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 17 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 31 30 13
Rank change year-on-year -1 -17 +13
Contract jobs citing Degree 274 222 477
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.21% 6.63% 9.35%
As % of the Qualifications category 14.03% 17.66% 21.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 154 125 313
10th Percentile £204 £179 £181
25th Percentile £315 £315 £272
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £569 £600 £608
90th Percentile £655 £687 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 10 46
10th Percentile £20.79 £18.87 £25.13
25th Percentile £21.25 £31.94 £45.21
Median hourly rate £29.61 £42.50 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -30.33% -29.17% +33.33%
75th Percentile £80.00 £57.26 £69.71
90th Percentile £81.20 £78.53 £77.50
England median hourly rate £37.50 £42.50 £46.18
% change year-on-year -11.76% -7.97% +6.16%

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 1,953 1,257 2,260
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 44.25% 37.56% 44.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,316 812 1,338
10th Percentile £274 £256 £213
25th Percentile £413 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £537
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.23% +0.14%
75th Percentile £600 £636 £638
90th Percentile £725 £688 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 189 70 142
10th Percentile £15.62 £19.90 £27.04
25th Percentile £19.38 £31.25 £49.79
Median hourly rate £25.15 £56.75 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -55.68% -5.43% +33.33%
75th Percentile £55.00 £64.73 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.09 £77.31 £78.00
England median hourly rate £25.15 £46.18 £50.00
% change year-on-year -45.54% -7.64% +11.11%

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 17 January 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 17 January 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 17 January 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 -1 135 £446 -0.89% 486
Berkshire -2 98 £425 -5.56% 294
Hampshire +8 64 £500 -4.76% 191
Surrey -12 34 £500 - 140
Buckinghamshire +14 28 £445 -11.00% 86
West Sussex -4 15 £475 -5.00% 83
Kent -3 9 £445 -1.11% 102
Oxfordshire -12 9 £494 +6.76% 110
East Sussex +2 7 £565 -9.60% 80
Isle of Wight - 4 - - 72
Home Counties - 2 £700 -
Sussex -6 1 - - 9
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 18 (6.57%) Confluence
2 13 (4.74%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.19%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (1.46%) GeoServer
4 4 (1.46%) Smallworld
5 3 (1.09%) Apache
5 3 (1.09%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.73%) CMS
6 2 (0.73%) MS Project Server
6 2 (0.73%) nginx
7 1 (0.36%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.36%) Gunicorn
7 1 (0.36%) IIS
7 1 (0.36%) SharePoint Server
7 1 (0.36%) Skype for Business
7 1 (0.36%) Tomcat
Applications
1 53 (19.34%) Microsoft Excel
2 47 (17.15%) Microsoft Office
3 35 (12.77%) Microsoft Project
4 20 (7.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (2.55%) Chatbot
6 5 (1.82%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.36%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 10 (3.65%) Primavera
2 5 (1.82%) SAP ERP
3 3 (1.09%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.36%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.36%) Dynamics GP
4 1 (0.36%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.36%) Oracle EBS R12
4 1 (0.36%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.36%) Oracle Receivables
4 1 (0.36%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.36%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.36%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.36%) SAP PM
4 1 (0.36%) SAP WM
4 1 (0.36%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.36%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 42 (15.33%) Azure
2 30 (10.95%) AWS
