Project Management Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Project Management
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Project Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 13 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 32 15 15
Rank change year-on-year -17 0 +2
Contract jobs citing Project Management 996 1,258 1,685
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 5.49% 9.18% 8.65%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 6.45% 10.44% 9.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 636 698 1,078
10th Percentile £300 £249 £300
25th Percentile £403 £363 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - +1.01%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £595
90th Percentile £650 £677 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £520 £525
% change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 71 85 121
10th Percentile £20.36 £22.22 £20.07
25th Percentile £22.75 £27.00 £27.50
Median hourly rate £45.46 £33.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +37.76% -26.67% -6.25%
75th Percentile £63.75 £58.27 £60.00
90th Percentile £65.00 £67.05 £72.00
UK median hourly rate £42.28 £32.75 £42.50
% change year-on-year +29.10% -22.94% +7.46%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Project Management 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 UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 15,442 12,054 16,983
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 85.18% 87.99% 87.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,457 7,040 10,848
10th Percentile £222 £239 £250
25th Percentile £375 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £685 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,678 680 1,283
10th Percentile £14.37 £15.48 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.25 £20.00 £16.96
Median hourly rate £23.83 £30.00 £43.75
Median % change year-on-year -20.58% -31.43% +51.38%
75th Percentile £55.00 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.03 £73.75 £76.53
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £31.69 £40.50
% change year-on-year -20.64% -21.75% +15.71%

Project Management
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Project Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Project Management job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Project Management
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Project Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Project Management

Project Management
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Project Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 13 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Project Management in the UK excluding London

Project Management
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Project Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Project Management

Project Management
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Project Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 13 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Project Management in the UK excluding London

Project Management
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 Project Management 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 East -9 260 £525 - 366
North of England -23 256 £484 +3.20% 228
Midlands -21 196 £492 -6.29% 197
North West -12 143 £492 +9.33% 108
West Midlands -23 132 £500 -9.09% 113
South West -29 105 £450 -7.69% 131
Yorkshire -18 104 £480 +6.67% 95
Scotland -9 96 £450 +3.33% 65
East Midlands -11 66 £463 +15.63% 84
East of England -34 53 £456 -6.41% 167
Wales -3 29 £308 -42.79% 46
Northern Ireland -4 19 £388 -18.42% 29
North East -24 11 £450 -21.74% 33
Project Management
UK

Project Management
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:

Application Platforms
1 102 (10.24%) Confluence
2 79 (7.93%) SharePoint
3 15 (1.51%) CMS
4 11 (1.10%) Microsoft Exchange
5 7 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2013
5 7 (0.70%) Skype for Business
6 6 (0.60%) WordPress
7 4 (0.40%) Oracle Workflow
8 2 (0.20%) MS Project Server
9 1 (0.10%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.10%) Apache
9 1 (0.10%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.10%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.10%) IIS
9 1 (0.10%) Moodle
9 1 (0.10%) SAS
9 1 (0.10%) Umbraco
Applications
1 133 (13.35%) Microsoft Project
2 120 (12.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 101 (10.14%) Microsoft Office
4 71 (7.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 32 (3.21%) MS Visio
6 13 (1.31%) Trello
7 10 (1.00%) Spreadsheet
8 3 (0.30%) Revit
9 2 (0.20%) Navisworks
10 1 (0.10%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 1 (0.10%) AutoCAD
10 1 (0.10%) Chatbot
10 1 (0.10%) ProjectWise
10 1 (0.10%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 18 (1.81%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (1.51%) Primavera
3 12 (1.20%) Oracle ERP
4 7 (0.70%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.70%) Oracle EBS
4 7 (0.70%) Oracle Payables
4 7 (0.70%) Salesforce CRM
5 6 (0.60%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 6 (0.60%) SAP ERP
6 5 (0.50%) NetSuite
6 5 (0.50%) SAP Payroll
6 5 (0.50%) SAP PM
7 4 (0.40%) Oracle Assets
7 4 (0.40%) Shopify
8 3 (0.30%) Oracle General Ledger
8 3 (0.30%) Oracle Receivables
8 3 (0.30%) ResourceLink
8 3 (0.30%) Teamcenter
9 2 (0.20%) Dynamics NAV
9 2 (0.20%) Maximo
Cloud Services
1 81 (8.13%) Azure
2 53 (5.32%) Power Platform
3 41 (4.12%) Microsoft 365
4 38 (3.82%) AWS
5 25 (2.51%) Azure DevOps
6 18 (1.81%) GCP
6 18 (1.81%) SaaS
7 11 (1.10%) Dynamics 365
8 10 (1.00%) OpenShift
9 9 (0.90%) GitHub
9 9 (0.90%) OneDrive
9 9 (0.90%) SuccessFactors
10 8 (0.80%) Asana
10 8 (0.80%) Cloud Computing
10 8 (0.80%) Google Workspace
11 6 (0.60%) Salesforce Service Cloud
11 6 (0.60%) Smartsheet
12 5 (0.50%) Google Ads
12 5 (0.50%) Power Automate
12 5 (0.50%) Viva Engage
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.10%) Firewall
2 9 (0.90%) WAN
2 9 (0.90%) Wi-Fi
3 8 (0.80%) DNS
3 8 (0.80%) Skype
4 7 (0.70%) SD-WAN
4 7 (0.70%) SSH
5 6 (0.60%) LAN
5 6 (0.60%) Structured Cabling
5 6 (0.60%) TCP/IP
6 4 (0.40%) Broadband
6 4 (0.40%) DHCP
6 4 (0.40%) Network Security
6 4 (0.40%) VLAN
6 4 (0.40%) VPN
7 3 (0.30%) BGP
7 3 (0.30%) HTTP
7 3 (0.30%) Internet
7 3 (0.30%) SSL
7 3 (0.30%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (4.82%) Power BI
2 9 (0.90%) SQL Server
3 8 (0.80%) SAP HANA
4 6 (0.60%) Elasticsearch
4 6 (0.60%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (0.50%) Data Warehouse
5 5 (0.50%) Tableau
6 4 (0.40%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.30%) Electronic Patient Records
7 3 (0.30%) GIS
8 2 (0.20%) Data Lake
8 2 (0.20%) Geospatial Data
8 2 (0.20%) Looker
8 2 (0.20%) Metadata
8 2 (0.20%) MySQL
8 2 (0.20%) Oracle Database
8 2 (0.20%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.20%) Power Query
8 2 (0.20%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 161 (16.16%) JIRA
2 8 (0.80%) Jenkins
3 5 (0.50%) Git
4 4 (0.40%) GitLab
4 4 (0.40%) Selenium
5 2 (0.20%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.10%) Appium
6 1 (0.10%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.10%) Axure RP
6 1 (0.10%) CircleCI
6 1 (0.10%) Gradle
6 1 (0.10%) Maven
6 1 (0.10%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.10%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.10%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.10%) Travis CI
6 1 (0.10%) Tricentis qTest
6 1 (0.10%) Visual Studio
General
1 488 (49.00%) Social Skills
2 319 (32.03%) Finance
3 170 (17.07%) Analytical Skills
4 110 (11.04%) Public Sector
5 102 (10.24%) Organisational Skills
6 71 (7.13%) Banking
7 52 (5.22%) Manufacturing
8 34 (3.41%) Legal
9 32 (3.21%) Influencing Skills
9 32 (3.21%) Retail
10 27 (2.71%) Local Government
11 26 (2.61%) Telecoms
12 24 (2.41%) Marketing
13 17 (1.71%) Documentation Skills
14 16 (1.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 14 (1.41%) Aerospace
15 14 (1.41%) Presentation Skills
16 13 (1.31%) Investment Banking
17 11 (1.10%) Automotive
17 11 (1.10%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 346 (34.74%) Project Manager
2 128 (12.85%) Analyst
3 81 (8.13%) Lead
4 61 (6.12%) Senior
5 47 (4.72%) Business Analyst
5 47 (4.72%) IT Manager
6 43 (4.32%) IT Project Manager
7 38 (3.82%) Senior Manager
8 34 (3.41%) Consultant
8 34 (3.41%) Technical Manager
9 30 (3.01%) Senior Project Manager
10 29 (2.91%) Coordinator
11 28 (2.81%) Project Officer
12 25 (2.51%) Programme Manager
12 25 (2.51%) Support Analyst
13 24 (2.41%) Delivery Manager
13 24 (2.41%) Project Coordinator
14 23 (2.31%) Architect
14 23 (2.31%) Engagement Manager
15 22 (2.21%) PMO Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (1.71%) Oracle Fusion
