Developer Contract Job Trends in the South East

Developer
England > South East

The median Developer daily rate in the South East is £513, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 11 June 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 18 13
Rank change year-on-year -4 -5 -2
Contract jobs requiring a Developer 412 251 532
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 6.79% 8.40% 9.26%
As % of the Job Titles category 7.42% 9.23% 10.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 284 183 394
10th Percentile £329 £350 £325
25th Percentile £413 £407 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year +7.89% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £576 £575 £563
90th Percentile £638 £625 £675
England median daily rate £515 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -1.90% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 14 26
10th Percentile £25.00 £32.94 £40.63
25th Percentile £34.01 £32.97 £48.40
Median hourly rate £38.25 £45.30 £58.91
Median % change year-on-year -15.55% -23.10% -15.85%
75th Percentile £60.00 £55.00 £75.31
90th Percentile £67.50 £70.53 £84.45
England median hourly rate £50.00 £50.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year - -23.08% -

All Contract IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the South East. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the South East with a recognized job title 5,555 2,720 5,294
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.49% 91.03% 92.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,379 1,811 3,116
10th Percentile £303 £225 £243
25th Percentile £416 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% - -
75th Percentile £613 £600 £625
90th Percentile £700 £655 £688
England median daily rate £520 £514 £525
% change year-on-year +1.17% -2.10% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 567 179 552
10th Percentile £15.72 £14.20 £12.88
25th Percentile £24.73 £16.95 £18.82
Median hourly rate £50.00 £32.05 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +56.01% -35.90% -
75th Percentile £80.15 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £80.00
England median hourly rate £45.00 £29.07 £38.50
% change year-on-year +54.80% -24.49% -14.44%

Developer
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Developer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Developer job vacancy trend in the South East

Developer
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the South East

Developer
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Developer in the South East over the 6 months to 11 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Developer in the South East

Developer
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Developer job vacancies in the South East

Developer
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Developer in the South East over the 6 months to 11 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Developer in the South East

Developer
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 Developer within the South East region over the 6 months to 11 June 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 -19 166 £525 +4.90% 45
Hampshire -6 114 £500 +5.26% 32
Buckinghamshire -1 81 £525 +10.53% 15
Berkshire -28 81 £500 -6.98% 21
Surrey +4 51 £513 +13.89% 34
West Sussex +5 41 £463 +25.85% 16
Sussex - 15 £475 - 6
East Sussex +1 12 £525 +44.83% 7
Kent +7 9 £450 -5.26% 17
Oxfordshire -29 4 £625 +72.41% 9
Home Counties - 1 - - 1
Developer
England

Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 11 June 2026, Developer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the South East region featuring Developer in the job title.

1 179 (43.45%) Security Cleared
2 152 (36.89%) SC Cleared
3 93 (22.57%) Azure
4 84 (20.39%) SQL
5 82 (19.90%) Agile
6 79 (19.17%) CI/CD
7 76 (18.45%) .NET
7 76 (18.45%) Java
8 72 (17.48%) Oracle
9 67 (16.26%) DevOps
10 60 (14.56%) Python
11 58 (14.08%) C#
12 53 (12.86%) JavaScript
12 53 (12.86%) Software Engineering
13 52 (12.62%) Git
14 48 (11.65%) Microservices
15 45 (10.92%) Full-Stack Development
15 45 (10.92%) REST
16 42 (10.19%) RESTful
17 41 (9.95%) AWS
17 41 (9.95%) React
18 40 (9.71%) Problem-Solving
19 39 (9.47%) Data Modelling
19 39 (9.47%) Scrum
20 36 (8.74%) Azure DevOps
21 35 (8.50%) Analytics
21 35 (8.50%) Business Intelligence
21 35 (8.50%) Kubernetes
21 35 (8.50%) Microsoft
21 35 (8.50%) Performance Tuning

