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

6 months to
8 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 29 26 15
Rank change year-on-year -3 -11 +12
Contract jobs citing Degree 282 215 470
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.06% 6.81% 8.53%
As % of the Qualifications category 13.53% 18.20% 19.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 163 119 287
10th Percentile £204 £188 £176
25th Percentile £346 £315 £263
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £603
90th Percentile £653 £686 £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 £28.00 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.32 £41.25 £29.68
Median hourly rate £29.61 £42.88 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -30.95% -22.04% +22.22%
75th Percentile £80.25 £78.36 £67.14
90th Percentile £81.30 £81.49 £72.33
England median hourly rate £35.00 £46.18 £40.00
% change year-on-year -24.21% +15.45% -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 2,085 1,181 2,411
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 44.77% 37.40% 43.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,406 736 1,396
10th Percentile £282 £262 £215
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -
75th Percentile £600 £630 £638
90th Percentile £721 £688 £700
England median daily rate £520 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -0.95% -3.67% -0.91%
Number of hourly rates quoted 199 68 170
10th Percentile £15.25 £19.59 £18.93
25th Percentile £19.05 £31.25 £42.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £58.69 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -57.15% -2.19% +33.33%
75th Percentile £57.50 £64.95 £70.37
90th Percentile £90.09 £78.88 £83.14
England median hourly rate £25.15 £50.00 £46.18
% change year-on-year -49.70% +8.27% +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 8 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 8 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 8 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 +3 133 £446 -3.83% 203
Berkshire 0 98 £425 -5.56% 90
Hampshire +17 75 £523 -0.48% 140
Buckinghamshire +17 30 £445 +22.76% 53
Surrey -19 29 £500 - 89
West Sussex -10 14 £385 -23.00% 31
Kent -5 12 £445 -1.11% 25
East Sussex -2 7 £565 -9.60% 12
Oxfordshire -15 5 £494 -29.46% 60
Isle of Wight - 4 - - 2
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 52 (18.44%) Microsoft Excel
1 52 (18.44%) 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 46 (16.31%) Azure
2 32 (11.35%) AWS
3 19 (6.74%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (5.67%) Power Platform
5 12 (4.26%) GCP
6 10 (3.55%) GitHub
6 10 (3.55%) GitHub Actions
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%) Power Automate
9 3 (1.06%) PowerApps
10 2 (0.71%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 2 (0.71%) Amazon EC2
10 2 (0.71%) PaaS
10 2 (0.71%) Virtual Private Cloud
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%) MGCP
11 1 (0.35%) SCCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.96%) Power BI
1 14 (4.96%) Relational Database
2 10 (3.55%) MySQL
3 8 (2.84%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (2.13%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
4 6 (2.13%) Data Warehouse
4 6 (2.13%) NoSQL
5 5 (1.77%) Apache Cassandra
5 5 (1.77%) Big Data
5 5 (1.77%) Couchbase
5 5 (1.77%) Metadata
6 4 (1.42%) Geospatial Data
6 4 (1.42%) GIS
6 4 (1.42%) QGIS
6 4 (1.42%) SQL Server
7 3 (1.06%) Tableau
8 2 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.71%) Hadoop
8 2 (0.71%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.35%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 23 (8.16%) JIRA
2 13 (4.61%) Git
3 12 (4.26%) Burp Suite
4 10 (3.55%) Metasploit
5 8 (2.84%) GitLab
6 7 (2.48%) 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%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.35%) Katalon Studio
10 1 (0.35%) MLflow
10 1 (0.35%) Postman
10 1 (0.35%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.35%) XCTest
10 1 (0.35%) XCUITest
General
1 134 (47.52%) Social Skills
2 70 (24.82%) Analytical Skills
3 38 (13.48%) Finance
4 21 (7.45%) Manufacturing
5 15 (5.32%) Public Sector
6 14 (4.96%) Influencing Skills
7 11 (3.90%) Organisational Skills
8 10 (3.55%) Documentation Skills
9 9 (3.19%) Marketing
10 7 (2.48%) Law
