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 2 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 79 39 54
Rank change year-on-year -40 +15 +99
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,080 1,662 1,885
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.16% 4.55% 4.01%
As % of the Qualifications category 9.66% 15.51% 14.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 752 1,069 1,249
10th Percentile £463 £413 £375
25th Percentile £519 £513 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £600 £600
75th Percentile £675 £688 £675
90th Percentile £738 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £597 £575
% change year-on-year -3.60% +3.74% -0.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 34 70 108
10th Percentile £20.72 £46.25 £51.53
25th Percentile £25.15 £55.97 £58.44
Median hourly rate £28.58 £63.15 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -54.75% -9.79% -3.45%
75th Percentile £71.00 £74.33 £78.00
90th Percentile £85.88 £100.00 £83.86
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.00 £61.80 £70.00
% change year-on-year -2.90% -11.72% -3.45%

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 11,180 10,714 13,446
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.67% 29.31% 28.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,098 6,524 8,616
10th Percentile £293 £313 £305
25th Percentile £413 £425 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £635 £650
90th Percentile £713 £725 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £517 £534
% change year-on-year -3.33% -3.14% +1.81%
Number of hourly rates quoted 953 487 754
10th Percentile £17.09 £18.58 £17.56
25th Percentile £18.87 £24.18 £26.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £46.18 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year -45.54% -12.04% +16.67%
75th Percentile £42.25 £66.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £70.16 £75.00 £80.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £48.18 £51.89
% change year-on-year -47.80% -7.15% +15.31%

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 2 November 2025.

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 2 November 2025.

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 2 November 2025. 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 -36 997 £600 - 498
UK excluding London -25 748 £575 -3.60% 437
South East -11 348 £575 -3.85% 178
South West -7 249 £625 +4.17% 162
London -48 247 £625 +4.17% 110
Work from Home -34 160 £630 +4.13% 173
Midlands -22 82 £594 -1.04% 31
West Midlands -21 80 £588 -2.69% 27
East of England -11 44 £550 - 32
North of England -55 21 £500 -12.74% 22
Scotland -43 19 £525 +1.94% 12
North West -27 13 £500 -12.43% 19
Northern Ireland -12 7 £588 -9.62% 4
Yorkshire -42 6 £521 -5.23% 3
Wales -9 4 £600 -14.29% 2
East Midlands -14 2 £725 +84.71% 4
North East -15 2 £625 +2.04%

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 46 (4.26%) Microsoft Exchange
2 45 (4.17%) SharePoint
3 44 (4.07%) Apache
4 29 (2.69%) Skype for Business
5 26 (2.41%) Confluence
6 11 (1.02%) SharePoint Server
7 10 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2003
7 10 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2007
7 10 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2010
