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 3 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 54 74 31
Rank change year-on-year +20 -43 +48
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,827 939 2,366
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 4.07% 3.23% 5.36%
As % of the Qualifications category 12.20% 10.54% 17.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,283 649 1,712
10th Percentile £423 £413 £410
25th Percentile £511 £513 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £588 £588 £600
Median % change year-on-year - -2.08% -
75th Percentile £688 £663 £688
90th Percentile £738 £713 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £588 £600
% change year-on-year +2.13% -2.08% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 24 107
10th Percentile £16.35 £32.75 £50.11
25th Percentile £35.00 £54.40 £57.33
Median hourly rate £56.25 £63.75 £63.29
Median % change year-on-year -11.76% +0.72% -9.59%
75th Percentile £77.31 £81.10 £80.00
90th Percentile £91.63 £83.51 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £57.00 £73.75 £65.00
% change year-on-year -22.71% +13.46% -13.33%

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 14,974 8,906 13,539
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.38% 30.63% 30.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,910 5,678 8,405
10th Percentile £340 £296 £300
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £618 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £513 £525
% change year-on-year -2.44% -2.38% -0.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,090 483 1,012
10th Percentile £16.35 £18.50 £13.71
25th Percentile £20.50 £24.18 £17.69
Median hourly rate £37.00 £43.00 £37.83
Median % change year-on-year -13.95% +13.67% -27.95%
75th Percentile £68.94 £67.50 £61.60
90th Percentile £85.00 £81.01 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.70 £50.00 £38.23
% change year-on-year -26.60% +30.80% -21.99%

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 3 April 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 3 April 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 3 April 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 +12 1,671 £575 -4.17% 411
UK excluding London +8 1,302 £600 +2.13% 355
South East +9 705 £600 +2.35% 151
London +14 365 £575 -4.17% 80
South West -1 334 £563 -6.25% 104
Work from Home +24 232 £560 -2.61% 131
North of England 0 89 £680 +231.71% 40
North West +10 71 £700 +241.46% 35
East of England -2 68 £575 +4.55% 34
Midlands -28 67 £575 -17.86% 17
West Midlands -39 50 £575 -17.86% 15
Scotland -6 42 £653 +26.80% 6
East Midlands -17 17 £638 +15.91% 1
Yorkshire -47 15 £550 -12.00% 4
Northern Ireland - 7 £600 -
Wales -8 3 - - 8
North East -15 3 £675 +22.73% 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 39 (2.13%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (1.81%) SharePoint
3 25 (1.37%) Confluence
4 24 (1.31%) Apache
5 17 (0.93%) Skype for Business
6 13 (0.71%) Palantir Foundry
7 8 (0.44%) Apache Spark
8 5 (0.27%) Mattermost
9 4 (0.22%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
10 2 (0.11%) OpenStack
Applications
1 53 (2.90%) Microsoft Office
