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

6 months to
14 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 28 23 14
Rank change year-on-year -5 -9 +14
Contract jobs citing Degree 372 232 502
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.32% 7.80% 9.16%
As % of the Qualifications category 13.86% 19.09% 20.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 205 128 256
10th Percentile £204 £257 £205
25th Percentile £350 £380 £362
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £494 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.21% -1.20% -
75th Percentile £575 £588 £608
90th Percentile £655 £650 £644
England median daily rate £500 £515 £511
% change year-on-year -2.91% +0.76% -5.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 67 26 84
10th Percentile £34.53 £17.50 £17.80
25th Percentile £80.25 £35.17 £26.39
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 £66.40
England median hourly rate £64.25 £53.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +20.09% +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 2,684 1,215 2,439
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 45.58% 40.85% 44.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,814 775 1,412
10th Percentile £310 £297 £329
25th Percentile £431 £425 £445
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £617 £650
90th Percentile £725 £688 £738
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 266 79 209
10th Percentile £16.35 £19.68 £17.25
25th Percentile £25.15 £28.00 £25.36
Median hourly rate £55.00 £56.75 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year -3.08% -1.05% -1.97%
75th Percentile £84.00 £72.50 £67.00
90th Percentile £89.05 £78.69 £85.65
England median hourly rate £48.50 £40.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +21.25% - -23.81%

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 14 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 14 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 14 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 -3 196 £500 +4.71% 216
Berkshire 0 127 £400 -15.79% 98
Hampshire -2 87 £550 +3.29% 128
Buckinghamshire -8 39 £582 +7.19% 60
Surrey -15 33 £208 -53.89% 62
Oxfordshire -7 30 £525 +10.53% 64
Kent +2 16 £445 +27.14% 32
West Sussex -16 13 £285 -18.57% 14
Sussex -2 4 £275 -41.02% 7
East Sussex -3 4 £600 - 16
Home Counties - 3 - -
Middlesex -3 1 £198 -73.67% 13
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 11 (2.96%) SharePoint
2 9 (2.42%) Confluence
3 5 (1.34%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.81%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 3 (0.81%) Apache Spark
4 3 (0.81%) CMS
4 3 (0.81%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.27%) Apache
5 1 (0.27%) Apache Pulsar
5 1 (0.27%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 53 (14.25%) Microsoft Office
2 43 (11.56%) Microsoft Excel
3 29 (7.80%) Microsoft Project
4 21 (5.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.81%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 12 (3.23%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (2.15%) Primavera
3 2 (0.54%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
4 1 (0.27%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.27%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.27%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.27%) SAP Hybris
4 1 (0.27%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 68 (18.28%) Azure
2 48 (12.90%) AWS
3 25 (6.72%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (5.38%) Entra ID
5 16 (4.30%) Power Platform
6 12 (3.23%) SaaS
7 11 (2.96%) GCP
8 8 (2.15%) Azure DevOps
8 8 (2.15%) GitHub
8 8 (2.15%) GitHub Actions
8 8 (2.15%) IaaS
9 6 (1.61%) PaaS
10 4 (1.08%) OneDrive
10 4 (1.08%) Power Automate
11 3 (0.81%) Lucidchart
11 3 (0.81%) Sauce Labs
12 2 (0.54%) Amazon EKS
12 2 (0.54%) PowerApps
