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 31 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 27 14
Rank change year-on-year +3 -13 +11
Contract jobs citing Degree 481 230 445
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 7.24% 6.65% 8.72%
As % of the Qualifications category 15.94% 16.39% 19.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 135 240
10th Percentile £193 £261 £205
25th Percentile £323 £361 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £705 £650 £638
England median daily rate £500 £500 £515
% change year-on-year - -2.91% -3.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 112 34 79
10th Percentile £26.35 £22.42 £18.35
25th Percentile £35.99 £34.48 £37.50
Median hourly rate £80.00 £62.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +29.03% +8.11% -2.51%
75th Percentile £85.92 £75.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £88.86 £74.00
England median hourly rate £52.25 £42.50 £56.37
% change year-on-year +22.94% -24.61% +7.37%

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 3,018 1,403 2,310
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 45.40% 40.54% 45.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,039 915 1,420
10th Percentile £325 £263 £350
25th Percentile £460 £413 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £626 £600 £638
90th Percentile £725 £662 £725
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 327 115 198
10th Percentile £18.32 £18.87 £17.80
25th Percentile £35.22 £20.06 £27.75
Median hourly rate £65.00 £28.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +132.14% -51.18% -4.42%
75th Percentile £85.00 £69.08 £70.39
90th Percentile £94.50 £82.20 £87.46
England median hourly rate £54.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +114.71% -41.51% -21.82%

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 31 July 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 31 July 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 31 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 +4 259 £525 +16.67% 218
Berkshire +14 151 £500 +5.26% 106
Hampshire +2 116 £550 +8.64% 111
Oxfordshire -1 58 £465 +3.33% 63
Surrey +4 56 £310 -3.13% 76
Buckinghamshire -6 50 £565 +7.62% 50
West Sussex -24 14 £400 +37.93% 17
Kent +13 13 £411 +17.42% 22
Sussex -1 4 £275 - 7
East Sussex -2 2 £461 - 24
Middlesex - 2 £334 - 8
Home Counties +1 1 - -
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 24 (4.99%) SharePoint
2 15 (3.12%) Confluence
3 7 (1.46%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.83%) FactoryTalk
5 2 (0.42%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.21%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.21%) Apache Pulsar
6 1 (0.21%) CMS
6 1 (0.21%) Oracle Service Bus
6 1 (0.21%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.21%) WebLogic
Applications
1 67 (13.93%) Microsoft Office
2 50 (10.40%) Microsoft Excel
3 31 (6.44%) Microsoft Project
4 24 (4.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.83%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.21%) CATIA
6 1 (0.21%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.21%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (2.29%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.46%) Primavera
2 7 (1.46%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (0.42%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.42%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
3 2 (0.42%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.21%) ENOVIA
4 1 (0.21%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 106 (22.04%) Azure
2 52 (10.81%) AWS
3 46 (9.56%) Entra ID
4 39 (8.11%) Microsoft 365
5 22 (4.57%) Power Platform
6 21 (4.37%) GCP
7 19 (3.95%) SaaS
8 16 (3.33%) Azure DevOps
9 12 (2.49%) OneDrive
10 8 (1.66%) Serverless
11 7 (1.46%) IaaS
12 6 (1.25%) Power Automate
13 5 (1.04%) GitHub
13 5 (1.04%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
14 4 (0.83%) PaaS
14 4 (0.83%) PowerApps
14 4 (0.83%) Smartsheet
14 4 (0.83%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 3 (0.62%) Azure Logic Apps
15 3 (0.62%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 26 (5.41%) TCP/IP
