SC Cleared Contract Job Trends in the South East

Security Check (SC) Clearance
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for SC Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 21 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 3 5 5
Rank change year-on-year +2 0 -1
Contract jobs citing SC Cleared 893 571 803
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 20.47% 15.47% 16.10%
As % of the Qualifications category 47.27% 40.32% 36.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 610 415 567
10th Percentile £255 £278 £358
25th Percentile £407 £401 £465
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £540 £550
Median % change year-on-year -7.41% -1.82% +4.76%
75th Percentile £559 £630 £639
90th Percentile £660 £697 £700
England median daily rate £525 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -0.94% -3.64% -2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 136 32 62
10th Percentile - £22.85 £25.20
25th Percentile £18.87 £30.19 £52.27
Median hourly rate £25.15 £57.81 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -56.50% -3.65% -
75th Percentile £48.75 £64.57 £66.25
90th Percentile £90.09 £79.93 £76.53
England median hourly rate £25.15 £53.51 £59.50
% change year-on-year -53.00% -10.08% -1.65%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

SC 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 1,889 1,416 2,183
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 43.30% 38.37% 43.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,254 941 1,303
10th Percentile £264 £263 £213
25th Percentile £413 £408 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -
75th Percentile £600 £638 £638
90th Percentile £688 £700 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 193 77 139
10th Percentile £17.19 £20.80 £27.40
25th Percentile £18.87 £31.25 £49.84
Median hourly rate £25.15 £56.75 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -55.68% -5.43% +33.33%
75th Percentile £60.25 £64.73 £70.00
90th Percentile £90.09 £75.00 £78.00
England median hourly rate £25.15 £46.71 £52.50
% change year-on-year -46.16% -11.02% +16.67%

SC Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

SC Cleared job vacancy trend in the South East

SC Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

SC Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SC Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for SC Cleared in the South East

SC Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

SC Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SC Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for SC Cleared in the South East

SC 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 SC Cleared within the South East region over the 6 months to 21 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
Thames Valley +1 480 £481 -10.05% 71
Berkshire +3 338 £475 -18.52% 47
Hampshire -1 315 £525 -1.41% 81
Buckinghamshire +2 98 £522 +7.36% 17
Surrey +28 52 £550 -15.38% 16
Oxfordshire +4 44 £275 -56.00% 8
West Sussex +7 23 £519 -28.48% 2
Kent +10 11 £440 +144.44% 9
Home Counties - 2 £872 -
East Sussex +5 1 £450 -18.18%
Sussex -4 1 £525 +21.39%
Isle of Wight - 1 £81 -
Middlesex - 1 - -
SC Cleared
England