3 18 (6.57%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (5.84%) Power Platform
5 10 (3.65%) GitHub
6 9 (3.28%) GitHub Actions
7 8 (2.92%) GCP
8 7 (2.55%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (2.55%) SaaS
9 6 (2.19%) Entra ID
10 5 (1.82%) IaaS
11 4 (1.46%) Lucidchart
12 3 (1.09%) Amazon S3
12 3 (1.09%) OCI
12 3 (1.09%) Serverless
13 2 (0.73%) Amazon EC2
13 2 (0.73%) Amazon ECS
13 2 (0.73%) Amazon EKS
13 2 (0.73%) PaaS
13 2 (0.73%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 20 (7.30%) Firewall
2 14 (5.11%) Wireless
3 12 (4.38%) WAN
4 11 (4.01%) Network Security
5 9 (3.28%) LAN
6 7 (2.55%) BGP
6 7 (2.55%) OSPF
7 6 (2.19%) DNS
7 6 (2.19%) IPsec
7 6 (2.19%) Structured Cabling
7 6 (2.19%) Unified Communications
8 4 (1.46%) TCP/IP
8 4 (1.46%) WebEx
9 3 (1.09%) HTTP
9 3 (1.09%) VoIP
9 3 (1.09%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.73%) Internet
10 2 (0.73%) VPN
11 1 (0.36%) EIGRP
11 1 (0.36%) SCCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (5.84%) Relational Database
2 14 (5.11%) Power BI
3 11 (4.01%) MySQL
4 9 (3.28%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (2.19%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
5 6 (2.19%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (2.19%) NoSQL
6 5 (1.82%) Apache Cassandra
6 5 (1.82%) Big Data
6 5 (1.82%) Couchbase
6 5 (1.82%) Metadata
6 5 (1.82%) SQL Server
7 4 (1.46%) Geospatial Data
7 4 (1.46%) GIS
7 4 (1.46%) QGIS
8 3 (1.09%) Tableau
9 2 (0.73%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.73%) Hadoop
9 2 (0.73%) Oracle Reports
9 2 (0.73%) Redis
Development Applications
1 25 (9.12%) JIRA
2 15 (5.47%) Git
3 12 (4.38%) Burp Suite
4 10 (3.65%) Metasploit
5 7 (2.55%) GitLab
6 6 (2.19%) Jenkins
7 4 (1.46%) Selenium
7 4 (1.46%) Visual Studio
8 3 (1.09%) CircleCI
8 3 (1.09%) Gradle
8 3 (1.09%) JUnit
9 2 (0.73%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.73%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.73%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.36%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.36%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.36%) HP UFT
10 1 (0.36%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.36%) Subversion
10 1 (0.36%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 136 (49.64%) Social Skills
2 75 (27.37%) Analytical Skills
3 42 (15.33%) Finance
4 23 (8.39%) Manufacturing
5 15 (5.47%) Organisational Skills
6 13 (4.74%) Influencing Skills
6 13 (4.74%) Public Sector
7 11 (4.01%) Legal
8 8 (2.92%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (2.92%) Law
8 8 (2.92%) Marketing
9 5 (1.82%) Aerospace
9 5 (1.82%) Military
10 4 (1.46%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (1.46%) Retail
10 4 (1.46%) Telecoms
11 3 (1.09%) Advertising
11 3 (1.09%) Banking
11 3 (1.09%) Billing
11 3 (1.09%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 37 (13.50%) Analyst
2 25 (9.12%) Senior
3 23 (8.39%) Developer
4 19 (6.93%) Project Manager
5 13 (4.74%) Lead
5 13 (4.74%) Tester
6 12 (4.38%) Architect
6 12 (4.38%) Penetration Tester
6 12 (4.38%) Project Planner
7 11 (4.01%) Technical Support
8 9 (3.28%) SC Cleared Project Manager
9 8 (2.92%) IT Analyst
10 7 (2.55%) Business Analyst
10 7 (2.55%) Network Engineer
10 7 (2.55%) Trainer
11 6 (2.19%) Administrator
11 6 (2.19%) IT Manager
11 6 (2.19%) IT Support
11 6 (2.19%) Principal Engineer
11 6 (2.19%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (4.01%) REST
2 7 (2.55%) HTML
3 6 (2.19%) Kafka
4 5 (1.82%) RabbitMQ
4 5 (1.82%) RESTful
5 4 (1.46%) CSS
6 3 (1.09%) Android Jetpack
6 3 (1.09%) Dagger
6 3 (1.09%) Jetpack Compose
6 3 (1.09%) Material Design
6 3 (1.09%) OkHttp
6 3 (1.09%) Pandas
6 3 (1.09%) RAML
6 3 (1.09%) RxJava
6 3 (1.09%) scikit-learn
6 3 (1.09%) Web Services
6 3 (1.09%) WireMock
6 3 (1.09%) XML
7 2 (0.73%) Playwright
7 2 (0.73%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 27 (9.85%) Management Information System
2 14 (5.11%) Analytical Mindset
2 14 (5.11%) Data Centre
3 11 (4.01%) Security Posture