2 24 (4.99%) Firewall
3 22 (4.57%) DNS
4 18 (3.74%) Network Security
5 17 (3.53%) DHCP
6 10 (2.08%) LAN
7 9 (1.87%) SSH
7 9 (1.87%) WAN
8 8 (1.66%) VPN
9 7 (1.46%) VLAN
10 6 (1.25%) BGP
10 6 (1.25%) HTTP
10 6 (1.25%) OSPF
11 4 (0.83%) Cisco Nexus
11 4 (0.83%) IPsec
11 4 (0.83%) MQTT
11 4 (0.83%) RSVP
11 4 (0.83%) SD-WAN
12 3 (0.62%) Cisco Firepower
12 3 (0.62%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (4.16%) Power BI
1 20 (4.16%) SQL Server
2 8 (1.66%) Relational Database
3 7 (1.46%) MySQL
4 6 (1.25%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (1.04%) Tableau
6 4 (0.83%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.83%) Metadata
7 3 (0.62%) Data Warehouse
7 3 (0.62%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.42%) Big Data
8 2 (0.42%) Hadoop
9 1 (0.21%) Apache Iceberg
9 1 (0.21%) BigQuery
9 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database 11g
9 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database 12c
9 1 (0.21%) SQLite
9 1 (0.21%) Tableau Desktop
9 1 (0.21%) Tableau Server
9 1 (0.21%) Text Mining
Development Applications
1 32 (6.65%) Rational DOORS
2 28 (5.82%) JIRA
3 11 (2.29%) Git
4 9 (1.87%) GitLab
5 4 (0.83%) Gradle
5 4 (0.83%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.83%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.62%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.62%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.62%) CircleCI
6 3 (0.62%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.62%) JUnit
6 3 (0.62%) Xcode
7 2 (0.42%) Balsamiq
7 2 (0.42%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.21%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.21%) Maven
8 1 (0.21%) MSI
8 1 (0.21%) Octopus Deploy
8 1 (0.21%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 201 (41.79%) Social Skills
2 99 (20.58%) Analytical Skills
3 69 (14.35%) Finance
4 67 (13.93%) Aerospace
5 61 (12.68%) Public Sector
6 28 (5.82%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (4.78%) Manufacturing
7 23 (4.78%) Organisational Skills
8 17 (3.53%) Marketing
9 16 (3.33%) Military
10 15 (3.12%) Influencing Skills
11 14 (2.91%) Law
11 14 (2.91%) Presentation Skills
12 13 (2.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 12 (2.49%) Telecoms
14 9 (1.87%) French Language
14 9 (1.87%) Legal
15 8 (1.66%) Games
15 8 (1.66%) Pharmaceutical
16 7 (1.46%) Retail
Job Titles
1 65 (13.51%) Analyst
2 55 (11.43%) Senior
3 40 (8.32%) Lead
4 35 (7.28%) Product Manager
5 32 (6.65%) Delivery Manager
6 31 (6.44%) Product Delivery Manager
7 29 (6.03%) IT Manager
8 25 (5.20%) Architect
8 25 (5.20%) Project Manager
9 24 (4.99%) Senior Manager
10 23 (4.78%) Systems Manager
11 22 (4.57%) Systems Delivery Manager
12 18 (3.74%) IT Support
13 17 (3.53%) Business Analyst
14 16 (3.33%) Category Manager
14 16 (3.33%) Senior IT Manager
15 15 (3.12%) Data Analyst
15 15 (3.12%) IT Services Manager
15 15 (3.12%) Senior Category Manager
15 15 (3.12%) Senior Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (4.57%) OAuth
2 20 (4.16%) OpenID
3 19 (3.95%) LDAP
3 19 (3.95%) SAML
4 17 (3.53%) SailPoint
5 15 (3.12%) OAuth2
5 15 (3.12%) Oracle Fusion
6 13 (2.70%) Web Services
7 11 (2.29%) React
8 8 (1.66%) REST
9 7 (1.46%) .NET
9 7 (1.46%) CSS
9 7 (1.46%) RESTful
10 6 (1.25%) Kafka
11 5 (1.04%) AngularJS
11 5 (1.04%) GraphQL
11 5 (1.04%) gRPC
11 5 (1.04%) Middleware
12 4 (0.83%) ADO
12 4 (0.83%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 59 (12.27%) Product Ownership
2 56 (11.64%) Management Information System
3 37 (7.69%) Onboarding
4 27 (5.61%) Data Structures
5 25 (5.20%) Data Centre
6 14 (2.91%) Operational Technology
6 14 (2.91%) Self-Motivation
6 14 (2.91%) Virtual Team
7 12 (2.49%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (2.29%) Life Science
8 11 (2.29%) SCADA
9 10 (2.08%) PMI
10 9 (1.87%) Cloud Native
10 9 (1.87%) Security Posture
11 8 (1.66%) Animation
11 8 (1.66%) Graphic Design
11 8 (1.66%) Interactive Media
11 8 (1.66%) Robotics
12 7 (1.46%) CCTV
12 7 (1.46%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 74 (15.38%) Windows
2 50 (10.40%) Linux
