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 8 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 36 53 37
Rank change year-on-year +17 -16 +24
Contract jobs citing Software Engineering 267 107 258
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 4.56% 3.59% 4.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 5.63% 3.92% 5.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 116 61 132
10th Percentile £349 £354 £389
25th Percentile £413 £463 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £519 £513 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.22% -6.82% +4.76%
75th Percentile £650 £600 £650
90th Percentile £723 £626 £688
England median daily rate £550 £600 £600
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 73 16 67
10th Percentile £46.25 £44.51 £45.00
25th Percentile £47.00 £48.99 £48.66
Median hourly rate £60.00 £56.75 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year +5.73% -9.20% +7.76%
75th Percentile £68.75 £62.81 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £64.52 £76.00
England median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £62.50
% change year-on-year - +4.00% -3.85%

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 4,745 2,728 4,650
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 80.96% 91.42% 84.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,105 1,742 2,712
10th Percentile £280 £255 £250
25th Percentile £408 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £501
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -0.10% -1.86%
75th Percentile £613 £600 £625
90th Percentile £713 £675 £700
England median daily rate £510 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -2.86% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 425 170 431
10th Percentile £15.62 £13.82 £13.00
25th Percentile £25.15 £15.25 £18.20
Median hourly rate £55.00 £28.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +96.43% -41.05% -3.06%
75th Percentile £82.25 £62.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £76.86
England median hourly rate £46.47 £29.15 £36.50
% change year-on-year +59.40% -20.14% -2.14%

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 8 May 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 8 May 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 8 May 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 +19 115 £575 +8.49% 124
Thames Valley -12 70 £435 -13.09% 89
Surrey +17 52 £513 +2.50% 32
Berkshire -17 42 £450 -10.09% 24
Buckinghamshire -15 21 £361 -31.18% 18
West Sussex -6 11 £280 -2.78% 12
East Sussex - 9 £525 - 12
Oxfordshire -16 7 £575 - 47
Sussex - 3 £323 - 8
Kent -8 2 £550 +15.79% 11
Middlesex - 2 £552 - 3
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 7 (2.62%) Confluence
2 3 (1.12%) IIS
3 2 (0.75%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.37%) Apache
4 1 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.37%) CMS
4 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.37%) SAS
Applications
1 8 (3.00%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.50%) CPLEX
3 2 (0.75%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 37 (13.86%) Azure
2 24 (8.99%) AWS
3 15 (5.62%) OpenShift
3 15 (5.62%) Serverless
4 14 (5.24%) Azure DevOps
4 14 (5.24%) GitHub
5 9 (3.37%) Azure Functions
5 9 (3.37%) GCP
6 7 (2.62%) Amazon S3
7 6 (2.25%) Amazon EKS
7 6 (2.25%) Cloud Computing
8 5 (1.87%) Azure API Management
8 5 (1.87%) Azure Data Factory
8 5 (1.87%) Azure Storage
8 5 (1.87%) GitHub Actions
9 4 (1.50%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 4 (1.50%) Amazon ECS
9 4 (1.50%) AWS Lambda
9 4 (1.50%) Power Platform
10 3 (1.12%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 10 (3.75%) Software-Defined Radio
2 6 (2.25%) Wireless
3 1 (0.37%) HTTP
3 1 (0.37%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (6.74%) NoSQL
1 18 (6.74%) PostgreSQL
2 13 (4.87%) SQL Server
3 12 (4.49%) Relational Database
4 7 (2.62%) Azure SQL Database
5 6 (2.25%) DynamoDB
6 5 (1.87%) Big Data
6 5 (1.87%) Data Lake
6 5 (1.87%) Data Warehouse
6 5 (1.87%) MongoDB
7 3 (1.12%) Amazon Redshift
8 2 (0.75%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.75%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.75%) Pinecone
8 2 (0.75%) Power BI
8 2 (0.75%) Weaviate
9 1 (0.37%) Amazon Athena
9 1 (0.37%) Apache Iceberg
9 1 (0.37%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.37%) Parquet
Development Applications
1 28 (10.49%) Git
2 19 (7.12%) Jenkins
3 16 (5.99%) GitLab
4 13 (4.87%) SonarQube
5 7 (2.62%) JIRA
6 5 (1.87%) Bitbucket
7 3 (1.12%) Android Studio
7 3 (1.12%) Subversion
8 2 (0.75%) JUnit
8 2 (0.75%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.37%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.37%) CMake
9 1 (0.37%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.37%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.37%) Liquibase
