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 24 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 38 76 53
Rank change year-on-year +38 -23 +12
Contract jobs citing Software Engineering 349 97 163
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.28% 2.78% 3.61%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 6.56% 3.13% 4.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 137 50 86
10th Percentile £280 £274 £353
25th Percentile £400 £364 £416
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% -5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £625
90th Percentile £693 - £673
England median daily rate £550 £594 £625
% change year-on-year -7.37% -5.00% +3.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 110 23 50
10th Percentile £47.00 £51.50 £47.25
25th Percentile £51.25 £52.50 £55.97
Median hourly rate £60.00 £55.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -21.43% +21.74%
75th Percentile £69.94 £57.50 £75.00
90th Percentile £71.60 - £75.50
England median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.50
% change year-on-year - -0.76% +0.77%

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 5,319 3,097 3,735
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.40% 88.84% 82.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,171 1,933 2,227
10th Percentile £275 £220 £257
25th Percentile £422 £375 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -1.96% -1.92%
75th Percentile £616 £590 £625
90th Percentile £713 £650 £688
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 639 304 230
10th Percentile £13.45 £13.33 £16.23
25th Percentile £16.59 £15.91 £30.62
Median hourly rate £50.49 £21.82 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +131.34% -61.95% +7.20%
75th Percentile £70.00 £50.00 £70.43
90th Percentile £87.83 £69.65 £77.17
England median hourly rate £42.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +67.00% -41.51% -2.39%

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 24 September 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 24 September 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 24 September 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 +46 134 £525 +19.32% 207
Thames Valley +21 100 £550 +9.89% 372
Berkshire +3 59 £550 +7.26% 144
Surrey +1 55 £513 +7.89% 71
West Sussex -1 37 £283 -1.91% 60
Oxfordshire -1 26 £625 +44.93% 187
Buckinghamshire - 15 £525 - 41
East Sussex - 10 £525 - 37
Middlesex -12 6 £600 -5.51% 6
Kent 0 4 - - 20
Sussex - 3 £325 - 6
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 2 (0.57%) Apache Airflow
1 2 (0.57%) Apache Spark
2 1 (0.29%) CMS
2 1 (0.29%) Confluence
2 1 (0.29%) IIS
2 1 (0.29%) SAS
Applications
1 8 (2.29%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.86%) CPLEX
2 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.86%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (0.29%) Adobe XD
3 1 (0.29%) Simulink
3 1 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 3 (0.86%) Primavera
1 3 (0.86%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 44 (12.61%) Azure
2 43 (12.32%) AWS
3 27 (7.74%) OpenShift
4 20 (5.73%) GitHub
5 18 (5.16%) Azure DevOps
6 16 (4.58%) GCP
7 11 (3.15%) GitHub Actions
8 7 (2.01%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 7 (2.01%) SaaS
9 6 (1.72%) Serverless
10 5 (1.43%) Amazon EKS
10 5 (1.43%) AWS Lambda
11 4 (1.15%) Anthropic Claude
11 4 (1.15%) Cloudflare
11 4 (1.15%) GitHub Copilot
