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

6 months to
15 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 26 24 14
Rank change year-on-year -2 -10 +11
Contract jobs citing Degree 444 230 482
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.83% 6.85% 8.61%
As % of the Qualifications category 15.10% 17.09% 19.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 228 142 247
10th Percentile £194 £263 £205
25th Percentile £311 £360 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £478 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.71% -4.50% -
75th Percentile £582 £588 £608
90th Percentile £704 £650 £638
England median daily rate £500 £500 £500
% change year-on-year - - -6.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 98 30 83
10th Percentile £25.50 £24.39 £17.80
25th Percentile £35.48 £34.48 £26.05
Median hourly rate £81.75 £58.38 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +40.04% +1.79% +14.70%
75th Percentile £87.16 £75.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £81.20 £73.25
England median hourly rate £43.75 £42.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year +2.94% - -14.26%

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 2,941 1,346 2,517
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 45.27% 40.08% 44.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,997 868 1,472
10th Percentile £325 £262 £350
25th Percentile £456 £410 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £540 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +2.86% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £600 £650
90th Percentile £725 £663 £725
England median daily rate £525 £525 £537
% change year-on-year - -2.16% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 307 100 226
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.87 £17.80
25th Percentile £31.25 £23.21 £30.10
Median hourly rate £65.00 £36.75 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +76.87% -35.92% -4.42%
75th Percentile £85.00 £69.74 £71.04
90th Percentile £89.80 £81.00 £87.46
England median hourly rate £54.25 £27.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year +97.27% -36.05% -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 15 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 15 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 15 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 +7 228 £509 +7.11% 225
Berkshire +4 137 £420 -12.04% 109
Hampshire +2 110 £550 +6.80% 133
Surrey -1 51 £305 -16.72% 115
Oxfordshire 0 49 £525 +16.67% 54
Buckinghamshire -9 42 £582 +10.76% 65
Kent +11 15 £445 +27.14% 56
West Sussex -23 14 £400 +37.93% 35
Sussex - 4 £275 - 27
Home Counties +1 3 - -
East Sussex -1 2 £461 - 31
Middlesex - 2 £334 - 12
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 21 (4.73%) SharePoint
2 13 (2.93%) Confluence
3 7 (1.58%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.45%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 2 (0.45%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.45%) CMS
4 2 (0.45%) FactoryTalk
5 1 (0.23%) Apache Pulsar
5 1 (0.23%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.23%) Oracle Service Bus
5 1 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
5 1 (0.23%) WebLogic
Applications
1 61 (13.74%) Microsoft Office
2 41 (9.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (5.18%) Microsoft Project
4 21 (4.73%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.68%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.23%) CATIA
6 1 (0.23%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.23%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (2.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.35%) Salesforce CRM
3 5 (1.13%) Primavera
4 2 (0.45%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.23%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.23%) ENOVIA
5 1 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.23%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.23%) SAP Hybris
5 1 (0.23%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 95 (21.40%) Azure
2 52 (11.71%) AWS
3 38 (8.56%) Entra ID
4 36 (8.11%) Microsoft 365
5 21 (4.73%) GCP
5 21 (4.73%) Power Platform
6 14 (3.15%) SaaS
7 13 (2.93%) Azure DevOps
8 12 (2.70%) OneDrive
9 7 (1.58%) Serverless
10 6 (1.35%) Power Automate
