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 24 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 53 70 30
Rank change year-on-year +17 -40 +51
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,759 965 2,361
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 4.01% 3.31% 5.33%
As % of the Qualifications category 11.93% 10.84% 17.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,221 659 1,715
10th Percentile £424 £413 £409
25th Percentile £509 £513 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £600 £600
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% - -
75th Percentile £680 £675 £692
90th Percentile £738 £725 £776
UK excluding London median daily rate £580 £600 £600
% change year-on-year -3.33% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 51 26 103
10th Percentile £16.35 £33.75 £48.97
25th Percentile £19.82 £56.65 £57.33
Median hourly rate £42.71 £63.75 £63.29
Median % change year-on-year -33.01% +0.72% -9.59%
75th Percentile £77.13 £81.27 £80.00
90th Percentile £91.25 £84.91 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £54.00 £73.75 £63.29
% change year-on-year -26.78% +16.53% -15.61%

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 14,749 8,900 13,571
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.66% 30.55% 30.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,717 5,665 8,401
10th Percentile £335 £288 £300
25th Percentile £420 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £537
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -2.32% -2.28%
75th Percentile £614 £625 £650
90th Percentile £721 £714 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £513 £525
% change year-on-year -2.44% -2.38% -1.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,078 478 1,011
10th Percentile £16.17 £18.51 £13.87
25th Percentile £20.31 £24.18 £17.74
Median hourly rate £34.93 £42.50 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year -17.82% +13.33% -27.88%
75th Percentile £67.84 £67.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £84.00 £81.01 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £48.31 £37.50
% change year-on-year -37.90% +28.83% -23.47%

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 24 March 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 24 March 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 24 March 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 +9 1,604 £575 -4.17% 407
UK excluding London +8 1,249 £580 -3.33% 351
South East +9 669 £600 - 154
London +11 354 £575 -4.17% 80
South West -1 328 £563 -6.25% 98
Work from Home +18 221 £560 -2.61% 128
North of England -12 82 £680 +231.71% 40
Midlands -30 71 £569 -18.02% 20
North West +15 67 £690 +236.59% 35
East of England +2 64 £575 +4.55% 34
West Midlands -36 54 £563 -19.64% 18
Scotland -10 40 £652 +26.50% 6
East Midlands -19 17 £638 +15.91% 1
Yorkshire - 13 £613 - 4
Northern Ireland - 7 £600 -
Wales -7 3 - - 7
North East -24 2 - - 1

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 44 (2.50%) Microsoft Exchange
2 41 (2.33%) SharePoint
3 26 (1.48%) Apache
3 26 (1.48%) Confluence
4 21 (1.19%) Skype for Business
5 13 (0.74%) Palantir Foundry
6 8 (0.45%) Apache Spark
7 5 (0.28%) Mattermost