3 32 (6.65%) Unix
4 23 (4.78%) Windows Server
5 14 (2.91%) Apple iOS
6 11 (2.29%) Mac OS
7 10 (2.08%) Android
7 10 (2.08%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.42%) OpenVMS
9 2 (0.42%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.42%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.21%) Solaris
10 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 190 (39.50%) Computer Science
2 134 (27.86%) Agile
3 111 (23.08%) Continuous Improvement
4 107 (22.25%) Problem-Solving
5 94 (19.54%) Stakeholder Management
6 81 (16.84%) Cybersecurity
6 81 (16.84%) ITIL
7 76 (15.80%) ITSM
8 66 (13.72%) Project Management
9 65 (13.51%) Change Control
10 64 (13.31%) PRINCE2
11 63 (13.10%) Decision-Making
12 58 (12.06%) Information Security
13 55 (11.43%) AI
14 51 (10.60%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 48 (9.98%) Systems Engineering
16 43 (8.94%) CI/CD
16 43 (8.94%) Scaled Agile Framework
17 41 (8.52%) Roadmaps
18 40 (8.32%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 65 (13.51%) Python
2 49 (10.19%) PowerShell
3 21 (4.37%) SQL
4 18 (3.74%) Java
5 15 (3.12%) JavaScript
6 8 (1.66%) Bash
6 8 (1.66%) Shell Script
7 6 (1.25%) C
8 5 (1.04%) Kotlin
8 5 (1.04%) Perl
9 4 (0.83%) Bicep
9 4 (0.83%) C#
9 4 (0.83%) Rust
10 3 (0.62%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.62%) C++
10 3 (0.62%) Korn
10 3 (0.62%) Lua
10 3 (0.62%) X++
11 2 (0.42%) Go
11 2 (0.42%) R
Qualifications
1 200 (41.58%) Security Cleared
2 118 (24.53%) SC Cleared
3 61 (12.68%) Computer Science Degree
4 31 (6.44%) PMI Certification
5 28 (5.82%) DV Cleared
6 27 (5.61%) PMP
7 26 (5.41%) CISSP
8 24 (4.99%) BPSS Clearance
8 24 (4.99%) Microsoft Certification
9 22 (4.57%) Master's Degree
10 18 (3.74%) Cisco Certification
11 14 (2.91%) CISM
12 12 (2.49%) Azure Certification
13 11 (2.29%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
14 10 (2.08%) ACCA
14 10 (2.08%) CCNP
14 10 (2.08%) CIMA
15 9 (1.87%) CESG Certified Professional
16 8 (1.66%) AWS Certification
17 6 (1.25%) (ISC)2 CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 57 (11.85%) NIST
2 56 (11.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 21 (4.37%) Data Quality
4 17 (3.53%) NCSC
4 17 (3.53%) PMO
5 14 (2.91%) GDPR
6 13 (2.70%) QA
7 9 (1.87%) SLA
8 8 (1.66%) NIST 800
8 8 (1.66%) PCI DSS
8 8 (1.66%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 7 (1.46%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (1.25%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 5 (1.04%) Government Security Classifications
11 5 (1.04%) GxP
11 5 (1.04%) ISO 31000
12 4 (0.83%) 21 CFR Part 11
12 4 (0.83%) Accessibility
12 4 (0.83%) GRC
12 4 (0.83%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 62 (12.89%) Active Directory
2 18 (3.74%) Docker
3 16 (3.33%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (1.25%) VMware NSX
5 5 (1.04%) Firmware
6 4 (0.83%) Embedded Firmware
7 3 (0.62%) OpenAM
7 3 (0.62%) Oracle RAC
8 2 (0.42%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.21%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 1 (0.21%) UAG
9 1 (0.21%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 18 (3.74%) Microsoft Intune
2 15 (3.12%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.70%) Terraform
4 10 (2.08%) Jamf Pro
5 9 (1.87%) Ansible
6 8 (1.66%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (1.46%) Grafana
7 7 (1.46%) Prometheus
8 6 (1.25%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 4 (0.83%) Podman
9 4 (0.83%) Puppet
9 4 (0.83%) SCCM
10 3 (0.62%) Oracle RMAN
11 2 (0.42%) Nessus
11 2 (0.42%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
11 2 (0.42%) vCenter Server
12 1 (0.21%) Argo
12 1 (0.21%) CASB
12 1 (0.21%) HP ALM
12 1 (0.21%) Istio
Vendors
1 124 (25.78%) Microsoft
2 44 (9.15%) Oracle
3 36 (7.48%) ServiceNow
4 30 (6.24%) SAP
5 29 (6.03%) IBM
6 21 (4.37%) VMware
7 18 (3.74%) BeyondTrust
7 18 (3.74%) CyberArk
8 15 (3.12%) Ariba
9 13 (2.70%) Salesforce
10 10 (2.08%) Cisco
11 9 (1.87%) Google
12 7 (1.46%) Palo Alto
13 6 (1.25%) Tenable
14 5 (1.04%) Dell
14 5 (1.04%) Splunk
14 5 (1.04%) Workday
15 4 (0.83%) CheckPoint
15 4 (0.83%) F5
15 4 (0.83%) Rockwell