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 5,269 3,081 3,820
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.57% 89.20% 82.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,202 1,922 2,304
10th Percentile £276 £226 £258
25th Percentile £420 £388 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -2.91% -0.66%
75th Percentile £619 £600 £638
90th Percentile £712 £663 £700
England median daily rate £525 £508 £525
% change year-on-year +3.45% -3.33% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 600 305 280
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.50 £15.92
25th Percentile £18.09 £15.50 £30.00
Median hourly rate £52.46 £21.90 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +139.55% -61.81% +9.24%
75th Percentile £70.00 £53.75 £71.37
90th Percentile £87.16 £69.65 £77.17
England median hourly rate £43.56 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +73.20% -41.51% +1.18%

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 4 September 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 4 September 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 4 September 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 +11 113 £550 +18.92% 218
Berkshire +20 70 £550 +20.55% 110
Surrey +13 42 £209 +0.72% 49
Oxfordshire -3 28 £550 - 77
Hampshire -32 27 £400 -0.50% 80
Kent - 20 £215 - 15
Buckinghamshire -24 15 £564 +7.52% 34
West Sussex -28 6 £225 -21.88% 38
Middlesex - 2 £334 - 5
East Sussex -15 1 £600 +210.93% 6
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 (2.34%) SharePoint
2 3 (1.40%) Confluence
2 3 (1.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.93%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.47%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.47%) IIS
Applications
1 14 (6.54%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (3.74%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (2.34%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (1.40%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.47%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 3 (1.40%) Primavera
1 3 (1.40%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.47%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 58 (27.10%) Azure
2 25 (11.68%) AWS
3 23 (10.75%) Entra ID
4 19 (8.88%) GCP
5 15 (7.01%) SaaS
6 7 (3.27%) Microsoft 365
6 7 (3.27%) Power Platform
7 4 (1.87%) Azure Data Factory
8 3 (1.40%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 3 (1.40%) Azure Monitor
8 3 (1.40%) Azure Sentinel
8 3 (1.40%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
8 3 (1.40%) Sauce Labs
8 3 (1.40%) Snowflake
8 3 (1.40%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 2 (0.93%) GitHub
9 2 (0.93%) OpenShift
9 2 (0.93%) Power Automate
9 2 (0.93%) PowerApps
9 2 (0.93%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 9 (4.21%) DNS
1 9 (4.21%) Firewall
2 8 (3.74%) TCP/IP
2 8 (3.74%) VPN
3 7 (3.27%) Network Security
4 6 (2.80%) DHCP
4 6 (2.80%) SSH
5 5 (2.34%) LAN
5 5 (2.34%) WAN
6 4 (1.87%) BGP
6 4 (1.87%) Cisco Nexus
6 4 (1.87%) OSPF
6 4 (1.87%) Software-Defined Networking
7 3 (1.40%) BIG-IP
7 3 (1.40%) Cisco ASA
7 3 (1.40%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
7 3 (1.40%) IPsec
7 3 (1.40%) MPLS
7 3 (1.40%) VLAN
7 3 (1.40%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (6.07%) Relational Database
1 13 (6.07%) SQL Server
2 12 (5.61%) Metadata
3 7 (3.27%) Power BI
4 6 (2.80%) MySQL
4 6 (2.80%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (1.40%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.93%) Tableau
7 1 (0.47%) Apache Iceberg
7 1 (0.47%) Big Data
7 1 (0.47%) BigQuery
7 1 (0.47%) Hadoop
Development Applications
1 14 (6.54%) Rational DOORS
2 9 (4.21%) Git
3 4 (1.87%) GitLab
4 3 (1.40%) Android Studio
4 3 (1.40%) Browser DevTools
4 3 (1.40%) Eclipse
4 3 (1.40%) JIRA
4 3 (1.40%) Xcode
5 2 (0.93%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.93%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.47%) JUnit
6 1 (0.47%) Octopus Deploy
6 1 (0.47%) Selenium
6 1 (0.47%) TestNG
6 1 (0.47%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 64 (29.91%) Social Skills
2 40 (18.69%) Analytical Skills
3 37 (17.29%) Aerospace
4 32 (14.95%) Public Sector
5 19 (8.88%) Documentation Skills
6 15 (7.01%) Finance
7 13 (6.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 13 (6.07%) Military
8 8 (3.74%) Manufacturing
8 8 (3.74%) Organisational Skills
9 7 (3.27%) Telecoms
10 5 (2.34%) Legal
10 5 (2.34%) Marketing
11 4 (1.87%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (1.87%) Presentation Skills
12 2 (0.93%) Avionics
12 2 (0.93%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 19 (8.88%) Lead
2 18 (8.41%) Delivery Manager
3 16 (7.48%) Product Delivery Manager
3 16 (7.48%) Product Manager
3 16 (7.48%) Senior
4 14 (6.54%) Analyst
5 13 (6.07%) Architect
6 11 (5.14%) IAM Specialist
6 11 (5.14%) Technical Leader
7 10 (4.67%) Change Manager
8 8 (3.74%) Support Engineer
8 8 (3.74%) Systems Delivery Manager
8 8 (3.74%) Systems Manager
