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

6 months to
4 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 30 27 15
Rank change year-on-year -3 -12 +12
Contract jobs citing Degree 282 214 471
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.10% 6.77% 8.59%
As % of the Qualifications category 13.80% 18.04% 19.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 160 120 290
10th Percentile £204 £187 £169
25th Percentile £329 £312 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £573 £588 £600
90th Percentile £654 £685 £667
England median daily rate £500 £525 £520
% change year-on-year -4.76% +0.96% -5.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 9 48
10th Percentile £20.79 £18.44 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.32 £31.25 £29.68
Median hourly rate £29.61 £42.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -30.33% -22.73% +22.22%
75th Percentile £80.25 £61.76 £67.14
90th Percentile £81.30 £78.71 £72.33
England median hourly rate £35.00 £42.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year -17.65% +6.25% -6.98%

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 2,043 1,186 2,401
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 44.19% 37.51% 43.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,372 745 1,387
10th Percentile £280 £258 £213
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% -0.47%
75th Percentile £600 £630 £638
90th Percentile £722 £688 £700
England median daily rate £520 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 195 68 169
10th Percentile £15.25 £19.12 £19.25
25th Percentile £19.22 £31.25 £42.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £57.00 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -55.88% -5.00% +33.33%
75th Percentile £60.00 £64.73 £70.50
90th Percentile £90.09 £77.54 £83.17
England median hourly rate £25.15 £46.18 £46.18
% change year-on-year -45.54% - +2.62%

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 February 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 February 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 February 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 +1 132 £445 -4.04% 192
Berkshire -3 97 £425 -5.56% 84
Hampshire +16 71 £510 -2.86% 126
Surrey -14 32 £500 - 88
Buckinghamshire +15 30 £445 +22.76% 51
West Sussex -2 16 £385 -23.00% 28
Kent -3 12 £445 +22.76% 29
East Sussex -2 7 £565 -9.60% 14
Oxfordshire -17 5 £494 -17.71% 57
Isle of Wight - 4 - - 3
Home Counties - 4 £700 -
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 17 (6.03%) Confluence
2 13 (4.61%) SharePoint
3 6 (2.13%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (1.42%) GeoServer
4 4 (1.42%) Smallworld
5 3 (1.06%) Apache
5 3 (1.06%) Apache Spark
5 3 (1.06%) MS Project Server
6 2 (0.71%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 2 (0.71%) CMS
6 2 (0.71%) Palantir Foundry
7 1 (0.35%) Apache Pulsar
7 1 (0.35%) SharePoint Server
7 1 (0.35%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 51 (18.09%) Microsoft Excel
1 51 (18.09%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (12.77%) Microsoft Project
3 20 (7.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (2.48%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.71%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.35%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 10 (3.55%) Primavera
2 5 (1.77%) SAP ERP
3 3 (1.06%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.71%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.35%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.35%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle EBS R12
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.35%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.35%) SAP Hybris
5 1 (0.35%) SAP WM
5 1 (0.35%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.35%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 42 (14.89%) Azure
2 30 (10.64%) AWS
3 18 (6.38%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (5.67%) Power Platform
5 10 (3.55%) GitHub
