Validation Contract Job Trends in the South West

Validation
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring Validation skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 42 55 34
Rank change year-on-year +13 -21 +75
Contract jobs citing Validation 136 65 149
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 3.66% 3.31% 5.59%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.68% 3.66% 6.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 63 35 45
10th Percentile £326 £428 £437
25th Percentile £413 £463 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £582
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% -5.50% +5.82%
75th Percentile £600 £649 £638
90th Percentile £722 £650 £670
England median daily rate £500 £502 £488
% change year-on-year -0.30% +2.82% -11.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 7 39
10th Percentile £17.75 £32.00 £28.00
25th Percentile £26.81 £49.17 £47.92
Median hourly rate £66.50 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +2.31% - -2.61%
75th Percentile £70.00 £74.38 £72.50
90th Percentile £85.00 £75.00 -
England median hourly rate £54.25 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -16.54% - -3.70%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South West

Validation 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 West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 2,909 1,774 2,221
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 78.28% 90.37% 83.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,645 1,026 1,339
10th Percentile £325 £220 £281
25th Percentile £428 £363 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £619 £634
90th Percentile £725 £700 £703
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.95% -2.87% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 461 229 222
10th Percentile £14.85 £14.77 £15.62
25th Percentile £25.75 £18.51 £44.38
Median hourly rate £62.00 £25.15 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +146.52% -62.74% +6.18%
75th Percentile £68.75 £63.75 £72.50
90th Percentile £79.00 £70.00 £75.00
England median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% +1.18%

Validation
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

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

Validation job vacancy trend in the South West

Validation
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

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

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

Validation
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Validation in the South West over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Validation in the South West

Validation
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

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

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

Validation
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Validation in the South West over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Validation in the South West

Validation
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 Validation within the South West region over the 6 months to 10 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
Bristol +12 69 £550 +6.02% 115
Somerset -15 21 £525 -17.00% 28
Wiltshire -9 20 £375 -40.00% 20
Gloucestershire -5 9 £469 +4.17% 100
Devon -11 9 £463 -2.63% 16
Dorset -3 6 £585 +6.36% 30
Cornwall - 1 - - 4
Validation
England