11 5 (1.13%) GitHub
11 5 (1.13%) IaaS
12 4 (0.90%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (0.90%) PaaS
12 4 (0.90%) PowerApps
12 4 (0.90%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
12 4 (0.90%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 3 (0.68%) Lucidchart
13 3 (0.68%) Sauce Labs
Communications & Networking
1 23 (5.18%) TCP/IP
2 21 (4.73%) DNS
2 21 (4.73%) Firewall
3 15 (3.38%) Network Security
4 14 (3.15%) DHCP
5 12 (2.70%) LAN
6 11 (2.48%) WAN
7 8 (1.80%) BGP
7 8 (1.80%) OSPF
8 6 (1.35%) HTTP
8 6 (1.35%) IPsec
9 5 (1.13%) SSH
9 5 (1.13%) VLAN
9 5 (1.13%) VPN
10 4 (0.90%) Cisco Nexus
10 4 (0.90%) MQTT
10 4 (0.90%) RSVP
10 4 (0.90%) SD-WAN
11 3 (0.68%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
11 3 (0.68%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (4.28%) Power BI
1 19 (4.28%) SQL Server
2 10 (2.25%) Relational Database
3 9 (2.03%) MySQL
4 6 (1.35%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.90%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.90%) Tableau
6 3 (0.68%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (0.68%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.45%) Big Data
7 2 (0.45%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.23%) Apache Iceberg
8 1 (0.23%) BigQuery
8 1 (0.23%) Data Mining
8 1 (0.23%) Metadata
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Database 10g
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Database 11g
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Database 12c
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.23%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 30 (6.76%) Rational DOORS
2 26 (5.86%) JIRA
3 11 (2.48%) Git
4 8 (1.80%) GitLab
5 4 (0.90%) CircleCI
5 4 (0.90%) Gradle
5 4 (0.90%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.90%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.68%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.68%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.68%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.68%) JUnit
6 3 (0.68%) Xcode
7 2 (0.45%) Balsamiq
7 2 (0.45%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.23%) Maven
8 1 (0.23%) Metasploit
8 1 (0.23%) MLflow
8 1 (0.23%) Selenium
8 1 (0.23%) TestNG
General
1 190 (42.79%) Social Skills
2 90 (20.27%) Analytical Skills
3 66 (14.86%) Finance
4 62 (13.96%) Aerospace
5 56 (12.61%) Public Sector
6 24 (5.41%) Documentation Skills
7 21 (4.73%) Organisational Skills
8 20 (4.50%) Manufacturing
9 18 (4.05%) Marketing
10 15 (3.38%) Law
11 14 (3.15%) Influencing Skills
12 13 (2.93%) Presentation Skills
13 12 (2.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 10 (2.25%) Military
14 10 (2.25%) Telecoms
15 8 (1.80%) Legal
15 8 (1.80%) Retail
16 7 (1.58%) Aviation
16 7 (1.58%) French Language
17 5 (1.13%) Arabic Language
Job Titles
1 65 (14.64%) Analyst
2 52 (11.71%) Senior
3 36 (8.11%) Lead
4 32 (7.21%) Product Manager
5 29 (6.53%) Delivery Manager
6 28 (6.31%) IT Manager
6 28 (6.31%) Product Delivery Manager
7 24 (5.41%) Architect
8 23 (5.18%) Project Manager
8 23 (5.18%) Senior Manager
9 22 (4.95%) Systems Delivery Manager
9 22 (4.95%) Systems Manager
10 17 (3.83%) Category Manager
10 17 (3.83%) IT Support
11 16 (3.60%) Business Analyst
11 16 (3.60%) Technical Support
12 15 (3.38%) IT Services Manager
12 15 (3.38%) Senior Category Manager
12 15 (3.38%) Senior IT Manager
12 15 (3.38%) Senior Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (4.05%) OAuth
2 16 (3.60%) OpenID
3 15 (3.38%) LDAP
3 15 (3.38%) Oracle Fusion
3 15 (3.38%) SAML
4 13 (2.93%) SailPoint
5 11 (2.48%) OAuth2
5 11 (2.48%) React
6 10 (2.25%) Web Services
7 9 (2.03%) REST
8 7 (1.58%) .NET
8 7 (1.58%) CSS
8 7 (1.58%) RESTful
9 6 (1.35%) Kafka
10 5 (1.13%) AngularJS
10 5 (1.13%) GraphQL
10 5 (1.13%) gRPC
11 4 (0.90%) Keycloak
11 4 (0.90%) Protocol Buffers
11 4 (0.90%) RAML
Miscellaneous
1 53 (11.94%) Product Ownership
2 45 (10.14%) Management Information System
3 30 (6.76%) Onboarding
4 27 (6.08%) Data Centre
5 26 (5.86%) Data Structures
6 16 (3.60%) Virtual Team
7 10 (2.25%) Cloud Native
7 10 (2.25%) Operational Technology
7 10 (2.25%) Self-Motivation
8 9 (2.03%) Security Posture
9 8 (1.80%) Data Protection Act
9 8 (1.80%) Hybrid Cloud
9 8 (1.80%) PMI
9 8 (1.80%) Robotics
9 8 (1.80%) SCADA
