2nd Line Support Contract Job Trends

Second Line Support
UK

The median Second Line Support daily rate in the UK is £195, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 30 November 2025.

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

6 months to
30 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 388 386 321
Rank change year-on-year -2 -65 +24
Contract jobs requiring a 2nd Line Support 198 180 338
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.55% 0.50% 0.74%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.61% 0.53% 0.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 144 131 230
10th Percentile £154 £149 £133
25th Percentile £163 £179 £165
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £195 £210 £200
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% +5.00% -11.11%
75th Percentile £238 £273 £238
90th Percentile £288 £400 £288
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £200 £200
% change year-on-year -5.00% +0.25% -0.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 15 28
10th Percentile £15.50 £20.19 £15.33
25th Percentile £15.71 £21.05 £17.72
Median hourly rate £18.44 £23.00 £19.31
Median % change year-on-year -19.85% +19.11% -12.23%
75th Percentile £24.00 £25.47 £21.70
90th Percentile £30.31 £29.00 £26.85
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.45 £23.00 £19.06
% change year-on-year -24.15% +20.67% -4.70%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. 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 with a recognized job title 32,598 33,656 42,848
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.95% 92.81% 93.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,655 20,421 28,929
10th Percentile £281 £300 £290
25th Percentile £402 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £649
90th Percentile £725 £738 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £496 £500
% change year-on-year -4.14% -0.90% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,903 1,218 1,519
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.24 £15.16
25th Percentile £17.88 £20.50 £19.09
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.00
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -20.45% +46.67%
75th Percentile £57.50 £64.73 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.50 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -22.62% -26.97% +78.00%

2nd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '2nd Line Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

2nd Line Support job vacancy trend in the UK

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK

2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing 2nd Line Support over the 6 months to 30 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for 2nd Line Support in the UK

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 2nd Line Support job vacancies in the UK

2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing 2nd Line Support over the 6 months to 30 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for 2nd Line Support in the UK

2nd Line Support
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 2nd Line Support within the UK over the 6 months to 30 November 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
England -5 186 £195 -7.69% 86
UK excluding London +9 146 £190 -5.00% 85
North of England -10 64 £190 +8.57% 24
London -1 46 £198 -21.00% 13
North West -5 31 £175 - 11
Midlands -24 31 £180 +2.86% 12
Yorkshire -16 25 £205 +5.13% 12
South East -10 21 £195 -23.32% 33
West Midlands -22 19 £200 +14.29% 9
Work from Home -4 15 £190 -15.56% 27
East of England -2 13 £200 -15.79% 8
East Midlands -11 12 £158 - 3
South West +1 11 £275 +28.21% 2
North East -1 8 £175 +11.11% 1
Scotland -7 3 £225 +18.11% 7
Northern Ireland -4 2 - -
Wales 0 1 £205 +2.50%

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 30 November 2025, 2nd Line Support 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 featuring 2nd Line Support in the job title.

1 119 (60.10%) Windows
2 101 (51.01%) Microsoft 365
3 77 (38.89%) Microsoft
4 66 (33.33%) Active Directory
4 66 (33.33%) Microsoft Office
5 54 (27.27%) ITIL
6 49 (24.75%) Customer Service
7 48 (24.24%) Security Cleared
8 42 (21.21%) Windows 10
9 41 (20.71%) Service Management
10 40 (20.20%) SC Cleared
11 39 (19.70%) Android
12 34 (17.17%) Entra ID
13 32 (16.16%) Azure
14 30 (15.15%) Problem-Solving
15 29 (14.65%) Business Intelligence
15 29 (14.65%) Microsoft Intune
15 29 (14.65%) SAP
15 29 (14.65%) Wireless
16 28 (14.14%) Apple
16 28 (14.14%) Digital Marketing
16 28 (14.14%) Mac OS
16 28 (14.14%) Programme Management
17 27 (13.64%) SharePoint
18 26 (13.13%) Cisco
18 26 (13.13%) VPN
18 26 (13.13%) Windows Server
19 25 (12.63%) Dell
20 24 (12.12%) Microsoft Exchange
20 24 (12.12%) SCCM

