Software Engineering Contract Job Trends in the South East

Software Engineering
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Software Engineering skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 4 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 40 60 38
Rank change year-on-year +20 -22 +32
Contract jobs citing Software Engineering 299 109 259
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 4.72% 3.35% 4.53%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 5.79% 3.70% 5.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 127 66 130
10th Percentile £280 £333 £400
25th Percentile £400 £453 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £501 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.90% -4.67% -
75th Percentile £650 £600 £638
90th Percentile £725 - £688
England median daily rate £550 £600 £603
% change year-on-year -8.33% -0.50% -0.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 82 12 74
10th Percentile £47.00 £44.51 £45.00
25th Percentile £48.98 £45.82 £51.06
Median hourly rate £60.00 £53.69 £65.85
Median % change year-on-year +11.76% -18.47% +14.52%
75th Percentile £68.75 £63.00 £75.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £64.52 -
England median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Software Engineering falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 5,164 2,946 4,732
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 81.44% 90.65% 82.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,245 1,831 2,752
10th Percentile £280 £250 £260
25th Percentile £413 £393 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -2.44% -0.49%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £635
90th Percentile £700 £663 £700
England median daily rate £523 £515 £525
% change year-on-year +1.46% -1.90% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 512 243 449
10th Percentile £15.72 £13.50 £13.00
25th Percentile £22.59 £15.13 £18.32
Median hourly rate £54.50 £24.00 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year +127.08% -51.02% -2.00%
75th Percentile £82.25 £53.75 £67.81
90th Percentile £88.00 £74.75 £78.75
England median hourly rate £47.00 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +86.88% -34.02% +1.65%

Software Engineering
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Software Engineering job vacancy trend in the South East

Software Engineering
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Software Engineering.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineering in the South East over the 6 months to 4 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Software Engineering in the South East

Software Engineering
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Software Engineering.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineering in the South East over the 6 months to 4 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Engineering in the South East

Software Engineering
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 Software Engineering within the South East region over the 6 months to 4 July 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 +33 136 £550 +5.77% 150
Thames Valley -11 68 £518 +3.50% 98
Surrey +7 54 £513 +7.89% 32
Berkshire -17 40 £510 +1.95% 33
West Sussex -7 18 £280 -2.78% 15
Buckinghamshire -18 18 £361 -31.18% 23
East Sussex - 12 £525 - 9
Oxfordshire -20 10 £800 +85.51% 42
Kent +2 5 £550 +15.79% 17
Sussex - 3 £323 - 6
Middlesex - 1 £470 - 2
Home Counties - 1 - -
Software Engineering
England

