Degree Contract Job Trends in the South East

Academic Degree
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for Degree qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 28 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 28 23 13
Rank change year-on-year -5 -10 +14
Contract jobs citing Degree 353 238 489
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.45% 8.04% 8.72%
As % of the Qualifications category 13.85% 20.26% 19.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 191 127 258
10th Percentile £275 £238 £205
25th Percentile £400 £399 £300
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - +2.56%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £650 £664 £652
England median daily rate £500 £525 £513
% change year-on-year -4.76% +2.44% -6.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 27 75
10th Percentile £25.09 £17.50 £17.80
25th Percentile £80.00 £41.25 £23.93
Median hourly rate £84.00 £56.75 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +48.02% -1.05% +27.44%
75th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £61.30
90th Percentile - £76.34 £67.01
England median hourly rate £51.44 £53.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year -2.94% +32.50% -11.11%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

Degree falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the South East.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 2,548 1,175 2,527
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 46.58% 39.70% 45.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,696 766 1,427
10th Percentile £306 £300 £263
25th Percentile £425 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% - +4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £626 £643
90th Percentile £725 £688 £725
England median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 263 88 193
10th Percentile £15.62 £19.53 £17.80
25th Percentile £20.50 £28.00 £25.36
Median hourly rate £50.00 £55.87 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year -10.51% -2.58% +10.29%
75th Percentile £84.00 £68.88 £66.74
90th Percentile £88.00 £76.01 £84.20
England median hourly rate £35.00 £50.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year -30.00% +33.33% -25.00%

Degree
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Degree job vacancy trend in the South East

Degree
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Degree
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Degree in the South East over the 6 months to 28 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Degree in the South East

Degree
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Degree
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Degree in the South East over the 6 months to 28 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Degree in the South East

Degree
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 Degree within the South East region over the 6 months to 28 March 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 +1 189 £475 -5.00% 191
Berkshire -1 139 £400 -17.65% 94
Hampshire +1 86 £525 +1.94% 113
Buckinghamshire 0 37 £560 +6.16% 47
Surrey -21 28 £525 +5.00% 70
West Sussex -5 16 £348 -18.24% 14
Kent -2 14 £445 +27.14% 34
Oxfordshire -10 13 £525 -25.00% 53
East Sussex -3 7 £570 -13.96% 21
Home Counties - 5 £700 -
Degree
England

