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 7 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 81 72 80
Rank change year-on-year -9 +8 +52
Contract jobs citing Computer Science 1,127 1,027 1,149
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.04% 3.18% 2.70%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.46% 3.60% 3.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 730 601 770
10th Percentile £176 £356 £325
25th Percentile £313 £450 £432
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £650 £688 £688
90th Percentile £750 £838 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £400 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -20.00% - -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 27 35
10th Percentile £26.75 £29.57 £33.59
25th Percentile £33.50 £33.75 £50.00
Median hourly rate £49.00 £50.00 £57.50
Median % change year-on-year -2.00% -13.04% +7.98%
75th Percentile £67.00 £58.25 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £70.55 £79.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.25 £37.50 £57.50
% change year-on-year -3.33% -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 32,541 28,533 37,398
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.91% 88.47% 87.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,569 17,345 24,861
10th Percentile £304 £308 £305
25th Percentile £406 £413 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £615 £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 2,000 921 1,535
10th Percentile £14.74 £15.62 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.69 £20.30 £18.93
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -23.53% +21.43%
75th Percentile £55.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.65 £75.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.83 £30.45 £45.00
% change year-on-year -21.76% -32.33% +55.17%

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 7 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 7 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 7 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 1,002 £475 -17.39% 1,020
UK excluding London +9 564 £400 -20.00% 796
London -33 464 £553 -5.06% 323
Work from Home -14 288 £463 -19.57% 526
North of England +43 188 £375 -28.57% 141
South East +22 134 £313 -37.35% 308
Midlands -20 100 £475 -5.00% 82
Yorkshire +23 99 £450 -12.20% 45
North West +18 87 £352 -32.95% 59
West Midlands -23 68 £500 -4.76% 46
South West +21 57 £425 -36.57% 89
Scotland +2 44 £475 - 36
East of England -32 40 £405 -19.00% 121
East Midlands -11 32 £447 +25.56% 35
Wales -3 11 £160 -52.24% 28
Northern Ireland -10 4 - - 15
North East -14 3 £216 -57.95% 39

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 (4.88%) Confluence
2 41 (3.64%) SharePoint
3 31 (2.75%) Apache Spark
4 20 (1.77%) Microsoft Exchange
5 13 (1.15%) Apache
6 12 (1.06%) Apache Airflow
7 8 (0.71%) Jupyter
8 7 (0.62%) nginx
9 6 (0.53%) IIS
10 5 (0.44%) Skype for Business
10 5 (0.44%) Smallworld
11 4 (0.35%) GeoServer
11 4 (0.35%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 4 (0.35%) 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 43 (3.82%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (1.95%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.44%) Chatbot
4 5 (0.44%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.44%) Simulink
5 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.089%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 23 (2.04%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (0.98%) Dynamics CRM
3 4 (0.35%) 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
1 271 (24.05%) Azure
2 221 (19.61%) AWS
3 121 (10.74%) GCP
4 75 (6.65%) GitHub
5 69 (6.12%) Power Platform
6 67 (5.94%) Serverless
7 45 (3.99%) Microsoft 365
8 39 (3.46%) SaaS
9 37 (3.28%) Azure DevOps
10 32 (2.84%) GitHub Actions
11 24 (2.13%) Entra ID
12 20 (1.77%) Azure Data Factory
12 20 (1.77%) Cloud Computing
13 19 (1.69%) AWS Lambda
13 19 (1.69%) Power Automate
13 19 (1.69%) PowerApps