2 42 (2.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 23 (1.26%) Microsoft Project
4 13 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.27%) MS Visio
7 2 (0.11%) Lectora
7 2 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 25 (1.37%) Remedy ITSM
2 24 (1.31%) SAP S/4HANA
3 17 (0.93%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 7 (0.38%) Maximo
5 5 (0.27%) SAP EWM
6 4 (0.22%) Oracle Assets
6 4 (0.22%) Oracle ERP
6 4 (0.22%) Oracle Payables
6 4 (0.22%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 3 (0.16%) SAP GRC
8 2 (0.11%) Oracle Applications
8 2 (0.11%) Primavera
8 2 (0.11%) SAP FI
8 2 (0.11%) SAP WM
9 1 (0.055%) SAP CCM
9 1 (0.055%) SAP FI-GL
9 1 (0.055%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.055%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 178 (9.74%) AWS
2 143 (7.83%) Azure
3 54 (2.96%) GCP
4 46 (2.52%) IaaS
5 43 (2.35%) GitHub
5 43 (2.35%) PaaS
6 41 (2.24%) Microsoft 365
7 35 (1.92%) OpenShift
8 34 (1.86%) Serverless
9 33 (1.81%) Azure DevOps
10 26 (1.42%) GitHub Actions
11 20 (1.09%) Amazon S3
12 18 (0.99%) Amazon EC2
13 16 (0.88%) AWS Lambda
14 15 (0.82%) OCI
15 14 (0.77%) AWS CloudFormation
15 14 (0.77%) Azure Sentinel
16 13 (0.71%) Azure AKS
16 13 (0.71%) Power Platform
17 12 (0.66%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 130 (7.12%) Firewall
2 105 (5.75%) DNS
3 76 (4.16%) Network Security
4 64 (3.50%) LAN
5 61 (3.34%) WAN
6 58 (3.17%) VPN
7 42 (2.30%) BGP
8 41 (2.24%) DHCP
9 35 (1.92%) TCP/IP
10 32 (1.75%) OSPF
11 26 (1.42%) Junos
12 21 (1.15%) Cisco ISE
13 19 (1.04%) Cisco IOS
13 19 (1.04%) Skype
13 19 (1.04%) VLAN
14 18 (0.99%) Ethernet VPN
14 18 (0.99%) MPLS
15 17 (0.93%) SAN
15 17 (0.93%) VXLAN
16 16 (0.88%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (1.75%) PostgreSQL
2 26 (1.42%) Elasticsearch
3 20 (1.09%) SQL Server
4 16 (0.88%) Amazon RDS
5 15 (0.82%) Oracle Database
6 14 (0.77%) Big Data
6 14 (0.77%) MongoDB
7 13 (0.71%) Hadoop
8 11 (0.60%) Power BI
9 8 (0.44%) MySQL
9 8 (0.44%) Redis
9 8 (0.44%) Relational Database
9 8 (0.44%) SAP HANA
10 7 (0.38%) InfluxDB
10 7 (0.38%) Metadata
11 5 (0.27%) MariaDB
11 5 (0.27%) SAP Data Services
12 4 (0.22%) Data Warehouse
12 4 (0.22%) DynamoDB
12 4 (0.22%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 62 (3.39%) JIRA
2 27 (1.48%) GitLab
3 26 (1.42%) Git
4 25 (1.37%) Jenkins
5 10 (0.55%) Artifactory
5 10 (0.55%) Maven
6 9 (0.49%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.33%) Cypress.io
7 6 (0.33%) Robot Framework
8 5 (0.27%) SonarQube
9 4 (0.22%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.22%) Oracle APEX
10 3 (0.16%) MLflow
10 3 (0.16%) Postman
10 3 (0.16%) Selenium
10 3 (0.16%) 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
1 318 (17.41%) Social Skills
2 206 (11.28%) Public Sector
3 126 (6.90%) Analytical Skills
4 86 (4.71%) Finance
5 63 (3.45%) Military
6 55 (3.01%) Documentation Skills
7 50 (2.74%) Legal
8 31 (1.70%) Presentation Skills
9 29 (1.59%) Telecoms
10 23 (1.26%) Aerospace
10 23 (1.26%) Law
11 22 (1.20%) Organisational Skills
12 21 (1.15%) Police
13 16 (0.88%) Manufacturing
14 14 (0.77%) Marketing
15 13 (0.71%) Electronics
16 9 (0.49%) Banking
