DV Cleared Contract Job Trends in the South East

Developed Vetting (DV) Clearance
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for DV Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 28 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 11 11 7
Rank change year-on-year 0 -4 +19
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 475 409 635
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 10.76% 11.30% 12.69%
As % of the Qualifications category 24.54% 29.53% 28.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 359 285 437
10th Percentile £463 £385 £205
25th Percentile £500 £476 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £575 £563
Median % change year-on-year - +2.22% +2.18%
75th Percentile £665 £656 £638
90th Percentile £738 £738 £713
England median daily rate £600 £588 £600
% change year-on-year +2.13% -2.08% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 20 54
10th Percentile £52.55 £54.90 £48.40
25th Percentile £65.56 £58.22 £56.02
Median hourly rate £70.00 £62.43 £63.29
Median % change year-on-year +12.13% -1.36% +1.26%
75th Percentile £121.77 £65.62 £71.87
90th Percentile - £75.99 £78.00
England median hourly rate £45.00 £63.15 £64.45
% change year-on-year -28.74% -2.02% -4.87%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

DV Cleared 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 1,936 1,385 2,203
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 43.84% 38.25% 44.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,289 920 1,317
10th Percentile £270 £263 £213
25th Percentile £416 £408 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% +0.47%
75th Percentile £600 £636 £638
90th Percentile £702 £700 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 197 78 137
10th Percentile £15.70 £20.07 £27.50
25th Percentile £18.87 £31.25 £50.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £56.75 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -55.68% -5.43% +33.33%
75th Percentile £60.00 £64.73 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.09 £75.00 £78.00
England median hourly rate £25.15 £46.18 £51.89
% change year-on-year -45.54% -11.00% +15.31%

DV Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing DV Cleared relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

DV Cleared job vacancy trend in the South East

DV Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing DV Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing DV Cleared

DV Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing DV Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 28 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for DV Cleared in the South East

DV Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing DV Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing DV Cleared

DV Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing DV Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 28 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for DV Cleared in the South East

DV Cleared
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 DV Cleared within the South East region over the 6 months to 28 December 2025. 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
Hampshire +1 342 £600 +2.56% 74
Thames Valley -17 120 £543 -3.13% 32
Buckinghamshire +3 65 £550 +27.91% 15
Berkshire -42 54 £513 -18.00% 15
Middlesex - 5 - -
Surrey - 4 £525 - 10
Oxfordshire -11 1 - - 2
West Sussex - 1 £570 -
DV Cleared
England

