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 2 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 22 14
Rank change year-on-year -5 -8 +14
Contract jobs citing Degree 375 237 498
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.41% 7.87% 8.97%
As % of the Qualifications category 14.05% 19.47% 20.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 208 130 250
10th Percentile £204 £248 £205
25th Percentile £350 £400 £355
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.50% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £608
90th Percentile £652 £650 £650
England median daily rate £500 £515 £514
% change year-on-year -2.91% +0.24% -6.08%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 26 86
10th Percentile £49.00 £17.50 £17.80
25th Percentile £80.50 £35.17 £26.92
Median hourly rate £84.00 £58.38 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +43.90% +1.79% +27.44%
75th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £61.30
90th Percentile - £76.68 £66.00
England median hourly rate £60.61 £53.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +13.29% +33.75% -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 2,669 1,217 2,480
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 45.63% 40.39% 44.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,801 774 1,416
10th Percentile £306 £304 £319
25th Percentile £425 £438 £439
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £537 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.23% -2.36% +4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £688 £736
England median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 271 83 213
10th Percentile £16.35 £20.00 £17.52
25th Percentile £22.79 £26.13 £26.73
Median hourly rate £55.00 £56.75 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year -3.08% -1.05% +0.82%
75th Percentile £84.00 £70.63 £67.00
90th Percentile £90.09 £78.13 £85.41
England median hourly rate £47.50 £45.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +5.56% +12.50% -23.81%

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 2 May 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 2 May 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 2 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 -5 197 £476 +0.26% 203
Berkshire +2 132 £400 -15.79% 83
Hampshire -3 87 £525 -1.41% 127
Buckinghamshire -7 39 £582 +10.24% 50
Surrey -16 35 £279 -38.06% 59
Oxfordshire -11 26 £488 +2.63% 74
Kent 0 15 £445 +27.14% 29
West Sussex -14 12 £275 -45.00% 18
Home Counties - 5 £700 -
Sussex -1 4 £275 -41.02% 7
East Sussex -2 4 £600 -14.29% 16
Middlesex -3 1 £198 -73.67% 11
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 10 (2.67%) SharePoint
2 8 (2.13%) Confluence
3 5 (1.33%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.80%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 3 (0.80%) Apache Spark
4 3 (0.80%) CMS
4 3 (0.80%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.27%) Apache
5 1 (0.27%) Apache Pulsar
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 56 (14.93%) Microsoft Office
2 50 (13.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 33 (8.80%) Microsoft Project
4 23 (6.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.80%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 12 (3.20%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (2.40%) Primavera
3 3 (0.80%) SAP ERP
4 2 (0.53%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.27%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.27%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.27%) SAP Hybris
5 1 (0.27%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 62 (16.53%) Azure
2 46 (12.27%) AWS
3 22 (5.87%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (4.80%) Entra ID
4 18 (4.80%) Power Platform
5 11 (2.93%) GCP
5 11 (2.93%) SaaS
6 8 (2.13%) Azure DevOps
6 8 (2.13%) GitHub
6 8 (2.13%) GitHub Actions
6 8 (2.13%) IaaS
7 5 (1.33%) PaaS
8 4 (1.07%) Power Automate
9 3 (0.80%) Amazon EKS
9 3 (0.80%) Amazon S3
9 3 (0.80%) AWS CloudFormation
9 3 (0.80%) Lucidchart