7 10 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2013
7 10 (0.93%) Office Communications Server
8 7 (0.65%) IIS
9 5 (0.46%) OpenStack
10 4 (0.37%) CMS
10 4 (0.37%) nginx
11 3 (0.28%) Documentum
12 2 (0.19%) Apache Spark
13 1 (0.093%) Camunda
13 1 (0.093%) Drupal
13 1 (0.093%) Mattermost
Applications
1 49 (4.54%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.02%) Microsoft Project
3 10 (0.93%) Microsoft Excel
4 5 (0.46%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 16 (1.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.93%) SAP EWM
2 10 (0.93%) SAP WM
3 7 (0.65%) Remedy ITSM
4 6 (0.56%) Primavera
5 3 (0.28%) Maximo
5 3 (0.28%) Oracle Applications
6 2 (0.19%) Teamcenter
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Assets
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Cash Management
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle General Ledger
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Payroll
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.093%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 124 (11.48%) Azure
2 113 (10.46%) AWS
3 52 (4.81%) Microsoft 365
4 40 (3.70%) GitHub
5 35 (3.24%) Serverless
6 34 (3.15%) GCP
7 26 (2.41%) Azure DevOps
8 24 (2.22%) OpenShift
9 20 (1.85%) Cohesity
10 18 (1.67%) Azure Sentinel
11 17 (1.57%) GitHub Actions
12 15 (1.39%) AWS CloudFormation
13 14 (1.30%) Amazon S3
13 14 (1.30%) Entra ID
14 13 (1.20%) Amazon ECS
14 13 (1.20%) Power Platform
15 10 (0.93%) AWS Lambda
16 9 (0.83%) Amazon EKS
17 8 (0.74%) npm
18 7 (0.65%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 84 (7.78%) DNS
2 73 (6.76%) Firewall
3 43 (3.98%) Network Security
4 36 (3.33%) LAN
5 35 (3.24%) SAN
6 31 (2.87%) VPN
7 30 (2.78%) DHCP
8 27 (2.50%) TCP/IP
9 26 (2.41%) WAN
10 24 (2.22%) Skype
11 21 (1.94%) BGP
11 21 (1.94%) Cisco ISE
12 20 (1.85%) Cisco Firepower
12 20 (1.85%) Cisco IOS
12 20 (1.85%) Junos
13 15 (1.39%) Wireless
14 14 (1.30%) Fibre Channel
14 14 (1.30%) iSCSI
15 12 (1.11%) OSPF
15 12 (1.11%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (2.31%) Big Data
2 23 (2.13%) PostgreSQL
3 19 (1.76%) Elasticsearch
4 17 (1.57%) Hadoop
5 13 (1.20%) SQL Server
6 11 (1.02%) Redis
7 9 (0.83%) MongoDB
7 9 (0.83%) Oracle Database
8 8 (0.74%) Power BI
9 6 (0.56%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.37%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (0.37%) Apache Hive
10 4 (0.37%) Metadata
10 4 (0.37%) RDBMS
10 4 (0.37%) SAP HANA
11 3 (0.28%) Data Lake
11 3 (0.28%) Looker
11 3 (0.28%) MySQL
11 3 (0.28%) NoSQL
12 2 (0.19%) BigQuery
Development Applications
1 43 (3.98%) GitLab
2 40 (3.70%) Jenkins
3 35 (3.24%) JIRA
4 29 (2.69%) Git
5 19 (1.76%) SonarQube
6 11 (1.02%) Bitbucket
7 10 (0.93%) Artifactory
7 10 (0.93%) Maven
7 10 (0.93%) Sonatype Nexus
8 6 (0.56%) Cypress.io
8 6 (0.56%) SoapUI
9 5 (0.46%) JUnit
9 5 (0.46%) MSI
9 5 (0.46%) Selenium
10 4 (0.37%) CircleCI
10 4 (0.37%) Gradle
10 4 (0.37%) Postman
10 4 (0.37%) Robot Framework
10 4 (0.37%) Snyk
10 4 (0.37%) webpack
General
1 225 (20.83%) Social Skills
2 157 (14.54%) Public Sector
3 71 (6.57%) Analytical Skills
4 53 (4.91%) Finance
5 45 (4.17%) Telecoms
6 43 (3.98%) Military
7 40 (3.70%) Manufacturing
8 26 (2.41%) Electronics
8 26 (2.41%) Marketing
9 22 (2.04%) Law
9 22 (2.04%) Legal
10 18 (1.67%) Documentation Skills
