Degree Contract Job Trends in the South West

Academic Degree
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South West with a requirement for Degree qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 25 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 50 28 19
Rank change year-on-year -22 -9 +3
Contract jobs citing Degree 121 112 200
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 3.32% 5.80% 7.29%
As % of the Qualifications category 7.67% 11.11% 13.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 64 87 112
10th Percentile £150 £145 £178
25th Percentile £250 £166 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £411 £450 £525
Median % change year-on-year -8.61% -14.29% -4.55%
75th Percentile £578 £575 £688
90th Percentile £639 £649 £756
England median daily rate £500 £500 £515
% change year-on-year - -2.91% -3.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 11 36
10th Percentile - £22.76 £60.75
25th Percentile £14.00 £28.77 £66.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £65.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -46.15% -7.14% +23.92%
75th Percentile £41.71 £70.00 £72.81
90th Percentile £63.63 £82.75 £75.00
England median hourly rate £41.71 £42.50 £57.35
% change year-on-year -1.86% -25.89% +16.38%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South West

Degree 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 West.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 1,578 1,008 1,436
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 43.32% 52.20% 52.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 984 621 916
10th Percentile £327 £213 £375
25th Percentile £450 £412 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £535 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -2.73% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £636 £644 £650
90th Percentile £725 £715 £725
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 213 113 132
10th Percentile £19.33 £18.51 £24.26
25th Percentile £25.77 £18.87 £57.62
Median hourly rate £60.00 £25.15 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +138.57% -64.07% +8.41%
75th Percentile £76.00 £63.75 £75.00
90th Percentile £92.53 £73.75 £80.00
England median hourly rate £52.50 £25.15 £48.56
% change year-on-year +108.75% -48.21% -11.71%

Degree
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Degree relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Degree job vacancy trend in the South West

Degree
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

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

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

Degree
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Degree in the South West over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Degree in the South West

Degree
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

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

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

Degree
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Degree in the South West over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Degree in the South West

Degree
Contract 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 Degree within the South West region over the 6 months to 25 August 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
Devon -9 32 £310 +93.44% 35
Somerset -7 26 £315 -50.28% 27
Bristol -24 23 £400 +8.11% 75
Wiltshire -14 20 £585 -3.51% 32
Gloucestershire -3 15 £363 -23.68% 64
Dorset -13 4 £580 +5.45% 28
Cornwall -4 1 - - 10
Degree
England

