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

6 months to
1 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 23 14
Rank change year-on-year -4 -9 +13
Contract jobs citing Degree 377 236 499
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.46% 7.84% 8.98%
As % of the Qualifications category 14.14% 19.31% 20.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 209 130 250
10th Percentile £204 £248 £205
25th Percentile £350 £400 £351
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £682 £650 £639
England median daily rate £500 £520 £513
% change year-on-year -3.85% +1.46% -5.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 67 26 87
10th Percentile £41.45 £17.50 £17.80
25th Percentile £80.25 £35.17 £27.12
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 £65.80
England median hourly rate £57.25 £53.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +7.01% +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 2,666 1,222 2,488
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 45.70% 40.60% 44.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,796 778 1,413
10th Percentile £306 £302 £313
25th Percentile £425 £438 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £537 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.28% -2.32% +4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £688 £735
England median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 269 83 214
10th Percentile £16.35 £20.00 £17.53
25th Percentile £22.79 £26.13 £26.92
Median hourly rate £55.00 £56.75 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year -3.08% -1.05% +0.05%
75th Percentile £84.00 £70.63 £66.94
90th Percentile £88.42 £78.13 £85.29
England median hourly rate £47.50 £45.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +5.56% +12.50% -23.51%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 0 196 £475 -0.26% 179
Berkshire +1 133 £400 -15.79% 72
Hampshire -3 90 £528 +0.48% 120
Buckinghamshire -3 38 £593 +12.42% 49
Surrey -16 35 £279 -38.06% 55
Oxfordshire -12 25 £488 +2.63% 62
Kent 0 15 £445 +27.14% 27
West Sussex -11 12 £275 -45.00% 15
Home Counties - 5 £700 -
Sussex -1 4 £275 -41.02% 7
East Sussex -2 4 £600 -14.29% 17
Middlesex -3 1 £198 -73.67% 10
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 (2.65%) SharePoint
2 8 (2.12%) 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 (14.85%) Microsoft Office
2 50 (13.26%) Microsoft Excel
3 32 (8.49%) Microsoft Project
4 23 (6.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.80%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 12 (3.18%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (2.39%) 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 61 (16.18%) Azure
2 46 (12.20%) AWS
3 21 (5.57%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (4.77%) Power Platform
5 17 (4.51%) Entra ID
6 11 (2.92%) GCP
6 11 (2.92%) SaaS
7 8 (2.12%) Azure DevOps
7 8 (2.12%) GitHub
7 8 (2.12%) GitHub Actions
8 7 (1.86%) IaaS
9 4 (1.06%) PaaS
9 4 (1.06%) Power Automate
10 3 (0.80%) Amazon EKS
10 3 (0.80%) Amazon S3
10 3 (0.80%) AWS CloudFormation
10 3 (0.80%) Lucidchart
11 2 (0.53%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 2 (0.53%) Amazon ECS
11 2 (0.53%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 31 (8.22%) Firewall
2 20 (5.31%) WAN
3 17 (4.51%) LAN
4 13 (3.45%) Network Security
4 13 (3.45%) Wireless
5 11 (2.92%) BGP
5 11 (2.92%) OSPF
6 9 (2.39%) DNS
6 9 (2.39%) IPsec
6 9 (2.39%) Structured Cabling
7 8 (2.12%) TCP/IP
8 6 (1.59%) HTTP
9 4 (1.06%) RSVP
9 4 (1.06%) 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 (4.24%) Power BI
2 15 (3.98%) Relational Database
2 15 (3.98%) SQL Server
3 14 (3.71%) MySQL
4 6 (1.59%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
4 6 (1.59%) 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 (7.43%) Rational DOORS
2 19 (5.04%) JIRA
3 11 (2.92%) Burp Suite
3 11 (2.92%) Metasploit
4 8 (2.12%) Git
5 7 (1.86%) CircleCI
5 7 (1.86%) Gradle
6 6 (1.59%) GitLab
6 6 (1.59%) 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%) MLflow
10 1 (0.27%) Postman
General
1 127 (33.69%) Social Skills
2 62 (16.45%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (15.12%) Aerospace
4 52 (13.79%) Finance
5 35 (9.28%) Public Sector
6 23 (6.10%) Documentation Skills
7 19 (5.04%) Influencing Skills
8 17 (4.51%) Organisational Skills
9 16 (4.24%) Manufacturing
10 12 (3.18%) Law
10 12 (3.18%) Marketing
11 9 (2.39%) Presentation Skills
11 9 (2.39%) Telecoms
12 7 (1.86%) Legal
13 5 (1.33%) Military
13 5 (1.33%) Retail
14 4 (1.06%) Electronics
14 4 (1.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 3 (0.80%) Aviation
15 3 (0.80%) Billing
Job Titles
1 42 (11.14%) Analyst
2 33 (8.75%) Product Manager
2 33 (8.75%) Senior
3 31 (8.22%) Delivery Manager