DV Cleared
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 20 (4.21%) SharePoint
2 16 (3.37%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (1.47%) Exchange Server 2003
3 7 (1.47%) Exchange Server 2007
3 7 (1.47%) Exchange Server 2010
3 7 (1.47%) Exchange Server 2013
3 7 (1.47%) Office Communications Server
3 7 (1.47%) SharePoint Server
3 7 (1.47%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.84%) Apache
5 3 (0.63%) Documentum
6 1 (0.21%) CMS
Applications
1 19 (4.00%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (2.74%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.68%) Microsoft Project
4 7 (1.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.21%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 14 (2.95%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.47%) SAP EWM
2 7 (1.47%) SAP WM
3 5 (1.05%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 4 (0.84%) Primavera
5 1 (0.21%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 24 (5.05%) Azure
2 17 (3.58%) AWS
3 11 (2.32%) Entra ID
4 10 (2.11%) Microsoft 365
5 8 (1.68%) PaaS
6 7 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
6 7 (1.47%) GitHub
6 7 (1.47%) IaaS
7 4 (0.84%) GCP
8 3 (0.63%) GitHub Actions
8 3 (0.63%) Serverless
9 2 (0.42%) AWS CloudFormation
9 2 (0.42%) Google Workspace
9 2 (0.42%) Microsoft Purview
9 2 (0.42%) OneDrive
9 2 (0.42%) OpenShift
9 2 (0.42%) Power Platform
9 2 (0.42%) PowerApps
10 1 (0.21%) Amazon ELB
10 1 (0.21%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 34 (7.16%) Firewall
2 25 (5.26%) Cisco IOS
2 25 (5.26%) Junos
3 22 (4.63%) VPN
4 21 (4.42%) Cisco Firepower
4 21 (4.42%) Cisco ISE
5 20 (4.21%) DNS
6 16 (3.37%) LAN
7 14 (2.95%) SAN
8 10 (2.11%) WAN
9 9 (1.89%) BGP
9 9 (1.89%) iSCSI
9 9 (1.89%) MPLS
10 8 (1.68%) DHCP
10 8 (1.68%) TCP/IP
11 7 (1.47%) DDNS
11 7 (1.47%) Fibre Channel
12 5 (1.05%) OSPF
13 4 (0.84%) IPsec
13 4 (0.84%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.84%) SAP HANA
2 3 (0.63%) SAP Data Services
3 2 (0.42%) Power BI
3 2 (0.42%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.21%) Azure SQL Database
4 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database
4 1 (0.21%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.21%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Analysis Services
4 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 11 (2.32%) GitLab
2 10 (2.11%) JIRA
3 9 (1.89%) Git
4 7 (1.47%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.63%) Robot Framework
5 3 (0.63%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.42%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.21%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.21%) MSI
7 1 (0.21%) Selenium
7 1 (0.21%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 98 (20.63%) Social Skills
2 53 (11.16%) Public Sector
3 28 (5.89%) Analytical Skills
3 28 (5.89%) Finance
4 16 (3.37%) Military
5 15 (3.16%) Presentation Skills
6 11 (2.32%) Law
7 9 (1.89%) Manufacturing
8 6 (1.26%) Documentation Skills
8 6 (1.26%) Legal
9 2 (0.42%) Aerospace
9 2 (0.42%) Influencing Skills
9 2 (0.42%) Telecoms
10 1 (0.21%) Environmental Health
10 1 (0.21%) Marketing
10 1 (0.21%) Organisational Skills
10 1 (0.21%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 131 (27.58%) Architect
2 41 (8.63%) Network Engineer
3 38 (8.00%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
4 35 (7.37%) 3rd Line Engineer
5 32 (6.74%) Infrastructure Architect
6 31 (6.53%) Lead
7 30 (6.32%) Support Engineer
8 29 (6.11%) Consultant
8 29 (6.11%) Senior
9 27 (5.68%) Cloud Engineer
10 24 (5.05%) 3rd Line Network Engineer
10 24 (5.05%) Cloud Network Engineer
11 22 (4.63%) Analyst
11 22 (4.63%) Project Manager
12 21 (4.42%) 3rd Line Support
12 21 (4.42%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
13 20 (4.21%) Solutions Architect
13 20 (4.21%) Tester
14 19 (4.00%) VMware Architect
15 17 (3.58%) DV Cleared Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.05%) RESTful
2 4 (0.84%) BAPI
2 4 (0.84%) REST
2 4 (0.84%) SailPoint
2 4 (0.84%) SAP Smart Forms
2 4 (0.84%) Swagger
2 4 (0.84%) Web Services
3 2 (0.42%) .NET
3 2 (0.42%) Apache NiFi
4 1 (0.21%) Elastic Stack
4 1 (0.21%) FastAPI
4 1 (0.21%) Flask
4 1 (0.21%) gRPC
4 1 (0.21%) Kafka
4 1 (0.21%) Keycloak
4 1 (0.21%) OAuth2
4 1 (0.21%) OpenAPI
4 1 (0.21%) OpenID
4 1 (0.21%) SOAP
4 1 (0.21%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 49 (10.32%) PKI
2 10 (2.11%) Fat Client
2 10 (2.11%) Replication