10 2 (0.53%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 2 (0.53%) Amazon EC2
10 2 (0.53%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 31 (8.27%) Firewall
2 20 (5.33%) WAN
3 17 (4.53%) LAN
4 13 (3.47%) Network Security
4 13 (3.47%) Wireless
5 11 (2.93%) BGP
5 11 (2.93%) OSPF
6 9 (2.40%) DNS
6 9 (2.40%) IPsec
6 9 (2.40%) Structured Cabling
7 8 (2.13%) TCP/IP
8 6 (1.60%) HTTP
9 4 (1.07%) RSVP
9 4 (1.07%) SSH
10 3 (0.80%) DHCP
10 3 (0.80%) Ethernet
10 3 (0.80%) NAS
10 3 (0.80%) Radio Access Network
10 3 (0.80%) SAN
10 3 (0.80%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (4.27%) Power BI
2 15 (4.00%) Relational Database
2 15 (4.00%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.73%) MySQL
4 6 (1.60%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
4 6 (1.60%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (0.80%) Big Data
5 3 (0.80%) Oracle Database
5 3 (0.80%) Tableau
6 2 (0.53%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.53%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.53%) Hadoop
6 2 (0.53%) Metadata
7 1 (0.27%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.27%) DynamoDB
7 1 (0.27%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.27%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 28 (7.47%) Rational DOORS
2 19 (5.07%) JIRA
3 11 (2.93%) Burp Suite
3 11 (2.93%) Metasploit
4 8 (2.13%) Git
5 7 (1.87%) CircleCI
5 7 (1.87%) Gradle
6 6 (1.60%) GitLab
6 6 (1.60%) JUnit
7 5 (1.33%) Jenkins
8 3 (0.80%) Selenium
9 2 (0.53%) Android Studio
9 2 (0.53%) Balsamiq
9 2 (0.53%) Browser DevTools
9 2 (0.53%) Eclipse
9 2 (0.53%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.53%) WebDriver
9 2 (0.53%) Xcode
10 1 (0.27%) XCTest
10 1 (0.27%) XCUITest
General
1 128 (34.13%) Social Skills
2 61 (16.27%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (15.20%) Aerospace
4 52 (13.87%) Finance
5 35 (9.33%) Public Sector
6 23 (6.13%) Documentation Skills
7 17 (4.53%) Organisational Skills
8 16 (4.27%) Influencing Skills
9 15 (4.00%) Manufacturing
10 13 (3.47%) Marketing
11 12 (3.20%) Law
12 9 (2.40%) Presentation Skills
12 9 (2.40%) Telecoms
13 7 (1.87%) Legal
14 5 (1.33%) Military
14 5 (1.33%) Retail
15 4 (1.07%) Electronics
15 4 (1.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 3 (0.80%) Aviation
16 3 (0.80%) Avionics
Job Titles
1 42 (11.20%) Analyst
2 33 (8.80%) Product Manager
2 33 (8.80%) Senior
3 31 (8.27%) Delivery Manager
4 28 (7.47%) Product Delivery Manager
4 28 (7.47%) Project Manager
5 27 (7.20%) Lead
6 22 (5.87%) Systems Delivery Manager
6 22 (5.87%) Systems Manager
7 20 (5.33%) Technical Support
8 19 (5.07%) Architect
9 12 (3.20%) IT Manager
9 12 (3.20%) SC Cleared Project Manager
10 11 (2.93%) Consultant
10 11 (2.93%) Penetration Tester
10 11 (2.93%) Senior Analyst
10 11 (2.93%) Tester
11 10 (2.67%) Financial Analyst
11 10 (2.67%) Network Engineer
11 10 (2.67%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.67%) REST
2 7 (1.87%) OAuth
2 7 (1.87%) OAuth2
2 7 (1.87%) RAML
2 7 (1.87%) React
2 7 (1.87%) Web Services
3 6 (1.60%) Android Jetpack
3 6 (1.60%) LDAP
3 6 (1.60%) OpenID
3 6 (1.60%) SailPoint
3 6 (1.60%) SAML
4 5 (1.33%) ADO
4 5 (1.33%) Dagger
4 5 (1.33%) Jetpack Compose
4 5 (1.33%) OkHttp
4 5 (1.33%) RxJava
4 5 (1.33%) WireMock
5 4 (1.07%) AngularJS
5 4 (1.07%) CSS
5 4 (1.07%) GraphQL
Miscellaneous
1 41 (10.93%) Product Ownership
2 35 (9.33%) Management Information System
3 24 (6.40%) Data Structures
4 23 (6.13%) Data Centre
5 20 (5.33%) Virtual Team
6 19 (5.07%) Onboarding
7 11 (2.93%) PMI
7 11 (2.93%) Security Posture
8 10 (2.67%) Analytical Mindset
8 10 (2.67%) Data Protection Act
9 9 (2.40%) Security Operations Centre
10 7 (1.87%) Cloud Native
10 7 (1.87%) Legacy Code
10 7 (1.87%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (1.60%) BYOD
11 6 (1.60%) Mobile App
12 5 (1.33%) AI Agents
12 5 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
12 5 (1.33%) Operational Technology
12 5 (1.33%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 69 (18.40%) Windows
2 46 (12.27%) Linux
3 30 (8.00%) Unix
4 12 (3.20%) Windows Server
5 10 (2.67%) Android
6 6 (1.60%) Windows 10