8 4 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.11%) OpenStack
Applications
1 58 (3.30%) Microsoft Office
2 43 (2.44%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (1.31%) Microsoft Project
4 11 (0.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.40%) Spreadsheet
6 6 (0.34%) MS Visio
7 2 (0.11%) Lectora
8 1 (0.057%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 23 (1.31%) Remedy ITSM
2 20 (1.14%) SAP S/4HANA
3 15 (0.85%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 7 (0.40%) Maximo
5 4 (0.23%) Oracle Applications
5 4 (0.23%) Oracle Assets
5 4 (0.23%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.23%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 4 (0.23%) SAP EWM
6 2 (0.11%) SAP GRC
6 2 (0.11%) SAP WM
7 1 (0.057%) Primavera
7 1 (0.057%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.057%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.057%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 163 (9.27%) AWS
2 134 (7.62%) Azure
3 53 (3.01%) GCP
4 48 (2.73%) Microsoft 365
5 45 (2.56%) GitHub
6 41 (2.33%) IaaS
7 38 (2.16%) PaaS
8 36 (2.05%) OpenShift
9 34 (1.93%) Serverless
10 31 (1.76%) Azure DevOps
11 27 (1.53%) GitHub Actions
12 22 (1.25%) Amazon S3
13 19 (1.08%) Amazon EC2
14 16 (0.91%) AWS Lambda
14 16 (0.91%) Entra ID
14 16 (0.91%) Power Platform
15 15 (0.85%) AWS CloudFormation
16 14 (0.80%) Azure Sentinel
17 13 (0.74%) Amazon ECS
17 13 (0.74%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 128 (7.28%) Firewall
2 103 (5.86%) DNS
3 77 (4.38%) Network Security
4 63 (3.58%) LAN
5 59 (3.35%) WAN
6 56 (3.18%) VPN
7 43 (2.44%) DHCP
8 42 (2.39%) BGP
9 40 (2.27%) TCP/IP
10 31 (1.76%) OSPF
11 29 (1.65%) Junos
12 23 (1.31%) Cisco ISE
12 23 (1.31%) Skype
13 21 (1.19%) Cisco IOS
14 19 (1.08%) Ethernet VPN
15 18 (1.02%) MPLS
15 18 (1.02%) VLAN
15 18 (1.02%) VXLAN
16 16 (0.91%) BIG-IP
16 16 (0.91%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (1.93%) PostgreSQL
2 25 (1.42%) Elasticsearch
3 18 (1.02%) SQL Server
4 16 (0.91%) Amazon RDS
5 14 (0.80%) Big Data
5 14 (0.80%) MongoDB
5 14 (0.80%) Oracle Database
6 13 (0.74%) Hadoop
6 13 (0.74%) Power BI
7 10 (0.57%) Redis
8 9 (0.51%) Relational Database
9 8 (0.45%) Metadata
9 8 (0.45%) MySQL
10 7 (0.40%) InfluxDB
10 7 (0.40%) SAP HANA
11 5 (0.28%) MariaDB
11 5 (0.28%) SAP Data Services
12 4 (0.23%) Data Warehouse
12 4 (0.23%) DynamoDB
12 4 (0.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 59 (3.35%) JIRA
2 30 (1.71%) GitLab
3 26 (1.48%) Git
3 26 (1.48%) Jenkins
4 11 (0.63%) Artifactory
5 10 (0.57%) Maven
6 9 (0.51%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.34%) Cypress.io
7 6 (0.34%) Robot Framework
7 6 (0.34%) SonarQube
8 5 (0.28%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.23%) Oracle APEX
10 3 (0.17%) MLflow
10 3 (0.17%) Postman
10 3 (0.17%) Selenium
10 3 (0.17%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 2 (0.11%) CircleCI
11 2 (0.11%) REST Assured
11 2 (0.11%) Snyk
11 2 (0.11%) webpack
General
1 321 (18.25%) Social Skills
2 210 (11.94%) Public Sector
3 128 (7.28%) Analytical Skills
4 82 (4.66%) Finance
5 65 (3.70%) Military
6 54 (3.07%) Documentation Skills
7 51 (2.90%) Legal
8 29 (1.65%) Presentation Skills
9 23 (1.31%) Organisational Skills
9 23 (1.31%) Telecoms
10 21 (1.19%) Aerospace