2 11 (1.10%) EDI
2 11 (1.10%) Middleware
3 6 (0.60%) Elastic Stack
4 5 (0.50%) ADO
5 4 (0.40%) .NET
5 4 (0.40%) Ajax
6 3 (0.30%) REST
6 3 (0.30%) SOAP
6 3 (0.30%) Web Services
6 3 (0.30%) YAML
7 2 (0.20%) CSS
7 2 (0.20%) HTML
7 2 (0.20%) ModSecurity
7 2 (0.20%) OAuth
7 2 (0.20%) React
7 2 (0.20%) SAML
7 2 (0.20%) Spring Boot
7 2 (0.20%) XML
8 1 (0.10%) JWT
Miscellaneous
1 67 (6.73%) Management Information System
2 58 (5.82%) Onboarding
3 34 (3.41%) Virtual Team
4 33 (3.31%) PMI
5 31 (3.11%) Data Protection Act
6 26 (2.61%) Self-Motivation
7 21 (2.11%) Data Centre
8 20 (2.01%) Product Ownership
9 19 (1.91%) Legacy Systems
10 16 (1.61%) NHS
11 15 (1.51%) SCADA
12 14 (1.41%) CMDB
13 12 (1.20%) Driving Licence
13 12 (1.20%) Life Science
14 11 (1.10%) Operational Technology
15 10 (1.00%) Mobile App
16 7 (0.70%) Analytical Mindset
16 7 (0.70%) Enterprise Software
16 7 (0.70%) Learning Management System
17 6 (0.60%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 48 (4.82%) Windows
2 11 (1.10%) Windows 10
3 9 (0.90%) Windows Server
4 7 (0.70%) Unix
5 3 (0.30%) Linux
5 3 (0.30%) Windows Server 2019
6 2 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.10%) AIX
7 1 (0.10%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.10%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.10%) Solaris
7 1 (0.10%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 370 (37.15%) Agile
2 282 (28.31%) Stakeholder Management
3 249 (25.00%) Project Delivery
4 240 (24.10%) Problem-Solving
5 226 (22.69%) PRINCE2
6 200 (20.08%) Change Management
7 191 (19.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 140 (14.06%) Continuous Improvement
9 122 (12.25%) Migration
10 119 (11.95%) ITIL
10 119 (11.95%) Waterfall
11 103 (10.34%) Decision-Making
12 100 (10.04%) ERP
13 94 (9.44%) DevOps
14 91 (9.14%) Risk Management
15 87 (8.73%) Cybersecurity
15 87 (8.73%) Project Governance
16 80 (8.03%) Budget Management
17 71 (7.13%) Project Planning
17 71 (7.13%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 27 (2.71%) SQL
2 15 (1.51%) Python
3 8 (0.80%) Java
4 5 (0.50%) ABAP
4 5 (0.50%) JavaScript
4 5 (0.50%) Perl
4 5 (0.50%) PowerShell
5 2 (0.20%) C
5 2 (0.20%) C++
5 2 (0.20%) R
5 2 (0.20%) Shell Script
5 2 (0.20%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.10%) Assembly Language
6 1 (0.10%) Bash
6 1 (0.10%) C#
6 1 (0.10%) Ruby
6 1 (0.10%) Tcl
6 1 (0.10%) VB
6 1 (0.10%) VBA
6 1 (0.10%) X++
Qualifications
1 192 (19.28%) Degree
2 163 (16.37%) Security Cleared
3 115 (11.55%) PMP
3 115 (11.55%) SC Cleared
4 109 (10.94%) PMI Certification
5 44 (4.42%) DV Cleared
6 26 (2.61%) APMP
7 20 (2.01%) Master's Degree
7 20 (2.01%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 19 (1.91%) PRINCE2 Certification
9 15 (1.51%) BPSS Clearance
10 12 (1.20%) Computer Science Degree
11 11 (1.10%) CISSP
11 11 (1.10%) MBA
12 10 (1.00%) A+ Certification
13 9 (0.90%) CISM
14 8 (0.80%) ITIL Certification
15 7 (0.70%) SAFe Agilist
16 6 (0.60%) Cisco Certification
16 6 (0.60%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 128 (12.85%) PMO
2 62 (6.22%) QA
3 27 (2.71%) Data Quality
4 18 (1.81%) GDPR
4 18 (1.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 11 (1.10%) NIST
5 11 (1.10%) P3O
6 10 (1.00%) Disclosure Scotland
7 9 (0.90%) SLA
8 6 (0.60%) Basel III
8 6 (0.60%) ISO 19650
8 6 (0.60%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 5 (0.50%) GxP
9 5 (0.50%) PCI DSS
10 4 (0.40%) NCSC
11 3 (0.30%) Accessibility
11 3 (0.30%) GMP
11 3 (0.30%) GRC
11 3 (0.30%) ISO 9001
12 2 (0.20%) MiFID
System Software
1 21 (2.11%) Active Directory
2 8 (0.80%) Docker
3 4 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
3 4 (0.40%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.20%) Firmware
4 2 (0.20%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.10%) Embedded Firmware
5 1 (0.10%) RACF
5 1 (0.10%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.10%) VMware NSX
5 1 (0.10%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (1.20%) SCCM
2 11 (1.10%) Kubernetes
3 8 (0.80%) Microsoft Intune
4 6 (0.60%) Kibana
4 6 (0.60%) Terraform
5 5 (0.50%) Ansible
5 5 (0.50%) logstash
6 3 (0.30%) Grafana
6 3 (0.30%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.10%) Docker Swarm
7 1 (0.10%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.10%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.10%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.10%) Puppet
7 1 (0.10%) SCOM
7 1 (0.10%) Tivoli Storage Manager
7 1 (0.10%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 179 (17.97%) Microsoft
2 82 (8.23%) SAP
3 47 (4.72%) ServiceNow
4 46 (4.62%) Oracle
5 24 (2.41%) Salesforce
6 18 (1.81%) Google
7 15 (1.51%) Cisco
8 12 (1.20%) Atlassian
9 11 (1.10%) IBM
10 8 (0.80%) Workday
11 7 (0.70%) Remedy
11 7 (0.70%) Splunk
12 6 (0.60%) Planview
12 6 (0.60%) Sage
12 6 (0.60%) VMware
13 5 (0.50%) Adobe
13 5 (0.50%) ESRI
13 5 (0.50%) Fortinet
13 5 (0.50%) Palo Alto
14 4 (0.40%) Citrix