DV Cleared Contract Job Trends

Developed Vetting (DV) Clearance
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for DV Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 26 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 62 64 33
Rank change year-on-year +2 -31 +60
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,585 1,071 2,190
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.82% 3.49% 4.99%
As % of the Qualifications category 11.22% 11.72% 16.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,110 694 1,548
10th Percentile £425 £382 £387
25th Percentile £500 £500 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £589 £600
Median % change year-on-year -2.34% -1.88% -
75th Percentile £675 £675 £700
90th Percentile £738 £713 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £588 £600
% change year-on-year -2.13% -2.08% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 30 106
10th Percentile £16.35 £35.75 £48.40
25th Percentile £18.82 £56.65 £56.65
Median hourly rate £55.50 £63.15 £62.75
Median % change year-on-year -12.11% +0.64% -7.72%
75th Percentile £82.00 £80.76 £78.00
90th Percentile £91.25 £86.72 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £59.50 £63.15 £63.00
% change year-on-year -5.78% +0.24% -13.10%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

DV Cleared falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 14,122 9,141 13,295
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.08% 29.79% 30.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,321 5,618 8,200
10th Percentile £331 £290 £288
25th Percentile £419 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.58% -2.42% -2.18%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £650
90th Percentile £720 £716 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £505 £530
% change year-on-year -0.99% -4.72% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,031 444 961
10th Percentile £16.09 £20.00 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.34 £24.18 £20.50
Median hourly rate £25.15 £40.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -37.13% -5.88% -10.90%
75th Percentile £65.00 £67.25 £64.50
90th Percentile £81.00 £81.77 £77.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £46.71 £44.50
% change year-on-year -46.16% +4.97% -1.11%

DV Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend

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

DV Cleared job vacancy trend in the UK

DV Cleared
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DV Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DV Cleared

DV Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing DV Cleared over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for DV Cleared in the UK

DV Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DV Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DV Cleared

DV Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing DV Cleared over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for DV Cleared in the UK

DV Cleared
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 DV Cleared within the UK over the 6 months to 26 February 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 -2 1,445 £575 -4.17% 272
UK excluding London -2 1,103 £575 -2.13% 235
South East +6 551 £575 - 112
South West -2 338 £568 -5.42% 72
London -12 333 £575 -4.17% 46
Work from Home +18 201 £560 -0.44% 94
Midlands -20 78 £575 -17.86% 15
North of England -30 64 £606 +15.48% 13
West Midlands -26 62 £575 -17.86% 13
East of England +7 56 £575 - 23
North West +4 51 £600 +192.68% 10
Scotland -21 26 £650 +26.21% 7
East Midlands -17 16 £650 +18.18% 2
Yorkshire -55 11 £613 +11.36% 3
Northern Ireland - 9 £600 -
Wales -5 4 £600 -14.29%
North East -22 2 - -

