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 31 October 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 29 28 24
Rank change year-on-year -1 -4 +3
Contract jobs citing Degree 134 153 214
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 6.40% 6.32% 6.76%
As % of the Qualifications category 11.65% 12.73% 12.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 76 79 110
10th Percentile £145 £181 £373
25th Percentile £331 £363 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £545 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.22% +4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £628 £700 £638
90th Percentile £681 £756 £716
England median daily rate £508 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +1.50% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 14 53
10th Percentile £27.28 £53.28 £33.00
25th Percentile - £60.75 £48.47
Median hourly rate £33.50 £65.50 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -48.85% +15.95% -11.89%
75th Percentile £72.50 £74.69 £83.40
90th Percentile £119.00 £75.00 -
England median hourly rate £34.49 £42.88 £48.28
% change year-on-year -19.57% -11.18% +7.29%

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 1,150 1,202 1,774
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 54.89% 49.63% 56.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 702 751 1,121
10th Percentile £213 £350 £388
25th Percentile £413 £463 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% - +4.55%
75th Percentile £648 £672 £675
90th Percentile £725 £750 £729
England median daily rate £525 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -0.94% -3.64% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 160 70 182
10th Percentile £18.22 £30.00 £36.40
25th Percentile £21.46 £55.00 £50.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £65.50 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year -61.60% +4.80% -3.85%
75th Percentile £45.94 £72.50 £78.00
90th Percentile £73.75 £75.00 £83.40
England median hourly rate £25.15 £52.50 £52.50
% change year-on-year -52.10% - +16.67%

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 31 October 2025.

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 31 October 2025.

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 31 October 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Bristol -2 47 £550 +37.41% 113
Wiltshire -3 35 £550 -12.52% 30
Devon +13 19 £160 -40.74% 33
Gloucestershire +1 13 £500 -13.94% 60
Somerset -2 13 £633 +22.52% 34
Dorset +1 3 - - 20
Cornwall -1 1 £500 - 3
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 (15.67%) Confluence
2 11 (8.21%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (8.21%) SharePoint
3 5 (3.73%) Skype for Business
4 2 (1.49%) Apache
Applications
1 42 (31.34%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (8.21%) MS Visio
3 8 (5.97%) Microsoft Project
4 7 (5.22%) Microsoft Excel
5 3 (2.24%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 2 (1.49%) Windchill
7 1 (0.75%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.75%) Camtasia
7 1 (0.75%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.75%) InVision
7 1 (0.75%) PTC Creo
7 1 (0.75%) Simulink
7 1 (0.75%) Sketch
7 1 (0.75%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 6 (4.48%) SAP EWM
1 6 (4.48%) SAP WM
2 5 (3.73%) Primavera
2 5 (3.73%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (2.24%) Teamcenter
4 2 (1.49%) SAP Oil and Gas
Cloud Services
1 12 (8.96%) AWS
