Graduate Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Graduate
UK > UK excluding London

The median Graduate daily rate in the UK excluding London is £225, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 371 337 387
Rank change year-on-year -34 +50 +80
Contract jobs requiring a Graduate 21 7 10
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.12% 0.051% 0.051%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.13% 0.055% 0.055%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 3
10th Percentile - - £89
25th Percentile £213 - £103
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £225 - £150
Median % change year-on-year - - +9.09%
75th Percentile £238 - £163
90th Percentile - - £170
UK median daily rate £225 - £140
% change year-on-year - - +1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 1 4
10th Percentile - - £11.55
25th Percentile £19.00 £20.12 £13.13
Median hourly rate £20.00 £20.24 £15.75
Median % change year-on-year -1.16% +28.48% -21.25%
75th Percentile £21.00 £20.35 £20.13
90th Percentile - - £22.60
UK median hourly rate £20.00 £20.24 £15.75
% change year-on-year -1.16% +28.48% -21.25%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK excluding London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the UK excluding London. 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 UK excluding London with a recognized job title 16,411 12,634 18,203
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.52% 92.22% 93.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,069 7,482 11,719
10th Percentile £213 £213 £213
25th Percentile £375 £363 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £477 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.42% -4.60% -
75th Percentile £575 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,655 688 1,382
10th Percentile £14.00 £15.22 £14.00
25th Percentile £17.69 £20.26 £17.78
Median hourly rate £25.15 £30.62 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -17.85% -31.97% +64.38%
75th Percentile £60.00 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £72.08 £76.24
UK median hourly rate £26.50 £32.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year -18.46% -23.53% +26.87%

Graduate
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Graduate' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Graduate job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Graduate
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Graduate
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Graduate job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Graduate
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Graduate within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 13 January 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
South West - 7 £225 - 51
North of England - 5 £225 - 95
South East -17 4 - - 123
North West - 4 £225 - 45
East of England - 3 - - 33
West Midlands -34 2 - - 8
Midlands -43 2 - - 26
Yorkshire - 1 - - 40
Graduate
UK

Graduate Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London

For the 6 months to 13 January 2026, Graduate contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the UK excluding London region featuring Graduate in the job title.

1 5 (23.81%) Software Engineering
2 4 (19.05%) AI
2 4 (19.05%) Computer Science
2 4 (19.05%) Degree
3 2 (9.52%) Microsoft
3 2 (9.52%) Python
4 1 (4.76%) Asset Management
4 1 (4.76%) Azure
4 1 (4.76%) Business Continuity
4 1 (4.76%) Business Intelligence
4 1 (4.76%) Collaborative Working
4 1 (4.76%) Computer Science Degree
4 1 (4.76%) Data Analysis
4 1 (4.76%) Data Protection
4 1 (4.76%) Data Visualisation
4 1 (4.76%) DevOps
4 1 (4.76%) Django
4 1 (4.76%) Economics
4 1 (4.76%) Front End Development
4 1 (4.76%) Gantt Chart
4 1 (4.76%) JIRA
4 1 (4.76%) Mathematics
4 1 (4.76%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (4.76%) PMO
4 1 (4.76%) Power BI
4 1 (4.76%) Power Platform
4 1 (4.76%) Problem-Solving
4 1 (4.76%) Project Delivery
4 1 (4.76%) Project Governance
4 1 (4.76%) SDLC

Graduate Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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:

Applications
1 1 (4.76%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 1 (4.76%) Azure
1 1 (4.76%) Power Platform
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (4.76%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 1 (4.76%) JIRA
General
1 3 (14.29%) Aerospace
1 3 (14.29%) Manufacturing
2 1 (4.76%) Analytical Skills
2 1 (4.76%) Banking
2 1 (4.76%) Organisational Skills
2 1 (4.76%) Social Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (4.76%) Django
Miscellaneous
1 4 (19.05%) Robotics
2 1 (4.76%) Cloud Native
2 1 (4.76%) Data Protection Act
2 1 (4.76%) Mobile Banking
Processes & Methodologies
1 5 (23.81%) Software Engineering
2 4 (19.05%) AI
2 4 (19.05%) Computer Science
3 1 (4.76%) Asset Management
3 1 (4.76%) Business Continuity
3 1 (4.76%) Business Intelligence
3 1 (4.76%) Data Analysis
3 1 (4.76%) Data Protection
3 1 (4.76%) Data Visualisation
3 1 (4.76%) DevOps
3 1 (4.76%) Economics
3 1 (4.76%) Front End Development
3 1 (4.76%) Mathematics
3 1 (4.76%) Project Governance
3 1 (4.76%) SDLC
3 1 (4.76%) Software Asset Management
3 1 (4.76%) User Experience
3 1 (4.76%) UX Design
3 1 (4.76%) Visualisation
3 1 (4.76%) Web Development
Programming Languages
1 2 (9.52%) Python
Qualifications
1 4 (19.05%) Degree
2 1 (4.76%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (4.76%) PMO
Vendors
1 2 (9.52%) Microsoft