Computer Science Contract Job Trends

Computer Science
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Computer Science skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 84 70 79
Rank change year-on-year -14 +9 +53
Contract jobs citing Computer Science 1,110 1,018 1,145
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.02% 3.19% 2.70%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.44% 3.60% 3.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 723 595 769
10th Percentile £176 £352 £319
25th Percentile £313 £450 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £650 £688 £675
90th Percentile £755 £845 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -20.00% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 25 36
10th Percentile £26.63 £28.96 £33.91
25th Percentile £33.50 £33.75 £50.00
Median hourly rate £36.25 £50.00 £57.50
Median % change year-on-year -27.50% -13.04% +7.98%
75th Percentile £68.11 £53.75 £69.00
90th Percentile £86.32 £70.50 £78.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.50 £37.50 £57.50
% change year-on-year -10.67% -34.78% +15.00%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Computer Science 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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 32,247 28,287 37,232
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.87% 88.55% 87.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,360 17,181 24,724
10th Percentile £304 £308 £305
25th Percentile £406 £413 £418
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £650
90th Percentile £720 £738 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,986 908 1,544
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.62 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.30 £18.92
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -23.53% +22.16%
75th Percentile £55.00 £61.88 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.65 £74.79 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.83 £30.11 £45.00
% change year-on-year -20.86% -33.10% +65.14%

Computer Science
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Computer Science relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Computer Science job vacancy trend in the UK

Computer Science
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Computer Science.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Computer Science

Computer Science
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Computer Science over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Computer Science in the UK

Computer Science
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Computer Science.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Computer Science

Computer Science
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Computer Science over the 6 months to 9 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Computer Science in the UK

Computer Science
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 Computer Science within the UK over the 6 months to 9 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
England -7 985 £475 -17.39% 1,957
UK excluding London +7 551 £400 -20.00% 1,810
London -34 460 £561 -3.48% 343
Work from Home -16 282 £466 -19.00% 869
North of England +45 183 £358 -31.81% 300
South East +28 135 £309 -38.20% 574
Midlands -21 99 £483 -3.50% 224
Yorkshire +28 97 £475 -5.00% 137
North West +11 84 £350 -33.33% 100
West Midlands -21 67 £500 -2.44% 72
South West +11 56 £463 -30.97% 240
Scotland 0 44 £475 - 67
East of England -42 33 £405 -19.00% 316
East Midlands -9 32 £447 +25.56% 147
Wales -3 11 £160 -52.24% 95
Northern Ireland -9 4 - - 47
North East -13 3 £216 -57.95% 65