13 19 (1.69%) Snowflake
14 17 (1.51%) Amazon S3
14 17 (1.51%) Azure Machine Learning
15 16 (1.42%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 47 (4.17%) Firewall
2 37 (3.28%) DNS
3 23 (2.04%) HTTP
4 20 (1.77%) Network Security
5 19 (1.69%) TCP/IP
6 18 (1.60%) DHCP
7 16 (1.42%) VPN
7 16 (1.42%) Wireless
8 15 (1.33%) SSH
9 13 (1.15%) Skype
10 11 (0.98%) VoIP
11 9 (0.80%) BGP
11 9 (0.80%) Cisco IOS
11 9 (0.80%) Internet
12 8 (0.71%) LAN
12 8 (0.71%) WAN
13 7 (0.62%) IPv4
13 7 (0.62%) SAN
13 7 (0.62%) Unified Communications
13 7 (0.62%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (6.12%) PostgreSQL
2 64 (5.68%) NoSQL
3 58 (5.15%) Relational Database
4 49 (4.35%) Power BI
5 42 (3.73%) Data Warehouse
6 40 (3.55%) SQL Server
7 33 (2.93%) MySQL
8 30 (2.66%) Big Data
9 26 (2.31%) Tableau
10 15 (1.33%) Elasticsearch
11 14 (1.24%) MongoDB
12 13 (1.15%) Redis
13 12 (1.06%) Amazon RDS
14 11 (0.98%) SQL Server Integration Services
15 10 (0.89%) Hadoop
15 10 (0.89%) RDBMS
16 9 (0.80%) Metadata
17 8 (0.71%) Apache Cassandra
17 8 (0.71%) Data Lake
18 7 (0.62%) Pinecone
Development Applications
1 103 (9.14%) JIRA
2 91 (8.07%) Git
3 85 (7.54%) Jenkins
4 82 (7.28%) GitLab
5 27 (2.40%) Liquibase
6 19 (1.69%) Postman
7 18 (1.60%) Artifactory
8 16 (1.42%) Visual Studio
9 15 (1.33%) Selenium
10 11 (0.98%) Cypress.io
10 11 (0.98%) JUnit
11 9 (0.80%) CircleCI
12 8 (0.71%) Bitbucket
13 7 (0.62%) Cucumber
13 7 (0.62%) MLflow
13 7 (0.62%) SonarQube
14 6 (0.53%) Appium
14 6 (0.53%) Jaeger
14 6 (0.53%) TeamCity
15 5 (0.44%) Gradle
General
1 524 (46.50%) Social Skills
2 283 (25.11%) Finance
3 253 (22.45%) Analytical Skills
4 123 (10.91%) Banking
5 67 (5.94%) Public Sector
6 42 (3.73%) Marketing
7 41 (3.64%) Financial Institution
8 33 (2.93%) Legal
8 33 (2.93%) Organisational Skills
9 32 (2.84%) Documentation Skills
10 31 (2.75%) Front Office
11 29 (2.57%) Influencing Skills
12 28 (2.48%) Investment Banking
12 28 (2.48%) Telecoms
13 26 (2.31%) Presentation Skills
14 25 (2.22%) Manufacturing
15 24 (2.13%) Electronics
16 14 (1.24%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 12 (1.06%) Aerospace
18 11 (0.98%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 208 (18.46%) Developer
2 95 (8.43%) Analyst
3 91 (8.07%) Architect
4 86 (7.63%) Senior
5 76 (6.74%) Lead
6 59 (5.24%) Software Engineer
7 37 (3.28%) Solutions Architect
8 32 (2.84%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
9 31 (2.75%) Data Scientist
10 29 (2.57%) Senior Developer
11 27 (2.40%) Business Analyst
11 27 (2.40%) Java Developer
12 26 (2.31%) Python Engineer
13 25 (2.22%) AWS Engineer
13 25 (2.22%) Consultant
14 24 (2.13%) IT Support
14 24 (2.13%) Python Developer
15 22 (1.95%) Data Engineer
15 22 (1.95%) Technical Support
16 20 (1.77%) Site Reliability Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 128 (11.36%) REST
2 80 (7.10%) RESTful
3 66 (5.86%) .NET
4 59 (5.24%) HTML
5 52 (4.61%) React
6 48 (4.26%) Elastic Stack
7 46 (4.08%) CSS
8 44 (3.90%) Middleware
9 43 (3.82%) Kafka
10 41 (3.64%) JSON
11 40 (3.55%) Node.js
11 40 (3.55%) XML
12 39 (3.46%) OAuth
13 37 (3.28%) SOAP
14 33 (2.93%) TensorFlow
15 32 (2.84%) PyTorch
16 30 (2.66%) LangChain
17 28 (2.48%) AngularJS
18 25 (2.22%) Spring
19 24 (2.13%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 119 (10.56%) Management Information System
2 94 (8.34%) Algorithms
3 87 (7.72%) Cloud Native
4 65 (5.77%) Distributed Systems
5 57 (5.06%) Data Structures
6 47 (4.17%) Product Ownership
7 35 (3.11%) Public Cloud
8 33 (2.93%) Data Protection Act
9 27 (2.40%) Equities
10 26 (2.31%) Security Posture
11 23 (2.04%) Derivative
12 22 (1.95%) Mobile App
13 21 (1.86%) Data Centre
13 21 (1.86%) Enterprise Software
13 21 (1.86%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
14 20 (1.77%) AI Agents
14 20 (1.77%) Virtual Team
15 19 (1.69%) Onboarding
16 18 (1.60%) Distributed Computing
17 17 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 173 (15.35%) Linux
2 119 (10.56%) Windows
3 60 (5.32%) Unix
4 28 (2.48%) Android