Software Engineering
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 4 (1.34%) Confluence
2 3 (1.00%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
3 1 (0.33%) CMS
3 1 (0.33%) IIS
3 1 (0.33%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.33%) SAS
Applications
1 6 (2.01%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.67%) CPLEX
3 2 (0.67%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (0.33%) Adobe XD
Business Applications
1 1 (0.33%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 37 (12.37%) Azure
2 28 (9.36%) AWS
3 23 (7.69%) OpenShift
4 15 (5.02%) GitHub
5 14 (4.68%) Azure DevOps
6 12 (4.01%) GCP
7 10 (3.34%) Serverless
8 8 (2.68%) SaaS
9 7 (2.34%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (2.01%) Amazon S3
11 5 (1.67%) Azure Functions
12 4 (1.34%) Amazon EKS
12 4 (1.34%) Power Platform
12 4 (1.34%) Snowflake
13 3 (1.00%) Amazon ECS
13 3 (1.00%) AWS Lambda
13 3 (1.00%) Azure AI
13 3 (1.00%) Azure API Management
13 3 (1.00%) Azure Data Factory
13 3 (1.00%) Azure Storage
Communications & Networking
1 14 (4.68%) Wireless
2 10 (3.34%) Software-Defined Radio
3 1 (0.33%) HTTP
3 1 (0.33%) HTTPS
3 1 (0.33%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (7.02%) PostgreSQL
2 17 (5.69%) NoSQL
3 10 (3.34%) Relational Database
4 7 (2.34%) Data Warehouse
5 6 (2.01%) Big Data
5 6 (2.01%) DynamoDB
6 5 (1.67%) MongoDB
6 5 (1.67%) SQL Server
7 4 (1.34%) Amazon Redshift
7 4 (1.34%) Azure SQL Database
7 4 (1.34%) Data Lake
8 3 (1.00%) Geospatial Data
8 3 (1.00%) Metadata
9 2 (0.67%) Apache Iceberg
9 2 (0.67%) BigQuery
9 2 (0.67%) Pinecone
9 2 (0.67%) Power BI
9 2 (0.67%) Redis
9 2 (0.67%) Weaviate
10 1 (0.33%) Parquet
Development Applications
1 33 (11.04%) Git
2 19 (6.35%) SonarQube
3 18 (6.02%) GitLab
4 15 (5.02%) Jenkins
5 8 (2.68%) JIRA
6 3 (1.00%) Bitbucket
6 3 (1.00%) LabVIEW
7 2 (0.67%) JUnit
7 2 (0.67%) Postman
7 2 (0.67%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.67%) Sonatype Nexus
8 1 (0.33%) CMake
8 1 (0.33%) GoogleTest
8 1 (0.33%) Liquibase
8 1 (0.33%) MLflow
8 1 (0.33%) Mockito
8 1 (0.33%) NUnit
8 1 (0.33%) Selenium
8 1 (0.33%) Tricentis qTest
8 1 (0.33%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 51 (17.06%) Social Skills
2 42 (14.05%) Aerospace
3 26 (8.70%) Finance
4 18 (6.02%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (6.02%) Manufacturing
5 10 (3.34%) Public Sector
6 9 (3.01%) Law
7 6 (2.01%) Avionics
8 5 (1.67%) Aviation
9 3 (1.00%) Automotive
9 3 (1.00%) Electronics
10 2 (0.67%) Military
10 2 (0.67%) Telecoms
11 1 (0.33%) Advertising
11 1 (0.33%) Banking
11 1 (0.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 1 (0.33%) Legal
11 1 (0.33%) Marketing
11 1 (0.33%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 159 (53.18%) Software Engineer
2 54 (18.06%) Developer
3 46 (15.38%) Senior
4 38 (12.71%) Embedded Engineer
4 38 (12.71%) Embedded Software Engineer
5 20 (6.69%) Senior Software Engineer
6 18 (6.02%) Lead
7 17 (5.69%) Java Engineer
8 14 (4.68%) Engineering Manager
8 14 (4.68%) Software Engineering Manager
8 14 (4.68%) Software Manager
9 13 (4.35%) Java Developer
9 13 (4.35%) SC Cleared Software Engineer
10 12 (4.01%) Senior Developer
10 12 (4.01%) Software Developer
11 11 (3.68%) C++ Software Engineer
12 8 (2.68%) DevOps Engineer
12 8 (2.68%) Python Developer
12 8 (2.68%) Senior Manager
13 7 (2.34%) Lead Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (8.03%) React
2 22 (7.36%) AngularJS
3 21 (7.02%) .NET
3 21 (7.02%) REST
4 17 (5.69%) Quarkus
5 14 (4.68%) Kafka
6 13 (4.35%) JSON
6 13 (4.35%) RESTful
7 10 (3.34%) WPF
8 8 (2.68%) WinForms
9 7 (2.34%) FastAPI
9 7 (2.34%) Flask
9 7 (2.34%) GraphQL
9 7 (2.34%) Node.js
10 6 (2.01%) pytest