17 6 (0.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 6 (0.33%) Influencing Skills
18 2 (0.11%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 335 (18.34%) Architect
2 123 (6.73%) Senior
3 117 (6.40%) Lead
4 109 (5.97%) Analyst
5 93 (5.09%) Consultant
6 92 (5.04%) Network Engineer
7 83 (4.54%) Technical Architect
8 72 (3.94%) Developer
8 72 (3.94%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 61 (3.34%) Tester
10 56 (3.07%) SOC Analyst
11 54 (2.96%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
12 52 (2.85%) DevOps Engineer
13 50 (2.74%) Security Architect
14 47 (2.57%) Project Manager
15 38 (2.08%) Software Engineer
15 38 (2.08%) Solutions Architect
16 36 (1.97%) Infrastructure Architect
17 35 (1.92%) 3rd Line Engineer
17 35 (1.92%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (2.19%) REST
2 26 (1.42%) Apache NiFi
3 25 (1.37%) OAuth
4 23 (1.26%) React
5 19 (1.04%) OpenID
5 19 (1.04%) SAML
6 18 (0.99%) Kafka
6 18 (0.99%) OAuth2
7 16 (0.88%) Node.js
7 16 (0.88%) Web Services
8 15 (0.82%) 802.1X
8 15 (0.82%) Elastic Stack
9 13 (0.71%) LDAP
10 12 (0.66%) .NET
10 12 (0.66%) Flask
10 12 (0.66%) ModSecurity
11 11 (0.60%) FastAPI
11 11 (0.60%) SailPoint
11 11 (0.60%) SOAP
11 11 (0.60%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 103 (5.64%) PKI
2 65 (3.56%) Data Centre
3 47 (2.57%) Security Operations Centre
4 34 (1.86%) Management Information System
5 29 (1.59%) Cloud Native
6 28 (1.53%) Clustering
7 24 (1.31%) Hybrid Cloud
7 24 (1.31%) Onboarding
7 24 (1.31%) Product Ownership
8 21 (1.15%) Cyber Threat
9 20 (1.09%) Analytical Mindset
9 20 (1.09%) Cyberattack
9 20 (1.09%) Replication
10 16 (0.88%) Private Cloud
10 16 (0.88%) Public Cloud
11 15 (0.82%) Legacy Systems
12 14 (0.77%) Driving Licence
12 14 (0.77%) Enterprise Storage
12 14 (0.77%) Security Posture
13 13 (0.71%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 258 (14.12%) Windows
2 193 (10.56%) Linux
3 83 (4.54%) Windows Server
4 29 (1.59%) Windows 10
5 28 (1.53%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 14 (0.77%) Windows 7
7 13 (0.71%) Ubuntu
8 10 (0.55%) Mac OS
9 9 (0.49%) Android
10 7 (0.38%) Unix
10 7 (0.38%) VMS
10 7 (0.38%) Windows Server 2003
11 6 (0.33%) CentOS
12 5 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
13 4 (0.22%) Debian
13 4 (0.22%) Windows Server 2019
14 3 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
14 3 (0.16%) Windows Server 2016
15 2 (0.11%) Rocky
16 1 (0.055%) AIX
Processes & Methodologies
1 303 (16.58%) Agile
2 207 (11.33%) Problem-Solving
3 169 (9.25%) Cybersecurity
4 156 (8.54%) DevOps
5 153 (8.37%) ITIL
6 137 (7.50%) CI/CD
7 130 (7.12%) Service Management
8 121 (6.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 113 (6.19%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 111 (6.08%) Continuous Improvement
11 107 (5.86%) Stakeholder Management
12 98 (5.36%) ITSM
13 83 (4.54%) Infrastructure as Code
13 83 (4.54%) Risk Management
14 81 (4.43%) Project Delivery
15 77 (4.21%) SIEM
16 75 (4.11%) Incident Response
17 73 (4.00%) Containerisation
18 72 (3.94%) Identity Access Management
19 71 (3.89%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 148 (8.10%) Python
2 121 (6.62%) PowerShell