4 28 (7.43%) Product Delivery Manager
5 27 (7.16%) Lead
6 26 (6.90%) Project Manager
7 22 (5.84%) Systems Delivery Manager
7 22 (5.84%) Systems Manager
8 20 (5.31%) Technical Support
9 19 (5.04%) Architect
10 12 (3.18%) SC Cleared Project Manager
11 11 (2.92%) Consultant
11 11 (2.92%) IT Manager
11 11 (2.92%) Penetration Tester
11 11 (2.92%) Senior Analyst
11 11 (2.92%) Tester
12 10 (2.65%) Financial Analyst
12 10 (2.65%) Network Engineer
12 10 (2.65%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.65%) REST
2 7 (1.86%) OAuth
2 7 (1.86%) OAuth2
2 7 (1.86%) RAML
2 7 (1.86%) React
2 7 (1.86%) Web Services
3 6 (1.59%) Android Jetpack
3 6 (1.59%) LDAP
3 6 (1.59%) OpenID
3 6 (1.59%) SailPoint
3 6 (1.59%) 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 (1.06%) AngularJS
5 4 (1.06%) CSS
5 4 (1.06%) GraphQL
Miscellaneous
1 41 (10.88%) Product Ownership
2 39 (10.34%) Management Information System
3 24 (6.37%) Data Structures
4 23 (6.10%) Data Centre
5 20 (5.31%) Virtual Team
6 19 (5.04%) Onboarding
7 11 (2.92%) PMI
7 11 (2.92%) Security Posture
8 10 (2.65%) Analytical Mindset
8 10 (2.65%) Data Protection Act
9 9 (2.39%) Security Operations Centre
10 7 (1.86%) Cloud Native
10 7 (1.86%) Legacy Code
10 7 (1.86%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (1.59%) BYOD
11 6 (1.59%) Mobile App
12 5 (1.33%) CCTV
12 5 (1.33%) Cyberattack
12 5 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
12 5 (1.33%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 69 (18.30%) Windows
2 45 (11.94%) Linux
3 29 (7.69%) Unix
4 12 (3.18%) Windows Server
5 10 (2.65%) Android
6 6 (1.59%) Windows 10
7 4 (1.06%) 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
1 164 (43.50%) Computer Science
2 93 (24.67%) Agile
3 76 (20.16%) Continuous Improvement
4 69 (18.30%) Cybersecurity
5 68 (18.04%) Problem-Solving
6 56 (14.85%) PRINCE2
7 54 (14.32%) Project Management
8 49 (13.00%) Change Control
9 48 (12.73%) Information Security
10 45 (11.94%) Stakeholder Management
11 44 (11.67%) Systems Engineering
12 43 (11.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 37 (9.81%) ITIL
14 35 (9.28%) Programme Management
15 33 (8.75%) ITSM
16 32 (8.49%) Scaled Agile Framework
17 31 (8.22%) AI
18 28 (7.43%) CI/CD
18 28 (7.43%) Configuration Management
18 28 (7.43%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 44 (11.67%) Python
2 24 (6.37%) Java
3 22 (5.84%) SQL
4 21 (5.57%) PowerShell
5 18 (4.77%) JavaScript
6 13 (3.45%) Perl
7 8 (2.12%) Kotlin
8 6 (1.59%) Bash
9 4 (1.06%) 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%) Bicep
12 1 (0.27%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 1 (0.27%) Swift
12 1 (0.27%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 176 (46.68%) Security Cleared
2 117 (31.03%) SC Cleared
3 70 (18.57%) Computer Science Degree
4 19 (5.04%) Cisco Certification
4 19 (5.04%) CISSP
4 19 (5.04%) PMI Certification
4 19 (5.04%) PMP
5 17 (4.51%) DV Cleared
6 16 (4.24%) Master's Degree
7 15 (3.98%) CCNP
8 13 (3.45%) CREST Certified
9 11 (2.92%) CHECK Team Member
9 11 (2.92%) CompTIA Security+
9 11 (2.92%) Cyber Scheme
9 11 (2.92%) Postgraduate
10 10 (2.65%) BPSS Clearance
10 10 (2.65%) CISM
11 9 (2.39%) ACCA
11 9 (2.39%) CCNA
11 9 (2.39%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 47 (12.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 39 (10.34%) NIST
3 33 (8.75%) PMO
4 24 (6.37%) QA
5 22 (5.84%) GDPR
6 18 (4.77%) PCI DSS
7 15 (3.98%) NCSC
8 8 (2.12%) Data Quality
8 8 (2.12%) NIST 800
9 7 (1.86%) SLA
10 6 (1.59%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 5 (1.33%) Accessibility
11 5 (1.33%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (1.33%) Government Security Classifications
11 5 (1.33%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 3 (0.80%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.80%) DO-254
12 3 (0.80%) IEC 61508
12 3 (0.80%) ISO 26262
12 3 (0.80%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 31 (8.22%) Active Directory
2 10 (2.65%) Docker
3 7 (1.86%) Firmware
4 6 (1.59%) VMware Infrastructure
5 4 (1.06%) 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 (2.92%) Kubernetes
1 11 (2.92%) Nmap
2 9 (2.39%) 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%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
6 1 (0.27%) Kubeflow
6 1 (0.27%) linkerd
6 1 (0.27%) Podman
Vendors
1 73 (19.36%) Microsoft
2 28 (7.43%) SAP
3 26 (6.90%) Oracle
4 25 (6.63%) IBM
5 17 (4.51%) Cisco
6 13 (3.45%) Palo Alto
7 12 (3.18%) CheckPoint
8 11 (2.92%) Aruba
9 10 (2.65%) BeyondTrust
9 10 (2.65%) CyberArk
9 10 (2.65%) Splunk
10 9 (2.39%) ServiceNow
11 8 (2.12%) VMware
12 4 (1.06%) Red Hat
12 4 (1.06%) Tenable
13 3 (0.80%) Adobe
13 3 (0.80%) Cadence
13 3 (0.80%) Dell
13 3 (0.80%) Salesforce
13 3 (0.80%) Siemens