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 6 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 50 87 31
Rank change year-on-year +37 -56 +34
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,889 846 2,432
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.97% 2.89% 5.64%
As % of the Qualifications category 12.35% 9.38% 18.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,386 584 1,745
10th Percentile £419 £443 £413
25th Percentile £513 £513 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £595 £593 £600
Median % change year-on-year +0.34% -1.21% -
75th Percentile £688 £675 £688
90th Percentile £750 £718 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £595 £595
% change year-on-year +0.84% - -0.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 25 110
10th Percentile £16.84 £45.50 £51.03
25th Percentile £35.00 £60.75 £57.33
Median hourly rate £55.00 £78.70 £67.81
Median % change year-on-year -30.11% +16.06% -1.37%
75th Percentile £75.00 £82.10 £85.00
90th Percentile £89.68 £88.32 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £80.68 £69.10
% change year-on-year -31.83% +16.75% -6.49%

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 15,291 9,019 13,187
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.11% 30.76% 30.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,164 5,698 8,137
10th Percentile £350 £287 £300
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -1.87% -2.73%
75th Percentile £619 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £707 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £530
% change year-on-year - -5.66% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,102 515 1,076
10th Percentile £16.35 £18.13 £13.86
25th Percentile £21.25 £21.59 £17.86
Median hourly rate £47.50 £40.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +18.75% - -25.93%
75th Percentile £70.00 £65.88 £61.60
90th Percentile £85.25 £80.06 £75.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £40.59 £40.94
% change year-on-year +17.02% -0.85% -17.41%

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 6 May 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 6 May 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 6 May 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 +26 1,742 £585 -2.09% 541
UK excluding London +14 1,367 £600 +0.84% 449
South East +9 756 £600 +1.65% 168
London +60 376 £575 -4.17% 118
South West -4 316 £550 -8.33% 123
Work from Home +38 252 £560 -2.61% 208
East of England +19 100 £650 +18.18% 63
North of England +2 81 £750 +265.85% 53
North West +8 67 £775 +278.05% 33
Midlands -35 67 £575 -17.86% 33
West Midlands -35 51 £575 -17.86% 24
Scotland +36 42 £669 +11.42% 4
East Midlands -15 16 £550 - 9
Yorkshire -46 12 £525 -16.00% 14
Wales -10 6 - - 7
Northern Ireland - 5 £650 - 6
North East -18 2 £675 - 6