DV Cleared
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 50 (3.15%) Microsoft Exchange
2 49 (3.09%) SharePoint
3 30 (1.89%) Apache
4 26 (1.64%) Confluence
5 24 (1.51%) Skype for Business
6 18 (1.14%) Palantir Foundry
7 7 (0.44%) Apache Spark
8 5 (0.32%) Mattermost
9 4 (0.25%) OpenStack
10 3 (0.19%) Oracle Workflow
11 1 (0.063%) Apache Airflow
11 1 (0.063%) Documentum
11 1 (0.063%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 57 (3.60%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (1.26%) Microsoft Project
4 11 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.44%) MS Visio
6 4 (0.25%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.13%) Lectora
Business Applications
1 20 (1.26%) Remedy ITSM
2 14 (0.88%) SAP S/4HANA
3 12 (0.76%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 8 (0.50%) Maximo
5 4 (0.25%) Oracle Applications
5 4 (0.25%) Oracle Assets
5 4 (0.25%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.25%) SAP EWM
6 3 (0.19%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.19%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 3 (0.19%) SAP WM
7 2 (0.13%) Primavera
7 2 (0.13%) SAP GRC
8 1 (0.063%) Oracle Cash Management
8 1 (0.063%) Oracle General Ledger
8 1 (0.063%) Oracle Payroll
8 1 (0.063%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
8 1 (0.063%) Oracle Receivables
8 1 (0.063%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.063%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 145 (9.15%) AWS
2 131 (8.26%) Azure
3 54 (3.41%) Microsoft 365
4 51 (3.22%) GitHub
5 47 (2.97%) GCP
6 43 (2.71%) OpenShift
7 40 (2.52%) Serverless
8 35 (2.21%) Azure DevOps
9 30 (1.89%) GitHub Actions
10 29 (1.83%) IaaS
11 25 (1.58%) PaaS
12 20 (1.26%) Amazon S3
13 18 (1.14%) Amazon EC2
14 17 (1.07%) Entra ID
15 16 (1.01%) AWS CloudFormation
15 16 (1.01%) AWS Lambda
15 16 (1.01%) Azure AKS
15 16 (1.01%) Azure Sentinel
16 15 (0.95%) Power Platform
17 13 (0.82%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 117 (7.38%) Firewall
2 101 (6.37%) DNS
3 70 (4.42%) Network Security
4 49 (3.09%) LAN
4 49 (3.09%) VPN
5 47 (2.97%) WAN
6 42 (2.65%) DHCP
7 40 (2.52%) TCP/IP
8 37 (2.33%) BGP
9 30 (1.89%) Junos
10 27 (1.70%) Skype
11 26 (1.64%) Cisco ISE
11 26 (1.64%) OSPF
12 25 (1.58%) Cisco IOS
13 17 (1.07%) Ethernet VPN
13 17 (1.07%) MPLS
13 17 (1.07%) SAN
13 17 (1.07%) VLAN
14 16 (1.01%) Cisco Firepower
14 16 (1.01%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (2.02%) PostgreSQL
2 27 (1.70%) Elasticsearch
3 21 (1.32%) SQL Server
4 18 (1.14%) Big Data
5 16 (1.01%) Hadoop
6 15 (0.95%) Oracle Database
7 14 (0.88%) Amazon RDS
8 11 (0.69%) Power BI
8 11 (0.69%) Redis
8 11 (0.69%) Relational Database
9 9 (0.57%) MongoDB
10 8 (0.50%) Metadata
10 8 (0.50%) MySQL
11 7 (0.44%) InfluxDB
11 7 (0.44%) SAP HANA
12 5 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 4 (0.25%) Data Warehouse
13 4 (0.25%) SAP Data Services
13 4 (0.25%) SQL Server Analysis Services
13 4 (0.25%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 54 (3.41%) JIRA
2 30 (1.89%) GitLab
3 29 (1.83%) Git
3 29 (1.83%) Jenkins
4 14 (0.88%) Maven
5 12 (0.76%) Artifactory
5 12 (0.76%) SonarQube
6 11 (0.69%) Sonatype Nexus
7 8 (0.50%) Cypress.io
8 7 (0.44%) Bitbucket
9 5 (0.32%) Postman
9 5 (0.32%) Robot Framework
9 5 (0.32%) Selenium
10 4 (0.25%) CircleCI
10 4 (0.25%) Gradle
10 4 (0.25%) JUnit
10 4 (0.25%) Oracle APEX
10 4 (0.25%) Snyk