12 2 (0.54%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
12 2 (0.54%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 32 (8.60%) Firewall
2 20 (5.38%) WAN
3 17 (4.57%) LAN
4 13 (3.49%) Wireless
5 12 (3.23%) BGP
5 12 (3.23%) DNS
5 12 (3.23%) OSPF
6 11 (2.96%) Network Security
6 11 (2.96%) TCP/IP
7 9 (2.42%) IPsec
7 9 (2.42%) Structured Cabling
8 6 (1.61%) DHCP
8 6 (1.61%) HTTP
9 4 (1.08%) RSVP
9 4 (1.08%) SSH
10 3 (0.81%) Ethernet
10 3 (0.81%) NAS
10 3 (0.81%) Radio Access Network
10 3 (0.81%) SAN
10 3 (0.81%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (4.03%) Relational Database
2 14 (3.76%) MySQL
2 14 (3.76%) Power BI
2 14 (3.76%) SQL Server
3 5 (1.34%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (1.08%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
5 3 (0.81%) Big Data
5 3 (0.81%) Oracle Database
5 3 (0.81%) Tableau
6 2 (0.54%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.54%) Hadoop
7 1 (0.27%) Amazon RDS
7 1 (0.27%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.27%) DynamoDB
7 1 (0.27%) Metadata
7 1 (0.27%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.27%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 28 (7.53%) Rational DOORS
2 18 (4.84%) JIRA
3 11 (2.96%) Burp Suite
3 11 (2.96%) Metasploit
4 7 (1.88%) CircleCI
4 7 (1.88%) Git
4 7 (1.88%) Gradle
5 6 (1.61%) GitLab
5 6 (1.61%) JUnit
6 5 (1.34%) Jenkins
7 3 (0.81%) Android Studio
7 3 (0.81%) Browser DevTools
7 3 (0.81%) Eclipse
7 3 (0.81%) Selenium
7 3 (0.81%) Xcode
8 2 (0.54%) Balsamiq
8 2 (0.54%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.54%) WebDriver
9 1 (0.27%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.27%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 133 (35.75%) Social Skills
2 61 (16.40%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (15.32%) Aerospace
4 55 (14.78%) Finance
5 37 (9.95%) Public Sector
6 23 (6.18%) Documentation Skills
7 18 (4.84%) Manufacturing
8 16 (4.30%) Organisational Skills
9 15 (4.03%) Law
10 13 (3.49%) Influencing Skills
11 12 (3.23%) Marketing
12 9 (2.42%) Legal
13 8 (2.15%) Presentation Skills
14 7 (1.88%) Retail
14 7 (1.88%) Telecoms
15 6 (1.61%) Aviation
16 5 (1.34%) Military
17 3 (0.81%) Banking
17 3 (0.81%) Billing
17 3 (0.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 46 (12.37%) Analyst
2 38 (10.22%) Senior
3 33 (8.87%) Product Manager
4 31 (8.33%) Delivery Manager
5 29 (7.80%) Project Manager
6 28 (7.53%) Product Delivery Manager
7 25 (6.72%) Lead
8 22 (5.91%) Systems Delivery Manager
8 22 (5.91%) Systems Manager
9 20 (5.38%) Technical Support
10 19 (5.11%) Architect
11 16 (4.30%) IT Manager
12 13 (3.49%) Senior Manager
13 12 (3.23%) SC Cleared Project Manager
13 12 (3.23%) Senior Analyst
14 11 (2.96%) Financial Analyst
14 11 (2.96%) Network Engineer
14 11 (2.96%) Penetration Tester
14 11 (2.96%) Technical Engineer
14 11 (2.96%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.96%) REST
2 8 (2.15%) React
2 8 (2.15%) SailPoint
2 8 (2.15%) Web Services
3 7 (1.88%) OAuth
3 7 (1.88%) RAML
4 6 (1.61%) Android Jetpack
4 6 (1.61%) LDAP
4 6 (1.61%) OAuth2
4 6 (1.61%) SAML
5 5 (1.34%) ADO
5 5 (1.34%) AngularJS
5 5 (1.34%) CSS
5 5 (1.34%) Dagger
5 5 (1.34%) GraphQL
5 5 (1.34%) Jetpack Compose
5 5 (1.34%) OkHttp
5 5 (1.34%) OpenID
5 5 (1.34%) RxJava
5 5 (1.34%) WireMock
Miscellaneous
1 41 (11.02%) Product Ownership
2 32 (8.60%) Management Information System
3 26 (6.99%) Data Centre
4 24 (6.45%) Data Structures
5 20 (5.38%) Onboarding
5 20 (5.38%) Virtual Team
6 12 (3.23%) Security Posture
7 10 (2.69%) Data Protection Act
7 10 (2.69%) PMI
8 8 (2.15%) Analytical Mindset
8 8 (2.15%) Robotics
8 8 (2.15%) Security Operations Centre
9 7 (1.88%) Legacy Code
9 7 (1.88%) Mobile App
9 7 (1.88%) Self-Motivation
10 6 (1.61%) BYOD
10 6 (1.61%) Cloud Native
11 5 (1.34%) AI Agents
11 5 (1.34%) Hybrid Cloud