9 7 (3.27%) Developer
9 7 (3.27%) Product Owner
9 7 (3.27%) Technical Engineer
9 7 (3.27%) Technical Support
9 7 (3.27%) Technical Support Engineer
10 6 (2.80%) Data Engineer
10 6 (2.80%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (8.41%) OAuth
1 18 (8.41%) OpenID
2 17 (7.94%) SailPoint
3 15 (7.01%) OAuth2
4 13 (6.07%) LDAP
4 13 (6.07%) SAML
4 13 (6.07%) Web Services
5 11 (5.14%) React
6 10 (4.67%) CSS
7 8 (3.74%) Terraform
8 7 (3.27%) HTML
9 6 (2.80%) RESTful
10 5 (2.34%) ARM Templates
10 5 (2.34%) Django
11 4 (1.87%) .NET
11 4 (1.87%) AngularJS
11 4 (1.87%) GraphQL
12 3 (1.40%) JSON
12 3 (1.40%) Middleware
12 3 (1.40%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 33 (15.42%) Management Information System
2 29 (13.55%) Onboarding
3 27 (12.62%) Product Ownership
4 13 (6.07%) Cloud Native
4 13 (6.07%) Data Structures
4 13 (6.07%) Hybrid Cloud
5 9 (4.21%) Data Centre
5 9 (4.21%) Virtual Team
6 5 (2.34%) Mobile App
7 4 (1.87%) Algorithms
7 4 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
8 3 (1.40%) ARM Cortex
8 3 (1.40%) Distributed Architecture
8 3 (1.40%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 3 (1.40%) Driving Licence
8 3 (1.40%) Private Cloud
8 3 (1.40%) Security Posture
9 2 (0.93%) Distributed Computing
9 2 (0.93%) Greenfield Project
9 2 (0.93%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 31 (14.49%) Windows
2 29 (13.55%) Linux
3 19 (8.88%) Unix
4 14 (6.54%) Windows Server
5 7 (3.27%) Android
6 3 (1.40%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.93%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 64 (29.91%) Agile
2 49 (22.90%) Continuous Improvement
3 48 (22.43%) Problem-Solving
4 39 (18.22%) ITSM
5 38 (17.76%) ITIL
6 37 (17.29%) Stakeholder Management
7 36 (16.82%) Change Control
8 32 (14.95%) Information Security
9 31 (14.49%) Analytics
9 31 (14.49%) Cybersecurity
9 31 (14.49%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 30 (14.02%) Service Management
11 29 (13.55%) CI/CD
11 29 (13.55%) PRINCE2
11 29 (13.55%) Systems Engineering
12 28 (13.08%) Roadmaps
13 27 (12.62%) Software Engineering
14 25 (11.68%) Runbook
15 24 (11.21%) DevOps
16 22 (10.28%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 59 (27.57%) Python
2 37 (17.29%) PowerShell
3 20 (9.35%) SQL
4 13 (6.07%) JavaScript
5 12 (5.61%) Java
6 7 (3.27%) Bash
7 5 (2.34%) Bicep
7 5 (2.34%) C
7 5 (2.34%) Perl
8 3 (1.40%) Apex Code
8 3 (1.40%) C#
8 3 (1.40%) C++
8 3 (1.40%) Lua
9 2 (0.93%) Ada
9 2 (0.93%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.93%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.47%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.47%) R
10 1 (0.47%) X++
Qualifications
1 157 (73.36%) Degree
2 97 (45.33%) Security Cleared
3 60 (28.04%) Computer Science Degree
4 58 (27.10%) SC Cleared
5 16 (7.48%) DV Cleared
5 16 (7.48%) Microsoft Certification
6 13 (6.07%) Master's Degree
7 12 (5.61%) Azure Certification
8 10 (4.67%) CISSP
8 10 (4.67%) PMI Certification
8 10 (4.67%) PMP
9 9 (4.21%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (3.27%) Cisco Certification
11 6 (2.80%) AWS Certification
11 6 (2.80%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 4 (1.87%) CCNP
13 3 (1.40%) CISM
13 3 (1.40%) CSPO
13 3 (1.40%) PRINCE2 Certification
13 3 (1.40%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (15.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 30 (14.02%) NIST
3 17 (7.94%) Data Quality
4 12 (5.61%) QA
5 6 (2.80%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.87%) GRC
6 4 (1.87%) NCSC
6 4 (1.87%) NIST 800
7 3 (1.40%) GDPR
7 3 (1.40%) ISO 9001
7 3 (1.40%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 3 (1.40%) ISO/IEC 42001
8 2 (0.93%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.47%) DICOM
9 1 (0.47%) DO-254
9 1 (0.47%) Government Security Classifications
9 1 (0.47%) HL7
9 1 (0.47%) ISO 26262
9 1 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 1 (0.47%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 32 (14.95%) Active Directory
2 12 (5.61%) Docker
3 10 (4.67%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (2.34%) VMware NSX
5 2 (0.93%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.47%) ISA Server
6 1 (0.47%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (5.61%) Kubernetes
2 7 (3.27%) Ansible
3 6 (2.80%) Microsoft Intune
3 6 (2.80%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (1.40%) SCCM
5 2 (0.93%) CASB
5 2 (0.93%) Istio
6 1 (0.47%) Argo
6 1 (0.47%) Grafana
6 1 (0.47%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.47%) vRealize
6 1 (0.47%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 54 (25.23%) Microsoft
2 17 (7.94%) Oracle
3 14 (6.54%) IBM
3 14 (6.54%) VMware
4 13 (6.07%) CyberArk
5 12 (5.61%) BeyondTrust
6 11 (5.14%) ServiceNow
7 10 (4.67%) Google
8 7 (3.27%) Cisco
9 5 (2.34%) F5
10 4 (1.87%) CrowdStrike
10 4 (1.87%) Databricks
10 4 (1.87%) Palo Alto
10 4 (1.87%) Salesforce
10 4 (1.87%) Splunk
11 3 (1.40%) Dell
11 3 (1.40%) ForgeRock
11 3 (1.40%) Okta
11 3 (1.40%) Ping Identity
11 3 (1.40%) SolarWinds