SC 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 16 (1.79%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (1.23%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.34%) Confluence
3 3 (0.34%) IIS
4 2 (0.22%) Apache
4 2 (0.22%) CMS
5 1 (0.11%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.11%) Drupal
5 1 (0.11%) Exchange Server 2010
5 1 (0.11%) Exchange Server 2013
5 1 (0.11%) MS Project Server
5 1 (0.11%) NetWeaver
5 1 (0.11%) Red Hat Fuse
5 1 (0.11%) SAP EP
5 1 (0.11%) SAS
5 1 (0.11%) Skype for Business
5 1 (0.11%) WordPress
Applications
1 32 (3.58%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (3.02%) Microsoft Excel
3 19 (2.13%) Microsoft Project
4 9 (1.01%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.22%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.11%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 21 (2.35%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 20 (2.24%) SAP S/4HANA
3 8 (0.90%) SAP HCM
3 8 (0.90%) SAP HR
3 8 (0.90%) SAP Payroll
4 5 (0.56%) Salesforce CRM
5 3 (0.34%) SAP ERP
5 3 (0.34%) SAP EWM
5 3 (0.34%) SAP WM
6 2 (0.22%) SAP PS
7 1 (0.11%) assyst
7 1 (0.11%) Dynamics CRM
7 1 (0.11%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.11%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.11%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.11%) SAP CRM
7 1 (0.11%) SAP MM
7 1 (0.11%) SAP PSCD
7 1 (0.11%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 152 (17.02%) Azure
2 141 (15.79%) AWS
3 66 (7.39%) GCP
4 45 (5.04%) Microsoft 365
5 36 (4.03%) OpenShift
6 23 (2.58%) Entra ID
7 21 (2.35%) GitHub
8 17 (1.90%) Power Platform
9 15 (1.68%) OneDrive
10 14 (1.57%) GitHub Actions
11 12 (1.34%) Amazon EKS
11 12 (1.34%) Cloud Computing
12 9 (1.01%) SaaS
13 8 (0.90%) Amazon ECR
13 8 (0.90%) Azure DevOps
14 7 (0.78%) Google Ads
15 6 (0.67%) AWS CloudFormation
15 6 (0.67%) IaaS
15 6 (0.67%) Power Automate
16 4 (0.45%) Azure Storage
Communications & Networking
1 51 (5.71%) Firewall
2 40 (4.48%) DNS
3 30 (3.36%) DHCP
3 30 (3.36%) Network Security
4 25 (2.80%) TCP/IP
4 25 (2.80%) WAN
5 22 (2.46%) LAN
6 19 (2.13%) BGP
6 19 (2.13%) OSPF
7 17 (1.90%) VLAN
7 17 (1.90%) VPN
8 16 (1.79%) Wireless
9 15 (1.68%) SAN
10 11 (1.23%) Wi-Fi
11 9 (1.01%) 4G
12 8 (0.90%) IPsec
12 8 (0.90%) Structured Cabling
12 8 (0.90%) Unified Communications
13 7 (0.78%) Intrusion Detection
14 6 (0.67%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (1.68%) SQL Server
2 14 (1.57%) PostgreSQL
2 14 (1.57%) Power BI
3 8 (0.90%) MongoDB
3 8 (0.90%) NoSQL
4 7 (0.78%) Redis
5 5 (0.56%) Oracle Reports
6 4 (0.45%) MySQL
6 4 (0.45%) Relational Database
7 3 (0.34%) Azure SQL Database
7 3 (0.34%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.34%) SAP HANA
8 2 (0.22%) Metadata
8 2 (0.22%) SAP BW
9 1 (0.11%) Amazon Aurora
9 1 (0.11%) Amazon RDS
Development Applications
1 33 (3.70%) JIRA
2 32 (3.58%) GitLab
3 29 (3.25%) Jenkins
4 14 (1.57%) Burp Suite
4 14 (1.57%) Git
4 14 (1.57%) Metasploit
5 7 (0.78%) Artifactory
6 5 (0.56%) Android Studio
7 4 (0.45%) Gradle
7 4 (0.45%) Rational DOORS
8 3 (0.34%) JUnit
8 3 (0.34%) Maven
8 3 (0.34%) Storybook
9 2 (0.22%) Oracle APEX
9 2 (0.22%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.22%) Postman
9 2 (0.22%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.22%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.22%) WiX