5 10 (3.55%) GitHub Actions
6 9 (3.19%) GCP
7 6 (2.13%) Entra ID
7 6 (2.13%) SaaS
8 5 (1.77%) Azure DevOps
8 5 (1.77%) IaaS
9 3 (1.06%) Amazon EKS
9 3 (1.06%) Amazon S3
9 3 (1.06%) AWS CloudFormation
9 3 (1.06%) PowerApps
10 2 (0.71%) Amazon EC2
10 2 (0.71%) Amazon ECS
10 2 (0.71%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (0.71%) PaaS
10 2 (0.71%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 23 (8.16%) Firewall
2 14 (4.96%) WAN
2 14 (4.96%) Wireless
3 11 (3.90%) LAN
3 11 (3.90%) Network Security
4 9 (3.19%) BGP
4 9 (3.19%) OSPF
5 8 (2.84%) IPsec
5 8 (2.84%) Structured Cabling
6 7 (2.48%) Unified Communications
7 6 (2.13%) DNS
8 4 (1.42%) TCP/IP
8 4 (1.42%) WebEx
9 3 (1.06%) HTTP
9 3 (1.06%) VoIP
9 3 (1.06%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.71%) Internet
11 1 (0.35%) EIGRP
11 1 (0.35%) Intranet
11 1 (0.35%) MGCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (5.32%) Relational Database
2 14 (4.96%) Power BI
3 11 (3.90%) MySQL
4 8 (2.84%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (2.13%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
5 6 (2.13%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (2.13%) NoSQL
6 5 (1.77%) Apache Cassandra
6 5 (1.77%) Big Data
6 5 (1.77%) Couchbase
6 5 (1.77%) Metadata
7 4 (1.42%) Geospatial Data
7 4 (1.42%) GIS
7 4 (1.42%) QGIS
7 4 (1.42%) SQL Server
8 3 (1.06%) Tableau
9 2 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.71%) Hadoop
9 2 (0.71%) Oracle Reports
10 1 (0.35%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 23 (8.16%) JIRA
2 12 (4.26%) Burp Suite
3 11 (3.90%) Git
4 10 (3.55%) Metasploit
5 7 (2.48%) GitLab
6 6 (2.13%) Jenkins
7 4 (1.42%) CircleCI
7 4 (1.42%) Selenium
7 4 (1.42%) Visual Studio
8 3 (1.06%) Gradle
8 3 (1.06%) JUnit
9 2 (0.71%) Cypress.io
9 2 (0.71%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.35%) Appium
10 1 (0.35%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.35%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.35%) HP UFT
10 1 (0.35%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.35%) Subversion
10 1 (0.35%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 135 (47.87%) Social Skills
2 72 (25.53%) Analytical Skills
3 42 (14.89%) Finance
4 21 (7.45%) Manufacturing
5 15 (5.32%) Public Sector
6 14 (4.96%) Influencing Skills
7 11 (3.90%) Legal
7 11 (3.90%) Organisational Skills
8 10 (3.55%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (3.19%) Marketing
10 8 (2.84%) Law
11 6 (2.13%) Aerospace
11 6 (2.13%) Retail
12 5 (1.77%) Military
13 4 (1.42%) Advertising
13 4 (1.42%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (1.42%) Telecoms
14 3 (1.06%) Banking
14 3 (1.06%) Billing
14 3 (1.06%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 38 (13.48%) Analyst
2 27 (9.57%) Senior
3 22 (7.80%) Project Manager
4 19 (6.74%) Developer
5 14 (4.96%) Lead
5 14 (4.96%) Technical Support
6 13 (4.61%) Project Planner
7 12 (4.26%) Penetration Tester
7 12 (4.26%) Tester
8 11 (3.90%) Architect
9 9 (3.19%) SC Cleared Project Manager
10 8 (2.84%) IT Analyst
10 8 (2.84%) IT Manager
10 8 (2.84%) Network Engineer
11 7 (2.48%) Trainer
12 6 (2.13%) Business Analyst
12 6 (2.13%) Cisco Engineer
12 6 (2.13%) Finance Manager
12 6 (2.13%) Principal Engineer
13 5 (1.77%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (3.90%) REST
2 7 (2.48%) Kafka
3 6 (2.13%) HTML
4 5 (1.77%) RabbitMQ
5 4 (1.42%) CSS
5 4 (1.42%) RAML
6 3 (1.06%) Android Jetpack
6 3 (1.06%) Dagger
6 3 (1.06%) Jetpack Compose
6 3 (1.06%) OkHttp
6 3 (1.06%) Pandas
6 3 (1.06%) RxJava
6 3 (1.06%) scikit-learn
6 3 (1.06%) Web Services
6 3 (1.06%) WireMock
7 2 (0.71%) .NET
7 2 (0.71%) Node.js
7 2 (0.71%) NumPy
7 2 (0.71%) OAuth
7 2 (0.71%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 27 (9.57%) Management Information System
2 16 (5.67%) Data Centre
3 14 (4.96%) Analytical Mindset
4 11 (3.90%) Security Posture
4 11 (3.90%) Self-Motivation
4 11 (3.90%) Virtual Team
5 10 (3.55%) Security Operations Centre
6 9 (3.19%) Driving Licence
7 8 (2.84%) Data Protection Act
8 7 (2.48%) PMI