10 4 (0.25%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 4 (0.25%) webpack
General
1 287 (18.11%) Social Skills
2 191 (12.05%) Public Sector
3 123 (7.76%) Analytical Skills
4 71 (4.48%) Finance
5 65 (4.10%) Military
6 47 (2.97%) Documentation Skills
7 42 (2.65%) Legal
8 24 (1.51%) Presentation Skills
8 24 (1.51%) Telecoms
9 22 (1.39%) Aerospace
9 22 (1.39%) Organisational Skills
10 17 (1.07%) Manufacturing
11 16 (1.01%) Law
12 14 (0.88%) Marketing
12 14 (0.88%) Police
13 13 (0.82%) Electronics
14 10 (0.63%) Banking
15 6 (0.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 3 (0.19%) Influencing Skills
17 2 (0.13%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 280 (17.67%) Architect
2 92 (5.80%) Senior
3 90 (5.68%) Analyst
4 78 (4.92%) Consultant
5 70 (4.42%) Network Engineer
6 68 (4.29%) Developer
6 68 (4.29%) Lead
7 66 (4.16%) Technical Architect
8 57 (3.60%) DevOps Engineer
9 52 (3.28%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 51 (3.22%) Tester
11 49 (3.09%) Support Engineer
12 44 (2.78%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
13 40 (2.52%) Infrastructure Architect
14 39 (2.46%) 3rd Line Engineer
14 39 (2.46%) Project Manager
15 38 (2.40%) Security Architect
15 38 (2.40%) SOC Analyst
16 35 (2.21%) Solutions Architect
17 32 (2.02%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (2.21%) REST
2 33 (2.08%) Apache NiFi
3 26 (1.64%) OAuth
4 23 (1.45%) React
5 22 (1.39%) Kafka
6 21 (1.32%) OpenID
7 19 (1.20%) OAuth2
7 19 (1.20%) SAML
8 15 (0.95%) Flask
9 14 (0.88%) Elastic Stack
9 14 (0.88%) FastAPI
9 14 (0.88%) Node.js
10 13 (0.82%) .NET
10 13 (0.82%) 802.1X
11 12 (0.76%) RabbitMQ
12 11 (0.69%) LDAP
12 11 (0.69%) Web Services
12 11 (0.69%) YAML
13 10 (0.63%) Spring
13 10 (0.63%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 103 (6.50%) PKI
2 57 (3.60%) Data Centre
3 37 (2.33%) Management Information System
3 37 (2.33%) Security Operations Centre
4 26 (1.64%) Cloud Native
5 22 (1.39%) Hybrid Cloud
6 20 (1.26%) Cyber Threat
7 19 (1.20%) Clustering
8 18 (1.14%) Cyberattack
8 18 (1.14%) Product Ownership
9 17 (1.07%) Onboarding
10 16 (1.01%) Analytical Mindset
10 16 (1.01%) Private Cloud
10 16 (1.01%) Replication
11 12 (0.76%) Cyber Defence
11 12 (0.76%) Insider Threat
12 11 (0.69%) CSOC
12 11 (0.69%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (0.69%) Fat Client
12 11 (0.69%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 253 (15.96%) Windows
2 174 (10.98%) Linux
3 79 (4.98%) Windows Server
4 35 (2.21%) Windows 10
5 27 (1.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 17 (1.07%) Windows 7
7 14 (0.88%) Ubuntu
8 10 (0.63%) Android
9 8 (0.50%) CentOS
9 8 (0.50%) Mac OS
10 6 (0.38%) Windows Server 2019
11 5 (0.32%) Unix
11 5 (0.32%) VMS
12 4 (0.25%) Windows Server 2003
13 3 (0.19%) Debian
13 3 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
14 2 (0.13%) Rocky
15 1 (0.063%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 265 (16.72%) Agile
2 205 (12.93%) Problem-Solving
3 153 (9.65%) DevOps
4 151 (9.53%) Cybersecurity
5 134 (8.45%) ITIL
6 128 (8.08%) CI/CD
7 117 (7.38%) Service Management
8 102 (6.44%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 98 (6.18%) Continuous Improvement
10 96 (6.06%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 87 (5.49%) ITSM
12 80 (5.05%) Stakeholder Management
13 76 (4.79%) Infrastructure as Code
14 73 (4.61%) Project Delivery
14 73 (4.61%) Risk Management
