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 10 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 13 7
Rank change year-on-year +2 -6 +18
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 475 376 633
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 10.97% 10.99% 12.75%
As % of the Qualifications category 24.83% 29.08% 28.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 352 260 445
10th Percentile £463 £371 £207
25th Percentile £500 £480 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year - - +3.60%
75th Percentile £675 £656 £640
90th Percentile £738 £725 £738
England median daily rate £588 £586 £600
% change year-on-year +0.21% -2.29% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 18 52
10th Percentile £52.55 £52.95 £48.40
25th Percentile £65.56 £56.65 £55.99
Median hourly rate £70.00 £62.32 £63.29
Median % change year-on-year +12.32% -1.53% -2.63%
75th Percentile £121.77 £65.62 £72.33
90th Percentile - £78.23 £78.00
England median hourly rate £45.00 £63.15 £63.91
% change year-on-year -28.74% -1.18% -7.05%

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 1,913 1,293 2,211
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 44.19% 37.80% 44.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,273 850 1,314
10th Percentile £272 £260 £213
25th Percentile £413 £408 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% +0.70%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £700 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 191 70 134
10th Percentile £15.62 £19.90 £27.50
25th Percentile £19.38 £28.06 £50.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £45.06 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -44.19% -24.90% +33.33%
75th Percentile £60.00 £63.48 £70.50
90th Percentile £90.09 £75.04 £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 10 January 2026.

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 10 January 2026.

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 10 January 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
Hampshire 0 326 £600 +4.35% 79
Thames Valley -11 136 £525 -6.25% 22
Buckinghamshire +9 79 £550 +27.91% 6
Berkshire -42 56 £500 -20.00% 13
Middlesex - 5 - -
Surrey - 4 £525 - 9
Oxfordshire -12 1 - - 3
West Sussex - 1 £570 - 2
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 18 (3.79%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (1.26%) Exchange Server 2003
3 6 (1.26%) Exchange Server 2007
3 6 (1.26%) Exchange Server 2010
3 6 (1.26%) Exchange Server 2013
3 6 (1.26%) Office Communications Server
3 6 (1.26%) SharePoint Server
3 6 (1.26%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.84%) Apache
5 3 (0.63%) Documentum
6 2 (0.42%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.21%) CMS
Applications
1 21 (4.42%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (2.95%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.89%) Microsoft Project
4 8 (1.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.42%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 14 (2.95%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.47%) SAP EWM
2 7 (1.47%) SAP WM
3 6 (1.26%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 4 (0.84%) Primavera
5 2 (0.42%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.42%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.42%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.42%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 1 (0.21%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 24 (5.05%) Azure
2 17 (3.58%) AWS
3 12 (2.53%) Entra ID