Degree
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 12 (3.40%) Confluence
2 11 (3.12%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.42%) Apache Spark
4 3 (0.85%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 3 (0.85%) Apache
4 3 (0.85%) CMS
4 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.85%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.28%) Apache Pulsar
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle Workflow
5 1 (0.28%) SharePoint Server
5 1 (0.28%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 58 (16.43%) Microsoft Office
2 50 (14.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 39 (11.05%) Microsoft Project
4 21 (5.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.57%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.57%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.28%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 13 (3.68%) Primavera
2 7 (1.98%) SAP S/4HANA
3 5 (1.42%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.57%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.57%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.57%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.28%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.28%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.28%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 56 (15.86%) Azure
2 47 (13.31%) AWS
3 19 (5.38%) Power Platform
4 16 (4.53%) Microsoft 365
5 15 (4.25%) GCP
6 11 (3.12%) GitHub
6 11 (3.12%) GitHub Actions
7 9 (2.55%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (2.27%) Entra ID
9 5 (1.42%) SaaS
10 4 (1.13%) IaaS
11 3 (0.85%) Amazon EKS
11 3 (0.85%) Amazon S3
11 3 (0.85%) AWS CloudFormation
11 3 (0.85%) Lucidchart
11 3 (0.85%) Power Automate
11 3 (0.85%) PowerApps
12 2 (0.57%) Amazon EC2
12 2 (0.57%) Amazon ECS
12 2 (0.57%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 29 (8.22%) Firewall
2 17 (4.82%) WAN
3 14 (3.97%) LAN
3 14 (3.97%) Network Security
3 14 (3.97%) Wireless
4 10 (2.83%) BGP
4 10 (2.83%) OSPF
5 9 (2.55%) DNS
5 9 (2.55%) IPsec
5 9 (2.55%) Structured Cabling
6 8 (2.27%) TCP/IP
7 7 (1.98%) HTTP
7 7 (1.98%) Unified Communications
8 4 (1.13%) WebEx
9 3 (0.85%) Ethernet
9 3 (0.85%) SAN
9 3 (0.85%) SSH
10 2 (0.57%) Internet
10 2 (0.57%) NAS
10 2 (0.57%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (4.82%) Power BI
2 13 (3.68%) Relational Database
3 11 (3.12%) SQL Server
4 10 (2.83%) MySQL
5 9 (2.55%) PostgreSQL
6 6 (1.70%) Big Data
6 6 (1.70%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
7 4 (1.13%) Hadoop
7 4 (1.13%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.85%) Apache Cassandra
8 3 (0.85%) Couchbase
8 3 (0.85%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.85%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.85%) Tableau
9 2 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.57%) Metadata
9 2 (0.57%) Oracle Reports
10 1 (0.28%) Data Mining
10 1 (0.28%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 28 (7.93%) Rational DOORS
2 23 (6.52%) JIRA
3 13 (3.68%) Burp Suite
3 13 (3.68%) Git
4 11 (3.12%) Metasploit
5 8 (2.27%) GitLab
6 7 (1.98%) CircleCI
6 7 (1.98%) Gradle
6 7 (1.98%) Jenkins
7 5 (1.42%) JUnit
8 3 (0.85%) Selenium
9 2 (0.57%) Balsamiq
9 2 (0.57%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.57%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.57%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.28%) Maven
10 1 (0.28%) MLflow
10 1 (0.28%) Postman
10 1 (0.28%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.28%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 135 (38.24%) Social Skills
2 62 (17.56%) Analytical Skills
3 53 (15.01%) Aerospace
4 47 (13.31%) Finance
5 25 (7.08%) Public Sector
6 19 (5.38%) Manufacturing
7 18 (5.10%) Influencing Skills
8 15 (4.25%) Documentation Skills
9 13 (3.68%) Organisational Skills
10 10 (2.83%) Presentation Skills
11 9 (2.55%) Marketing
12 8 (2.27%) Law
12 8 (2.27%) Legal
13 7 (1.98%) Retail
13 7 (1.98%) Telecoms
14 4 (1.13%) Electronics
14 4 (1.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 4 (1.13%) Military
15 3 (0.85%) Advertising
15 3 (0.85%) Billing
Job Titles
1 42 (11.90%) Analyst
2 33 (9.35%) Product Manager
3 32 (9.07%) Delivery Manager
3 32 (9.07%) Senior
4 28 (7.93%) Product Delivery Manager
4 28 (7.93%) Project Manager
5 25 (7.08%) Lead
6 22 (6.23%) Systems Delivery Manager
6 22 (6.23%) Systems Manager
7 16 (4.53%) Architect
8 14 (3.97%) Technical Support
9 13 (3.68%) Developer
9 13 (3.68%) Project Planner
10 12 (3.40%) Consultant
10 12 (3.40%) Penetration Tester
10 12 (3.40%) SC Cleared Project Manager
10 12 (3.40%) Tester
11 10 (2.83%) Security Engineer
12 9 (2.55%) Network Engineer
13 8 (2.27%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (3.68%) REST
2 7 (1.98%) RAML
3 6 (1.70%) Android Jetpack
3 6 (1.70%) Kafka
4 5 (1.42%) Dagger
4 5 (1.42%) Jetpack Compose
4 5 (1.42%) OkHttp
4 5 (1.42%) React
4 5 (1.42%) RxJava
4 5 (1.42%) WireMock
5 4 (1.13%) ADO