14 73 (4.61%) SIEM
15 72 (4.54%) Containerisation
16 71 (4.48%) Incident Response
17 63 (3.97%) Decision-Making
18 62 (3.91%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 144 (9.09%) Python
2 116 (7.32%) PowerShell
3 62 (3.91%) SQL
4 49 (3.09%) Java
5 31 (1.96%) JavaScript
6 24 (1.51%) Bash
7 20 (1.26%) C#
7 20 (1.26%) TypeScript
8 18 (1.14%) Go
9 15 (0.95%) Shell Script
10 12 (0.76%) C++
11 9 (0.57%) Bicep
12 8 (0.50%) VB
13 7 (0.44%) VBScript
14 6 (0.38%) ABAP
14 6 (0.38%) C
14 6 (0.38%) Rust
15 5 (0.32%) PL/SQL
16 4 (0.25%) PHP
17 3 (0.19%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 1,585 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 498 (31.42%) SC Cleared
3 56 (3.53%) CISSP
4 55 (3.47%) Degree
5 45 (2.84%) Cisco Certification
6 37 (2.33%) CISM
7 35 (2.21%) Microsoft Certification
8 25 (1.58%) CCNP
8 25 (1.58%) CompTIA Security+
9 19 (1.20%) CESG Certified Professional
9 19 (1.20%) GIAC
10 18 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
11 17 (1.07%) AWS Certification
12 16 (1.01%) CCNA
13 15 (0.95%) BPSS Clearance
14 14 (0.88%) Azure Certification
14 14 (0.88%) CompTIA CySA+
14 14 (0.88%) CTC Cleared
14 14 (0.88%) JNCIS
15 11 (0.69%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 77 (4.86%) NIST
2 61 (3.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 52 (3.28%) NCSC
4 42 (2.65%) QA
5 32 (2.02%) PMO
6 31 (1.96%) JSP 440
7 21 (1.32%) GRC
8 16 (1.01%) Data Quality
8 16 (1.01%) NIST 800
9 14 (0.88%) GDPR
10 12 (0.76%) SLA
11 11 (0.69%) RMADS
12 9 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
13 7 (0.44%) ISO/IEC 20000
14 6 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 6 (0.38%) P3O
15 5 (0.32%) HMG Security Policy Framework
16 4 (0.25%) Actionable Recommendations
17 3 (0.19%) EU AI Act
17 3 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 122 (7.70%) Active Directory
2 91 (5.74%) Docker
3 77 (4.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 46 (2.90%) VMware NSX
5 32 (2.02%) VMware ESXi
6 18 (1.14%) vSphere
7 14 (0.88%) Hyper-V
8 11 (0.69%) BitLocker
8 11 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
9 8 (0.50%) Firmware
9 8 (0.50%) vCloud
10 5 (0.32%) Virtual Desktop
11 4 (0.25%) Microsoft App-V
11 4 (0.25%) NFS
11 4 (0.25%) Oracle RAC
12 3 (0.19%) GPFS
12 3 (0.19%) Lustre
12 3 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
13 2 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.063%) UAG
Systems Management
1 143 (9.02%) Kubernetes
2 116 (7.32%) Terraform
3 77 (4.86%) Ansible
4 54 (3.41%) vCenter Server
5 37 (2.33%) Grafana
6 34 (2.15%) Single Sign-On
7 33 (2.08%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 31 (1.96%) Prometheus
9 27 (1.70%) SCCM
10 15 (0.95%) WMI
11 14 (0.88%) FortiGate
11 14 (0.88%) Progress Chef
12 13 (0.82%) Puppet
13 11 (0.69%) Podman
14 10 (0.63%) SCOM
15 9 (0.57%) VxRail
16 8 (0.50%) Argo
17 7 (0.44%) Nessus
18 6 (0.38%) Forefront Identity Manager
18 6 (0.38%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 220 (13.88%) Microsoft
2 158 (9.97%) VMware
3 112 (7.07%) Cisco
4 58 (3.66%) Splunk
5 55 (3.47%) Juniper
6 47 (2.97%) Oracle
7 41 (2.59%) Red Hat
8 39 (2.46%) SAP
8 39 (2.46%) ServiceNow
9 38 (2.40%) NetApp
10 34 (2.15%) SolarWinds
11 23 (1.45%) Palantir
12 22 (1.39%) Fortinet
12 22 (1.39%) Remedy
13 21 (1.32%) F5
14 20 (1.26%) Dell
15 19 (1.20%) Palo Alto
16 18 (1.14%) Foundry
17 16 (1.01%) Google
18 15 (0.95%) Veeam