3 12 (2.53%) Microsoft 365
4 11 (2.32%) PaaS
5 10 (2.11%) IaaS
6 7 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
6 7 (1.47%) GitHub
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
9 2 (0.42%) SaaS
10 1 (0.21%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 39 (8.21%) Firewall
2 24 (5.05%) Cisco IOS
2 24 (5.05%) Junos
2 24 (5.05%) VPN
3 20 (4.21%) Cisco Firepower
3 20 (4.21%) Cisco ISE
4 19 (4.00%) DNS
5 13 (2.74%) SAN
6 12 (2.53%) WAN
7 11 (2.32%) BGP
7 11 (2.32%) LAN
8 9 (1.89%) MPLS
8 9 (1.89%) TCP/IP
9 7 (1.47%) DHCP
10 6 (1.26%) DDNS
10 6 (1.26%) iSCSI
10 6 (1.26%) NX-OS
11 5 (1.05%) Network Security
11 5 (1.05%) OSPF
12 4 (0.84%) S/MIME
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 9 (1.89%) GitLab
1 9 (1.89%) JIRA
2 7 (1.47%) Git
3 4 (0.84%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.84%) Robot Framework
3 4 (0.84%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.42%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.21%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 1 (0.21%) MSI
5 1 (0.21%) Selenium
5 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 105 (22.11%) Social Skills
2 53 (11.16%) Public Sector
3 30 (6.32%) Analytical Skills
4 29 (6.11%) Finance
5 18 (3.79%) Military
6 17 (3.58%) Presentation Skills
7 12 (2.53%) Law
8 8 (1.68%) Manufacturing
9 7 (1.47%) Documentation Skills
9 7 (1.47%) Legal
10 2 (0.42%) Aerospace
11 1 (0.21%) Environmental Health
11 1 (0.21%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.21%) Marketing
11 1 (0.21%) Organisational Skills
11 1 (0.21%) Pharmaceutical
11 1 (0.21%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 120 (25.26%) Architect
2 42 (8.84%) Network Engineer
3 38 (8.00%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
4 34 (7.16%) 3rd Line Engineer
4 34 (7.16%) Lead
5 32 (6.74%) Senior
6 30 (6.32%) Support Engineer
7 29 (6.11%) Infrastructure Architect
8 27 (5.68%) Cloud Engineer
9 25 (5.26%) Consultant
10 24 (5.05%) 3rd Line Network Engineer
10 24 (5.05%) Cloud Network Engineer
11 23 (4.84%) Analyst
12 22 (4.63%) Project Manager
13 21 (4.42%) Tester
14 20 (4.21%) 3rd Line Support
14 20 (4.21%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
15 18 (3.79%) DV Cleared Project Manager
16 16 (3.37%) DevOps Engineer
17 15 (3.16%) Network Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.05%) REST
1 5 (1.05%) RESTful
1 5 (1.05%) SailPoint
2 4 (0.84%) BAPI
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
3 2 (0.42%) Oracle Fusion
4 1 (0.21%) Django
4 1 (0.21%) Elastic Stack
4 1 (0.21%) FastAPI
4 1 (0.21%) gRPC
4 1 (0.21%) Kafka
4 1 (0.21%) Keycloak
4 1 (0.21%) OAuth
4 1 (0.21%) OAuth2
4 1 (0.21%) OpenAPI
4 1 (0.21%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 51 (10.74%) PKI
2 12 (2.53%) Product Ownership
3 11 (2.32%) Fat Client
3 11 (2.32%) Thin Client
4 10 (2.11%) Security Operations Centre
5 9 (1.89%) Replication
6 8 (1.68%) Data Centre
7 6 (1.26%) Greenfield Project
8 5 (1.05%) Analytical Mindset
8 5 (1.05%) Cyber Threat
8 5 (1.05%) Freedom of Information Act
8 5 (1.05%) PMI
9 4 (0.84%) Algorithms
9 4 (0.84%) Freedom of Information
9 4 (0.84%) Legacy Systems
9 4 (0.84%) Onboarding
9 4 (0.84%) Smartcard
10 3 (0.63%) CSOC
10 3 (0.63%) Cyberattack
10 3 (0.63%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 116 (24.42%) Windows
2 57 (12.00%) Linux
3 34 (7.16%) Windows Server
4 14 (2.95%) Windows 10
5 11 (2.32%) Windows 7
6 6 (1.26%) Windows Server 2003
7 5 (1.05%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 5 (1.05%) Unix
7 5 (1.05%) Windows Server 2019
8 3 (0.63%) Debian