11 4 (1.15%) Snowflake
11 4 (1.15%) Supabase
12 3 (0.86%) Azure AKS
12 3 (0.86%) Datadog
12 3 (0.86%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 25 (7.16%) Wireless
2 11 (3.15%) Software-Defined Radio
3 3 (0.86%) Broadband
3 3 (0.86%) Network Security
4 2 (0.57%) Wi-Fi
5 1 (0.29%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (6.59%) PostgreSQL
2 11 (3.15%) NoSQL
3 8 (2.29%) Relational Database
4 7 (2.01%) Metadata
5 6 (1.72%) DynamoDB
6 5 (1.43%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (1.43%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (1.15%) MongoDB
7 4 (1.15%) SQL Server
8 3 (0.86%) Geospatial Data
9 2 (0.57%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.57%) Apache Iceberg
9 2 (0.57%) BigQuery
9 2 (0.57%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.57%) Power BI
9 2 (0.57%) Redis
10 1 (0.29%) Big Data
10 1 (0.29%) Couchbase
10 1 (0.29%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.29%) Spark SQL
Development Applications
1 37 (10.60%) Git
2 25 (7.16%) GitLab
3 20 (5.73%) SonarQube
4 14 (4.01%) Jenkins
5 12 (3.44%) LabVIEW
6 5 (1.43%) JIRA
6 5 (1.43%) Visual Studio Code
7 2 (0.57%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.57%) JUnit
7 2 (0.57%) Postman
7 2 (0.57%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.57%) Subversion
8 1 (0.29%) CMake
8 1 (0.29%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.29%) GoogleTest
8 1 (0.29%) Maven
8 1 (0.29%) NUnit
8 1 (0.29%) PowerBuilder
8 1 (0.29%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.29%) Selenium
General
1 63 (18.05%) Social Skills
2 54 (15.47%) Aerospace
3 32 (9.17%) Finance
4 25 (7.16%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (7.16%) Manufacturing
5 11 (3.15%) Automotive
6 10 (2.87%) Public Sector
7 7 (2.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 5 (1.43%) Aviation
8 5 (1.43%) Avionics
8 5 (1.43%) Law
9 4 (1.15%) Banking
9 4 (1.15%) Japanese Language
9 4 (1.15%) Marketing
10 2 (0.57%) Electronics
10 2 (0.57%) Military
10 2 (0.57%) Telecoms
11 1 (0.29%) Advertising
11 1 (0.29%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.29%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 165 (47.28%) Software Engineer
2 61 (17.48%) Developer
3 48 (13.75%) Embedded Engineer
3 48 (13.75%) Embedded Software Engineer
3 48 (13.75%) Senior
4 26 (7.45%) Lead
5 22 (6.30%) Senior Software Engineer
6 21 (6.02%) Software Developer
7 15 (4.30%) Technical Leader
8 12 (3.44%) Architect
8 12 (3.44%) Data Engineer
8 12 (3.44%) Java Developer
9 10 (2.87%) C++ Software Engineer
9 10 (2.87%) Engineering Manager
9 10 (2.87%) Principal Engineer
9 10 (2.87%) Software Manager
10 9 (2.58%) Java Engineer
10 9 (2.58%) Python Engineer
10 9 (2.58%) SC Cleared Software Engineer
10 9 (2.58%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (9.17%) Terraform
2 28 (8.02%) AngularJS
3 22 (6.30%) React
4 18 (5.16%) .NET
4 18 (5.16%) Quarkus
5 17 (4.87%) REST
6 14 (4.01%) RESTful
7 13 (3.72%) JSON
8 12 (3.44%) Kafka
9 11 (3.15%) CSS
9 11 (3.15%) HTML
9 11 (3.15%) Yocto
10 10 (2.87%) Node.js
11 8 (2.29%) WinForms
12 7 (2.01%) LDAP
12 7 (2.01%) OpenTofu
12 7 (2.01%) WPF
13 6 (1.72%) .NET Core
13 6 (1.72%) FastAPI
13 6 (1.72%) Next.js
Miscellaneous
1 27 (7.74%) Cloud Native
2 23 (6.59%) Product Ownership
3 13 (3.72%) AI Agents
3 13 (3.72%) Embedded Systems
4 12 (3.44%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (3.15%) Device Driver