2 11 (8.21%) Power Platform
3 10 (7.46%) Azure
3 10 (7.46%) Lucidchart
3 10 (7.46%) OCI
4 6 (4.48%) Microsoft 365
5 4 (2.99%) GitHub
6 3 (2.24%) Entra ID
6 3 (2.24%) GCP
6 3 (2.24%) OpenShift
6 3 (2.24%) Power Automate
6 3 (2.24%) PowerApps
7 1 (0.75%) Amazon EC2
7 1 (0.75%) Amazon ECS
7 1 (0.75%) Amazon S3
7 1 (0.75%) AWS CloudFormation
7 1 (0.75%) Azure DevOps
7 1 (0.75%) Azure Sentinel
7 1 (0.75%) Figma
7 1 (0.75%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 13 (9.70%) Unified Communications
2 12 (8.96%) DNS
3 10 (7.46%) VPN
4 8 (5.97%) BGP
4 8 (5.97%) Skype
5 7 (5.22%) IPsec
5 7 (5.22%) MPLS
6 5 (3.73%) DHCP
7 1 (0.75%) OSPF
7 1 (0.75%) Software-Defined Networking
7 1 (0.75%) VLAN
7 1 (0.75%) VoIP
7 1 (0.75%) WAAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (8.21%) Power BI
2 6 (4.48%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (1.49%) Amazon RDS
3 2 (1.49%) Oracle Database
3 2 (1.49%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.75%) Amazon Athena
4 1 (0.75%) Amazon Aurora
4 1 (0.75%) Data Warehouse
4 1 (0.75%) DynamoDB
4 1 (0.75%) Electronic Patient Records
4 1 (0.75%) Looker
4 1 (0.75%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.75%) MySQL
4 1 (0.75%) RDBMS
4 1 (0.75%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.75%) SQL Server Analysis Services
4 1 (0.75%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.75%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 1 (0.75%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 12 (8.96%) JIRA
2 6 (4.48%) Git
3 4 (2.99%) GitLab
4 3 (2.24%) Bitbucket
4 3 (2.24%) Jenkins
4 3 (2.24%) Rational DOORS
5 2 (1.49%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.75%) Rational Team Concert
General
1 80 (59.70%) Social Skills
2 35 (26.12%) Analytical Skills
3 18 (13.43%) Finance
4 17 (12.69%) Public Sector
5 12 (8.96%) Aerospace
5 12 (8.96%) Manufacturing
5 12 (8.96%) Organisational Skills
6 7 (5.22%) Military
7 6 (4.48%) Presentation Skills
8 4 (2.99%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (2.24%) Automotive
9 3 (2.24%) Electronics
9 3 (2.24%) Legal
9 3 (2.24%) Pharmaceutical
10 2 (1.49%) Marketing
10 2 (1.49%) Telecoms
11 1 (0.75%) Law
11 1 (0.75%) Local Government
11 1 (0.75%) Multimedia
11 1 (0.75%) Retail
Job Titles
1 12 (8.96%) Lead
2 11 (8.21%) Analyst
2 11 (8.21%) Developer
3 10 (7.46%) Information Security Advisor
3 10 (7.46%) Security Advisor
3 10 (7.46%) Technical Writer
4 7 (5.22%) Consultant
4 7 (5.22%) Network Engineer
4 7 (5.22%) Security Engineer
4 7 (5.22%) Support Engineer
4 7 (5.22%) Wintel Engineer
5 6 (4.48%) Management Consultant
5 6 (4.48%) SAP Consultant
5 6 (4.48%) SAP WM Consultant
5 6 (4.48%) Security Analyst
5 6 (4.48%) Senior
6 5 (3.73%) Junior
7 4 (2.99%) Project Planner
7 4 (2.99%) Software Engineer
7 4 (2.99%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (5.22%) CSS
1 7 (5.22%) HTML
1 7 (5.22%) NETCONF
1 7 (5.22%) RESTCONF
2 4 (2.99%) JDO
2 4 (2.99%) Node.js
2 4 (2.99%) React
3 3 (2.24%) AngularJS
3 3 (2.24%) Ruby on Rails
3 3 (2.24%) Spring
3 3 (2.24%) Vue
4 2 (1.49%) Apache NiFi
4 2 (1.49%) REST
5 1 (0.75%) Django
5 1 (0.75%) JFC
5 1 (0.75%) OpenMP
5 1 (0.75%) PyTorch
5 1 (0.75%) SailPoint
5 1 (0.75%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 25 (18.66%) Management Information System
2 14 (10.45%) PKI
3 10 (7.46%) Security Posture
4 6 (4.48%) Cyber Defence
4 6 (4.48%) Educational Technology
5 5 (3.73%) Cloud Native
6 4 (2.99%) Legacy Systems
6 4 (2.99%) Operational Technology