5 26 (2.31%) Windows Server
6 22 (1.95%) Mac OS
7 17 (1.51%) Apple iOS
8 6 (0.53%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 6 (0.53%) Windows 10
9 4 (0.35%) VMS
10 2 (0.18%) Robot Operating System
11 1 (0.089%) Debian
11 1 (0.089%) Kali Linux
11 1 (0.089%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 377 (33.45%) Problem-Solving
2 328 (29.10%) Agile
3 248 (22.01%) DevOps
4 229 (20.32%) CI/CD
5 188 (16.68%) Software Engineering
6 183 (16.24%) AI
7 154 (13.66%) Microservices
8 144 (12.78%) Containerisation
9 121 (10.74%) Machine Learning
10 120 (10.65%) Cybersecurity
11 112 (9.94%) Analytics
12 109 (9.67%) Stakeholder Management
13 104 (9.23%) Data Modelling
13 104 (9.23%) Data Science
14 103 (9.14%) Continuous Improvement
15 102 (9.05%) Mathematics
16 95 (8.43%) Decision-Making
17 88 (7.81%) Change Management
18 87 (7.72%) Infrastructure as Code
18 87 (7.72%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 371 (32.92%) Python
2 195 (17.30%) SQL
3 157 (13.93%) Java
4 121 (10.74%) JavaScript
5 70 (6.21%) TypeScript
6 66 (5.86%) PowerShell
7 64 (5.68%) C#
8 52 (4.61%) C++
8 52 (4.61%) Go
9 48 (4.26%) Bash
10 23 (2.04%) Perl
11 19 (1.69%) R
12 16 (1.42%) Kotlin
13 12 (1.06%) Shell Script
14 11 (0.98%) Ruby
14 11 (0.98%) Rust
15 9 (0.80%) Apex Code
15 9 (0.80%) C
15 9 (0.80%) MATLAB
16 8 (0.71%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 917 (81.37%) Degree
2 614 (54.48%) Computer Science Degree
3 232 (20.59%) Master's Degree
4 138 (12.24%) Security Cleared
5 101 (8.96%) SC Cleared
6 62 (5.50%) CISSP
7 53 (4.70%) DBS Check
8 51 (4.53%) PhD
9 39 (3.46%) AWS Certification
9 39 (3.46%) Azure Certification
9 39 (3.46%) CISM
10 33 (2.93%) Microsoft Certification
11 29 (2.57%) BPSS Clearance
11 29 (2.57%) Cisco Certification
11 29 (2.57%) PMI Certification
12 25 (2.22%) DV Cleared
13 23 (2.04%) PMP
14 22 (1.95%) TOGAF Certification
15 19 (1.69%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
16 18 (1.60%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (7.19%) QA
2 63 (5.59%) GDPR
3 56 (4.97%) Data Quality
4 41 (3.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 28 (2.48%) NIST
6 17 (1.51%) Accessibility
7 15 (1.33%) GRC
8 12 (1.06%) PCI DSS
9 11 (0.98%) Def Stans
10 8 (0.71%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 8 (0.71%) Cyber Essentials
11 7 (0.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 7 (0.62%) SLA
12 6 (0.53%) HIPAA
13 5 (0.44%) DO-254
14 4 (0.35%) PSD2
15 3 (0.27%) Basel III
15 3 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 3 (0.27%) ISO 19650
15 3 (0.27%) NCSC
System Software
1 165 (14.64%) Docker
2 43 (3.82%) Active Directory
3 25 (2.22%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (0.80%) Firmware
5 8 (0.71%) VMware NSX
6 5 (0.44%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.44%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 5 (0.44%) Virtual Servers
7 4 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.35%) VMware ESXi
8 3 (0.27%) vSphere
9 2 (0.18%) KVM
10 1 (0.089%) HDFS
10 1 (0.089%) PowerHA
Systems Management
1 154 (13.66%) Kubernetes
2 104 (9.23%) Terraform
3 76 (6.74%) Ansible
4 57 (5.06%) Grafana
5 44 (3.90%) Prometheus
6 20 (1.77%) Puppet
7 13 (1.15%) Kibana
7 13 (1.15%) SCCM
8 10 (0.89%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (0.62%) Argo
9 7 (0.62%) CSIRT
10 6 (0.53%) Kiali
10 6 (0.53%) Microsoft Intune
10 6 (0.53%) QRadar
10 6 (0.53%) WSUS
11 5 (0.44%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.44%) SCOM
12 4 (0.35%) vCenter Server
13 3 (0.27%) HP ALM
13 3 (0.27%) vRealize
Vendors
1 179 (15.88%) Microsoft
2 90 (7.99%) Splunk
3 62 (5.50%) Google
4 52 (4.61%) SAP
5 50 (4.44%) Oracle
6 34 (3.02%) Cisco
6 34 (3.02%) Databricks
7 32 (2.84%) Salesforce
8 28 (2.48%) VMware
9 27 (2.40%) ServiceNow
10 24 (2.13%) IBM
11 17 (1.51%) Red Hat
12 15 (1.33%) Informatica
13 14 (1.24%) Palo Alto
14 13 (1.15%) BiZZdesign
14 13 (1.15%) OpenAI
15 12 (1.06%) MuleSoft
16 11 (0.98%) Foundry
17 10 (0.89%) Fortinet
18 9 (0.80%) Atlassian