10 1 (0.11%) SoapUI
General
1 287 (32.14%) Social Skills
2 129 (14.45%) Public Sector
3 109 (12.21%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (4.26%) Finance
5 36 (4.03%) Documentation Skills
6 29 (3.25%) Manufacturing
7 26 (2.91%) Telecoms
8 21 (2.35%) Influencing Skills
9 19 (2.13%) Aerospace
10 15 (1.68%) Organisational Skills
11 13 (1.46%) Electronics
11 13 (1.46%) Military
12 12 (1.34%) Marketing
13 8 (0.90%) Legal
14 6 (0.67%) Pharmaceutical
15 5 (0.56%) Law
16 3 (0.34%) Banking
16 3 (0.34%) Presentation Skills
17 2 (0.22%) Aviation
17 2 (0.22%) Police
Job Titles
1 114 (12.77%) Architect
2 76 (8.51%) Consultant
3 67 (7.50%) Analyst
4 50 (5.60%) Network Engineer
4 50 (5.60%) Senior
5 48 (5.38%) Lead
6 40 (4.48%) IT Engineer
7 37 (4.14%) Developer
7 37 (4.14%) Support Engineer
8 32 (3.58%) Network Consultant
9 28 (3.14%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 27 (3.02%) SAP Consultant
11 25 (2.80%) DevOps Engineer
11 25 (2.80%) Enterprise Architect
11 25 (2.80%) Service Architect
12 24 (2.69%) Data Analyst
12 24 (2.69%) Project Manager
13 22 (2.46%) Platform Engineer
13 22 (2.46%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 18 (2.02%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (1.90%) React
2 16 (1.79%) LDAP
3 13 (1.46%) Kafka
4 12 (1.34%) Elastic Stack
5 9 (1.01%) .NET
6 8 (0.90%) Keycloak
6 8 (0.90%) Loki
6 8 (0.90%) Middleware
6 8 (0.90%) RESTful
6 8 (0.90%) SAP Fiori
6 8 (0.90%) Spring Boot
7 7 (0.78%) REST
8 6 (0.67%) JSON
8 6 (0.67%) OAuth
8 6 (0.67%) Spring
8 6 (0.67%) Vue
8 6 (0.67%) XML
9 5 (0.56%) CSS
9 5 (0.56%) SAML
9 5 (0.56%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 26 (2.91%) Data Centre
2 24 (2.69%) Onboarding
3 20 (2.24%) Private Cloud
4 19 (2.13%) Management Information System
5 17 (1.90%) Cloud Native
6 15 (1.68%) Self-Motivation
7 14 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
7 14 (1.57%) Driving Licence
7 14 (1.57%) Security Operations Centre
8 13 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
9 12 (1.34%) Cyber Security Posture
10 11 (1.23%) PMI
11 10 (1.12%) Security Posture
12 8 (0.90%) CSOC
12 8 (0.90%) Distributed Systems
12 8 (0.90%) PKI
12 8 (0.90%) Virtual Team
13 7 (0.78%) Enterprise Storage
14 6 (0.67%) Public Cloud
15 5 (0.56%) Cyber Threat
Operating Systems
1 120 (13.44%) Windows
2 89 (9.97%) Linux
3 33 (3.70%) Windows 10
4 22 (2.46%) Windows Server
5 20 (2.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 9 (1.01%) Android
7 8 (0.90%) Windows Server 2012
8 7 (0.78%) Ubuntu
9 6 (0.67%) Kali Linux
9 6 (0.67%) Mac OS
10 5 (0.56%) VMS
10 5 (0.56%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.34%) Debian
13 2 (0.22%) SUSE
13 2 (0.22%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.11%) CentOS
14 1 (0.11%) Unix
14 1 (0.11%) Windows 7
14 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 134 (15.01%) Migration
2 119 (13.33%) Problem-Solving
3 116 (12.99%) ITIL
4 109 (12.21%) CI/CD
5 91 (10.19%) DevOps
6 87 (9.74%) Agile
6 87 (9.74%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 86 (9.63%) Service Management
8 84 (9.41%) Cybersecurity
9 71 (7.95%) Workflow
10 68 (7.61%) Roadmaps
11 67 (7.50%) Stakeholder Management
12 56 (6.27%) Workflow Management