5 4 (1.13%) RabbitMQ
6 3 (0.85%) HTML
6 3 (0.85%) Spring
6 3 (0.85%) Web Services
7 2 (0.57%) HTML5
7 2 (0.57%) JSR 170
7 2 (0.57%) NumPy
7 2 (0.57%) OSGi
7 2 (0.57%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 41 (11.61%) Product Ownership
2 36 (10.20%) Management Information System
3 24 (6.80%) Data Structures
4 19 (5.38%) Data Centre
4 19 (5.38%) Virtual Team
5 12 (3.40%) Security Posture
6 11 (3.12%) Analytical Mindset
6 11 (3.12%) Data Protection Act
6 11 (3.12%) Onboarding
6 11 (3.12%) Security Operations Centre
7 10 (2.83%) PMI
8 9 (2.55%) Self-Motivation
9 7 (1.98%) BYOD
9 7 (1.98%) Cloud Native
9 7 (1.98%) Legacy Code
10 6 (1.70%) Algorithms
10 6 (1.70%) Driving Licence
11 5 (1.42%) Cyberattack
11 5 (1.42%) Handset
12 4 (1.13%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 56 (15.86%) Windows
2 32 (9.07%) Linux
3 15 (4.25%) Unix
4 7 (1.98%) Android
4 7 (1.98%) Windows 10
4 7 (1.98%) Windows Server
5 5 (1.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.85%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.57%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.57%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.57%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.57%) OpenVMS
7 2 (0.57%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 147 (41.64%) Computer Science
2 106 (30.03%) Agile
3 72 (20.40%) Problem-Solving
4 69 (19.55%) Continuous Improvement
5 63 (17.85%) Cybersecurity
5 63 (17.85%) PRINCE2
6 55 (15.58%) Project Management
7 45 (12.75%) Stakeholder Management
7 45 (12.75%) Systems Engineering
8 40 (11.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 39 (11.05%) Information Security
10 37 (10.48%) Programme Management
11 36 (10.20%) Change Control
12 33 (9.35%) ITIL
12 33 (9.35%) Scaled Agile Framework
13 29 (8.22%) AI
14 28 (7.93%) Configuration Management
14 28 (7.93%) Decision-Making
15 27 (7.65%) Change Management
15 27 (7.65%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 35 (9.92%) Python
2 22 (6.23%) SQL
3 20 (5.67%) Java
4 15 (4.25%) JavaScript
5 10 (2.83%) PowerShell
6 9 (2.55%) Perl
7 8 (2.27%) Kotlin
8 5 (1.42%) Bash
8 5 (1.42%) Go
9 3 (0.85%) C
9 3 (0.85%) C#
9 3 (0.85%) C++
9 3 (0.85%) Korn
9 3 (0.85%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.57%) Ada
10 2 (0.57%) R
11 1 (0.28%) Bicep
11 1 (0.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.28%) Swift
11 1 (0.28%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 163 (46.18%) Security Cleared
2 109 (30.88%) SC Cleared
3 70 (19.83%) Computer Science Degree
4 23 (6.52%) Master's Degree
5 21 (5.95%) CISSP
6 17 (4.82%) DV Cleared
6 17 (4.82%) PMI Certification
6 17 (4.82%) PMP
7 16 (4.53%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (4.25%) CREST Certified
9 14 (3.97%) CCNP
10 12 (3.40%) Postgraduate
11 11 (3.12%) CHECK Team Member
11 11 (3.12%) Cyber Scheme
12 10 (2.83%) CCNA
12 10 (2.83%) CISM
13 8 (2.27%) BPSS Clearance
13 8 (2.27%) CompTIA Security+
14 5 (1.42%) CompTIA CySA+
14 5 (1.42%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (10.48%) PMO
2 32 (9.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 26 (7.37%) NIST
4 25 (7.08%) GDPR
5 23 (6.52%) QA
6 19 (5.38%) PCI DSS
7 12 (3.40%) NCSC
8 8 (2.27%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 7 (1.98%) Data Quality
10 6 (1.70%) NIST 800
11 5 (1.42%) Accessibility
11 5 (1.42%) Government Security Classifications
11 5 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 5 (1.42%) SLA
12 3 (0.85%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.85%) DO-254
12 3 (0.85%) IEC 61508
12 3 (0.85%) ISO 26262
12 3 (0.85%) P3O
13 2 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
System Software
1 15 (4.25%) Active Directory
2 13 (3.68%) Docker
3 3 (0.85%) Firmware
4 2 (0.57%) Oracle RAC
4 2 (0.57%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.28%) Citrix Hypervisor
5 1 (0.28%) Embedded Firmware
5 1 (0.28%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 14 (3.97%) Kubernetes
2 13 (3.68%) Nmap
3 9 (2.55%) Terraform
4 5 (1.42%) Ansible
4 5 (1.42%) Grafana
5 4 (1.13%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (0.85%) Nessus
6 3 (0.85%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.85%) Puppet
7 2 (0.57%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 2 (0.57%) Oracle RMAN
7 2 (0.57%) SCCM
8 1 (0.28%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 1 (0.28%) HP ALM
8 1 (0.28%) Istio
8 1 (0.28%) Kubeflow
8 1 (0.28%) linkerd
8 1 (0.28%) Nagios
8 1 (0.28%) SCOM
8 1 (0.28%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 65 (18.41%) Microsoft
2 27 (7.65%) SAP
3 25 (7.08%) IBM
4 20 (5.67%) Oracle
5 16 (4.53%) Cisco
6 12 (3.40%) CheckPoint
6 12 (3.40%) Palo Alto
7 11 (3.12%) Aruba
8 10 (2.83%) ServiceNow
8 10 (2.83%) Splunk
9 6 (1.70%) Google
10 5 (1.42%) BeyondTrust
10 5 (1.42%) CyberArk
11 4 (1.13%) Atlassian
11 4 (1.13%) Red Hat
11 4 (1.13%) Salesforce
11 4 (1.13%) Tenable
12 3 (0.85%) Adobe
12 3 (0.85%) Fortinet
12 3 (0.85%) Siemens