11 5 (1.34%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 71 (19.09%) Windows
2 46 (12.37%) Linux
3 31 (8.33%) Unix
4 12 (3.23%) Android
4 12 (3.23%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.88%) Apple iOS
5 7 (1.88%) Windows 10
6 4 (1.08%) Mac OS
6 4 (1.08%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.54%) OpenVMS
7 2 (0.54%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 157 (42.20%) Computer Science
2 86 (23.12%) Agile
3 77 (20.70%) Continuous Improvement
4 67 (18.01%) Cybersecurity
4 67 (18.01%) Problem-Solving
5 53 (14.25%) Change Control
5 53 (14.25%) Project Management
6 52 (13.98%) PRINCE2
7 50 (13.44%) Stakeholder Management
8 46 (12.37%) Information Security
9 44 (11.83%) Systems Engineering
10 43 (11.56%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 39 (10.48%) ITSM
12 36 (9.68%) ITIL
13 35 (9.41%) AI
14 34 (9.14%) Decision-Making
15 32 (8.60%) Programme Management
15 32 (8.60%) Scaled Agile Framework
16 30 (8.06%) CI/CD
17 27 (7.26%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 45 (12.10%) Python
2 25 (6.72%) Java
3 23 (6.18%) PowerShell
4 21 (5.65%) SQL
5 18 (4.84%) JavaScript
6 13 (3.49%) Perl
7 8 (2.15%) Kotlin
8 5 (1.34%) Bash
9 4 (1.08%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.81%) C
10 3 (0.81%) C#
10 3 (0.81%) C++
10 3 (0.81%) Korn
11 2 (0.54%) Ada
11 2 (0.54%) Go
11 2 (0.54%) R
12 1 (0.27%) Bicep
12 1 (0.27%) Swift
12 1 (0.27%) Tcl
12 1 (0.27%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 172 (46.24%) Security Cleared
2 112 (30.11%) SC Cleared
3 67 (18.01%) Computer Science Degree
4 22 (5.91%) Cisco Certification
5 20 (5.38%) CISSP
6 18 (4.84%) PMI Certification
6 18 (4.84%) PMP
7 16 (4.30%) CCNP
7 16 (4.30%) DV Cleared
8 14 (3.76%) Master's Degree
9 12 (3.23%) CISM
9 12 (3.23%) CREST Certified
10 11 (2.96%) CHECK Team Member
10 11 (2.96%) CompTIA Security+
10 11 (2.96%) Cyber Scheme
10 11 (2.96%) Postgraduate
11 10 (2.69%) ACCA
11 10 (2.69%) CIMA
12 9 (2.42%) BPSS Clearance
12 9 (2.42%) CCNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (12.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 40 (10.75%) NIST
3 30 (8.06%) PMO
4 23 (6.18%) QA
5 22 (5.91%) GDPR
6 18 (4.84%) PCI DSS
7 14 (3.76%) NCSC
8 8 (2.15%) Data Quality
8 8 (2.15%) NIST 800
9 7 (1.88%) Cyber Essentials
9 7 (1.88%) SLA
10 6 (1.61%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 5 (1.34%) Government Security Classifications
11 5 (1.34%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 4 (1.08%) Accessibility
12 4 (1.08%) ISO 31000
13 3 (0.81%) DO-254
13 3 (0.81%) IEC 61508
13 3 (0.81%) ISO 26262
13 3 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 33 (8.87%) Active Directory
2 9 (2.42%) Docker
3 7 (1.88%) Firmware
4 6 (1.61%) VMware Infrastructure
5 4 (1.08%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.54%) Oracle RAC
6 2 (0.54%) 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 (2.96%) Kubernetes
1 11 (2.96%) Nmap
2 8 (2.15%) Terraform
3 6 (1.61%) Microsoft Intune
4 4 (1.08%) Ansible
4 4 (1.08%) Grafana
5 3 (0.81%) Jamf Pro
5 3 (0.81%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.81%) Single Sign-On
6 2 (0.54%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 2 (0.54%) Nessus
6 2 (0.54%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
6 2 (0.54%) Oracle RMAN
6 2 (0.54%) Puppet
6 2 (0.54%) vCenter Server
7 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.27%) Istio
7 1 (0.27%) Kubeflow
7 1 (0.27%) Nagios
7 1 (0.27%) SCCM
Vendors
1 73 (19.62%) Microsoft
2 30 (8.06%) Oracle
3 27 (7.26%) SAP
4 25 (6.72%) IBM
5 17 (4.57%) Cisco
6 13 (3.49%) Palo Alto
7 12 (3.23%) CheckPoint
7 12 (3.23%) ServiceNow
8 11 (2.96%) Aruba
9 10 (2.69%) Splunk
10 9 (2.42%) BeyondTrust
10 9 (2.42%) CyberArk
11 8 (2.15%) VMware
12 5 (1.34%) Salesforce
12 5 (1.34%) Workday
13 4 (1.08%) Ariba
13 4 (1.08%) Dell
13 4 (1.08%) Red Hat
13 4 (1.08%) Tenable
14 3 (0.81%) Adobe