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 4 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 25 14
Rank change year-on-year +3 -11 +10
Contract jobs citing Degree 478 236 441
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 7.22% 6.77% 8.88%
As % of the Qualifications category 15.95% 16.68% 19.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 243 136 241
10th Percentile £191 £245 £205
25th Percentile £317 £376 £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 £713 £650 £638
England median daily rate £500 £500 £515
% change year-on-year - -2.91% -3.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 114 34 77
10th Percentile £26.54 £22.42 £18.35
25th Percentile £36.44 £34.48 £41.00
Median hourly rate £79.96 £62.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +28.96% +8.11% -2.64%
75th Percentile £85.50 £75.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £88.00 £88.86 £74.25
England median hourly rate £52.00 £42.50 £57.35
% change year-on-year +22.35% -25.89% +9.24%

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 2,997 1,415 2,233
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 45.25% 40.58% 44.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,019 918 1,380
10th Percentile £325 £250 £350
25th Percentile £460 £413 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £630 £600 £638
90th Percentile £725 £663 £725
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 328 116 185
10th Percentile £18.95 £18.87 £17.88
25th Percentile £37.09 £19.56 £30.41
Median hourly rate £66.50 £28.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +137.50% -51.18% -4.42%
75th Percentile £85.00 £68.79 £70.39
90th Percentile £88.00 £82.00 £87.46
England median hourly rate £55.00 £25.15 £46.18
% change year-on-year +118.69% -45.54% -16.04%

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 4 August 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 4 August 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 4 August 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 +4 262 £525 +16.67% 259
Berkshire +9 154 £525 +10.53% 132
Hampshire -2 110 £550 +10.00% 137
Oxfordshire +1 58 £465 +3.33% 70
Surrey -2 56 £310 -3.13% 95
Buckinghamshire -4 50 £565 +8.92% 59
West Sussex -26 14 £400 +38.41% 20
Kent +13 13 £411 -3.30% 30
Sussex -1 4 £275 - 5
East Sussex 0 2 £461 - 26
Middlesex - 2 £334 - 5
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 (5.02%) SharePoint
2 15 (3.14%) Confluence
3 7 (1.46%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.84%) FactoryTalk
5 2 (0.42%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.21%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
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 66 (13.81%) Microsoft Office
2 50 (10.46%) Microsoft Excel
3 32 (6.69%) Microsoft Project
4 25 (5.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (1.05%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.21%) CATIA
6 1 (0.21%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.21%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (2.30%) 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
Cloud Services
1 106 (22.18%) Azure
2 52 (10.88%) AWS
3 46 (9.62%) Entra ID
4 39 (8.16%) Microsoft 365
5 23 (4.81%) Power Platform
6 19 (3.97%) GCP
6 19 (3.97%) SaaS
7 17 (3.56%) Azure DevOps
8 12 (2.51%) OneDrive
9 9 (1.88%) Serverless
10 7 (1.46%) IaaS
10 7 (1.46%) Power Automate
11 5 (1.05%) GitHub
11 5 (1.05%) PowerApps
11 5 (1.05%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
12 4 (0.84%) Azure Functions
12 4 (0.84%) Azure Logic Apps
12 4 (0.84%) Dynamics 365
12 4 (0.84%) PaaS
12 4 (0.84%) Smartsheet
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.65%) TCP/IP
2 24 (5.02%) Firewall
3 23 (4.81%) DNS
4 18 (3.77%) DHCP
4 18 (3.77%) Network Security
5 10 (2.09%) LAN
6 9 (1.88%) SSH
6 9 (1.88%) VPN
6 9 (1.88%) WAN
7 7 (1.46%) VLAN
8 6 (1.26%) BGP
8 6 (1.26%) HTTP
8 6 (1.26%) OSPF