10 7 (1.58%) CCTV
10 7 (1.58%) Life Science
10 7 (1.58%) Mobile App
11 6 (1.35%) BYOD
11 6 (1.35%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 72 (16.22%) Windows
2 49 (11.04%) Linux
3 33 (7.43%) Unix
4 16 (3.60%) Windows Server
5 15 (3.38%) Apple iOS
6 11 (2.48%) Mac OS
7 10 (2.25%) Android
7 10 (2.25%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.90%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.45%) OpenVMS
9 2 (0.45%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.45%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.23%) Solaris
10 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 175 (39.41%) Computer Science
2 125 (28.15%) Agile
3 103 (23.20%) Problem-Solving
4 95 (21.40%) Continuous Improvement
5 78 (17.57%) Stakeholder Management
6 73 (16.44%) Cybersecurity
7 70 (15.77%) ITIL
8 64 (14.41%) ITSM
9 63 (14.19%) Decision-Making
10 61 (13.74%) Change Control
11 56 (12.61%) AI
12 54 (12.16%) Information Security
13 52 (11.71%) Project Management
14 51 (11.49%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 50 (11.26%) PRINCE2
16 45 (10.14%) Systems Engineering
17 39 (8.78%) CI/CD
17 39 (8.78%) Scaled Agile Framework
18 37 (8.33%) Customer Service
19 36 (8.11%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 60 (13.51%) Python
2 37 (8.33%) PowerShell
3 22 (4.95%) SQL
4 19 (4.28%) Java
5 16 (3.60%) JavaScript
6 8 (1.80%) Shell Script
7 7 (1.58%) Perl
8 5 (1.13%) Bash
8 5 (1.13%) C
8 5 (1.13%) Kotlin
9 4 (0.90%) Rust
10 3 (0.68%) C#
10 3 (0.68%) C++
10 3 (0.68%) Korn
11 2 (0.45%) Ada
11 2 (0.45%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.45%) Lua
11 2 (0.45%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.45%) R
11 2 (0.45%) X++
Qualifications
1 182 (40.99%) Security Cleared
2 109 (24.55%) SC Cleared
3 60 (13.51%) Computer Science Degree
4 26 (5.86%) PMI Certification
5 25 (5.63%) CISSP
6 23 (5.18%) PMP
7 22 (4.95%) Master's Degree
8 21 (4.73%) BPSS Clearance
8 21 (4.73%) DV Cleared
9 19 (4.28%) Cisco Certification
9 19 (4.28%) Microsoft Certification
10 14 (3.15%) CISM
11 12 (2.70%) CCNP
12 10 (2.25%) ACCA
12 10 (2.25%) Azure Certification
12 10 (2.25%) CIMA
13 9 (2.03%) CESG Certified Professional
14 8 (1.80%) AWS Certification
14 8 (1.80%) CompTIA Security+
15 6 (1.35%) (ISC)2 CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 52 (11.71%) NIST
2 51 (11.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 18 (4.05%) Data Quality
4 17 (3.83%) NCSC
5 16 (3.60%) PMO
6 13 (2.93%) GDPR
7 12 (2.70%) QA
8 9 (2.03%) SLA
9 8 (1.80%) NIST 800
9 8 (1.80%) PCI DSS
9 8 (1.80%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 7 (1.58%) Cyber Essentials
11 6 (1.35%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 5 (1.13%) Government Security Classifications
12 5 (1.13%) ISO 31000
13 4 (0.90%) Accessibility
13 4 (0.90%) GRC
14 3 (0.68%) DO-254
14 3 (0.68%) IEC 61508
14 3 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 52 (11.71%) Active Directory
2 17 (3.83%) Docker
3 13 (2.93%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (1.35%) VMware NSX
5 5 (1.13%) Firmware
6 4 (0.90%) Embedded Firmware
7 3 (0.68%) OpenAM
7 3 (0.68%) Oracle RAC
8 2 (0.45%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.23%) Citrix Hypervisor
9 1 (0.23%) UAG
9 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 15 (3.38%) Kubernetes
1 15 (3.38%) Microsoft Intune
2 10 (2.25%) Jamf Pro
2 10 (2.25%) Terraform
3 7 (1.58%) Grafana
3 7 (1.58%) Prometheus
4 6 (1.35%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 6 (1.35%) Ansible
5 5 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (0.90%) Podman
6 4 (0.90%) Puppet
7 3 (0.68%) Oracle RMAN
8 2 (0.45%) Nessus
8 2 (0.45%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 2 (0.45%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.23%) Data Guard
9 1 (0.23%) Dell DRAC
9 1 (0.23%) linkerd
9 1 (0.23%) Nmap
9 1 (0.23%) SCCM
Vendors
1 109 (24.55%) Microsoft
2 44 (9.91%) Oracle
3 33 (7.43%) ServiceNow
4 32 (7.21%) SAP
5 27 (6.08%) IBM
6 17 (3.83%) BeyondTrust
6 17 (3.83%) CyberArk
6 17 (3.83%) VMware
7 15 (3.38%) Ariba
8 13 (2.93%) Cisco
9 11 (2.48%) Salesforce
10 10 (2.25%) Google
11 9 (2.03%) Palo Alto
12 7 (1.58%) Splunk
13 6 (1.35%) CheckPoint
13 6 (1.35%) Tenable
14 5 (1.13%) Aruba
14 5 (1.13%) Dell
14 5 (1.13%) Workday
15 4 (0.90%) F5