6 10 (2.87%) Algorithms
6 10 (2.87%) MicroBlaze
6 10 (2.87%) RISC-V
7 8 (2.29%) Data Protection Act
7 8 (2.29%) Data Structures
8 7 (2.01%) Social Media
9 5 (1.43%) Robotics
10 4 (1.15%) Enterprise Software
10 4 (1.15%) Low-Code
10 4 (1.15%) Management Information System
11 3 (0.86%) ARM Cortex
11 3 (0.86%) Onboarding
11 3 (0.86%) Virtual Team
12 2 (0.57%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 37 (10.60%) Linux
2 13 (3.72%) Embedded Linux
3 5 (1.43%) Windows
4 2 (0.57%) Debian
5 1 (0.29%) Android
5 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.29%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 109 (31.23%) Agile
2 82 (23.50%) CI/CD
3 55 (15.76%) DevOps
4 54 (15.47%) Test Automation
5 46 (13.18%) Continuous Improvement
6 44 (12.61%) Problem-Solving
7 43 (12.32%) Scrum
8 41 (11.75%) DevSecOps
9 39 (11.17%) Stakeholder Management
10 35 (10.03%) SDLC
11 34 (9.74%) Computer Science
12 32 (9.17%) AI
12 32 (9.17%) Mentoring
13 31 (8.88%) Roadmaps
14 30 (8.60%) Technical Leadership
15 28 (8.02%) Unit Testing
15 28 (8.02%) Validation
16 26 (7.45%) Infrastructure as Code
17 23 (6.59%) Containerisation
17 23 (6.59%) Sprint Planning
Programming Languages
1 56 (16.05%) Java
2 52 (14.90%) Python
3 45 (12.89%) C
4 36 (10.32%) SQL
5 29 (8.31%) TypeScript
6 27 (7.74%) C++
7 26 (7.45%) C#
8 24 (6.88%) JavaScript
9 14 (4.01%) Go
10 10 (2.87%) Embedded C
11 7 (2.01%) Bash
12 6 (1.72%) PowerShell
13 4 (1.15%) PL/SQL
14 3 (0.86%) Apex Code
15 2 (0.57%) Ada
15 2 (0.57%) Kotlin
15 2 (0.57%) Scala
16 1 (0.29%) Embedded C++
16 1 (0.29%) MATLAB
16 1 (0.29%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 106 (30.37%) Security Cleared
2 99 (28.37%) SC Cleared
3 38 (10.89%) Degree
4 15 (4.30%) Computer Science Degree
5 8 (2.29%) AWS Certification
6 7 (2.01%) Azure Certification
7 6 (1.72%) DV Cleared
8 5 (1.43%) BPSS Clearance
8 5 (1.43%) PMP
9 4 (1.15%) Master's Degree
9 4 (1.15%) PMI Certification
10 3 (0.86%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
11 2 (0.57%) CISSP
11 2 (0.57%) TOGAF Certification
12 1 (0.29%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 1 (0.29%) CCSP
12 1 (0.29%) CISA
12 1 (0.29%) Cisco Certification
12 1 (0.29%) ISTQB
12 1 (0.29%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (9.46%) QA
2 9 (2.58%) Data Quality
3 4 (1.15%) Accessibility
3 4 (1.15%) NIST
4 3 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.57%) Software Quality Assurance
6 1 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.29%) GRC
6 1 (0.29%) ITGC
6 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 1 (0.29%) WCAG
System Software
1 33 (9.46%) Docker
2 11 (3.15%) Embedded Firmware
2 11 (3.15%) Firmware
3 7 (2.01%) Active Directory
4 4 (1.15%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.29%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 49 (14.04%) Kubernetes
2 19 (5.44%) Argo
3 15 (4.30%) Ansible
4 5 (1.43%) Grafana
5 4 (1.15%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.57%) Kibana
6 2 (0.57%) Puppet
7 1 (0.29%) CASB
Vendors
1 19 (5.44%) Microsoft
1 19 (5.44%) Red Hat
2 8 (2.29%) Oracle
3 6 (1.72%) Salesforce
4 5 (1.43%) Google
4 5 (1.43%) SAP
4 5 (1.43%) Workday
5 3 (0.86%) Databricks
5 3 (0.86%) Splunk
6 1 (0.29%) Adobe
6 1 (0.29%) Ariba
6 1 (0.29%) CA Agile Central
6 1 (0.29%) Denodo
6 1 (0.29%) Dynatrace
6 1 (0.29%) IBM
6 1 (0.29%) Informatica
6 1 (0.29%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
6 1 (0.29%) VMware