2 10 (2.11%) Thin Client
3 9 (1.89%) Security Operations Centre
4 6 (1.26%) Greenfield Project
4 6 (1.26%) PMI
4 6 (1.26%) Product Ownership
5 5 (1.05%) Analytical Mindset
5 5 (1.05%) Cyber Threat
5 5 (1.05%) Freedom of Information Act
6 4 (0.84%) Data Centre
6 4 (0.84%) Freedom of Information
6 4 (0.84%) Legacy Systems
6 4 (0.84%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (0.63%) Algorithms
7 3 (0.63%) Cyberattack
7 3 (0.63%) Data Protection Act
7 3 (0.63%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (0.63%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 112 (23.58%) Windows
2 57 (12.00%) Linux
3 35 (7.37%) Windows Server
4 14 (2.95%) Windows 10
5 10 (2.11%) Windows 7
6 8 (1.68%) Windows Server 2019
7 7 (1.47%) Windows Server 2003
8 5 (1.05%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 5 (1.05%) Unix
9 3 (0.63%) Debian
9 3 (0.63%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 125 (26.32%) Agile
2 39 (8.21%) ITIL
3 38 (8.00%) Problem-Solving
4 37 (7.79%) DevOps
5 35 (7.37%) CI/CD
6 34 (7.16%) Project Management
7 33 (6.95%) Stakeholder Management
8 32 (6.74%) Service Management
9 30 (6.32%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 28 (5.89%) ITSM
11 22 (4.63%) Migration
12 20 (4.21%) Cybersecurity
12 20 (4.21%) Risk Management
12 20 (4.21%) Scrum
13 18 (3.79%) Continuous Improvement
13 18 (3.79%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 17 (3.58%) PRINCE2
14 17 (3.58%) Project Delivery
15 16 (3.37%) Decision-Making
15 16 (3.37%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 44 (9.26%) PowerShell
2 34 (7.16%) Python
3 18 (3.79%) Java
3 18 (3.79%) SQL
4 7 (1.47%) Bash
4 7 (1.47%) JavaScript
5 4 (0.84%) ABAP
6 3 (0.63%) Go
7 2 (0.42%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.21%) Bicep
8 1 (0.21%) C
8 1 (0.21%) C#
8 1 (0.21%) C++
8 1 (0.21%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.21%) Rust
8 1 (0.21%) VB
Qualifications
1 475 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 72 (15.16%) SC Cleared
3 13 (2.74%) Degree
4 9 (1.89%) Microsoft Certification
5 7 (1.47%) CISSP
5 7 (1.47%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
5 7 (1.47%) MCSE
6 6 (1.26%) CCNP
6 6 (1.26%) Cisco Certification
6 6 (1.26%) PMI Certification
7 5 (1.05%) CCNA
7 5 (1.05%) CISM
7 5 (1.05%) JNCIS
8 4 (0.84%) PMP
8 4 (0.84%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 4 (0.84%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 3 (0.63%) ISTQB
9 3 (0.63%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 3 (0.63%) VCP5
9 3 (0.63%) VCP6
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (4.42%) NIST
2 14 (2.95%) PMO
3 12 (2.53%) GDPR
4 11 (2.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 10 (2.11%) SLA
6 9 (1.89%) GRC
7 5 (1.05%) NCSC
7 5 (1.05%) QA
8 4 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 4 (0.84%) JSP 440
8 4 (0.84%) P3O
9 3 (0.63%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.42%) COBIT
10 2 (0.42%) Data Quality
10 2 (0.42%) GMP
11 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.21%) RMADS
System Software
1 51 (10.74%) Active Directory
2 25 (5.26%) VMware Infrastructure
2 25 (5.26%) VMware NSX
3 16 (3.37%) VMware ESXi
4 14 (2.95%) vSphere
5 9 (1.89%) NFS
6 8 (1.68%) Docker
7 7 (1.47%) Brightmail
7 7 (1.47%) ISA Server
8 4 (0.84%) Firmware
9 3 (0.63%) vCloud
10 2 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.21%) UAG
Systems Management
1 30 (6.32%) vCenter Server
2 19 (4.00%) Ansible
3 14 (2.95%) Terraform
4 13 (2.74%) WMI
5 9 (1.89%) Kubernetes
6 8 (1.68%) Microsoft Clustering
6 8 (1.68%) SCCM
7 6 (1.26%) Proxmox
7 6 (1.26%) SCOM
7 6 (1.26%) vRealize
8 5 (1.05%) Podman
9 4 (0.84%) Forefront Identity Manager
9 4 (0.84%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.84%) NetIQ Identity Manager
10 3 (0.63%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.63%) Puppet
10 3 (0.63%) Rundeck
10 3 (0.63%) Salt
10 3 (0.63%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.63%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 71 (14.95%) VMware
2 67 (14.11%) Microsoft
3 48 (10.11%) Cisco
4 43 (9.05%) Juniper
5 23 (4.84%) SAP
6 22 (4.63%) SolarWinds
7 15 (3.16%) Splunk
8 10 (2.11%) NetApp
9 9 (1.89%) Red Hat
10 8 (1.68%) Veeam
11 6 (1.26%) Sparx
12 5 (1.05%) Broadcom
12 5 (1.05%) NetIQ
12 5 (1.05%) Nokia
12 5 (1.05%) Palo Alto
12 5 (1.05%) Thales
12 5 (1.05%) Zscaler
13 4 (0.84%) BiZZdesign
13 4 (0.84%) ServiceNow
14 3 (0.63%) Aruba