11 15 (1.39%) Banking
12 12 (1.11%) Presentation Skills
13 11 (1.02%) Aerospace
14 9 (0.83%) Organisational Skills
15 7 (0.65%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 7 (0.65%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.46%) Police
17 1 (0.093%) Environmental Health
Job Titles
1 173 (16.02%) Architect
2 84 (7.78%) Consultant
3 70 (6.48%) Analyst
4 63 (5.83%) Senior
5 56 (5.19%) Developer
6 54 (5.00%) Support Engineer
7 49 (4.54%) Network Engineer
8 45 (4.17%) DevOps Engineer
9 43 (3.98%) Solutions Architect
10 39 (3.61%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
11 38 (3.52%) Network Architect
12 36 (3.33%) Lead
13 32 (2.96%) Administrator
14 29 (2.69%) Cloud Engineer
15 27 (2.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 26 (2.41%) 3rd Line Engineer
16 26 (2.41%) Infrastructure Architect
17 24 (2.22%) Data Engineer
17 24 (2.22%) Project Manager
17 24 (2.22%) Technical Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (3.52%) Apache NiFi
2 27 (2.50%) REST
3 24 (2.22%) Kafka
4 23 (2.13%) React
5 20 (1.85%) Elastic Stack
6 18 (1.67%) Node.js
6 18 (1.67%) YAML
7 14 (1.30%) .NET
7 14 (1.30%) OAuth
8 13 (1.20%) OpenID
8 13 (1.20%) RESTful
9 12 (1.11%) OAuth2
9 12 (1.11%) SAML
10 11 (1.02%) RabbitMQ
11 10 (0.93%) SOAP
12 9 (0.83%) Spring
12 9 (0.83%) XML
13 8 (0.74%) FastAPI
13 8 (0.74%) Flask
13 8 (0.74%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 57 (5.28%) PKI
2 40 (3.70%) Management Information System
3 35 (3.24%) Data Centre
4 31 (2.87%) Onboarding
5 25 (2.31%) Cyber Threat
6 21 (1.94%) Security Operations Centre
7 20 (1.85%) Private Cloud
8 18 (1.67%) Cloud Native
8 18 (1.67%) Replication
9 14 (1.30%) Driving Licence
10 12 (1.11%) Greenfield Project
11 11 (1.02%) Product Ownership
11 11 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
12 10 (0.93%) Analytical Mindset
12 10 (0.93%) CSOC
12 10 (0.93%) Cyber Defence
12 10 (0.93%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (0.93%) Legacy Systems
13 9 (0.83%) Hybrid Cloud
14 7 (0.65%) Fat Client
Operating Systems
1 199 (18.43%) Windows
2 99 (9.17%) Linux
3 89 (8.24%) Windows Server
4 38 (3.52%) Windows Server 2019
5 27 (2.50%) Windows 10
6 23 (2.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 23 (2.13%) Windows Server 2016
7 13 (1.20%) Android
7 13 (1.20%) Mac OS
8 11 (1.02%) CentOS
8 11 (1.02%) Unix
8 11 (1.02%) Windows Server 2003
9 9 (0.83%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.37%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.19%) Debian
12 1 (0.093%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.093%) Solaris
12 1 (0.093%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.093%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 198 (18.33%) Agile
2 125 (11.57%) DevOps
3 122 (11.30%) Cybersecurity
4 112 (10.37%) Problem-Solving
5 101 (9.35%) CI/CD
6 73 (6.76%) SIEM
7 72 (6.67%) ITIL
8 71 (6.57%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 64 (5.93%) Infrastructure as Code
10 62 (5.74%) Continuous Improvement
10 62 (5.74%) Risk Management
11 61 (5.65%) Containerisation
12 59 (5.46%) Stakeholder Management
13 56 (5.19%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 55 (5.09%) Mentoring
14 55 (5.09%) Service Management
15 52 (4.81%) ITSM
16 49 (4.54%) Migration
17 48 (4.44%) Scrum