8 3 (0.63%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 126 (26.53%) Agile
2 41 (8.63%) ITIL
3 39 (8.21%) DevOps
3 39 (8.21%) Problem-Solving
4 35 (7.37%) Project Management
5 34 (7.16%) CI/CD
5 34 (7.16%) Service Management
5 34 (7.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 33 (6.95%) Stakeholder Management
7 29 (6.11%) ITSM
8 23 (4.84%) Cybersecurity
9 21 (4.42%) Continuous Improvement
10 20 (4.21%) Enterprise Architecture
10 20 (4.21%) Migration
11 19 (4.00%) Risk Management
11 19 (4.00%) Roadmaps
11 19 (4.00%) Scrum
12 18 (3.79%) Decision-Making
12 18 (3.79%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 18 (3.79%) Prototyping
Programming Languages
1 46 (9.68%) PowerShell
2 35 (7.37%) Python
3 15 (3.16%) SQL
4 9 (1.89%) Java
5 7 (1.47%) Bash
5 7 (1.47%) JavaScript
6 4 (0.84%) ABAP
7 3 (0.63%) Go
8 2 (0.42%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.21%) Bicep
9 1 (0.21%) C
9 1 (0.21%) C#
9 1 (0.21%) C++
9 1 (0.21%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.21%) Rust
Qualifications
1 475 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 80 (16.84%) SC Cleared
3 14 (2.95%) Degree
4 8 (1.68%) CISSP
5 7 (1.47%) CCNP
5 7 (1.47%) Cisco Certification
5 7 (1.47%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 6 (1.26%) CCNA
6 6 (1.26%) CISM
6 6 (1.26%) JNCIS
6 6 (1.26%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (1.05%) PMI Certification
7 5 (1.05%) PMP
8 4 (0.84%) GIAC
8 4 (0.84%) MCSE
8 4 (0.84%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
9 3 (0.63%) CompTIA Security+
9 3 (0.63%) Computer Science Degree
9 3 (0.63%) ISTQB
9 3 (0.63%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (4.00%) NIST
2 15 (3.16%) PMO
3 12 (2.53%) GDPR
3 12 (2.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 11 (2.32%) SLA
5 10 (2.11%) GRC
6 6 (1.26%) QA
7 5 (1.05%) NCSC
8 4 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 4 (0.84%) JSP 440
8 4 (0.84%) P3O
9 2 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.42%) COBIT
9 2 (0.42%) Data Quality
9 2 (0.42%) GMP
10 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27005
10 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 1 (0.21%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.21%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 53 (11.16%) Active Directory
2 27 (5.68%) VMware NSX
3 23 (4.84%) VMware Infrastructure
4 12 (2.53%) VMware ESXi
5 10 (2.11%) vSphere
6 8 (1.68%) Docker
7 6 (1.26%) Brightmail
7 6 (1.26%) ISA Server
7 6 (1.26%) NFS
7 6 (1.26%) vCloud
8 4 (0.84%) Firmware
9 2 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.21%) UAG
Systems Management
1 31 (6.53%) vCenter Server
2 19 (4.00%) Ansible
3 15 (3.16%) WMI
4 14 (2.95%) Terraform
5 9 (1.89%) Kubernetes
6 8 (1.68%) SCCM
7 7 (1.47%) Microsoft Clustering
8 6 (1.26%) Proxmox
8 6 (1.26%) SCOM
8 6 (1.26%) vRealize
9 5 (1.05%) Forefront Identity Manager
9 5 (1.05%) Microsoft Intune
9 5 (1.05%) NetIQ Identity Manager
9 5 (1.05%) Podman
10 4 (0.84%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.63%) Grafana
11 3 (0.63%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.63%) Rundeck
11 3 (0.63%) Salt
11 3 (0.63%) vRealize Orchestrator
Vendors
1 69 (14.53%) Microsoft
1 69 (14.53%) VMware
2 48 (10.11%) Cisco
3 39 (8.21%) Juniper
4 23 (4.84%) SAP
4 23 (4.84%) SolarWinds
5 12 (2.53%) Splunk
6 9 (1.89%) Red Hat
7 7 (1.47%) NetApp
7 7 (1.47%) Palo Alto
7 7 (1.47%) Sparx
8 6 (1.26%) NetIQ
8 6 (1.26%) Thales
9 5 (1.05%) Aruba
9 5 (1.05%) Broadcom
9 5 (1.05%) F5
9 5 (1.05%) Nokia
9 5 (1.05%) ServiceNow
9 5 (1.05%) Veeam
9 5 (1.05%) Zscaler