11 19 (1.08%) Law
12 18 (1.02%) Police
13 16 (0.91%) Manufacturing
14 14 (0.80%) Marketing
15 13 (0.74%) Electronics
16 10 (0.57%) Banking
17 6 (0.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 4 (0.23%) Influencing Skills
19 2 (0.11%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 322 (18.31%) Architect
2 118 (6.71%) Senior
3 108 (6.14%) Analyst
4 102 (5.80%) Lead
5 91 (5.17%) Network Engineer
6 86 (4.89%) Consultant
7 76 (4.32%) Technical Architect
8 70 (3.98%) Developer
9 58 (3.30%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 57 (3.24%) Tester
11 54 (3.07%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
12 53 (3.01%) DevOps Engineer
12 53 (3.01%) SOC Analyst
13 48 (2.73%) Security Architect
14 43 (2.44%) Project Manager
15 41 (2.33%) Support Engineer
16 37 (2.10%) 3rd Line Engineer
16 37 (2.10%) Solutions Architect
17 36 (2.05%) Infrastructure Architect
18 35 (1.99%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (2.22%) REST
2 27 (1.53%) Apache NiFi
3 26 (1.48%) OAuth
4 23 (1.31%) React
5 20 (1.14%) OpenID
6 19 (1.08%) OAuth2
6 19 (1.08%) SAML
7 17 (0.97%) Kafka
8 15 (0.85%) 802.1X
8 15 (0.85%) Node.js
9 14 (0.80%) Flask
9 14 (0.80%) Web Services
10 13 (0.74%) Elastic Stack
10 13 (0.74%) FastAPI
10 13 (0.74%) LDAP
11 11 (0.63%) ModSecurity
11 11 (0.63%) Spring
12 10 (0.57%) RabbitMQ
12 10 (0.57%) SailPoint
13 9 (0.51%) AngularJS
Miscellaneous
1 107 (6.08%) PKI
2 65 (3.70%) Data Centre
3 43 (2.44%) Security Operations Centre
4 38 (2.16%) Management Information System
5 26 (1.48%) Cloud Native
6 25 (1.42%) Clustering
7 23 (1.31%) Hybrid Cloud
8 21 (1.19%) Cyber Threat
8 21 (1.19%) Product Ownership
9 20 (1.14%) Cyberattack
10 19 (1.08%) Onboarding
10 19 (1.08%) Replication
11 18 (1.02%) Analytical Mindset
12 14 (0.80%) Driving Licence
13 13 (0.74%) Insider Threat
13 13 (0.74%) Legacy Systems
13 13 (0.74%) Private Cloud
14 12 (0.68%) Enterprise Storage
15 11 (0.63%) CSOC
15 11 (0.63%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 256 (14.55%) Windows
2 184 (10.46%) Linux
3 79 (4.49%) Windows Server
4 31 (1.76%) Windows 10
5 29 (1.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 16 (0.91%) Windows 7
7 14 (0.80%) Ubuntu
8 11 (0.63%) Mac OS
9 10 (0.57%) Android
10 7 (0.40%) VMS
11 6 (0.34%) CentOS
11 6 (0.34%) Windows Server 2003
12 5 (0.28%) Unix
13 4 (0.23%) Windows Server 2019
14 3 (0.17%) Debian
14 3 (0.17%) Embedded Linux
14 3 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
15 2 (0.11%) Data ONTAP
15 2 (0.11%) Rocky
16 1 (0.057%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 296 (16.83%) Agile
2 214 (12.17%) Problem-Solving
3 161 (9.15%) Cybersecurity
4 150 (8.53%) DevOps
5 149 (8.47%) ITIL
6 131 (7.45%) CI/CD
6 131 (7.45%) Service Management
7 112 (6.37%) Continuous Improvement
8 110 (6.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 107 (6.08%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 100 (5.69%) Stakeholder Management
11 96 (5.46%) ITSM
12 81 (4.60%) Risk Management
13 77 (4.38%) Project Delivery
14 76 (4.32%) Infrastructure as Code
15 73 (4.15%) Incident Response
16 72 (4.09%) Containerisation
16 72 (4.09%) SIEM
17 70 (3.98%) Project Management
18 66 (3.75%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 150 (8.53%) Python