9 6 (2.13%) Product Ownership
10 5 (1.77%) Cloud Native
10 5 (1.77%) Handset
10 5 (1.77%) Legacy Systems
11 4 (1.42%) Algorithms
11 4 (1.42%) Cyberattack
11 4 (1.42%) Digital Media
11 4 (1.42%) Legacy Code
11 4 (1.42%) Video Conferencing
12 3 (1.06%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 48 (17.02%) Windows
2 27 (9.57%) Linux
3 12 (4.26%) Unix
4 7 (2.48%) Windows 10
5 4 (1.42%) Android
6 3 (1.06%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.71%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.71%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.71%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.35%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (34.04%) Computer Science
2 77 (27.30%) Problem-Solving
3 63 (22.34%) Agile
4 45 (15.96%) Project Management
5 42 (14.89%) Cybersecurity
6 41 (14.54%) Stakeholder Management
7 34 (12.06%) PRINCE2
8 26 (9.22%) Continuous Improvement
8 26 (9.22%) Information Security
8 26 (9.22%) ITIL
8 26 (9.22%) Line Management
9 24 (8.51%) AI
10 23 (8.16%) Decision-Making
10 23 (8.16%) DevOps
10 23 (8.16%) Migration
11 22 (7.80%) Project Delivery
12 21 (7.45%) Analytics
12 21 (7.45%) Business Intelligence
12 21 (7.45%) Change Management
13 18 (6.38%) Penetration Testing
Programming Languages
1 37 (13.12%) Python
2 26 (9.22%) SQL
3 21 (7.45%) Java
4 17 (6.03%) JavaScript
5 11 (3.90%) Perl
6 5 (1.77%) C#
6 5 (1.77%) Go
6 5 (1.77%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.42%) C
7 4 (1.42%) Shell Script
8 3 (1.06%) Kotlin
9 2 (0.71%) Ada
9 2 (0.71%) Assembly Language
9 2 (0.71%) Bash
9 2 (0.71%) C++
9 2 (0.71%) MATLAB
9 2 (0.71%) R
10 1 (0.35%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.35%) VB
10 1 (0.35%) X++
Qualifications
1 89 (31.56%) Security Cleared
2 77 (27.30%) SC Cleared
3 75 (26.60%) Computer Science Degree
4 27 (9.57%) Master's Degree
5 19 (6.74%) CISSP
5 19 (6.74%) PMI Certification
5 19 (6.74%) PMP
6 15 (5.32%) DV Cleared
7 14 (4.96%) Cisco Certification
7 14 (4.96%) CREST Certified
8 12 (4.26%) CCNP
9 11 (3.90%) Postgraduate
10 10 (3.55%) CHECK Team Member
10 10 (3.55%) CISM
10 10 (3.55%) Cyber Scheme
11 9 (3.19%) CCNA
11 9 (3.19%) PhD
12 6 (2.13%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (2.13%) CompTIA Security+
12 6 (2.13%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (14.54%) PMO
2 23 (8.16%) QA
3 22 (7.80%) GDPR
4 20 (7.09%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 14 (4.96%) PCI DSS
6 12 (4.26%) NIST
7 9 (3.19%) Data Quality
7 9 (3.19%) SLA
8 4 (1.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 3 (1.06%) Accessibility
9 3 (1.06%) Actionable Recommendations
9 3 (1.06%) HIPAA
9 3 (1.06%) NCSC
9 3 (1.06%) P3O
10 2 (0.71%) ISO 9001
10 2 (0.71%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 2 (0.71%) RMADS
11 1 (0.35%) GxP
11 1 (0.35%) ISO 20022
11 1 (0.35%) JSP 440
System Software
1 10 (3.55%) Active Directory
1 10 (3.55%) Docker
2 6 (2.13%) Firmware
3 1 (0.35%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.35%) VMware NSX
3 1 (0.35%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (4.26%) Kubernetes
1 12 (4.26%) Nmap
2 7 (2.48%) Terraform
3 5 (1.77%) Ansible
4 3 (1.06%) Grafana
4 3 (1.06%) Puppet
5 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Intune
5 2 (0.71%) SCCM
6 1 (0.35%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.35%) HP ALM
6 1 (0.35%) Istio
6 1 (0.35%) Kubeflow
6 1 (0.35%) linkerd
6 1 (0.35%) Nagios
6 1 (0.35%) Nessus
6 1 (0.35%) Podman
6 1 (0.35%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.35%) SCOM
6 1 (0.35%) vRealize
6 1 (0.35%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 59 (20.92%) Microsoft
2 24 (8.51%) SAP
3 18 (6.38%) Oracle
4 15 (5.32%) Cisco
5 10 (3.55%) Palo Alto
5 10 (3.55%) ServiceNow
6 9 (3.19%) Aruba
6 9 (3.19%) CheckPoint
6 9 (3.19%) Splunk
7 7 (2.48%) PayPal
8 6 (2.13%) Atlassian
9 5 (1.77%) EMC
10 4 (1.42%) Cellebrite
10 4 (1.42%) ESRI
10 4 (1.42%) Google
10 4 (1.42%) Informatica
10 4 (1.42%) Intergraph
11 3 (1.06%) HP
11 3 (1.06%) Salesforce
11 3 (1.06%) Snow