SQL Server Contracts in the UK excluding London

Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London requiring SQL Server skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited SQL Server over the 6 months leading up to 7 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 121 95 57
Rank change year-on-year -26 -38 -15
Contract jobs citing SQL Server 264 441 939
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 2.06% 2.14% 3.93%
As % of the Database & Business Intelligence category 13.04% 17.00% 25.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 194 318 702
10th Percentile £325 £313 £325
25th Percentile £402 £394 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £489 £475 £485
Median % change year-on-year +2.95% -2.06% +7.78%
75th Percentile £566 £600 £575
90th Percentile £646 £675 £675
UK median daily rate £513 £505 £525
% change year-on-year +1.49% -3.81% +1.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 24 12
10th Percentile £23.99 £26.95 £22.88
25th Percentile £25.13 £39.41 £26.42
Median hourly rate £27.35 £40.13 £35.50
Median % change year-on-year -31.84% +13.03% -25.26%
75th Percentile £65.62 £53.55 £46.13
90th Percentile £74.87 £62.96 £67.95
UK median hourly rate £63.75 £40.13 £45.00
% change year-on-year +58.87% -10.83% -3.58%

All Database and Business Intelligence Skills
UK excluding London

SQL Server falls under the Databases and Business Intelligence category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring database or business intelligence skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for database or business intelligence skills 2,024 2,594 3,667
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 15.81% 12.57% 15.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,395 1,830 2,639
10th Percentile £315 £319 £338
25th Percentile £402 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £489 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.95% -5.00% +1.01%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £594
90th Percentile £660 £676 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £540
% change year-on-year - -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 61 97 114
10th Percentile £18.74 £13.50 £21.46
25th Percentile £22.98 £18.20 £31.84
Median hourly rate £30.00 £40.00 £55.70
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% -28.19% +59.14%
75th Percentile £65.62 £59.00 £66.42
90th Percentile £70.00 £77.00 £75.50
UK median hourly rate £32.96 £40.00 £59.30
% change year-on-year -17.60% -32.54% +36.70%

SQL Server
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings citing SQL Server as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for SQL Server in the UK excluding London

SQL Server
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing SQL Server in the UK excluding London.

Daily rate trend for SQL Server in the UK excluding London

SQL Server
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SQL Server in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 7 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for SQL Server in the UK excluding London

SQL Server
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing SQL Server in the UK excluding London.

Hourly rate trend for SQL Server in the UK excluding London

SQL Server
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SQL Server in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 7 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for SQL Server in the UK excluding London

SQL Server
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 SQL Server within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 7 May 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
North of England -7 78 £431 -6.76% 220
South East +3 68 £500 +5.26% 282
North West +6 57 £463 - 148
Midlands -13 40 £513 +13.89% 167
Scotland +3 37 £498 -9.45% 44
West Midlands +5 31 £575 +27.78% 88
South West -7 28 £538 -2.27% 86
Yorkshire +2 15 £401 -11.00% 60
East Midlands -12 8 £328 -26.40% 71
East of England +14 7 £501 +5.53% 80
North East -7 6 £450 -5.26% 14
Northern Ireland -6 4 £470 - 10
Wales 0 3 £275 -45.00% 11
SQL Server
UK