2nd Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 27 (13.64%) SharePoint
2 24 (12.12%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (2.53%) Exchange Server 2010
Applications
1 66 (33.33%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (3.03%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 4 (2.02%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.51%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 101 (51.01%) Microsoft 365
2 34 (17.17%) Entra ID
3 32 (16.16%) Azure
4 15 (7.58%) OneDrive
5 6 (3.03%) Google Workspace
6 2 (1.01%) AWS
7 1 (0.51%) Mimecast
7 1 (0.51%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 29 (14.65%) Wireless
2 26 (13.13%) VPN
3 23 (11.62%) WAN
4 21 (10.61%) TCP/IP
5 20 (10.10%) DHCP
5 20 (10.10%) DNS
6 19 (9.60%) LAN
7 9 (4.55%) Firewall
8 8 (4.04%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (3.03%) Network Security
9 6 (3.03%) PABX
9 6 (3.03%) Structured Cabling
10 4 (2.02%) BGP
10 4 (2.02%) IPsec
10 4 (2.02%) MPLS
10 4 (2.02%) VoIP
11 1 (0.51%) Broadband
11 1 (0.51%) Remote Desktop
11 1 (0.51%) VLAN
11 1 (0.51%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.51%) Electronic Patient Records
1 1 (0.51%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 3 (1.52%) JIRA
2 1 (0.51%) Hudson
General
1 67 (33.84%) Social Skills
2 39 (19.70%) Public Sector
3 35 (17.68%) Finance
3 35 (17.68%) Manufacturing
4 28 (14.14%) Electronics
4 28 (14.14%) Marketing
4 28 (14.14%) Telecoms
5 9 (4.55%) Analytical Skills
5 9 (4.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 5 (2.53%) Organisational Skills
7 4 (2.02%) Local Government
8 3 (1.52%) Legal
8 3 (1.52%) Retail
9 2 (1.01%) Banking
9 2 (1.01%) Law
10 1 (0.51%) Advertising
10 1 (0.51%) Documentation Skills
10 1 (0.51%) Multimedia
10 1 (0.51%) Publishing
Miscellaneous
1 23 (11.62%) Data Centre
2 12 (6.06%) Driving Licence
3 10 (5.05%) NHS
4 8 (4.04%) Management Information System
5 6 (3.03%) CMDB
5 6 (3.03%) Self-Motivation
5 6 (3.03%) Smartphone
6 5 (2.53%) Team-Oriented Environment
7 4 (2.02%) Onboarding
7 4 (2.02%) PKI
8 3 (1.52%) iPhone
8 3 (1.52%) Video Conferencing
9 2 (1.01%) Client/Server
9 2 (1.01%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (1.01%) Enterprise Software
9 2 (1.01%) Life Science
9 2 (1.01%) Renewable Energy
10 1 (0.51%) CCTV
10 1 (0.51%) Replication
10 1 (0.51%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 119 (60.10%) Windows
2 42 (21.21%) Windows 10
3 39 (19.70%) Android
4 28 (14.14%) Mac OS
5 26 (13.13%) Windows Server
6 15 (7.58%) Apple iOS
7 8 (4.04%) Linux
8 7 (3.54%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (3.03%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.51%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 54 (27.27%) ITIL
2 49 (24.75%) Customer Service
3 41 (20.71%) Service Management
4 30 (15.15%) Problem-Solving
5 29 (14.65%) Business Intelligence
6 28 (14.14%) Digital Marketing
6 28 (14.14%) Programme Management
7 24 (12.12%) Service Delivery
8 23 (11.62%) ITSM
9 10 (5.05%) Problem Management
10 9 (4.55%) Migration
11 8 (4.04%) Asset Management
11 8 (4.04%) Customer Experience
11 8 (4.04%) Mobile Device Management
11 8 (4.04%) Network Management
12 7 (3.54%) Incident Management
12 7 (3.54%) Patch Management
12 7 (3.54%) Workflow
13 6 (3.03%) Change Management
13 6 (3.03%) Network Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 9 (4.55%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.51%) SQL
Qualifications
1 48 (24.24%) Security Cleared
2 40 (20.20%) SC Cleared
3 20 (10.10%) Degree
4 9 (4.55%) Microsoft Certification
5 6 (3.03%) ECDL
5 6 (3.03%) MCP
6 5 (2.53%) MCDST
7 4 (2.02%) DV Cleared
8 3 (1.52%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 2 (1.01%) DBS Check
9 2 (1.01%) MCSE
10 1 (0.51%) Azure Certification
10 1 (0.51%) CCNA
10 1 (0.51%) Cisco Certification
10 1 (0.51%) HND
10 1 (0.51%) ITIL Certification
10 1 (0.51%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (5.56%) SLA
System Software
1 66 (33.33%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.53%) Virtual Desktop
3 3 (1.52%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.51%) BitLocker
4 1 (0.51%) Firmware
4 1 (0.51%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.51%) vSphere
4 1 (0.51%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 29 (14.65%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (12.12%) SCCM
3 4 (2.02%) SCOM
4 3 (1.52%) Jamf Pro
5 1 (0.51%) AppManager
Vendors
1 77 (38.89%) Microsoft
2 29 (14.65%) SAP
3 28 (14.14%) Apple
4 26 (13.13%) Cisco
5 25 (12.63%) Dell
6 23 (11.62%) HP
7 16 (8.08%) ServiceNow
8 7 (3.54%) Google
9 6 (3.03%) Citrix
10 5 (2.53%) iManage
10 5 (2.53%) Mitel
11 4 (2.02%) Juniper
11 4 (2.02%) Remedy
11 4 (2.02%) SolarWinds
11 4 (2.02%) VMware
12 3 (1.52%) Logitech
12 3 (1.52%) Meraki
13 2 (1.01%) Okta
14 1 (0.51%) CyberArk
14 1 (0.51%) Ivanti