4 10 (3.65%) Self-Motivation
5 9 (3.28%) Driving Licence
5 9 (3.28%) Security Operations Centre
5 9 (3.28%) Virtual Team
6 8 (2.92%) Data Protection Act
7 7 (2.55%) Mobile App
7 7 (2.55%) PMI
7 7 (2.55%) Product Ownership
8 6 (2.19%) Life Science
9 5 (1.82%) Handset
9 5 (1.82%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (1.46%) Algorithms
10 4 (1.46%) Cloud Native
10 4 (1.46%) Digital Media
10 4 (1.46%) Renewable Energy
11 3 (1.09%) Cyberattack
Operating Systems
1 43 (15.69%) Windows
2 27 (9.85%) Linux
3 12 (4.38%) Unix
4 7 (2.55%) Android
5 5 (1.82%) Apple iOS
6 4 (1.46%) Windows 10
7 3 (1.09%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.73%) Kali Linux
8 2 (0.73%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.36%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.36%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (34.67%) Computer Science
2 76 (27.74%) Problem-Solving
3 67 (24.45%) Agile
4 44 (16.06%) Project Management
5 41 (14.96%) Cybersecurity
6 39 (14.23%) Stakeholder Management
7 32 (11.68%) PRINCE2
8 29 (10.58%) Continuous Improvement
9 28 (10.22%) ITIL
9 28 (10.22%) Line Management
10 25 (9.12%) DevOps
10 25 (9.12%) Information Security
11 24 (8.76%) Change Management
12 23 (8.39%) Migration
13 21 (7.66%) Decision-Making
14 20 (7.30%) AI
14 20 (7.30%) Analytics
14 20 (7.30%) Business Intelligence
15 19 (6.93%) Project Delivery
16 18 (6.57%) Penetration Testing
Programming Languages
1 38 (13.87%) Python
2 25 (9.12%) Java
2 25 (9.12%) SQL
3 17 (6.20%) JavaScript
4 11 (4.01%) Perl
5 6 (2.19%) Kotlin
6 5 (1.82%) C#
6 5 (1.82%) Go
6 5 (1.82%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.46%) Shell Script
8 3 (1.09%) Bash
8 3 (1.09%) C
8 3 (1.09%) Objective-C
8 3 (1.09%) Swift
9 2 (0.73%) Ada
9 2 (0.73%) Assembly Language
9 2 (0.73%) C++
9 2 (0.73%) MATLAB
9 2 (0.73%) R
10 1 (0.36%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 80 (29.20%) Security Cleared
2 75 (27.37%) Computer Science Degree
3 69 (25.18%) SC Cleared
4 26 (9.49%) Master's Degree
5 19 (6.93%) CISSP
6 18 (6.57%) PMI Certification
6 18 (6.57%) PMP
7 15 (5.47%) DV Cleared
8 14 (5.11%) CREST Certified
9 12 (4.38%) Cisco Certification
10 11 (4.01%) Postgraduate
11 10 (3.65%) CCNP
11 10 (3.65%) CHECK Team Member
11 10 (3.65%) CISM
11 10 (3.65%) Cyber Scheme
12 9 (3.28%) PhD
13 7 (2.55%) CCNA
14 6 (2.19%) A+ Certification
15 5 (1.82%) GIAC
15 5 (1.82%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (14.60%) PMO
2 25 (9.12%) QA
3 22 (8.03%) GDPR
4 20 (7.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 13 (4.74%) PCI DSS
6 12 (4.38%) NIST
7 8 (2.92%) Data Quality
8 6 (2.19%) SLA
9 4 (1.46%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (1.09%) Accessibility
10 3 (1.09%) HIPAA
10 3 (1.09%) NCSC
10 3 (1.09%) P3O
11 2 (0.73%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.73%) ISO 9001
11 2 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 2 (0.73%) RMADS
12 1 (0.36%) Def Stans
12 1 (0.36%) GxP
12 1 (0.36%) JSP 440
System Software
1 11 (4.01%) Docker
2 10 (3.65%) Active Directory
3 6 (2.19%) Firmware
4 1 (0.36%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.36%) VMware NSX
4 1 (0.36%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (4.38%) Nmap
2 10 (3.65%) Kubernetes
3 5 (1.82%) Ansible
3 5 (1.82%) Terraform
4 3 (1.09%) Puppet
5 2 (0.73%) Grafana
5 2 (0.73%) Microsoft Intune
5 2 (0.73%) SCCM
6 1 (0.36%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.36%) Nagios
6 1 (0.36%) Nessus
6 1 (0.36%) Podman
6 1 (0.36%) SCOM
6 1 (0.36%) vRealize
6 1 (0.36%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 56 (20.44%) Microsoft
2 23 (8.39%) SAP
3 19 (6.93%) Oracle
4 12 (4.38%) Cisco
5 10 (3.65%) ServiceNow
6 8 (2.92%) Palo Alto
7 7 (2.55%) Aruba
7 7 (2.55%) CheckPoint
7 7 (2.55%) PayPal
7 7 (2.55%) Splunk
8 6 (2.19%) Atlassian
9 5 (1.82%) EMC
10 4 (1.46%) Cellebrite
10 4 (1.46%) ESRI
10 4 (1.46%) Google
10 4 (1.46%) Informatica
10 4 (1.46%) Intergraph
10 4 (1.46%) Salesforce
11 3 (1.09%) Apple
11 3 (1.09%) Snow