Validation
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 3 (2.21%) CMS
1 3 (2.21%) Confluence
1 3 (2.21%) Sitecore CMS
2 2 (1.47%) Apache
3 1 (0.74%) Apache Airflow
3 1 (0.74%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.74%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.74%) Palantir Foundry
3 1 (0.74%) SharePoint
Applications
1 12 (8.82%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (2.94%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (2.21%) MS Visio
4 2 (1.47%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.74%) LaTeX
5 1 (0.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (2.21%) Magento
1 3 (2.21%) SAP CRM
1 3 (2.21%) SAP HR
1 3 (2.21%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (1.47%) Oracle Assets
2 2 (1.47%) SAP MM
2 2 (1.47%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 2 (1.47%) Unit4 Business World
3 1 (0.74%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.74%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.74%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 1 (0.74%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.74%) Sage 50
3 1 (0.74%) SAP PM
3 1 (0.74%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 30 (22.06%) Azure
2 12 (8.82%) AWS
3 8 (5.88%) GCP
4 7 (5.15%) GitHub
5 6 (4.41%) Dynamics 365
6 5 (3.68%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 5 (3.68%) Azure Monitor
6 5 (3.68%) Azure Sentinel
6 5 (3.68%) GitHub Actions
7 4 (2.94%) Power Platform
8 3 (2.21%) Microsoft 365
8 3 (2.21%) SAP Commerce Cloud
9 2 (1.47%) Azure Data Factory
9 2 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
9 2 (1.47%) Azure Stack
9 2 (1.47%) Boomi
9 2 (1.47%) Entra ID
9 2 (1.47%) Lucidchart
9 2 (1.47%) Power Automate
9 2 (1.47%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 10 (7.35%) Firewall
2 9 (6.62%) DNS
3 8 (5.88%) DHCP
3 8 (5.88%) TCP/IP
4 6 (4.41%) BGP
5 5 (3.68%) VLAN
5 5 (3.68%) WAN
6 3 (2.21%) Ethernet
7 2 (1.47%) ATM
7 2 (1.47%) Network Security
7 2 (1.47%) VSAN
8 1 (0.74%) Ethernet VPN
8 1 (0.74%) Modbus
8 1 (0.74%) NX-OS
8 1 (0.74%) VXLAN
8 1 (0.74%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (3.68%) Metadata
1 5 (3.68%) SQL Server
2 4 (2.94%) Power BI
3 3 (2.21%) Oracle Reports
3 3 (2.21%) SQLite
4 2 (1.47%) Electronic Patient Records
5 1 (0.74%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.74%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.74%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.74%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (5.88%) Rational DOORS
1 8 (5.88%) Rational Rhapsody
2 7 (5.15%) GitLab
2 7 (5.15%) JIRA
3 6 (4.41%) Jenkins
4 3 (2.21%) Eclipse
4 3 (2.21%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.74%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.74%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.74%) Gatling
5 1 (0.74%) Git
5 1 (0.74%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.74%) Postman
General
1 48 (35.29%) Social Skills
2 22 (16.18%) Analytical Skills
3 21 (15.44%) Finance
4 12 (8.82%) Public Sector
5 11 (8.09%) Manufacturing
6 10 (7.35%) Military
7 7 (5.15%) Aerospace
7 7 (5.15%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (3.68%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (2.94%) Banking
9 4 (2.94%) Influencing Skills
9 4 (2.94%) Local Government
10 3 (2.21%) Law
10 3 (2.21%) Marketing
11 2 (1.47%) General Ledger
11 2 (1.47%) Investment Banking
11 2 (1.47%) Presentation Skills
11 2 (1.47%) Publishing
12 1 (0.74%) Aviation
12 1 (0.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
Job Titles
1 16 (11.76%) Analyst
1 16 (11.76%) Systems Engineer
2 14 (10.29%) Senior
3 12 (8.82%) Lead
4 11 (8.09%) Test Engineer
5 10 (7.35%) Administrator
6 9 (6.62%) Architect
6 9 (6.62%) Business Analyst
7 7 (5.15%) Consultant
7 7 (5.15%) Software Engineer
7 7 (5.15%) Systems Administrator
8 6 (4.41%) QA Engineer
8 6 (4.41%) Technical Analyst
9 5 (3.68%) Azure Consultant
9 5 (3.68%) Data Architect
9 5 (3.68%) Engineering Specialist
9 5 (3.68%) QA Test Engineer
9 5 (3.68%) Technical Business Analyst