9 1 (0.37%) Mockito
9 1 (0.37%) NUnit
9 1 (0.37%) Postman
9 1 (0.37%) Rational DOORS
9 1 (0.37%) Selenium
General
1 32 (11.99%) Aerospace
1 32 (11.99%) Social Skills
2 17 (6.37%) Manufacturing
3 16 (5.99%) Analytical Skills
3 16 (5.99%) Finance
4 11 (4.12%) Public Sector
5 8 (3.00%) Law
6 6 (2.25%) Electronics
7 4 (1.50%) Aviation
8 3 (1.12%) Avionics
9 2 (0.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 2 (0.75%) Military
10 1 (0.37%) Advertising
10 1 (0.37%) Automotive
10 1 (0.37%) Banking
10 1 (0.37%) Legal
10 1 (0.37%) Retail Banking
10 1 (0.37%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 148 (55.43%) Software Engineer
2 53 (19.85%) Developer
3 37 (13.86%) Senior
4 29 (10.86%) Embedded Engineer
4 29 (10.86%) Embedded Software Engineer
5 17 (6.37%) DevOps Engineer
5 17 (6.37%) Senior Software Engineer
6 15 (5.62%) Java Developer
6 15 (5.62%) Java Engineer
7 14 (5.24%) Engineering Manager
7 14 (5.24%) SC Cleared Software Engineer
7 14 (5.24%) Software Engineering Manager
8 12 (4.49%) Android Developer
9 11 (4.12%) Software Manager
10 10 (3.75%) C++ Software Engineer
10 10 (3.75%) Lead
10 10 (3.75%) Senior Developer
11 8 (3.00%) Azure Engineer
11 8 (3.00%) Senior Manager
12 7 (2.62%) Java Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (10.11%) .NET
2 25 (9.36%) REST
3 17 (6.37%) AngularJS
3 17 (6.37%) React
4 13 (4.87%) Quarkus
5 12 (4.49%) JSON
5 12 (4.49%) Kafka
6 10 (3.75%) RESTful
6 10 (3.75%) WPF
7 8 (3.00%) WinForms
8 6 (2.25%) ARM Templates
8 6 (2.25%) XML
8 6 (2.25%) YAML
8 6 (2.25%) Yocto
9 5 (1.87%) FastAPI
9 5 (1.87%) Flask
9 5 (1.87%) GraphQL
9 5 (1.87%) Node.js
9 5 (1.87%) pytest
9 5 (1.87%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 22 (8.24%) Cloud Native
2 13 (4.87%) Algorithms
3 9 (3.37%) Distributed Systems
4 8 (3.00%) Robotics
5 7 (2.62%) Data Protection Act
5 7 (2.62%) Embedded Systems
6 6 (2.25%) Data Structures
6 6 (2.25%) Device Driver
7 5 (1.87%) MicroBlaze
7 5 (1.87%) Mobile App
7 5 (1.87%) RISC-V
8 4 (1.50%) Social Media
9 3 (1.12%) AI Agents
9 3 (1.12%) ARM Cortex
9 3 (1.12%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (1.12%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.75%) Analytical Mindset
10 2 (0.75%) Distributed Architecture
10 2 (0.75%) Onboarding
10 2 (0.75%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 25 (9.36%) Linux
2 15 (5.62%) Android
3 11 (4.12%) Windows
4 7 (2.62%) Embedded Linux
5 4 (1.50%) Windows Server
6 2 (0.75%) Unix
7 1 (0.37%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.37%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.37%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 67 (25.09%) Agile
2 56 (20.97%) CI/CD
3 51 (19.10%) DevOps
4 31 (11.61%) AI
5 30 (11.24%) Scrum
6 27 (10.11%) Microservices
7 26 (9.74%) Problem-Solving
7 26 (9.74%) Test Automation
8 25 (9.36%) Containerisation
8 25 (9.36%) Unit Testing
9 22 (8.24%) SDLC
10 21 (7.87%) DevSecOps
11 20 (7.49%) Computer Science
11 20 (7.49%) Front End Development
12 16 (5.99%) Sprint Planning
13 15 (5.62%) Machine Learning
14 14 (5.24%) Data Pipeline
14 14 (5.24%) Systems Engineering
15 13 (4.87%) Sprint Review
16 12 (4.49%) Full-Stack Development
Programming Languages
1 61 (22.85%) Java
2 56 (20.97%) Python
3 37 (13.86%) C#
4 26 (9.74%) C
4 26 (9.74%) C++
5 25 (9.36%) JavaScript
6 21 (7.87%) SQL
7 14 (5.24%) Go
8 12 (4.49%) TypeScript
9 9 (3.37%) Bash
9 9 (3.37%) Embedded C
10 8 (3.00%) PowerShell
11 7 (2.62%) Ada
12 5 (1.87%) Rust
13 4 (1.50%) Scala
14 2 (0.75%) R
15 1 (0.37%) Delphi
15 1 (0.37%) Embedded C++
15 1 (0.37%) MATLAB
15 1 (0.37%) PHP
Qualifications
1 99 (37.08%) Security Cleared
2 79 (29.59%) SC Cleared
3 25 (9.36%) Degree
4 12 (4.49%) Computer Science Degree
5 5 (1.87%) DV Cleared
6 4 (1.50%) BPSS Clearance
7 2 (0.75%) Azure Certification
8 1 (0.37%) ISTQB
8 1 (0.37%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (5.99%) QA
2 2 (0.75%) Data Quality
3 1 (0.37%) PMO
System Software
1 27 (10.11%) Docker
2 8 (3.00%) Firmware
3 5 (1.87%) Embedded Firmware
4 1 (0.37%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 38 (14.23%) Kubernetes
2 14 (5.24%) Argo
3 10 (3.75%) Terraform
4 6 (2.25%) Ansible
5 5 (1.87%) Grafana
6 4 (1.50%) Puppet
7 3 (1.12%) Prometheus
7 3 (1.12%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
8 2 (0.75%) Kubeflow
9 1 (0.37%) HP Quality Center
9 1 (0.37%) Podman
9 1 (0.37%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 19 (7.12%) Red Hat
2 12 (4.49%) Microsoft
3 7 (2.62%) Databricks
4 4 (1.50%) Atlassian
4 4 (1.50%) Google
4 4 (1.50%) OpenAI
4 4 (1.50%) Siemens
4 4 (1.50%) Workday
5 3 (1.12%) Coverity
5 3 (1.12%) SAP
5 3 (1.12%) Thales
6 2 (0.75%) Ab Initio
6 2 (0.75%) Foundry
6 2 (0.75%) Teradata
7 1 (0.37%) Apple
7 1 (0.37%) Ariba
7 1 (0.37%) Informatica
7 1 (0.37%) Oracle
7 1 (0.37%) Splunk
7 1 (0.37%) VMware