17 48 (4.44%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 134 (12.41%) Python
2 123 (11.39%) PowerShell
3 63 (5.83%) SQL
4 54 (5.00%) Java
5 39 (3.61%) JavaScript
6 33 (3.06%) Bash
7 18 (1.67%) C#
8 17 (1.57%) Go
9 16 (1.48%) C++
10 15 (1.39%) TypeScript
11 11 (1.02%) C
12 10 (0.93%) Kusto Query Language
13 6 (0.56%) VB
14 5 (0.46%) PHP
14 5 (0.46%) VBScript
15 4 (0.37%) ABAP
16 3 (0.28%) Bicep
16 3 (0.28%) Shell Script
17 2 (0.19%) PL/SQL
17 2 (0.19%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 1,080 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 350 (32.41%) SC Cleared
3 48 (4.44%) Degree
4 45 (4.17%) CISSP
5 32 (2.96%) Microsoft Certification
6 23 (2.13%) Cisco Certification
7 20 (1.85%) CISM
8 14 (1.30%) CCNP
8 14 (1.30%) CESG Certified Professional
8 14 (1.30%) MCSE
9 11 (1.02%) BPSS Clearance
9 11 (1.02%) CEH
9 11 (1.02%) CompTIA CySA+
9 11 (1.02%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 9 (0.83%) AWS Certification
10 9 (0.83%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 8 (0.74%) Azure Certification
11 8 (0.74%) CCNA
11 8 (0.74%) VCP5
11 8 (0.74%) VCP6
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (5.00%) NIST
2 51 (4.72%) NCSC
3 37 (3.43%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 27 (2.50%) SLA
5 20 (1.85%) QA
6 17 (1.57%) JSP 440
6 17 (1.57%) NIST 800
7 16 (1.48%) RMADS
8 15 (1.39%) GDPR
9 11 (1.02%) Data Quality
10 8 (0.74%) PMO
11 4 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials
11 4 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.37%) P3O
12 3 (0.28%) Def Stans
12 3 (0.28%) EU AI Act
12 3 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.19%) Accessibility
13 2 (0.19%) COBIT
13 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 106 (9.81%) Active Directory
2 80 (7.41%) VMware Infrastructure
3 66 (6.11%) Docker
4 42 (3.89%) VMware ESXi
5 34 (3.15%) vSphere
6 31 (2.87%) VMware NSX
7 19 (1.76%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 19 (1.76%) Virtual Servers
8 14 (1.30%) NFS
9 10 (0.93%) Brightmail
9 10 (0.93%) ISA Server
9 10 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
10 7 (0.65%) Virtual Desktop
11 6 (0.56%) Hyper-V
12 3 (0.28%) Firmware
13 2 (0.19%) BitLocker
13 2 (0.19%) Oracle RAC
14 1 (0.093%) Microsoft App-V
14 1 (0.093%) Terminal Services
14 1 (0.093%) UAG
Systems Management
1 94 (8.70%) Kubernetes
2 91 (8.43%) Ansible
3 85 (7.87%) Terraform
4 33 (3.06%) SCCM
5 28 (2.59%) Grafana
6 27 (2.50%) vCenter Server
7 25 (2.31%) Prometheus
8 20 (1.85%) WSUS
9 15 (1.39%) Single Sign-On
10 14 (1.30%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 11 (1.02%) Microsoft Clustering
12 10 (0.93%) WMI
13 9 (0.83%) Podman
14 8 (0.74%) Microsoft Intune
14 8 (0.74%) SCOM
15 7 (0.65%) Argo
15 7 (0.65%) FortiGate
15 7 (0.65%) Puppet
16 6 (0.56%) Kibana
16 6 (0.56%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 178 (16.48%) Microsoft
2 151 (13.98%) VMware
3 108 (10.00%) Cisco
4 65 (6.02%) Juniper
5 61 (5.65%) Splunk
6 47 (4.35%) SAP
7 35 (3.24%) NetApp
8 32 (2.96%) SolarWinds
9 30 (2.78%) Palantir
10 26 (2.41%) Oracle
11 23 (2.13%) Foundry
12 21 (1.94%) Red Hat
13 20 (1.85%) Veeam
14 19 (1.76%) Dell
15 17 (1.57%) Atlassian
16 14 (1.30%) Cloudera
16 14 (1.30%) HP
17 13 (1.20%) Apple
18 11 (1.02%) ArcSight
19 10 (0.93%) Citrix