SQL Server
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 21 (7.95%) Microsoft Exchange
2 16 (6.06%) SharePoint
3 13 (4.92%) IIS
4 10 (3.79%) Apache
4 10 (3.79%) Tomcat
5 8 (3.03%) Confluence
6 6 (2.27%) CMS
7 4 (1.52%) BizTalk Server
7 4 (1.52%) Drupal
7 4 (1.52%) WordPress
8 3 (1.14%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (1.14%) nginx
8 3 (1.14%) OpenEdge
8 3 (1.14%) Skype for Business
8 3 (1.14%) Umbraco
9 2 (0.76%) GemFire
9 2 (0.76%) SAS
10 1 (0.38%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.38%) SharePoint 2010
Applications
1 11 (4.17%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (2.65%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.76%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 5 (1.89%) Kondor
2 3 (1.14%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.76%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.38%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.38%) Remedy AR System
4 1 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.38%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 137 (51.89%) Azure
2 47 (17.80%) AWS
3 41 (15.53%) Power Platform
4 28 (10.61%) Microsoft 365
5 25 (9.47%) Entra ID
6 24 (9.09%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (7.20%) Azure Data Factory
8 17 (6.44%) GCP
9 16 (6.06%) IaaS
10 15 (5.68%) Serverless
11 13 (4.92%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (3.79%) Azure API Management
12 10 (3.79%) Azure Cosmos DB
12 10 (3.79%) Azure Functions
12 10 (3.79%) Azure Logic Apps
13 9 (3.41%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 9 (3.41%) PaaS
14 7 (2.65%) Azure Monitor
14 7 (2.65%) Azure Service Bus
15 6 (2.27%) Azure Event Grid
Communications & Networking
1 23 (8.71%) Firewall
2 12 (4.55%) Intrusion Detection
2 12 (4.55%) Network Security
3 8 (3.03%) DNS
4 7 (2.65%) Internet
5 6 (2.27%) TCP/IP
6 5 (1.89%) DHCP
6 5 (1.89%) VPN
7 4 (1.52%) HTTP
7 4 (1.52%) LAN
7 4 (1.52%) WAN
8 3 (1.14%) iSCSI
8 3 (1.14%) Remote Desktop
8 3 (1.14%) Skype
8 3 (1.14%) Wi-Fi
8 3 (1.14%) Wireless
9 1 (0.38%) FTP
9 1 (0.38%) VLAN
9 1 (0.38%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (14.02%) PostgreSQL
2 30 (11.36%) Power BI
2 30 (11.36%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 29 (10.98%) Relational Database
4 26 (9.85%) MySQL
5 24 (9.09%) Data Warehouse
5 24 (9.09%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 16 (6.06%) Azure SQL Database
7 15 (5.68%) MongoDB
8 13 (4.92%) Oracle Database
9 10 (3.79%) Metadata
10 9 (3.41%) NoSQL
11 8 (3.03%) Data Lake
11 8 (3.03%) RDBMS
11 8 (3.03%) Tableau
12 6 (2.27%) Amazon RDS
12 6 (2.27%) OLAP
13 5 (1.89%) Elasticsearch
13 5 (1.89%) GIS
13 5 (1.89%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 26 (9.85%) Git
2 15 (5.68%) JIRA
3 9 (3.41%) Visual Studio
4 5 (1.89%) GitLab
4 5 (1.89%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.89%) Selenium
4 5 (1.89%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 4 (1.52%) Bitbucket Server
5 4 (1.52%) Postman
6 3 (1.14%) Bitbucket
6 3 (1.14%) MSI
6 3 (1.14%) Team Foundation Server
7 2 (0.76%) ERwin
7 2 (0.76%) Introscope
7 2 (0.76%) JMeter
7 2 (0.76%) JUnit
7 2 (0.76%) LoadRunner
7 2 (0.76%) Oracle APEX
7 2 (0.76%) QARun
7 2 (0.76%) WinRunner
General
1 79 (29.92%) Social Skills
2 44 (16.67%) Finance
3 32 (12.12%) Public Sector
4 28 (10.61%) Analytical Skills
5 15 (5.68%) Banking
6 14 (5.30%) Telecoms
7 12 (4.55%) Legal
8 5 (1.89%) Back Office
8 5 (1.89%) Law
9 3 (1.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (1.14%) Investment Banking
9 3 (1.14%) Military
9 3 (1.14%) Organisational Skills
10 2 (0.76%) Billing
10 2 (0.76%) Documentation Skills
10 2 (0.76%) French Language
10 2 (0.76%) General Ledger
10 2 (0.76%) Korean Language
11 1 (0.38%) Local Government
11 1 (0.38%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 65 (24.62%) Developer
2 28 (10.61%) DBA
3 22 (8.33%) Senior
4 20 (7.58%) Data Engineer
5 19 (7.20%) Analyst
5 19 (7.20%) Architect
6 17 (6.44%) Administrator
7 16 (6.06%) .NET Developer
7 16 (6.06%) Support Engineer
8 15 (5.68%) SQL DBA
9 14 (5.30%) Software Engineer
10 10 (3.79%) Azure Engineer
10 10 (3.79%) C# Developer
10 10 (3.79%) DevOps Engineer
11 9 (3.41%) Consultant
11 9 (3.41%) Database Engineer
11 9 (3.41%) Infrastructure Specialist
12 8 (3.03%) Lead
13 7 (2.65%) Business Intelligence Developer
14 6 (2.27%) C# .NET Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (22.35%) .NET
2 27 (10.23%) HTML
3 21 (7.95%) AngularJS
4 19 (7.20%) CSS
5 17 (6.44%) SOAP
6 16 (6.06%) .NET Framework
6 16 (6.06%) REST
6 16 (6.06%) Web Services
7 15 (5.68%) ASP.NET
8 14 (5.30%) React
9 13 (4.92%) RESTful
10 10 (3.79%) Node.js
11 9 (3.41%) .NET Core
11 9 (3.41%) XML
12 8 (3.03%) Spring