10 6 (2.01%) RabbitMQ
10 6 (2.01%) Yocto
11 5 (1.67%) .NET Framework
11 5 (1.67%) Django
11 5 (1.67%) Pandas
Miscellaneous
1 25 (8.36%) Cloud Native
2 16 (5.35%) Algorithms
3 12 (4.01%) Product Ownership
4 11 (3.68%) Distributed Systems
5 10 (3.34%) Data Protection Act
5 10 (3.34%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.68%) Embedded Systems
7 6 (2.01%) Device Driver
8 5 (1.67%) Enterprise Software
8 5 (1.67%) MicroBlaze
8 5 (1.67%) RISC-V
8 5 (1.67%) Robotics
8 5 (1.67%) Social Media
9 4 (1.34%) Onboarding
9 4 (1.34%) Virtual Team
10 3 (1.00%) AI Agents
10 3 (1.00%) Analytical Mindset
10 3 (1.00%) ARM Cortex
10 3 (1.00%) Distributed Architecture
11 2 (0.67%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 25 (8.36%) Linux
2 7 (2.34%) Embedded Linux
3 5 (1.67%) Android
3 5 (1.67%) Windows
4 2 (0.67%) Unix
5 1 (0.33%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.33%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (25.08%) Agile
2 57 (19.06%) CI/CD
3 50 (16.72%) DevOps
4 37 (12.37%) Scrum
5 35 (11.71%) Test Automation
6 34 (11.37%) Problem-Solving
7 32 (10.70%) DevSecOps
8 28 (9.36%) AI
8 28 (9.36%) SDLC
9 27 (9.03%) Unit Testing
10 26 (8.70%) Containerisation
10 26 (8.70%) Front End Development
11 24 (8.03%) Microservices
12 22 (7.36%) Computer Science
12 22 (7.36%) Sprint Planning
13 18 (6.02%) Continuous Improvement
14 17 (5.69%) Sprint Review
14 17 (5.69%) Stakeholder Management
15 16 (5.35%) Mentoring
15 16 (5.35%) Software Delivery
Programming Languages
1 63 (21.07%) Java
2 52 (17.39%) Python
3 38 (12.71%) C
4 33 (11.04%) C#
5 29 (9.70%) SQL
6 28 (9.36%) C++
7 26 (8.70%) JavaScript
8 22 (7.36%) TypeScript
9 14 (4.68%) Go
10 10 (3.34%) Embedded C
11 6 (2.01%) Ada
11 6 (2.01%) Bash
12 5 (1.67%) PowerShell
13 4 (1.34%) PL/SQL
13 4 (1.34%) Scala
14 3 (1.00%) Rust
15 2 (0.67%) R
16 1 (0.33%) Apex Code
16 1 (0.33%) Kotlin
16 1 (0.33%) Swift
Qualifications
1 109 (36.45%) Security Cleared
2 89 (29.77%) SC Cleared
3 27 (9.03%) Degree
4 11 (3.68%) Computer Science Degree
5 8 (2.68%) BPSS Clearance
6 4 (1.34%) DV Cleared
7 3 (1.00%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.67%) Master's Degree
9 1 (0.33%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 1 (0.33%) AWS Certification
9 1 (0.33%) CCSP
9 1 (0.33%) CISA
9 1 (0.33%) Cisco Certification
9 1 (0.33%) CISSP
9 1 (0.33%) ISTQB
9 1 (0.33%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 1 (0.33%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (0.33%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (6.35%) QA
2 3 (1.00%) Accessibility
2 3 (1.00%) Data Quality
3 1 (0.33%) Actionable Recommendations
3 1 (0.33%) GRC
3 1 (0.33%) ITGC
3 1 (0.33%) NIST
3 1 (0.33%) PMO
3 1 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
3 1 (0.33%) WCAG
System Software
1 28 (9.36%) Docker
2 6 (2.01%) Firmware
3 5 (1.67%) Embedded Firmware
4 4 (1.34%) Active Directory
5 3 (1.00%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.33%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 41 (13.71%) Kubernetes
2 18 (6.02%) Argo
3 15 (5.02%) Terraform
4 6 (2.01%) Ansible
5 5 (1.67%) Grafana
6 4 (1.34%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.67%) Kibana
7 2 (0.67%) Kubeflow
7 2 (0.67%) Puppet
8 1 (0.33%) CASB
8 1 (0.33%) HP Quality Center
Vendors
1 18 (6.02%) Red Hat
2 6 (2.01%) Microsoft
2 6 (2.01%) Oracle
2 6 (2.01%) SAP
3 5 (1.67%) Databricks
3 5 (1.67%) Workday
4 4 (1.34%) OpenAI
4 4 (1.34%) Siemens
5 3 (1.00%) Google
6 2 (0.67%) Ab Initio
6 2 (0.67%) Foundry
6 2 (0.67%) Salesforce
6 2 (0.67%) Teradata
7 1 (0.33%) Apple
7 1 (0.33%) Atlassian
7 1 (0.33%) CA Agile Central
7 1 (0.33%) Denodo
7 1 (0.33%) Dynatrace
7 1 (0.33%) UiPath
7 1 (0.33%) VMware