10 4 (2.94%) Data Migration Lead
10 4 (2.94%) Embedded Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (8.82%) Terraform
2 7 (5.15%) Middleware
3 5 (3.68%) REST
4 4 (2.94%) JSON
4 4 (2.94%) Oracle Fusion
4 4 (2.94%) XML
5 3 (2.21%) .NET
5 3 (2.21%) .NET Framework
5 3 (2.21%) EDI
5 3 (2.21%) FastAPI
5 3 (2.21%) Node.js
5 3 (2.21%) pydantic
5 3 (2.21%) Web Services
6 2 (1.47%) Playwright
7 1 (0.74%) CSS
7 1 (0.74%) FHIR
7 1 (0.74%) Handlebars
7 1 (0.74%) Mustache
7 1 (0.74%) RESTful
7 1 (0.74%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 13 (9.56%) Management Information System
2 10 (7.35%) Legacy Systems
3 7 (5.15%) Data Structures
4 6 (4.41%) Self-Motivation
5 4 (2.94%) Data Protection Act
5 4 (2.94%) Onboarding
6 3 (2.21%) Data Centre
6 3 (2.21%) Linux Command Line
6 3 (2.21%) Operational Technology
7 2 (1.47%) Analytical Mindset
7 2 (1.47%) Clustering
7 2 (1.47%) Enterprise Software
7 2 (1.47%) Life Science
7 2 (1.47%) NHS
7 2 (1.47%) SCADA
8 1 (0.74%) Enterprise Cloud
8 1 (0.74%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 1 (0.74%) Hybrid Cloud
8 1 (0.74%) LIMS
8 1 (0.74%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 17 (12.50%) Windows
2 13 (9.56%) Linux
3 6 (4.41%) Windows Server
4 5 (3.68%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 38 (27.94%) Migration
2 30 (22.06%) Verification and Validation
3 26 (19.12%) Stakeholder Management
4 23 (16.91%) Data Migration
5 21 (15.44%) Problem-Solving
6 20 (14.71%) Data Validation
6 20 (14.71%) ERP
7 17 (12.50%) Systems Engineering
7 17 (12.50%) User Acceptance Testing
8 16 (11.76%) CI/CD
9 15 (11.03%) Agile
9 15 (11.03%) Continuous Improvement
9 15 (11.03%) Data Cleansing
10 13 (9.56%) Data Mapping
10 13 (9.56%) Decision-Making
10 13 (9.56%) Infrastructure as Code
11 12 (8.82%) Analytics
11 12 (8.82%) Integration Testing
12 11 (8.09%) Software Engineering
12 11 (8.09%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 14 (10.29%) SQL
2 12 (8.82%) Python
3 10 (7.35%) C++
4 7 (5.15%) C
5 4 (2.94%) Ada
5 4 (2.94%) JavaScript
6 3 (2.21%) C#
7 2 (1.47%) Java
7 2 (1.47%) PowerShell
8 1 (0.74%) Kotlin
8 1 (0.74%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.74%) T-SQL
8 1 (0.74%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 37 (27.21%) Security Cleared
2 30 (22.06%) SC Cleared
3 11 (8.09%) Degree
4 4 (2.94%) CIPD
4 4 (2.94%) DV Cleared
5 3 (2.21%) ACCA
5 3 (2.21%) Chartered Engineer
5 3 (2.21%) CIMA
6 2 (1.47%) Azure Certification
6 2 (1.47%) BPSS Clearance
6 2 (1.47%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.74%) CEH
7 1 (0.74%) CompTIA Security+
7 1 (0.74%) Computer Science Degree
7 1 (0.74%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.74%) ISEB
7 1 (0.74%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (12.50%) Data Quality
2 12 (8.82%) QA
3 7 (5.15%) GDPR
4 5 (3.68%) Def Stans
5 2 (1.47%) IFRS
5 2 (1.47%) ISO/IEC 15288
5 2 (1.47%) SNOMED CT
6 1 (0.74%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 1 (0.74%) ARP4761
6 1 (0.74%) DO-254
6 1 (0.74%) GAMP
6 1 (0.74%) GMP
6 1 (0.74%) HL7
6 1 (0.74%) IEC 61508
6 1 (0.74%) JSP 440
6 1 (0.74%) NCSC
6 1 (0.74%) NIST
6 1 (0.74%) SLA
System Software
1 11 (8.09%) VMware Infrastructure
2 6 (4.41%) Hyper-V
3 5 (3.68%) Active Directory
3 5 (3.68%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (2.21%) VirtualBox
5 2 (1.47%) VMware Workstation
6 1 (0.74%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 1 (0.74%) Virtual Servers
6 1 (0.74%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 6 (4.41%) Ansible
2 5 (3.68%) FortiGate
2 5 (3.68%) Kubernetes
3 2 (1.47%) Failover Clustering
3 2 (1.47%) VxRail
4 1 (0.74%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 34 (25.00%) Microsoft
2 11 (8.09%) VMware
3 10 (7.35%) SAP
4 9 (6.62%) Oracle
5 8 (5.88%) IBM
6 5 (3.68%) Zscaler
7 4 (2.94%) Workday
8 3 (2.21%) Atlassian
8 3 (2.21%) ServiceNow
8 3 (2.21%) Sitecore
9 2 (1.47%) Databricks
9 2 (1.47%) MuleSoft
9 2 (1.47%) Sage
9 2 (1.47%) Sparx
10 1 (0.74%) Civica
10 1 (0.74%) Informatica
10 1 (0.74%) InterSystems
10 1 (0.74%) Red Hat
10 1 (0.74%) Salesforce
10 1 (0.74%) Siemens