Computer Science
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 55 (4.95%) Confluence
2 41 (3.69%) SharePoint
3 30 (2.70%) Apache Spark
4 20 (1.80%) Microsoft Exchange
5 13 (1.17%) Apache
6 12 (1.08%) Apache Airflow
7 8 (0.72%) Jupyter
8 7 (0.63%) nginx
9 6 (0.54%) IIS
10 5 (0.45%) Skype for Business
10 5 (0.45%) Smallworld
11 4 (0.36%) GeoServer
11 4 (0.36%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 4 (0.36%) SAS
12 3 (0.27%) Ethereum
12 3 (0.27%) Hyperledger
12 3 (0.27%) Luigi
12 3 (0.27%) Tomcat
13 2 (0.18%) OpenStack
13 2 (0.18%) WebSphere
Applications
1 44 (3.96%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (1.98%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (0.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.45%) Chatbot
4 5 (0.45%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.45%) Simulink
5 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.090%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 22 (1.98%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (0.99%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.36%) SAP ERP
4 3 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.27%) Oracle General Ledger
4 3 (0.27%) Workday HCM
5 2 (0.18%) Aladdin
5 2 (0.18%) Maximo
5 2 (0.18%) Oracle EBS R12
5 2 (0.18%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.18%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.18%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 2 (0.18%) Oracle Receivables
5 2 (0.18%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 2 (0.18%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.18%) SAP BPC
5 2 (0.18%) SAP CX
5 2 (0.18%) SAP FS
5 2 (0.18%) SAP PLM
5 2 (0.18%) SAP Travel Management
Cloud Services
1 265 (23.87%) Azure
2 216 (19.46%) AWS
3 117 (10.54%) GCP
4 74 (6.67%) GitHub
5 68 (6.13%) Power Platform
6 67 (6.04%) Serverless
7 46 (4.14%) Microsoft 365
8 40 (3.60%) SaaS
9 37 (3.33%) Azure DevOps
10 31 (2.79%) GitHub Actions
11 23 (2.07%) Entra ID
12 20 (1.80%) Cloud Computing
13 19 (1.71%) AWS Lambda
13 19 (1.71%) Azure Data Factory
13 19 (1.71%) Power Automate
13 19 (1.71%) PowerApps
13 19 (1.71%) Snowflake
14 17 (1.53%) Amazon S3
14 17 (1.53%) Azure Machine Learning
15 16 (1.44%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 46 (4.14%) Firewall
2 34 (3.06%) DNS
3 22 (1.98%) HTTP
4 20 (1.80%) Network Security
5 18 (1.62%) DHCP
5 18 (1.62%) TCP/IP
6 16 (1.44%) VPN
6 16 (1.44%) Wireless
7 15 (1.35%) SSH
8 13 (1.17%) Skype
9 11 (0.99%) VoIP
10 9 (0.81%) BGP
10 9 (0.81%) Cisco IOS
10 9 (0.81%) Internet
11 8 (0.72%) LAN
11 8 (0.72%) WAN
12 7 (0.63%) IPv4
12 7 (0.63%) Unified Communications
12 7 (0.63%) VLAN
13 6 (0.54%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (6.22%) PostgreSQL
2 64 (5.77%) NoSQL
3 58 (5.23%) Relational Database
4 48 (4.32%) Power BI
5 40 (3.60%) Data Warehouse
6 38 (3.42%) SQL Server
7 33 (2.97%) MySQL
8 30 (2.70%) Big Data
9 26 (2.34%) Tableau
10 15 (1.35%) Elasticsearch
11 14 (1.26%) MongoDB
12 13 (1.17%) Redis
13 12 (1.08%) Amazon RDS
14 10 (0.90%) Hadoop
14 10 (0.90%) RDBMS
15 9 (0.81%) Metadata
16 8 (0.72%) Apache Cassandra
16 8 (0.72%) SQL Server Integration Services
17 7 (0.63%) Data Lake
17 7 (0.63%) Pinecone
Development Applications
1 96 (8.65%) JIRA
2 89 (8.02%) Git
3 78 (7.03%) Jenkins
4 69 (6.22%) GitLab
5 27 (2.43%) Liquibase
6 18 (1.62%) Postman
7 14 (1.26%) Selenium