Degree
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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 21 (17.36%) SharePoint
2 7 (5.79%) Confluence
3 5 (4.13%) Apache
4 3 (2.48%) Apache Airflow
4 3 (2.48%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 26 (21.49%) Microsoft Excel
2 21 (17.36%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (12.40%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (2.48%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (2.48%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.83%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.83%) Trello
Business Applications
1 4 (3.31%) Payment Gateway
2 3 (2.48%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (1.65%) NetSuite
3 2 (1.65%) Salesforce CRM
3 2 (1.65%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 1 (0.83%) IBM Planning Analytics
4 1 (0.83%) Primavera
4 1 (0.83%) SAP Payroll
4 1 (0.83%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 28 (23.14%) Power Platform
2 22 (18.18%) Azure
3 19 (15.70%) AWS
4 17 (14.05%) Microsoft 365
5 4 (3.31%) GitHub
5 4 (3.31%) Power Automate
5 4 (3.31%) PowerApps
6 3 (2.48%) Dynamics 365
6 3 (2.48%) GCP
7 2 (1.65%) Azure DevOps
7 2 (1.65%) Entra ID
7 2 (1.65%) Microsoft Copilot
8 1 (0.83%) Cloud Composer
8 1 (0.83%) GitHub Actions
8 1 (0.83%) Google Compute Engine
8 1 (0.83%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 1 (0.83%) Stackdriver
Communications & Networking
1 4 (3.31%) DHCP
1 4 (3.31%) DNS
2 3 (2.48%) Network Security
3 2 (1.65%) ATM
4 1 (0.83%) 2G
4 1 (0.83%) 3G
4 1 (0.83%) 4G
4 1 (0.83%) 5G
4 1 (0.83%) LTE
4 1 (0.83%) Radio Access Network
4 1 (0.83%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.83%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (23.14%) Power BI
2 6 (4.96%) GIS
3 5 (4.13%) Elasticsearch
3 5 (4.13%) Relational Database
3 5 (4.13%) SQL Server
4 3 (2.48%) Oracle Database
4 3 (2.48%) Spatial Data
4 3 (2.48%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 2 (1.65%) Big Data
5 2 (1.65%) BigQuery
5 2 (1.65%) Electronic Patient Records
6 1 (0.83%) Apache Cassandra
6 1 (0.83%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.83%) Geospatial Data
6 1 (0.83%) HBase
6 1 (0.83%) Metadata
6 1 (0.83%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.83%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.83%) Power Query
6 1 (0.83%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 9 (7.44%) Git
1 9 (7.44%) JIRA
2 5 (4.13%) GitLab
3 4 (3.31%) Cucumber
3 4 (3.31%) Postman
3 4 (3.31%) REST Assured
4 3 (2.48%) Jenkins
4 3 (2.48%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 1 (0.83%) JUnit
5 1 (0.83%) Selenium
5 1 (0.83%) Visual Studio
General
1 59 (48.76%) Social Skills
2 28 (23.14%) Finance
3 22 (18.18%) Organisational Skills
4 21 (17.36%) Analytical Skills
5 14 (11.57%) Aerospace
6 12 (9.92%) Military
6 12 (9.92%) Public Sector
7 6 (4.96%) Automotive
7 6 (4.96%) Presentation Skills
8 5 (4.13%) Pharmaceutical
9 4 (3.31%) Manufacturing
10 3 (2.48%) Aviation
10 3 (2.48%) Influencing Skills
10 3 (2.48%) Telecoms
11 2 (1.65%) General Ledger
11 2 (1.65%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 2 (1.65%) Legal
11 2 (1.65%) Local Government
12 1 (0.83%) Banking
12 1 (0.83%) French Language
Job Titles
1 13 (10.74%) Analyst
1 13 (10.74%) Developer
2 10 (8.26%) Administrator
2 10 (8.26%) Project Officer
2 10 (8.26%) Project Support Officer
2 10 (8.26%) Support Officer
3 7 (5.79%) Senior
3 7 (5.79%) Support Engineer
3 7 (5.79%) Systems Engineer
3 7 (5.79%) Technical Engineer
3 7 (5.79%) Technical Support
3 7 (5.79%) Technical Support Engineer
4 6 (4.96%) Digital Product Manager
4 6 (4.96%) Lead
4 6 (4.96%) Product Manager
4 6 (4.96%) Software Engineer
5 5 (4.13%) Coordinator
5 5 (4.13%) Data Engineer
5 5 (4.13%) Software Developer
6 4 (3.31%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (9.92%) React
2 9 (7.44%) HTML
3 7 (5.79%) JDO
4 5 (4.13%) .NET
4 5 (4.13%) ASP.NET
5 4 (3.31%) ASP.NET Core
5 4 (3.31%) CSS
5 4 (3.31%) Next.js
5 4 (3.31%) Playwright
5 4 (3.31%) REST
6 3 (2.48%) Blazor
6 3 (2.48%) jQuery