10 7 (2.48%) Legal
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 39 (13.83%) Analyst
2 27 (9.57%) Senior
3 22 (7.80%) Project Manager
4 20 (7.09%) Developer
5 15 (5.32%) Lead
6 13 (4.61%) Project Planner
6 13 (4.61%) Technical Support
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%) 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
12 6 (2.13%) Security Analyst
12 6 (2.13%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (3.90%) REST
2 7 (2.48%) Kafka
3 5 (1.77%) HTML
3 5 (1.77%) RabbitMQ
4 4 (1.42%) RAML
4 4 (1.42%) React
5 3 (1.06%) Android Jetpack
5 3 (1.06%) CSS
5 3 (1.06%) Dagger
5 3 (1.06%) Jetpack Compose
5 3 (1.06%) OkHttp
5 3 (1.06%) Pandas
5 3 (1.06%) RxJava
5 3 (1.06%) scikit-learn
5 3 (1.06%) Web Services
5 3 (1.06%) WireMock
6 2 (0.71%) .NET
6 2 (0.71%) OAuth
6 2 (0.71%) OAuth2
6 2 (0.71%) Unity (Game Engine)
Miscellaneous
1 23 (8.16%) Management Information System
2 16 (5.67%) Data Centre
3 11 (3.90%) Security Posture
3 11 (3.90%) Self-Motivation
3 11 (3.90%) Virtual Team
4 10 (3.55%) Analytical Mindset
4 10 (3.55%) Security Operations Centre
5 9 (3.19%) Data Protection Act
5 9 (3.19%) Driving Licence
6 7 (2.48%) PMI
7 6 (2.13%) Product Ownership
8 5 (1.77%) Algorithms
8 5 (1.77%) Cloud Native
8 5 (1.77%) Handset
8 5 (1.77%) Legacy Systems
9 4 (1.42%) Cyberattack
9 4 (1.42%) Digital Media
9 4 (1.42%) Legacy Code
9 4 (1.42%) Video Conferencing
10 3 (1.06%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 47 (16.67%) Windows
2 26 (9.22%) Linux
3 11 (3.90%) 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 99 (35.11%) Computer Science
2 77 (27.30%) Problem-Solving
3 64 (22.70%) Agile
4 46 (16.31%) Project Management
5 41 (14.54%) Cybersecurity
6 38 (13.48%) Stakeholder Management
7 34 (12.06%) PRINCE2
8 26 (9.22%) Continuous Improvement
8 26 (9.22%) Information Security
9 25 (8.87%) AI
10 24 (8.51%) DevOps
11 23 (8.16%) Decision-Making
11 23 (8.16%) Migration
12 22 (7.80%) ITIL
12 22 (7.80%) Line Management
12 22 (7.80%) Project Delivery
13 21 (7.45%) Analytics
13 21 (7.45%) Business Intelligence
13 21 (7.45%) Change Management
14 19 (6.74%) Customer Service
Programming Languages
1 38 (13.48%) Python
2 25 (8.87%) SQL
3 21 (7.45%) Java
4 18 (6.38%) JavaScript
5 10 (3.55%) Perl
6 6 (2.13%) Go
7 5 (1.77%) C#
7 5 (1.77%) PowerShell
8 4 (1.42%) C
8 4 (1.42%) Shell Script
9 3 (1.06%) Kotlin
10 2 (0.71%) Ada
10 2 (0.71%) Assembly Language
10 2 (0.71%) Bash
10 2 (0.71%) C++
10 2 (0.71%) MATLAB
10 2 (0.71%) R
10 2 (0.71%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.35%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.35%) Swift
Qualifications
1 92 (32.62%) Security Cleared
2 80 (28.37%) SC Cleared
3 77 (27.30%) Computer Science Degree
4 28 (9.93%) Master's Degree
5 19 (6.74%) CISSP
6 15 (5.32%) DV Cleared
6 15 (5.32%) PMI Certification
6 15 (5.32%) PMP
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 21 (7.45%) 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
8 5 (1.77%) SLA
9 4 (1.42%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (1.06%) Accessibility
10 3 (1.06%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (1.06%) HIPAA
10 3 (1.06%) NCSC
10 3 (1.06%) P3O
11 2 (0.71%) ISO 9001
11 2 (0.71%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 2 (0.71%) RMADS
12 1 (0.35%) Def Stans
12 1 (0.35%) GxP
12 1 (0.35%) ISO 20022
System Software
1 13 (4.61%) Docker
2 10 (3.55%) Active Directory
3 6 (2.13%) Firmware
4 1 (0.35%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.35%) VMware NSX
4 1 (0.35%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 14 (4.96%) Kubernetes
2 12 (4.26%) Nmap
3 9 (3.19%) Terraform
4 5 (1.77%) Ansible
5 4 (1.42%) Grafana
6 3 (1.06%) Puppet
7 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Intune
7 2 (0.71%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.71%) SCCM
8 1 (0.35%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.35%) HP ALM
8 1 (0.35%) Istio
8 1 (0.35%) Kubeflow
8 1 (0.35%) linkerd
8 1 (0.35%) Nagios
8 1 (0.35%) Nessus
8 1 (0.35%) Podman
8 1 (0.35%) SCOM
8 1 (0.35%) vRealize
8 1 (0.35%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 60 (21.28%) Microsoft
2 24 (8.51%) SAP
3 17 (6.03%) 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
9 5 (1.77%) Google
10 4 (1.42%) Cellebrite
10 4 (1.42%) ESRI
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