2 124 (7.05%) PowerShell
3 57 (3.24%) SQL
4 47 (2.67%) Java
5 29 (1.65%) JavaScript
6 26 (1.48%) Bash
7 20 (1.14%) TypeScript
8 16 (0.91%) Go
9 15 (0.85%) C#
9 15 (0.85%) Shell Script
10 11 (0.63%) C++
11 9 (0.51%) Bicep
12 8 (0.45%) C
12 8 (0.45%) VB
13 7 (0.40%) VBScript
14 6 (0.34%) ABAP
14 6 (0.34%) Embedded C
14 6 (0.34%) Rust
15 5 (0.28%) PL/SQL
16 4 (0.23%) PHP
Qualifications
1 1,759 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 557 (31.67%) SC Cleared
3 61 (3.47%) CISSP
4 59 (3.35%) Degree
5 47 (2.67%) Cisco Certification
6 39 (2.22%) CISM
7 31 (1.76%) Microsoft Certification
8 27 (1.53%) CompTIA Security+
9 23 (1.31%) CCNP
10 22 (1.25%) CESG Certified Professional
11 20 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
12 19 (1.08%) AWS Certification
12 19 (1.08%) CCNA
13 18 (1.02%) BPSS Clearance
13 18 (1.02%) GIAC
14 16 (0.91%) CompTIA CySA+
14 16 (0.91%) CTC Cleared
15 14 (0.80%) Azure Certification
15 14 (0.80%) JNCIS
16 11 (0.63%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 82 (4.66%) NIST
2 69 (3.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 54 (3.07%) NCSC
4 42 (2.39%) QA
5 39 (2.22%) PMO
6 38 (2.16%) JSP 440
7 21 (1.19%) GRC
8 18 (1.02%) RMADS
9 16 (0.91%) GDPR
10 15 (0.85%) NIST 800
11 14 (0.80%) SLA
12 13 (0.74%) Data Quality
13 12 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 20000
14 10 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
15 6 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 6 (0.34%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 6 (0.34%) P3O
16 5 (0.28%) Government Security Classifications
17 4 (0.23%) Accessibility
18 3 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 119 (6.77%) Active Directory
2 89 (5.06%) Docker
3 86 (4.89%) VMware Infrastructure
4 49 (2.79%) VMware NSX
5 33 (1.88%) VMware ESXi
6 21 (1.19%) Hyper-V
7 19 (1.08%) vSphere
8 14 (0.80%) BitLocker
9 11 (0.63%) vCloud
10 9 (0.51%) Firmware
11 7 (0.40%) Microsoft App-V
12 5 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
13 4 (0.23%) Oracle RAC
13 4 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
14 3 (0.17%) Ceph
14 3 (0.17%) GPFS
14 3 (0.17%) Lustre
14 3 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
15 2 (0.11%) UAG
15 2 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 138 (7.85%) Kubernetes
2 110 (6.25%) Terraform
3 82 (4.66%) Ansible
4 52 (2.96%) vCenter Server
5 35 (1.99%) Single Sign-On
6 32 (1.82%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 32 (1.82%) Grafana
6 32 (1.82%) SCCM
7 27 (1.53%) Prometheus
8 16 (0.91%) FortiGate
9 14 (0.80%) Puppet
9 14 (0.80%) WMI
10 13 (0.74%) Progress Chef
11 10 (0.57%) SCOM
12 9 (0.51%) Forefront Identity Manager
12 9 (0.51%) NetIQ Identity Manager
12 9 (0.51%) Podman
12 9 (0.51%) VxRail
13 8 (0.45%) Argo
14 7 (0.40%) vMotion
Vendors
1 216 (12.28%) Microsoft
2 172 (9.78%) VMware
3 111 (6.31%) Cisco
4 60 (3.41%) Juniper
5 58 (3.30%) Splunk
6 50 (2.84%) SAP
7 47 (2.67%) Oracle
7 47 (2.67%) ServiceNow
8 46 (2.62%) Red Hat
9 42 (2.39%) NetApp
10 29 (1.65%) SolarWinds
11 28 (1.59%) F5
12 25 (1.42%) Remedy
13 24 (1.36%) Dell
14 22 (1.25%) Fortinet
14 22 (1.25%) Palo Alto
15 17 (0.97%) Palantir
15 17 (0.97%) Sparx
16 16 (0.91%) Google
17 15 (0.85%) Citrix