6 3 (2.48%) Kafka
7 2 (1.65%) FHIR
7 2 (1.65%) Spring
7 2 (1.65%) Spring Boot
7 2 (1.65%) Terraform
8 1 (0.83%) Dapper ORM
8 1 (0.83%) PySpark
8 1 (0.83%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 13 (10.74%) Self-Motivation
2 9 (7.44%) Management Information System
3 8 (6.61%) Legacy Systems
4 7 (5.79%) Enterprise Software
5 4 (3.31%) Freedom of Information
5 4 (3.31%) Product Ownership
5 4 (3.31%) Team-Oriented Environment
6 3 (2.48%) Cyber Defence
6 3 (2.48%) Onboarding
7 2 (1.65%) Cloud Native
7 2 (1.65%) CSOC
7 2 (1.65%) Cyber Security Posture
7 2 (1.65%) Cyber Threat
7 2 (1.65%) FMCG
7 2 (1.65%) Learning Management System
7 2 (1.65%) PMI
7 2 (1.65%) SCADA
7 2 (1.65%) Security Operations Centre
7 2 (1.65%) Security Posture
7 2 (1.65%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 10 (8.26%) Windows
2 7 (5.79%) Linux
3 6 (4.96%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 6 (4.96%) Windows Server
4 3 (2.48%) Debian
4 3 (2.48%) Rocky
4 3 (2.48%) Ubuntu
5 2 (1.65%) Solaris
5 2 (1.65%) Windows 10
5 2 (1.65%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 40 (33.06%) Agile
2 29 (23.97%) Problem-Solving
3 25 (20.66%) Continuous Improvement
4 24 (19.83%) Computer Science
5 20 (16.53%) Project Management
6 19 (15.70%) CI/CD
7 17 (14.05%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 17 (14.05%) Stakeholder Management
8 15 (12.40%) Change Control
8 15 (12.40%) Software Engineering
9 14 (11.57%) PRINCE2
10 12 (9.92%) Analytics
10 12 (9.92%) Business Intelligence
10 12 (9.92%) Mentoring
11 11 (9.09%) DevOps
11 11 (9.09%) Project Delivery
11 11 (9.09%) Software Testing
11 11 (9.09%) Validation
11 11 (9.09%) Waterfall
12 10 (8.26%) AI
Programming Languages
1 21 (17.36%) SQL
2 17 (14.05%) JavaScript
3 9 (7.44%) Python
4 6 (4.96%) Ada
4 6 (4.96%) Java
5 5 (4.13%) C#
5 5 (4.13%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 5 (4.13%) TypeScript
6 4 (3.31%) Apex Code
7 3 (2.48%) Go
7 3 (2.48%) PL/SQL
7 3 (2.48%) T-SQL
8 1 (0.83%) Bash
8 1 (0.83%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 48 (39.67%) Security Cleared
2 33 (27.27%) SC Cleared
3 14 (11.57%) Computer Science Degree
4 12 (9.92%) DV Cleared
5 9 (7.44%) Chartered Engineer
5 9 (7.44%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
6 6 (4.96%) BPSS Clearance
6 6 (4.96%) Master's Degree
6 6 (4.96%) PMI Certification
6 6 (4.96%) PMP
7 5 (4.13%) SANS
8 4 (3.31%) ISTQB
8 4 (3.31%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 2 (1.65%) APMP
9 2 (1.65%) CCA
9 2 (1.65%) CCNP
9 2 (1.65%) Cisco Certification
10 1 (0.83%) DBS Check
10 1 (0.83%) SAFe Agilist
10 1 (0.83%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (9.92%) GDPR
2 8 (6.61%) QA
3 6 (4.96%) Data Quality
4 5 (4.13%) Def Stans
4 5 (4.13%) PMO
5 4 (3.31%) Accessibility
6 3 (2.48%) IEC 61508
7 2 (1.65%) Actionable Recommendations
7 2 (1.65%) HL7
7 2 (1.65%) ISO/IEC 15288
7 2 (1.65%) SNOMED CT
8 1 (0.83%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 1 (0.83%) ARP4761
8 1 (0.83%) DO-254
8 1 (0.83%) GAMP
8 1 (0.83%) GMP
8 1 (0.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 6 (4.96%) Active Directory
2 5 (4.13%) Docker
3 4 (3.31%) Hyper-V
3 4 (3.31%) Virtual Machines
3 4 (3.31%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (2.48%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 6 (4.96%) Kubernetes
2 3 (2.48%) Functional Safety
3 2 (1.65%) Ansible
3 2 (1.65%) Computer Incident Response Team
4 1 (0.83%) Data Guard
4 1 (0.83%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
4 1 (0.83%) Grafana
4 1 (0.83%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
4 1 (0.83%) Oracle RMAN
4 1 (0.83%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 36 (29.75%) Microsoft
2 10 (8.26%) ServiceNow
3 6 (4.96%) Salesforce
4 4 (3.31%) ArcSight
4 4 (3.31%) Conga
4 4 (3.31%) GoCardless
4 4 (3.31%) Oracle
4 4 (3.31%) VMware
5 3 (2.48%) Databricks
6 2 (1.65%) Cisco
6 2 (1.65%) Google
6 2 (1.65%) SAP
6 2 (1.65%) Sparx
7 1 (0.83%) Alteryx
7 1 (0.83%) Cloudera
7 1 (0.83%) Huawei
7 1 (0.83%) IBM
7 1 (0.83%) Red Hat
7 1 (0.83%) Rockwell
7 1 (0.83%) Siemens