8 11 (0.99%) Artifactory
9 10 (0.90%) Cypress.io
9 10 (0.90%) JUnit
10 9 (0.81%) Visual Studio
11 8 (0.72%) Bitbucket
11 8 (0.72%) CircleCI
12 7 (0.63%) Jaeger
12 7 (0.63%) MLflow
12 7 (0.63%) SonarQube
13 6 (0.54%) Appium
13 6 (0.54%) Cucumber
13 6 (0.54%) TeamCity
14 5 (0.45%) Gradle
General
1 517 (46.58%) Social Skills
2 283 (25.50%) Finance
3 255 (22.97%) Analytical Skills
4 125 (11.26%) Banking
5 67 (6.04%) Public Sector
6 42 (3.78%) Financial Institution
7 41 (3.69%) Marketing
8 33 (2.97%) Organisational Skills
9 32 (2.88%) Documentation Skills
9 32 (2.88%) Legal
10 31 (2.79%) Front Office
11 29 (2.61%) Influencing Skills
11 29 (2.61%) Telecoms
12 28 (2.52%) Investment Banking
13 27 (2.43%) Presentation Skills
14 25 (2.25%) Manufacturing
15 24 (2.16%) Electronics
16 14 (1.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 11 (0.99%) Aerospace
17 11 (0.99%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 203 (18.29%) Developer
2 95 (8.56%) Analyst
3 92 (8.29%) Architect
4 87 (7.84%) Senior
5 74 (6.67%) Lead
6 56 (5.05%) Software Engineer
7 38 (3.42%) Solutions Architect
8 32 (2.88%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
9 30 (2.70%) Data Scientist
10 29 (2.61%) Senior Developer
11 27 (2.43%) Business Analyst
11 27 (2.43%) Java Developer
12 26 (2.34%) Python Engineer
13 25 (2.25%) AWS Engineer
13 25 (2.25%) IT Support
14 24 (2.16%) Consultant
14 24 (2.16%) Python Developer
15 22 (1.98%) Data Engineer
15 22 (1.98%) Technical Support
16 20 (1.80%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 126 (11.35%) REST
2 79 (7.12%) RESTful
3 58 (5.23%) .NET
4 52 (4.68%) HTML
5 48 (4.32%) Elastic Stack
6 45 (4.05%) React
7 43 (3.87%) Kafka
7 43 (3.87%) Middleware
8 41 (3.69%) JSON
9 40 (3.60%) XML
10 39 (3.51%) CSS
10 39 (3.51%) OAuth
11 36 (3.24%) SOAP
12 33 (2.97%) Node.js
12 33 (2.97%) TensorFlow
13 32 (2.88%) PyTorch
14 30 (2.70%) LangChain
15 25 (2.25%) Spring
16 24 (2.16%) FastAPI
17 21 (1.89%) AngularJS
Miscellaneous
1 117 (10.54%) Management Information System
2 87 (7.84%) Algorithms
2 87 (7.84%) Cloud Native
3 59 (5.32%) Distributed Systems
4 50 (4.50%) Data Structures
5 47 (4.23%) Product Ownership
6 35 (3.15%) Public Cloud
7 33 (2.97%) Data Protection Act
8 27 (2.43%) Equities
9 26 (2.34%) Security Posture
10 23 (2.07%) Derivative
11 22 (1.98%) Mobile App
12 21 (1.89%) Data Centre
12 21 (1.89%) Enterprise Software
12 21 (1.89%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 20 (1.80%) AI Agents
13 20 (1.80%) Onboarding
13 20 (1.80%) Virtual Team
14 18 (1.62%) Distributed Computing
15 17 (1.53%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 166 (14.95%) Linux
2 118 (10.63%) Windows
3 60 (5.41%) Unix
4 28 (2.52%) Android
5 24 (2.16%) Windows Server
6 22 (1.98%) Mac OS
7 17 (1.53%) Apple iOS
8 7 (0.63%) Windows 10
9 6 (0.54%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.18%) Robot Operating System
10 2 (0.18%) VMS
11 1 (0.090%) Debian
11 1 (0.090%) Kali Linux
11 1 (0.090%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 376 (33.87%) Problem-Solving
2 319 (28.74%) Agile
3 242 (21.80%) DevOps
4 219 (19.73%) CI/CD
5 187 (16.85%) Software Engineering
6 183 (16.49%) AI
7 148 (13.33%) Microservices
8 137 (12.34%) Containerisation
9 120 (10.81%) Cybersecurity
9 120 (10.81%) Machine Learning
10 111 (10.00%) Analytics
11 107 (9.64%) Stakeholder Management
12 104 (9.37%) Data Modelling