6 4 (2.99%) Private Cloud
7 3 (2.24%) e-Learning
7 3 (2.24%) Low-Code
7 3 (2.24%) Onboarding
7 3 (2.24%) Self-Motivation
8 2 (1.49%) Algorithms
8 2 (1.49%) Cyber Threat
8 2 (1.49%) Data Protection Act
8 2 (1.49%) Digital Media
9 1 (0.75%) Data Centre
9 1 (0.75%) Data Structures
9 1 (0.75%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 13 (9.70%) Windows
2 7 (5.22%) Windows Server
3 6 (4.48%) Linux
4 3 (2.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 3 (2.24%) Ubuntu
4 3 (2.24%) Windows 10
5 2 (1.49%) CentOS
5 2 (1.49%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 47 (35.07%) Computer Science
2 41 (30.60%) Problem-Solving
3 27 (20.15%) Agile
4 23 (17.16%) Critical Thinking
5 20 (14.93%) Service Management
6 17 (12.69%) ERP
6 17 (12.69%) ITIL
7 16 (11.94%) Collaborative Working
8 14 (10.45%) Risk Management
8 14 (10.45%) System Testing
8 14 (10.45%) Validation
9 12 (8.96%) Cybersecurity
9 12 (8.96%) DevOps
10 11 (8.21%) CI/CD
10 11 (8.21%) Decision-Making
10 11 (8.21%) Software Engineering
10 11 (8.21%) Stakeholder Management
11 10 (7.46%) Facilities Management
11 10 (7.46%) Information Security
11 10 (7.46%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 19 (14.18%) Python
2 13 (9.70%) SQL
3 12 (8.96%) PowerShell
4 9 (6.72%) JavaScript
5 4 (2.99%) Ada
5 4 (2.99%) Java
5 4 (2.99%) TypeScript
6 3 (2.24%) Ruby
7 2 (1.49%) C
7 2 (1.49%) Fortran
8 1 (0.75%) C++
8 1 (0.75%) MATLAB
8 1 (0.75%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 64 (47.76%) Security Cleared
2 58 (43.28%) SC Cleared
3 23 (17.16%) Computer Science Degree
4 20 (14.93%) Master's Degree
5 15 (11.19%) DV Cleared
6 13 (9.70%) CCNP
6 13 (9.70%) Cisco Certification
7 11 (8.21%) BPSS Clearance
8 10 (7.46%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 9 (6.72%) Microsoft Certification
10 7 (5.22%) CISSP
10 7 (5.22%) MCSE
11 6 (4.48%) CompTIA CySA+
11 6 (4.48%) Network+ Certification
11 6 (4.48%) SANS
11 6 (4.48%) SAP Certification
12 5 (3.73%) CCNA
12 5 (3.73%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (2.24%) HND
13 3 (2.24%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (10.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 10 (7.46%) Def Stans
2 10 (7.46%) GRC
2 10 (7.46%) Sarbanes-Oxley
3 4 (2.99%) NCSC
3 4 (2.99%) P3O
4 3 (2.24%) NIST
4 3 (2.24%) QA
5 2 (1.49%) Data Quality
5 2 (1.49%) GDPR
5 2 (1.49%) PMO
6 1 (0.75%) HIPAA
6 1 (0.75%) ISO 22301
6 1 (0.75%) JSP 440
6 1 (0.75%) RMADS
6 1 (0.75%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 13 (9.70%) VMware Infrastructure
2 12 (8.96%) Active Directory
3 7 (5.22%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (3.73%) Microsoft Virtual Server
4 5 (3.73%) Virtual Servers
5 3 (2.24%) Docker
6 1 (0.75%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 13 (9.70%) Ansible
2 7 (5.22%) Kubernetes
2 7 (5.22%) WSUS
3 6 (4.48%) SCCM
3 6 (4.48%) Terraform
4 3 (2.24%) Argo
4 3 (2.24%) SCOM
5 2 (1.49%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.75%) Dell DRAC
6 1 (0.75%) Packer
6 1 (0.75%) PowerCLI
6 1 (0.75%) Puppet
Vendors
1 24 (17.91%) Microsoft
2 14 (10.45%) Oracle
2 14 (10.45%) VMware
3 13 (9.70%) Cisco
4 11 (8.21%) Atlassian
5 9 (6.72%) SAP
6 7 (5.22%) Red Hat
6 7 (5.22%) SolarWinds
7 6 (4.48%) Veeam
8 5 (3.73%) Remedy
8 5 (3.73%) Splunk
9 3 (2.24%) Blue Prism
9 3 (2.24%) Google
10 2 (1.49%) Adobe
10 2 (1.49%) Citrix
10 2 (1.49%) Salesforce
10 2 (1.49%) ServiceNow
11 1 (0.75%) ForgeRock
11 1 (0.75%) Liquidlogic
11 1 (0.75%) PayPal