Developer Skill Set
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 14 (3.40%) Oracle Application Server
2 8 (1.94%) Confluence
3 6 (1.46%) Apache Spark
3 6 (1.46%) CMS
4 5 (1.21%) Umbraco
5 4 (0.97%) IIS
5 4 (0.97%) Oracle Workflow
5 4 (0.97%) SharePoint
6 2 (0.49%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.49%) SAS
6 2 (0.49%) WordPress
7 1 (0.24%) Apache
7 1 (0.24%) BizTalk Server
7 1 (0.24%) Documentum
7 1 (0.24%) JBoss
7 1 (0.24%) Kentico
7 1 (0.24%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.24%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.24%) Tomcat
7 1 (0.24%) WebLogic
Applications
1 7 (1.70%) CPLEX
2 2 (0.49%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.49%) Oracle Smart View
3 1 (0.24%) Chatbot
3 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.24%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 10 (2.43%) Oracle ERP
2 9 (2.18%) Siebel CRM
3 5 (1.21%) Oracle 11i
3 5 (1.21%) Oracle EBS R12
4 2 (0.49%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.49%) ProductWriter
4 2 (0.49%) SAP HR
4 2 (0.49%) SAP PSCD
5 1 (0.24%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 93 (22.57%) Azure
2 41 (9.95%) AWS
3 36 (8.74%) Azure DevOps
4 24 (5.83%) Power Platform
5 20 (4.85%) GCP
6 19 (4.61%) Serverless
7 16 (3.88%) Dynamics 365
7 16 (3.88%) GitHub
8 14 (3.40%) OpenShift
9 11 (2.67%) Azure Functions
9 11 (2.67%) GitHub Actions
9 11 (2.67%) OCI
10 10 (2.43%) Amazon S3
10 10 (2.43%) Power Automate
11 8 (1.94%) Azure Logic Apps
12 7 (1.70%) AWS Lambda
12 7 (1.70%) Azure Service Bus
13 6 (1.46%) Google App Engine
13 6 (1.46%) Oracle CX
13 6 (1.46%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.70%) BGP
1 7 (1.70%) IPsec
1 7 (1.70%) LAN
1 7 (1.70%) MPLS
1 7 (1.70%) WAN
2 4 (0.97%) HTTPS
3 2 (0.49%) Firewall
3 2 (0.49%) Software-Defined Radio
3 2 (0.49%) Wireless
4 1 (0.24%) HTTP
4 1 (0.24%) Tactical Data Link
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (7.28%) Data Warehouse
2 29 (7.04%) Oracle Reports
2 29 (7.04%) PostgreSQL
3 26 (6.31%) SQL Server
4 20 (4.85%) NoSQL
5 19 (4.61%) Oracle ODI
6 18 (4.37%) Power BI
7 16 (3.88%) Relational Database
8 15 (3.64%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 11 (2.67%) MongoDB
10 9 (2.18%) Siebel EIM
11 8 (1.94%) DynamoDB
12 7 (1.70%) Big Data
12 7 (1.70%) Oracle Database
13 6 (1.46%) MySQL
13 6 (1.46%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 5 (1.21%) Azure SQL Database
14 5 (1.21%) GIS
15 3 (0.73%) Data Lake
15 3 (0.73%) DocumentDB
Development Applications
1 52 (12.62%) Git
2 13 (3.16%) Jenkins
3 12 (2.91%) JIRA
4 10 (2.43%) GitLab
4 10 (2.43%) Maven
4 10 (2.43%) Visual Studio
5 8 (1.94%) Gradle
5 8 (1.94%) JUnit
6 7 (1.70%) Bitbucket
6 7 (1.70%) SonarQube
7 6 (1.46%) Subversion
8 4 (0.97%) Eclipse
8 4 (0.97%) NUnit
8 4 (0.97%) Postman
8 4 (0.97%) Selenium
9 3 (0.73%) Android Studio
9 3 (0.73%) CircleCI
10 2 (0.49%) Mockito
10 2 (0.49%) SpecFlow
10 2 (0.49%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 41 (9.95%) Social Skills
2 37 (8.98%) Finance
3 28 (6.80%) Public Sector
4 18 (4.37%) Analytical Skills
5 12 (2.91%) Aerospace
6 9 (2.18%) Law
7 8 (1.94%) Manufacturing
7 8 (1.94%) Telecoms
8 7 (1.70%) Automotive
9 6 (1.46%) Billing
10 5 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (1.21%) Legal
11 2 (0.49%) Aviation
11 2 (0.49%) Presentation Skills
11 2 (0.49%) Retail
12 1 (0.24%) Advertising
12 1 (0.24%) Banking
12 1 (0.24%) Marketing
12 1 (0.24%) Organisational Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 76 (18.45%) .NET
2 45 (10.92%) REST
3 42 (10.19%) RESTful
4 41 (9.95%) React
5 28 (6.80%) Kafka
6 24 (5.83%) AngularJS
6 24 (5.83%) Spring
7 23 (5.58%) CSS