12 8 (3.03%) Spring Boot
13 7 (2.65%) Middleware
14 6 (2.27%) JSON
14 6 (2.27%) LAMP
14 6 (2.27%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 20 (7.58%) Replication
2 10 (3.79%) Clustering
3 6 (2.27%) Management Information System
3 6 (2.27%) Product Ownership
4 5 (1.89%) Data Centre
4 5 (1.89%) Derivative
4 5 (1.89%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
4 5 (1.89%) Legacy Systems
4 5 (1.89%) PKI
5 4 (1.52%) Distributed Systems
5 4 (1.52%) Enterprise Software
5 4 (1.52%) Legacy Code
6 3 (1.14%) Data Protection Act
6 3 (1.14%) Data Structures
6 3 (1.14%) IVR
6 3 (1.14%) Mobile App
6 3 (1.14%) NHS
6 3 (1.14%) Operational Technology
6 3 (1.14%) Public Cloud
6 3 (1.14%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 65 (24.62%) Windows
2 48 (18.18%) Linux
3 37 (14.02%) Windows Server
4 16 (6.06%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 14 (5.30%) Unix
6 7 (2.65%) AIX
6 7 (2.65%) Windows Server 2016
7 6 (2.27%) Android
7 6 (2.27%) Windows 10
7 6 (2.27%) Windows Server 2019
8 5 (1.89%) Solaris
9 3 (1.14%) Apple iOS
9 3 (1.14%) Windows Server 2012
10 2 (0.76%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.38%) CentOS
11 1 (0.38%) Oracle Linux
11 1 (0.38%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.38%) VMS
11 1 (0.38%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 86 (32.58%) Problem-Solving
2 71 (26.89%) Agile
3 65 (24.62%) DevOps
4 59 (22.35%) CI/CD
5 43 (16.29%) Migration
6 36 (13.64%) ETL
6 36 (13.64%) Performance Tuning
7 35 (13.26%) Business Intelligence
8 33 (12.50%) Disaster Recovery
9 30 (11.36%) ITIL
10 27 (10.23%) High Availability
10 27 (10.23%) Scrum
11 24 (9.09%) Software Engineering
12 23 (8.71%) Analytics
12 23 (8.71%) Data Migration
13 22 (8.33%) Change Management
14 20 (7.58%) Continuous Improvement
14 20 (7.58%) Cybersecurity
15 19 (7.20%) Data Modelling
16 18 (6.82%) Task Automation
Programming Languages
1 137 (51.89%) SQL
2 46 (17.42%) PowerShell
3 44 (16.67%) Python
4 38 (14.39%) C#
5 31 (11.74%) JavaScript
6 22 (8.33%) Java
7 13 (4.92%) TypeScript
8 12 (4.55%) T-SQL
9 11 (4.17%) PL/SQL
10 9 (3.41%) PHP
11 7 (2.65%) Bash
12 6 (2.27%) Perl
13 4 (1.52%) R
14 3 (1.14%) Bicep
14 3 (1.14%) Scala
14 3 (1.14%) VB
15 2 (0.76%) Go
15 2 (0.76%) Shell Script
15 2 (0.76%) VB.NET
15 2 (0.76%) X++
Qualifications
1 47 (17.80%) Security Cleared
2 26 (9.85%) Degree
3 24 (9.09%) SC Cleared
4 22 (8.33%) Microsoft Certification
5 18 (6.82%) Azure Certification
6 16 (6.06%) DV Cleared
7 7 (2.65%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (1.52%) AWS Certification
8 4 (1.52%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 2 (0.76%) ITIL Certification
9 2 (0.76%) MCSA
9 2 (0.76%) MCSE
9 2 (0.76%) OCP
9 2 (0.76%) Oracle Certification
9 2 (0.76%) Tableau Certification
10 1 (0.38%) CITP
10 1 (0.38%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (4.55%) QA
2 11 (4.17%) GDPR
3 8 (3.03%) Data Quality
4 6 (2.27%) Disclosure Scotland
4 6 (2.27%) SLA
5 5 (1.89%) Accessibility
5 5 (1.89%) Basel III
5 5 (1.89%) MiFID
6 3 (1.14%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.76%) HIPAA
7 2 (0.76%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.38%) HL7
8 1 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 43 (16.29%) Active Directory
2 20 (7.58%) Docker
3 17 (6.44%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (5.68%) vSphere
5 6 (2.27%) Oracle RAC
6 4 (1.52%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (1.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
7 3 (1.14%) Hyper-V
7 3 (1.14%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 3 (1.14%) Virtual Servers
8 2 (0.76%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.38%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.38%) Xen
Systems Management
1 22 (8.33%) Kubernetes
2 18 (6.82%) Terraform
3 13 (4.92%) Microsoft Intune
4 8 (3.03%) Ansible
4 8 (3.03%) SCCM
5 7 (2.65%) SCOM
6 6 (2.27%) Data Guard
7 5 (1.89%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 5 (1.89%) Progress Chef
8 4 (1.52%) Failover Clustering
8 4 (1.52%) Grafana
8 4 (1.52%) Microsoft Clustering
8 4 (1.52%) Oracle Flashback
9 3 (1.14%) Kibana
9 3 (1.14%) SCSM
9 3 (1.14%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (1.14%) WMI
10 2 (0.76%) Foglight
10 2 (0.76%) Podman
10 2 (0.76%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 116 (43.94%) Microsoft
2 78 (29.55%) Oracle
3 23 (8.71%) VMware
4 12 (4.55%) Databricks
5 11 (4.17%) Sybase
6 10 (3.79%) Red Hat
7 9 (3.41%) Google
8 7 (2.65%) Splunk
9 6 (2.27%) Cisco
9 6 (2.27%) Dynatrace
9 6 (2.27%) IBM
10 5 (1.89%) AppDynamics
10 5 (1.89%) Dell
10 5 (1.89%) SAP
11 4 (1.52%) Zend
12 3 (1.14%) Apple
12 3 (1.14%) HP
12 3 (1.14%) Informatica
12 3 (1.14%) Salesforce
12 3 (1.14%) Teradata