9 4 (0.84%) Cisco Nexus
9 4 (0.84%) IPsec
9 4 (0.84%) MQTT
9 4 (0.84%) RSVP
9 4 (0.84%) SD-WAN
10 3 (0.63%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
10 3 (0.63%) Radio Access Network
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (4.39%) Power BI
2 20 (4.18%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.67%) Relational Database
4 7 (1.46%) MySQL
5 6 (1.26%) PostgreSQL
6 5 (1.05%) Metadata
6 5 (1.05%) Tableau
7 4 (0.84%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (0.84%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.63%) Oracle Database
9 2 (0.42%) Big Data
9 2 (0.42%) Hadoop
10 1 (0.21%) BigQuery
10 1 (0.21%) Data Mining
10 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database 10g
10 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database 11g
10 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database 12c
10 1 (0.21%) SQLite
10 1 (0.21%) Tableau Server
10 1 (0.21%) Text Mining
Development Applications
1 32 (6.69%) Rational DOORS
2 27 (5.65%) JIRA
3 11 (2.30%) Git
4 9 (1.88%) GitLab
5 4 (0.84%) Gradle
5 4 (0.84%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.84%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.63%) Android Studio
6 3 (0.63%) Browser DevTools
6 3 (0.63%) CircleCI
6 3 (0.63%) Eclipse
6 3 (0.63%) JUnit
6 3 (0.63%) Xcode
7 2 (0.42%) Balsamiq
7 2 (0.42%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.21%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.21%) MSI
8 1 (0.21%) Octopus Deploy
8 1 (0.21%) TestNG
8 1 (0.21%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 203 (42.47%) Social Skills
2 99 (20.71%) Analytical Skills
3 70 (14.64%) Aerospace
4 67 (14.02%) Finance
5 61 (12.76%) Public Sector
6 28 (5.86%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (5.02%) Manufacturing
8 23 (4.81%) Organisational Skills
9 18 (3.77%) Marketing
10 16 (3.35%) Military
11 15 (3.14%) Influencing Skills
12 14 (2.93%) Law
12 14 (2.93%) Presentation Skills
13 13 (2.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 12 (2.51%) Telecoms
15 9 (1.88%) French Language
15 9 (1.88%) Legal
16 8 (1.67%) Games
16 8 (1.67%) Pharmaceutical
17 7 (1.46%) Retail
Job Titles
1 64 (13.39%) Analyst
2 56 (11.72%) Senior
3 41 (8.58%) Lead
4 35 (7.32%) Product Manager
5 31 (6.49%) Delivery Manager
5 31 (6.49%) Product Delivery Manager
6 28 (5.86%) IT Manager
7 25 (5.23%) Architect
8 24 (5.02%) Senior Manager
9 23 (4.81%) Project Manager
9 23 (4.81%) Systems Manager
10 22 (4.60%) Systems Delivery Manager
11 18 (3.77%) IT Support
12 17 (3.56%) Business Analyst
13 16 (3.35%) Senior IT Manager
14 15 (3.14%) Category Manager
14 15 (3.14%) Data Analyst
14 15 (3.14%) IT Services Manager
14 15 (3.14%) Senior Category Manager
14 15 (3.14%) Senior Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (4.39%) OAuth
2 20 (4.18%) OpenID
3 19 (3.97%) LDAP
3 19 (3.97%) SAML
4 17 (3.56%) SailPoint
5 15 (3.14%) Oracle Fusion
6 14 (2.93%) OAuth2
7 13 (2.72%) Web Services
8 9 (1.88%) .NET
8 9 (1.88%) React
9 8 (1.67%) CSS
9 8 (1.67%) REST
9 8 (1.67%) RESTful
10 6 (1.26%) Middleware
11 5 (1.05%) AngularJS
11 5 (1.05%) GraphQL
11 5 (1.05%) gRPC
11 5 (1.05%) HTML
11 5 (1.05%) Kafka
12 4 (0.84%) Keycloak
Miscellaneous
1 60 (12.55%) Product Ownership
2 57 (11.92%) Management Information System
3 36 (7.53%) Onboarding
4 28 (5.86%) Data Structures
5 25 (5.23%) Data Centre
6 14 (2.93%) Operational Technology
6 14 (2.93%) Self-Motivation
6 14 (2.93%) Virtual Team
7 13 (2.72%) Hybrid Cloud
8 11 (2.30%) Life Science
8 11 (2.30%) SCADA
9 10 (2.09%) Cloud Native
9 10 (2.09%) PMI
10 9 (1.88%) Security Posture
11 8 (1.67%) Animation
11 8 (1.67%) Graphic Design
11 8 (1.67%) Interactive Media
11 8 (1.67%) Robotics
12 7 (1.46%) CCTV
12 7 (1.46%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 73 (15.27%) Windows
2 51 (10.67%) Linux
3 32 (6.69%) Unix
4 24 (5.02%) Windows Server
5 14 (2.93%) Apple iOS
6 11 (2.30%) Mac OS
7 10 (2.09%) Android