13 53 (5.94%) Continuous Improvement
14 50 (5.60%) Project Delivery
15 47 (5.26%) SIEM
16 45 (5.04%) Change Management
17 44 (4.93%) DevSecOps
17 44 (4.93%) Infrastructure as Code
17 44 (4.93%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 117 (13.10%) Python
2 77 (8.62%) PowerShell
3 40 (4.48%) Java
4 39 (4.37%) Bash
5 33 (3.70%) SQL
6 31 (3.47%) JavaScript
7 25 (2.80%) C#
8 11 (1.23%) C++
8 11 (1.23%) Go
8 11 (1.23%) Kusto Query Language
9 10 (1.12%) ABAP
10 8 (0.90%) Shell Script
11 5 (0.56%) C
11 5 (0.56%) Embedded C++
12 4 (0.45%) PL/SQL
12 4 (0.45%) TypeScript
13 2 (0.22%) Ada
13 2 (0.22%) Assembly Language
13 2 (0.22%) Bicep
13 2 (0.22%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 893 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 69 (7.73%) DV Cleared
3 63 (7.05%) Degree
4 33 (3.70%) CISSP
5 32 (3.58%) Cisco Certification
6 29 (3.25%) CCNP
7 22 (2.46%) CEH
8 20 (2.24%) Azure Certification
8 20 (2.24%) BPSS Clearance
9 19 (2.13%) AWS Certification
10 18 (2.02%) Microsoft Certification
11 17 (1.90%) CISM
12 13 (1.46%) CCNA
12 13 (1.46%) GIAC
12 13 (1.46%) Network+ Certification
12 13 (1.46%) PMI Certification
12 13 (1.46%) PMP
13 9 (1.01%) Server+ Certification
14 8 (0.90%) CHECK Team Member
15 7 (0.78%) APMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 42 (4.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 41 (4.59%) GDPR
3 28 (3.14%) QA
4 27 (3.02%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 24 (2.69%) NIST
6 18 (2.02%) NCSC
7 14 (1.57%) SLA
8 13 (1.46%) PMO
9 8 (0.90%) PCI DSS
10 6 (0.67%) RMADS
11 5 (0.56%) COBIT
12 4 (0.45%) Def Stans
12 4 (0.45%) ISO 9001
12 4 (0.45%) JSP 440
13 3 (0.34%) Actionable Recommendations
14 2 (0.22%) Accessibility
14 2 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials
14 2 (0.22%) GMP
14 2 (0.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
14 2 (0.22%) ISO 31000
System Software
1 77 (8.62%) Active Directory
2 48 (5.38%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (3.36%) Docker
4 18 (2.02%) vSphere
5 11 (1.23%) Hyper-V
6 7 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
7 6 (0.67%) Virtual Desktop
7 6 (0.67%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.67%) VMware NSX
8 2 (0.22%) Terminal Services
8 2 (0.22%) UAG
9 1 (0.11%) Firmware
9 1 (0.11%) NFS
9 1 (0.11%) Sendmail
Systems Management
1 81 (9.07%) Kubernetes
2 51 (5.71%) Ansible
3 50 (5.60%) Terraform
4 34 (3.81%) Grafana
4 34 (3.81%) Prometheus
5 22 (2.46%) Argo
6 16 (1.79%) SCCM
7 14 (1.57%) Nmap
8 12 (1.34%) Kibana
8 12 (1.34%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.01%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 8 (0.90%) Kustomize
10 8 (0.90%) Microsoft Intune
11 7 (0.78%) NetBackup
11 7 (0.78%) SCOM
11 7 (0.78%) Sysdig
12 6 (0.67%) Istio
12 6 (0.67%) Jamf Pro
12 6 (0.67%) linkerd
13 5 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 123 (13.77%) Microsoft
2 90 (10.08%) Cisco
3 78 (8.73%) VMware
4 66 (7.39%) SAP
5 50 (5.60%) ServiceNow
6 48 (5.38%) Red Hat
7 40 (4.48%) Aruba
8 32 (3.58%) Google
9 24 (2.69%) Juniper
10 23 (2.58%) Splunk
11 21 (2.35%) Sparx
12 20 (2.24%) CyberArk
13 17 (1.90%) CheckPoint
13 17 (1.90%) Palo Alto
14 15 (1.68%) BeyondTrust
15 14 (1.57%) Oracle
16 13 (1.46%) HP
17 11 (1.23%) Tanium
18 10 (1.12%) Citrix
18 10 (1.12%) NetApp