1st Line Support Contract Job Trends in the Thames Valley

First Line Support
South East > Thames Valley

The median First Line Support daily rate in the Thames Valley is £173, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 September 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 112 100 135
Rank change year-on-year -12 +35 +34
Contract jobs requiring a 1st Line Support 7 31 10
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 0.42% 1.40% 0.37%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.46% 1.53% 0.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 4 4 5
10th Percentile - - £122
25th Percentile £160 £150 £140
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £173 £158 £150
Median % change year-on-year +9.52% +5.00% +3.99%
75th Percentile £189 £173 £180
90th Percentile £196 - £192
South East median daily rate £173 £163 £155
% change year-on-year +6.15% +4.84% -1.59%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 0 3
10th Percentile - - £16.85
25th Percentile - - £17.75
Median hourly rate £15.12 - £20.50
75th Percentile £16.50 - £22.75
90th Percentile £17.32 - £23.35
South East median hourly rate £18.82 - £15.21
% change year-on-year - - -7.82%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Thames Valley

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the Thames Valley. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the Thames Valley with a recognized job title 1,525 2,020 2,581
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.67% 91.36% 94.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 967 1,134 1,737
10th Percentile £250 £270 £248
25th Percentile £380 £406 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £505 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.89% +0.90% -
75th Percentile £588 £608 £615
90th Percentile £650 £686 £700
South East median daily rate £500 £508 £500
% change year-on-year -1.48% +1.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 86 97 93
10th Percentile £14.42 £17.63 £16.25
25th Percentile £15.13 £26.00 £21.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £58.49 £49.73
Median % change year-on-year -57.00% +17.62% +165.23%
75th Percentile £55.00 £70.18 £66.00
90th Percentile £87.50 £91.50 £74.96
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £58.17 £50.00
% change year-on-year -56.77% +16.35% +105.00%

1st Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Job postings that featured 1st Line Support in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Job vacancy trend for 1st Line Support in the Thames Valley

1st Line Support
Daily Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 1st Line Support job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 1st Line Support job vacancies in the Thames Valley

1st Line Support
Hourly Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 1st Line Support job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 1st Line Support job vacancies in the Thames Valley

1st Line Support
Contract Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 1st Line Support within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 26 September 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
Buckinghamshire +11 4 £185 +23.33%
Berkshire -14 2 £160 -3.03% 2
Oxfordshire - 1 £200 - 3
1st Line Support
South East

1st Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the Thames Valley

For the 6 months to 26 September 2025, 1st Line Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Thames Valley region featuring 1st Line Support in the job title.

1 6 (85.71%) Security Cleared
1 6 (85.71%) Social Skills
2 5 (71.43%) Windows
3 4 (57.14%) Microsoft
3 4 (57.14%) SC Cleared
3 4 (57.14%) Microsoft 365
3 4 (57.14%) Problem-Solving
4 3 (42.86%) Windows 10
4 3 (42.86%) Customer Service
4 3 (42.86%) ServiceNow
4 3 (42.86%) Coaching
4 3 (42.86%) Active Directory
5 2 (28.57%) QA
5 2 (28.57%) Time Management
5 2 (28.57%) ITSM
5 2 (28.57%) Analytical Skills
5 2 (28.57%) Azure
5 2 (28.57%) Unified Communications
6 1 (14.29%) Virtual Environments
6 1 (14.29%) Self-Motivation
6 1 (14.29%) Critical Thinking
6 1 (14.29%) ITIL
6 1 (14.29%) Entra ID
6 1 (14.29%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 1 (14.29%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (14.29%) DV Cleared
6 1 (14.29%) Degree
6 1 (14.29%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (14.29%) SLA
6 1 (14.29%) Service Management

1st Line Support Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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:

Application Platforms
1 1 (14.29%) Microsoft Exchange
Cloud Services
1 4 (57.14%) Microsoft 365
2 2 (28.57%) Azure
3 1 (14.29%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 2 (28.57%) Unified Communications
General
1 6 (85.71%) Social Skills
2 2 (28.57%) Analytical Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (14.29%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 5 (71.43%) Windows
2 3 (42.86%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (57.14%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (42.86%) Coaching
2 3 (42.86%) Customer Service
3 2 (28.57%) ITSM
3 2 (28.57%) Time Management
4 1 (14.29%) Critical Thinking
4 1 (14.29%) ITIL
4 1 (14.29%) Service Delivery
4 1 (14.29%) Service Management
4 1 (14.29%) Virtual Environments
Qualifications
1 6 (85.71%) Security Cleared
2 4 (57.14%) SC Cleared
3 1 (14.29%) Degree
3 1 (14.29%) DV Cleared
3 1 (14.29%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (28.57%) QA
2 1 (14.29%) SLA
System Software
1 3 (42.86%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 1 (14.29%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 4 (57.14%) Microsoft
2 3 (42.86%) ServiceNow