3 58 (3.17%) SQL
4 49 (2.68%) Java
5 32 (1.75%) JavaScript
6 27 (1.48%) Bash
7 19 (1.04%) TypeScript
8 18 (0.99%) C#
9 16 (0.88%) Shell Script
10 15 (0.82%) Go
11 11 (0.60%) Bicep
12 10 (0.55%) C++
13 8 (0.44%) C
13 8 (0.44%) VB
14 7 (0.38%) PL/SQL
14 7 (0.38%) VBScript
15 6 (0.33%) ABAP
15 6 (0.33%) Embedded C
15 6 (0.33%) Rust
16 4 (0.22%) PHP
Qualifications
1 1,827 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 578 (31.64%) SC Cleared
3 64 (3.50%) CISSP
4 61 (3.34%) Degree
5 50 (2.74%) Cisco Certification
6 43 (2.35%) CISM
7 35 (1.92%) Microsoft Certification
8 28 (1.53%) CompTIA Security+
9 24 (1.31%) CCNP
10 22 (1.20%) CESG Certified Professional
11 21 (1.15%) CCNA
12 19 (1.04%) AWS Certification
12 19 (1.04%) BPSS Clearance
12 19 (1.04%) Computer Science Degree
12 19 (1.04%) GIAC
13 16 (0.88%) CompTIA CySA+
14 14 (0.77%) Azure Certification
14 14 (0.77%) CEH
15 13 (0.71%) CTC Cleared
15 13 (0.71%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 87 (4.76%) NIST
2 70 (3.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 56 (3.07%) NCSC
4 43 (2.35%) PMO
4 43 (2.35%) QA
5 40 (2.19%) JSP 440
6 23 (1.26%) GRC
7 19 (1.04%) RMADS
8 16 (0.88%) GDPR
9 14 (0.77%) NIST 800
9 14 (0.77%) SLA
10 13 (0.71%) Data Quality
11 11 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials
11 11 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 6 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 6 (0.33%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 6 (0.33%) P3O
13 5 (0.27%) Government Security Classifications
14 4 (0.22%) Accessibility
15 3 (0.16%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 122 (6.68%) Active Directory
2 95 (5.20%) VMware Infrastructure
3 93 (5.09%) Docker
4 52 (2.85%) VMware NSX
5 40 (2.19%) VMware ESXi
6 27 (1.48%) Hyper-V
7 21 (1.15%) vSphere
8 15 (0.82%) BitLocker
9 12 (0.66%) vCloud
10 10 (0.55%) Firmware
11 8 (0.44%) Microsoft App-V
12 6 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
13 5 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
14 4 (0.22%) Virtual Desktop
15 3 (0.16%) Ceph
15 3 (0.16%) GPFS
15 3 (0.16%) Lustre
15 3 (0.16%) Slurm Workload Manager
16 2 (0.11%) UAG
16 2 (0.11%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 141 (7.72%) Kubernetes
2 117 (6.40%) Terraform
3 82 (4.49%) Ansible
4 55 (3.01%) vCenter Server
5 35 (1.92%) Single Sign-On
6 34 (1.86%) SCCM
7 33 (1.81%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 29 (1.59%) Grafana
9 24 (1.31%) Prometheus
10 15 (0.82%) FortiGate
10 15 (0.82%) Puppet
11 13 (0.71%) Progress Chef
12 12 (0.66%) WMI
13 10 (0.55%) Forefront Identity Manager
13 10 (0.55%) NetIQ Identity Manager
13 10 (0.55%) SCOM
14 9 (0.49%) Nessus
14 9 (0.49%) Podman
15 8 (0.44%) vMotion
15 8 (0.44%) VxRail
Vendors
1 215 (11.77%) Microsoft
2 187 (10.24%) VMware
3 111 (6.08%) Cisco
4 60 (3.28%) Splunk
5 56 (3.07%) Juniper
5 56 (3.07%) ServiceNow
6 55 (3.01%) SAP
7 47 (2.57%) NetApp
7 47 (2.57%) Oracle
8 44 (2.41%) Red Hat
9 27 (1.48%) F5
9 27 (1.48%) Remedy
9 27 (1.48%) SolarWinds
10 23 (1.26%) Fortinet
11 22 (1.20%) Dell
12 21 (1.15%) Palo Alto
13 18 (0.99%) Sparx
14 17 (0.93%) Citrix
15 16 (0.88%) Google
15 16 (0.88%) Palantir