7 4 (1.07%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.80%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.80%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.53%) OpenVMS
9 2 (0.53%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 160 (42.67%) Computer Science
2 92 (24.53%) Agile
3 76 (20.27%) Continuous Improvement
4 69 (18.40%) Cybersecurity
5 67 (17.87%) Problem-Solving
6 56 (14.93%) PRINCE2
7 54 (14.40%) Project Management
8 50 (13.33%) Change Control
9 47 (12.53%) Information Security
10 46 (12.27%) Stakeholder Management
11 44 (11.73%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 44 (11.73%) Systems Engineering
12 36 (9.60%) ITIL
13 35 (9.33%) Programme Management
14 33 (8.80%) ITSM
15 32 (8.53%) Scaled Agile Framework
16 29 (7.73%) AI
16 29 (7.73%) CI/CD
17 28 (7.47%) Configuration Management
18 27 (7.20%) Requirements Management
Programming Languages
1 44 (11.73%) Python
2 24 (6.40%) Java
3 22 (5.87%) SQL
4 21 (5.60%) PowerShell
5 18 (4.80%) JavaScript
6 13 (3.47%) Perl
7 8 (2.13%) Kotlin
8 6 (1.60%) Bash
9 4 (1.07%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.80%) C
10 3 (0.80%) C#
10 3 (0.80%) C++
10 3 (0.80%) Korn
11 2 (0.53%) Ada
11 2 (0.53%) Go
11 2 (0.53%) R
12 1 (0.27%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 1 (0.27%) Objective-C
12 1 (0.27%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.27%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 174 (46.40%) Security Cleared
2 114 (30.40%) SC Cleared
3 70 (18.67%) Computer Science Degree
4 20 (5.33%) Cisco Certification
4 20 (5.33%) CISSP
5 19 (5.07%) PMI Certification
5 19 (5.07%) PMP
6 17 (4.53%) DV Cleared
7 16 (4.27%) Master's Degree
8 15 (4.00%) CCNP
9 13 (3.47%) CREST Certified
10 11 (2.93%) CHECK Team Member
10 11 (2.93%) CISM
10 11 (2.93%) CompTIA Security+
10 11 (2.93%) Cyber Scheme
10 11 (2.93%) Postgraduate
11 10 (2.67%) BPSS Clearance
12 9 (2.40%) ACCA
12 9 (2.40%) CCNA
12 9 (2.40%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (12.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 40 (10.67%) NIST
3 33 (8.80%) PMO
4 24 (6.40%) QA
5 22 (5.87%) GDPR
6 18 (4.80%) PCI DSS
7 15 (4.00%) NCSC
8 8 (2.13%) Data Quality
8 8 (2.13%) NIST 800
9 7 (1.87%) SLA
10 6 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (1.60%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 5 (1.33%) Accessibility
11 5 (1.33%) Government Security Classifications
11 5 (1.33%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 3 (0.80%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.80%) IEC 61508
12 3 (0.80%) ISO 26262
12 3 (0.80%) ISO 31000
12 3 (0.80%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 32 (8.53%) Active Directory
2 10 (2.67%) Docker
3 7 (1.87%) Firmware
4 6 (1.60%) VMware Infrastructure
5 4 (1.07%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.53%) Oracle RAC
6 2 (0.53%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.27%) Citrix Hypervisor
7 1 (0.27%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.27%) UAG
7 1 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 11 (2.93%) Kubernetes
1 11 (2.93%) Nmap
2 9 (2.40%) Terraform
3 5 (1.33%) Ansible
3 5 (1.33%) Grafana
4 3 (0.80%) Prometheus
4 3 (0.80%) Puppet
4 3 (0.80%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (0.53%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 2 (0.53%) Microsoft Intune
5 2 (0.53%) Nessus
5 2 (0.53%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
5 2 (0.53%) Oracle RMAN
5 2 (0.53%) vCenter Server
6 1 (0.27%) Dell DRAC
6 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
6 1 (0.27%) Istio
6 1 (0.27%) Kubeflow
6 1 (0.27%) linkerd
6 1 (0.27%) Podman
Vendors
1 74 (19.73%) Microsoft
2 28 (7.47%) SAP
3 26 (6.93%) Oracle
4 25 (6.67%) IBM
5 17 (4.53%) Cisco
6 13 (3.47%) Palo Alto
7 12 (3.20%) CheckPoint
8 11 (2.93%) Aruba
9 10 (2.67%) BeyondTrust
9 10 (2.67%) CyberArk
9 10 (2.67%) Splunk
10 9 (2.40%) ServiceNow
11 8 (2.13%) VMware
12 4 (1.07%) Red Hat
12 4 (1.07%) Salesforce
12 4 (1.07%) Tenable
13 3 (0.80%) Cadence
13 3 (0.80%) Fortinet
13 3 (0.80%) Google
13 3 (0.80%) Siemens