7 23 (5.58%) JSON
8 21 (5.10%) .NET Framework
9 20 (4.85%) Spring Boot
10 18 (4.37%) SOAP
11 17 (4.13%) HTML
12 15 (3.64%) Entity Framework
13 14 (3.40%) .NET Core
14 13 (3.16%) OAuth
15 12 (2.91%) ASP.NET
16 10 (2.43%) Web Services
17 9 (2.18%) Oracle Fusion
17 9 (2.18%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 20 (4.85%) Data Structures
2 18 (4.37%) Distributed Systems
3 16 (3.88%) Algorithms
3 16 (3.88%) Cloud Native
4 15 (3.64%) Product Ownership
5 12 (2.91%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (2.43%) Mobile App
7 8 (1.94%) Data Centre
8 6 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
9 5 (1.21%) Distributed Architecture
10 4 (0.97%) Onboarding
10 4 (0.97%) Virtual Team
11 3 (0.73%) CMDB
11 3 (0.73%) Legacy Code
12 2 (0.49%) Data Protection Act
12 2 (0.49%) Device Driver
12 2 (0.49%) Embedded Systems
12 2 (0.49%) FMCG
12 2 (0.49%) Management Information System
12 2 (0.49%) MicroBlaze
Operating Systems
1 14 (3.40%) Linux
2 13 (3.16%) Android
3 10 (2.43%) Windows
4 9 (2.18%) Unix
5 5 (1.21%) Apple iOS
6 2 (0.49%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 82 (19.90%) Agile
2 79 (19.17%) CI/CD
3 67 (16.26%) DevOps
4 53 (12.86%) Software Engineering
5 48 (11.65%) Microservices
6 45 (10.92%) Full-Stack Development
7 40 (9.71%) Problem-Solving
8 39 (9.47%) Data Modelling
8 39 (9.47%) Scrum
9 35 (8.50%) Analytics
9 35 (8.50%) Business Intelligence
9 35 (8.50%) Performance Tuning
10 34 (8.25%) Unit Testing
11 32 (7.77%) ETL
12 29 (7.04%) Test Automation
13 28 (6.80%) Containerisation
14 26 (6.31%) Workflow
15 24 (5.83%) Front End Development
16 22 (5.34%) TDD
17 21 (5.10%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 84 (20.39%) SQL
2 76 (18.45%) Java
3 60 (14.56%) Python
4 58 (14.08%) C#
5 53 (12.86%) JavaScript
6 21 (5.10%) Go
6 21 (5.10%) TypeScript
7 11 (2.67%) Kotlin
8 10 (2.43%) PL/SQL
9 9 (2.18%) C++
10 8 (1.94%) C
11 7 (1.70%) X++
12 6 (1.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 5 (1.21%) PHP
14 4 (0.97%) PowerShell
15 3 (0.73%) Apex Code
15 3 (0.73%) Bash
15 3 (0.73%) Shell Script
15 3 (0.73%) Swift
16 2 (0.49%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 179 (43.45%) Security Cleared
2 152 (36.89%) SC Cleared
3 27 (6.55%) DV Cleared
4 12 (2.91%) Degree
5 9 (2.18%) Computer Science Degree
6 3 (0.73%) Microsoft Certification
7 2 (0.49%) Azure Certification
7 2 (0.49%) BPSS Clearance
8 1 (0.24%) AWS Certification
8 1 (0.24%) AWS Certified Developer
8 1 (0.24%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.24%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (5.58%) QA
2 6 (1.46%) Accessibility
3 5 (1.21%) WCAG
4 4 (0.97%) GDPR
5 3 (0.73%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.49%) COBIT
6 2 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 2 (0.49%) NIST
7 1 (0.24%) GRC
System Software
1 29 (7.04%) Docker
2 6 (1.46%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.49%) Embedded Firmware
3 2 (0.49%) Firmware
3 2 (0.49%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 35 (8.50%) Kubernetes
2 11 (2.67%) Terraform
3 7 (1.70%) Argo
4 3 (0.73%) Single Sign-On
5 2 (0.49%) Grafana
5 2 (0.49%) Prometheus
5 2 (0.49%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
6 1 (0.24%) Ansible
6 1 (0.24%) Podman
Vendors
1 72 (17.48%) Oracle
2 35 (8.50%) Microsoft
3 22 (5.34%) ServiceNow
4 19 (4.61%) Siebel
5 9 (2.18%) Salesforce
6 6 (1.46%) Atlassian
6 6 (1.46%) Red Hat
6 6 (1.46%) SAP
7 5 (1.21%) Blue Prism
7 5 (1.21%) ESRI
7 5 (1.21%) Splunk
8 4 (0.97%) Ab Initio
8 4 (0.97%) Databricks
8 4 (0.97%) Google
8 4 (0.97%) Teradata
9 3 (0.73%) Informatica
10 2 (0.49%) Adobe
10 2 (0.49%) Cognos
10 2 (0.49%) HP
10 2 (0.49%) Talend