Def Stans Contracts in the South West

UK Defence Standards (Def Stans)
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South West requiring Def Stans skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Def Stans over the 6 months leading up to 28 August 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 104 136 137
Rank change year-on-year +32 +1 +27
DemandTrendContract jobs citing Def Stans 15 6 23
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the South West 0.78% 0.22% 0.69%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 4.25% 1.61% 5.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 1 9
10th Percentile - - £523
25th Percentile £613 - £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £625 £600 £575
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% +4.35% +1.55%
75th Percentile £638 - £638
90th Percentile - - £638
England median daily rate £500 £588 £575
% change year-on-year -14.89% +2.17% +3.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 1 9
10th Percentile - - £61.80
25th Percentile £62.50 £67.13 -
Median hourly rate £65.00 £67.25 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -3.35% +3.46% +20.37%
75th Percentile £68.13 £67.38 -
90th Percentile £70.00 - -
England median hourly rate £65.00 £42.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +52.94% -34.62% +11.41%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
South West

Def Stans falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the South West.

DemandTrendContract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 353 373 421
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 18.39% 13.64% 12.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 224 211 284
10th Percentile £235 £263 £350
25th Percentile £363 £438 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £513 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.46% -6.82% +4.76%
75th Percentile £638 £600 £666
90th Percentile £704 £690 £750
England median daily rate £500 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% +2.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 61 43
10th Percentile £15.48 £12.24 £33.00
25th Percentile £26.61 £13.26 £49.50
Median hourly rate £63.75 £70.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -8.93% +7.69% +20.37%
75th Percentile £70.00 - £83.40
90th Percentile £76.23 £71.25 -
England median hourly rate £31.64 £25.77 £35.75
% change year-on-year +22.80% -27.93% +58.89%

Def Stans
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Job postings citing Def Stans as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Job vacancy trend for Def Stans in the South West

Def Stans
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Def Stans.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Def Stans

Def Stans
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Def Stans.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Def Stans

Def Stans
DemandTrendContract Job Locations in the South West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Def Stans within the South West region over the 6 months to 28 August 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
DemandTrendContract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Bristol +15 10 - - 9
Gloucestershire - 3 £625 - 6
Dorset +4 2 - - 1
Def Stans
England

Def Stans
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the South West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Applications
1 2 (13.33%) Windchill
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (13.33%) MongoDB
General
1 2 (13.33%) Law
2 1 (6.67%) Aerospace
2 1 (6.67%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 4 (26.67%) Architect
1 4 (26.67%) Software Architect
2 3 (20.00%) C++ Developer
2 3 (20.00%) Developer
2 3 (20.00%) Software Engineer
3 2 (13.33%) C++ Software Engineer
3 2 (13.33%) Configuration Manager
4 1 (6.67%) Chief Systems Engineer
4 1 (6.67%) Lead
4 1 (6.67%) Project Engineer
4 1 (6.67%) Project Leader
4 1 (6.67%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (73.33%) Qt
2 7 (46.67%) Middleware
3 2 (13.33%) Kafka
Operating Systems
1 1 (6.67%) Linux
1 1 (6.67%) Unix
1 1 (6.67%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 11 (73.33%) Software Engineering
2 4 (26.67%) Multithreading
2 4 (26.67%) Software Architecture
3 3 (20.00%) Software Testing
4 2 (13.33%) Analytics
4 2 (13.33%) Change Control
4 2 (13.33%) Configuration Management
4 2 (13.33%) Continuous Improvement
4 2 (13.33%) Cybersecurity
4 2 (13.33%) Data Analytics
4 2 (13.33%) Integration Testing
4 2 (13.33%) Systems Engineering
5 1 (6.67%) API Integration
5 1 (6.67%) Roadmaps
5 1 (6.67%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 11 (73.33%) Ada
1 11 (73.33%) C++
Qualifications
1 9 (60.00%) Security Cleared
2 7 (46.67%) SC Cleared
3 2 (13.33%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (73.33%) IEC 61508
1 11 (73.33%) MISRA
1 11 (73.33%) MISRA C
System Software
1 1 (6.67%) VMware Infrastructure
Vendors
1 2 (13.33%) PTC
1 2 (13.33%) VMware