3rd Line Engineer Contract Job Trends
Third Line Engineer
UK
The median Third Line Engineer daily rate in the UK is £471, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 24 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 605 | 473 | 479 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -132 | +6 | -17 |
| Contract 3rd Line Engineer jobs | 81 | 81 | 73 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.15% | 0.24% | 0.20% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.16% | 0.27% | 0.21% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 68 | 64 | 46 |
| 10th Percentile | £225 | £263 | £265 |
| 25th Percentile | £275 | £369 | £363 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £471 | £450 | £423 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.72% | +6.51% | +20.71% |
| 75th Percentile | £502 | £500 | £486 |
| 90th Percentile | £556 | £600 | £541 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £419 | £450 | £375 |
| % change year-on-year | -6.94% | +20.00% | +13.64% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | £21.84 |
| 25th Percentile | - | £29.00 | £22.72 |
| Median hourly rate | £40.00 | £30.00 | £24.18 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +33.33% | +24.07% | - |
| 75th Percentile | - | £60.32 | £42.09 |
| 90th Percentile | - | £77.90 | £52.84 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £89.63 | £23.34 |
| % change year-on-year | -55.37% | +284.02% | - |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 50,555 | 30,551 | 34,449 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.77% | 90.86% | 92.93% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,733 | 19,330 | 20,776 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £278 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,205 | 1,692 | 1,359 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.22 | £13.80 | £15.06 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.00 | £17.30 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.00 | £25.15 | £40.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.02% | -37.13% | -10.11% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.70 | £50.19 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £69.65 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.00 | £40.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +60.00% | -37.50% | -8.88% |
3rd Line Engineer Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract 3rd Line Engineer job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
3rd Line Engineer Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 3rd Line Engineer job vacancies in the UK.
3rd Line Engineer Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for 3rd Line Engineer jobs over the 6 months to 24 October 2026.
3rd Line Engineer Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 3rd Line Engineer job vacancies in the UK.
3rd Line Engineer Top 15 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in 3rd Line Engineer jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 24 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -116 | 80 | £473 | +5.00% | 120 |
| UK excluding London | -93 | 71 | £419 | -6.94% | 95 |
| South East | -46 | 45 | £475 | -5.00% | 26 |
| North of England | -55 | 14 | £325 | - | 17 |
| North West | -44 | 10 | £400 | - | 11 |
| London | -100 | 10 | £625 | +47.06% | 20 |
| Midlands | -46 | 9 | £300 | -25.00% | 33 |
| Work from Home | -72 | 7 | £275 | - | 39 |
| East Midlands | - | 7 | £300 | - | 16 |
| East of England | -19 | 5 | £223 | -36.29% | 13 |
| North East | - | 3 | £290 | - | 4 |
| South West | -34 | 2 | £318 | -9.29% | 5 |
| West Midlands | -61 | 2 | £250 | -37.50% | 17 |
| Yorkshire | - | 2 | £305 | - | 2 |
| Scotland | -25 | 1 | £413 | - | 1 |
3rd Line Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 24 October 2026, 3rd Line Engineer contract job ads cited 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 3rd Line Engineer job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windows | 77.8% | 63 |
| 2 | Windows Server | 69.1% | 56 |
| 3 | Microsoft | 61.7% | 50 |
| 4 | Active Directory | 60.5% | 49 |
| 5 | Security Cleared | 55.6% | 45 |
| 5 | VMware | 55.6% | 45 |
| 7 | VMware Infrastructure | 50.6% | 41 |
| 8 | DV Cleared | 37.0% | 30 |
| 9 | DNS | 28.4% | 23 |
| 9 | Problem-Solving | 28.4% | 23 |
| 11 | Hyper-V | 27.2% | 22 |
| 11 | Infrastructure Engineering | 27.2% | 22 |
| 11 | ITSM | 27.2% | 22 |
| 14 | Azure | 24.7% | 20 |
| 14 | vCenter Server | 24.7% | 20 |
| 16 | Entra ID | 22.2% | 18 |
| 16 | Microsoft Exchange | 22.2% | 18 |
| 16 | PowerShell | 22.2% | 18 |
| 19 | Microsoft 365 | 21.0% | 17 |
| 20 | Change Management | 19.8% | 16 |
| 20 | Dell | 19.8% | 16 |
| 20 | SCOM | 19.8% | 16 |
| 23 | DHCP | 18.5% | 15 |
| 23 | ITIL | 18.5% | 15 |
| 23 | SC Cleared | 18.5% | 15 |
| 26 | Avamar | 17.3% | 14 |
| 26 | Thales | 17.3% | 14 |
| 28 | Citrix | 14.8% | 12 |
| 28 | SharePoint | 14.8% | 12 |
| 30 | Windows 10 | 13.6% | 11 |
3rd Line Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3rd Line Support Engineer | 50.6% | 41 |
| 2 | 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer | 23.5% | 19 |
| 3 | 3rd Line Infrastructure Support | 19.8% | 16 |
| 3 | Infrastructure Support Engineer | 19.8% | 16 |
| 5 | 2nd/3rd Line Support Engineer | 18.5% | 15 |
| 5 | Storage Engineer | 18.5% | 15 |
| 7 | IT Support Engineer | 17.3% | 14 |
| 8 | 2nd/3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer | 13.6% | 11 |
| 8 | IT Infrastructure Engineer | 13.6% | 11 |
| 10 | Team Leader | 9.9% | 8 |
| 11 | Infrastructure Security Engineer | 8.6% | 7 |
| 11 | IT Security Engineer | 8.6% | 7 |
| 11 | Security Support Engineer | 8.6% | 7 |
| 14 | Citrix Engineer | 7.4% | 6 |
| 15 | Cloud Engineer | 6.2% | 5 |
| 16 | 3rd Line Server Engineer | 4.9% | 4 |
| 16 | Remote Support Engineer | 4.9% | 4 |
| 18 | 3rd Line Server Support | 3.7% | 3 |
| 18 | Active Directory Support Engineer | 3.7% | 3 |
| 18 | Applications Support Engineer | 3.7% | 3 |