13 103 (9.28%) Continuous Improvement
14 102 (9.19%) Data Science
15 100 (9.01%) Mathematics
16 95 (8.56%) Decision-Making
17 89 (8.02%) Change Management
18 84 (7.57%) Infrastructure as Code
18 84 (7.57%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 365 (32.88%) Python
2 193 (17.39%) SQL
3 156 (14.05%) Java
4 114 (10.27%) JavaScript
5 63 (5.68%) PowerShell
5 63 (5.68%) TypeScript
6 57 (5.14%) C#
7 52 (4.68%) Go
8 47 (4.23%) Bash
9 46 (4.14%) C++
10 23 (2.07%) Perl
11 18 (1.62%) R
12 16 (1.44%) Kotlin
13 12 (1.08%) Rust
14 11 (0.99%) Ruby
15 10 (0.90%) Shell Script
16 9 (0.81%) Apex Code
16 9 (0.81%) C
16 9 (0.81%) MATLAB
17 8 (0.72%) Swift
Qualifications
1 909 (81.89%) Degree
2 608 (54.77%) Computer Science Degree
3 233 (20.99%) Master's Degree
4 132 (11.89%) Security Cleared
5 96 (8.65%) SC Cleared
6 61 (5.50%) CISSP
7 52 (4.68%) DBS Check
8 50 (4.50%) PhD
9 39 (3.51%) CISM
10 38 (3.42%) AWS Certification
11 36 (3.24%) Azure Certification
12 33 (2.97%) Microsoft Certification
13 29 (2.61%) PMI Certification
14 28 (2.52%) BPSS Clearance
14 28 (2.52%) Cisco Certification
15 25 (2.25%) DV Cleared
16 23 (2.07%) PMP
17 22 (1.98%) TOGAF Certification
18 19 (1.71%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
19 18 (1.62%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 77 (6.94%) QA
2 64 (5.77%) GDPR
3 55 (4.95%) Data Quality
4 42 (3.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 28 (2.52%) NIST
6 17 (1.53%) Accessibility
7 15 (1.35%) GRC
8 13 (1.17%) PCI DSS
9 11 (0.99%) Def Stans
10 8 (0.72%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 8 (0.72%) Cyber Essentials
10 8 (0.72%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 8 (0.72%) SLA
11 6 (0.54%) HIPAA
12 5 (0.45%) DO-254
13 4 (0.36%) PSD2
14 3 (0.27%) Basel III
14 3 (0.27%) COBIT
14 3 (0.27%) ISO 19650
14 3 (0.27%) NCSC
System Software
1 158 (14.23%) Docker
2 41 (3.69%) Active Directory
3 23 (2.07%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (0.81%) Firmware
5 6 (0.54%) VMware NSX
6 5 (0.45%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.45%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 5 (0.45%) Virtual Servers
7 4 (0.36%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.18%) KVM
8 2 (0.18%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.090%) HDFS
9 1 (0.090%) PowerHA
9 1 (0.090%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 147 (13.24%) Kubernetes
2 101 (9.10%) Terraform
3 71 (6.40%) Ansible
4 58 (5.23%) Grafana
5 45 (4.05%) Prometheus
6 20 (1.80%) Puppet
7 13 (1.17%) Kibana
7 13 (1.17%) SCCM
8 10 (0.90%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (0.63%) Argo
9 7 (0.63%) Kiali
10 6 (0.54%) CSIRT
10 6 (0.54%) Microsoft Intune
10 6 (0.54%) QRadar
10 6 (0.54%) WSUS
11 5 (0.45%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.45%) SCOM
12 3 (0.27%) Control-M
12 3 (0.27%) HP ALM
13 2 (0.18%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 179 (16.13%) Microsoft
2 91 (8.20%) Splunk
3 61 (5.50%) Google
4 50 (4.50%) Oracle
4 50 (4.50%) SAP
5 34 (3.06%) Cisco
5 34 (3.06%) Databricks
6 32 (2.88%) Salesforce
7 28 (2.52%) ServiceNow
8 26 (2.34%) VMware
9 24 (2.16%) IBM
10 17 (1.53%) Red Hat
11 15 (1.35%) Informatica
12 14 (1.26%) Palo Alto
13 13 (1.17%) BiZZdesign
13 13 (1.17%) OpenAI
14 12 (1.08%) MuleSoft
15 11 (0.99%) Foundry
16 10 (0.90%) Fortinet
17 9 (0.81%) Atlassian