8 9 (1.88%) Windows 10
9 4 (0.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.42%) OpenVMS
10 2 (0.42%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.42%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.21%) Solaris
11 1 (0.21%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 188 (39.33%) Computer Science
2 136 (28.45%) Agile
3 113 (23.64%) Continuous Improvement
4 105 (21.97%) Problem-Solving
5 95 (19.87%) Stakeholder Management
6 82 (17.15%) ITIL
7 81 (16.95%) Cybersecurity
8 76 (15.90%) ITSM
9 66 (13.81%) Project Management
10 65 (13.60%) Change Control
11 63 (13.18%) PRINCE2
12 62 (12.97%) Decision-Making
13 58 (12.13%) Information Security
14 55 (11.51%) AI
15 51 (10.67%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 49 (10.25%) Systems Engineering
17 43 (9.00%) Roadmaps
18 42 (8.79%) CI/CD
18 42 (8.79%) Scaled Agile Framework
19 41 (8.58%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 65 (13.60%) Python
2 50 (10.46%) PowerShell
3 21 (4.39%) SQL
4 17 (3.56%) Java
5 15 (3.14%) JavaScript
6 9 (1.88%) Bash
7 8 (1.67%) Shell Script
8 6 (1.26%) C#
9 5 (1.05%) C
9 5 (1.05%) Kotlin
9 5 (1.05%) Perl
10 4 (0.84%) Bicep
10 4 (0.84%) Rust
11 3 (0.63%) Apex Code
11 3 (0.63%) C++
11 3 (0.63%) Korn
11 3 (0.63%) Lua
11 3 (0.63%) X++
12 2 (0.42%) Ada
12 2 (0.42%) R
Qualifications
1 201 (42.05%) Security Cleared
2 118 (24.69%) SC Cleared
3 60 (12.55%) Computer Science Degree
4 30 (6.28%) PMI Certification
5 28 (5.86%) DV Cleared
6 26 (5.44%) CISSP
6 26 (5.44%) Microsoft Certification
6 26 (5.44%) PMP
7 22 (4.60%) BPSS Clearance
8 20 (4.18%) Master's Degree
9 18 (3.77%) Cisco Certification
10 14 (2.93%) Azure Certification
10 14 (2.93%) CISM
11 11 (2.30%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 10 (2.09%) ACCA
12 10 (2.09%) CCNP
12 10 (2.09%) CIMA
13 9 (1.88%) CESG Certified Professional
14 8 (1.67%) AWS Certification
15 6 (1.26%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 57 (11.92%) NIST
2 56 (11.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 21 (4.39%) Data Quality
4 17 (3.56%) NCSC
4 17 (3.56%) PMO
5 14 (2.93%) GDPR
6 13 (2.72%) QA
7 8 (1.67%) NIST 800
7 8 (1.67%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 8 (1.67%) SLA
8 7 (1.46%) Cyber Essentials
8 7 (1.46%) PCI DSS
9 6 (1.26%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 5 (1.05%) Government Security Classifications
10 5 (1.05%) GxP
10 5 (1.05%) ISO 31000
11 4 (0.84%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 4 (0.84%) DO-254
11 4 (0.84%) IEC 61508
11 4 (0.84%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 62 (12.97%) Active Directory
2 17 (3.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (3.35%) Docker
4 6 (1.26%) VMware NSX
5 5 (1.05%) Firmware
6 4 (0.84%) Embedded Firmware
7 3 (0.63%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.63%) OpenAM
7 3 (0.63%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.21%) Citrix Hypervisor
8 1 (0.21%) UAG
8 1 (0.21%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 18 (3.77%) Microsoft Intune
2 15 (3.14%) Kubernetes
3 11 (2.30%) Terraform
4 10 (2.09%) Ansible
4 10 (2.09%) Jamf Pro
5 8 (1.67%) Single Sign-On
6 6 (1.26%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 6 (1.26%) Grafana
6 6 (1.26%) Prometheus
7 4 (0.84%) Podman
7 4 (0.84%) Puppet
7 4 (0.84%) SCCM
8 3 (0.63%) Oracle RMAN
9 2 (0.42%) Nessus
9 2 (0.42%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 2 (0.42%) vCenter Server
10 1 (0.21%) Argo
10 1 (0.21%) CASB
10 1 (0.21%) Istio
10 1 (0.21%) Nmap
Vendors
1 128 (26.78%) Microsoft
2 44 (9.21%) Oracle
3 36 (7.53%) ServiceNow
4 30 (6.28%) SAP
5 29 (6.07%) IBM
6 22 (4.60%) VMware
7 18 (3.77%) BeyondTrust
7 18 (3.77%) CyberArk
8 15 (3.14%) Ariba
9 14 (2.93%) Salesforce
10 10 (2.09%) Cisco
10 10 (2.09%) Google
11 7 (1.46%) Palo Alto
12 6 (1.26%) Tenable
13 5 (1.05%) Dell
13 5 (1.05%) Workday
14 4 (0.84%) CheckPoint
14 4 (0.84%) NVIDIA
14 4 (0.84%) Red Hat
14 4 (0.84%) Rockwell