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 35 (1.85%) Confluence
1 35 (1.85%) Microsoft Exchange
2 27 (1.43%) SharePoint
3 16 (0.85%) Apache
4 8 (0.42%) Apache Spark
5 6 (0.32%) Mattermost
5 6 (0.32%) Palantir Foundry
6 4 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.21%) Oracle Workflow
6 4 (0.21%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.11%) nginx
8 1 (0.053%) OpenStack
Applications
1 43 (2.28%) Microsoft Office
2 42 (2.22%) Microsoft Excel
3 19 (1.01%) Microsoft Project
4 13 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.26%) MS Visio
7 4 (0.21%) AutoCAD
7 4 (0.21%) Revit
7 4 (0.21%) SOLIDWORKS
8 2 (0.11%) Lectora
8 2 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 28 (1.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 25 (1.32%) Remedy ITSM
3 22 (1.16%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 6 (0.32%) Maximo
5 4 (0.21%) Oracle Assets
5 4 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.21%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.21%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 4 (0.21%) SAP EWM
6 3 (0.16%) SAP GRC
7 2 (0.11%) Primavera
7 2 (0.11%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.053%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.053%) SAP CCM
8 1 (0.053%) SAP FI-GL
8 1 (0.053%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.053%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 178 (9.42%) AWS
2 152 (8.05%) Azure
3 51 (2.70%) GCP
4 46 (2.44%) IaaS
5 43 (2.28%) PaaS
6 41 (2.17%) GitHub
7 38 (2.01%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (1.91%) Microsoft 365
9 31 (1.64%) OpenShift
10 28 (1.48%) Serverless
11 27 (1.43%) GitHub Actions
12 16 (0.85%) Power Platform
13 15 (0.79%) OCI
14 14 (0.74%) Amazon S3
15 13 (0.69%) AWS Lambda
16 12 (0.64%) Amazon EC2
16 12 (0.64%) Amazon ECS
16 12 (0.64%) Azure AKS
17 11 (0.58%) Amazon EKS
17 11 (0.58%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 112 (5.93%) Firewall
2 96 (5.08%) DNS
3 71 (3.76%) Network Security
4 57 (3.02%) WAN
5 56 (2.96%) LAN
6 49 (2.59%) VPN
7 41 (2.17%) BGP
8 36 (1.91%) DHCP
9 29 (1.54%) OSPF
10 25 (1.32%) TCP/IP
11 22 (1.16%) Junos
12 20 (1.06%) VSAN
13 18 (0.95%) Ethernet VPN
13 18 (0.95%) MPLS
13 18 (0.95%) SAN
14 17 (0.90%) Cisco ISE
14 17 (0.90%) VXLAN
15 16 (0.85%) BIG-IP
16 15 (0.79%) Cisco IOS
17 14 (0.74%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (1.27%) Elasticsearch
1 24 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
1 24 (1.27%) SQL Server
2 18 (0.95%) Oracle Database
3 15 (0.79%) Amazon RDS
4 13 (0.69%) Power BI
5 11 (0.58%) MongoDB
6 9 (0.48%) Hadoop
7 8 (0.42%) Big Data
7 8 (0.42%) Metadata
7 8 (0.42%) Relational Database
8 7 (0.37%) InfluxDB
8 7 (0.37%) Redis
9 6 (0.32%) MariaDB
9 6 (0.32%) MySQL
9 6 (0.32%) NoSQL
10 5 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
10 5 (0.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.21%) SAP HANA
11 4 (0.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 75 (3.97%) JIRA
2 26 (1.38%) GitLab
3 25 (1.32%) Git
3 25 (1.32%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.48%) Cypress.io
4 9 (0.48%) Maven
4 9 (0.48%) Sonatype Nexus
5 7 (0.37%) Artifactory
5 7 (0.37%) Robot Framework
6 4 (0.21%) Oracle APEX
6 4 (0.21%) Selenium
7 3 (0.16%) Bitbucket
7 3 (0.16%) MLflow
7 3 (0.16%) MSI
7 3 (0.16%) REST Assured
7 3 (0.16%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 3 (0.16%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.11%) Gatling
8 2 (0.11%) JUnit
8 2 (0.11%) Postman
General
1 296 (15.67%) Social Skills
2 215 (11.38%) Public Sector
3 119 (6.30%) Analytical Skills
4 81 (4.29%) Finance
5 64 (3.39%) Military
6 54 (2.86%) Documentation Skills
7 49 (2.59%) Legal
8 26 (1.38%) Presentation Skills
9 24 (1.27%) Organisational Skills
9 24 (1.27%) Telecoms
10 22 (1.16%) Police
11 21 (1.11%) Law
12 20 (1.06%) Aerospace
13 11 (0.58%) Manufacturing
14 9 (0.48%) Banking
15 8 (0.42%) Electronics
16 7 (0.37%) Marketing
17 5 (0.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 5 (0.26%) Influencing Skills
18 3 (0.16%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 333 (17.63%) Architect
2 142 (7.52%) Lead
3 137 (7.25%) Senior
4 113 (5.98%) Analyst
5 101 (5.35%) Consultant
6 97 (5.13%) Network Engineer
7 92 (4.87%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 82 (4.34%) Developer
9 81 (4.29%) Technical Architect
10 62 (3.28%) SOC Analyst
11 58 (3.07%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
11 58 (3.07%) Project Manager
11 58 (3.07%) Security Architect
11 58 (3.07%) Tester
12 51 (2.70%) DevOps Engineer
13 44 (2.33%) Software Engineer
14 41 (2.17%) Enterprise Architect
15 39 (2.06%) Designer
15 39 (2.06%) DV Cleared Project Manager
16 36 (1.91%) 3rd Line Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (2.17%) REST
2 29 (1.54%) React
3 22 (1.16%) Elastic Stack
4 19 (1.01%) Node.js
5 18 (0.95%) Apache NiFi
6 17 (0.90%) Kafka
7 16 (0.85%) 802.1X
8 14 (0.74%) AngularJS
9 13 (0.69%) .NET
9 13 (0.69%) LDAP
10 12 (0.64%) ModSecurity
10 12 (0.64%) OAuth
11 11 (0.58%) RESTful
11 11 (0.58%) Web Services
12 10 (0.53%) Flask
12 10 (0.53%) PyTorch
12 10 (0.53%) SailPoint
12 10 (0.53%) SOAP
12 10 (0.53%) Spring
13 9 (0.48%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 98 (5.19%) PKI
2 68 (3.60%) Data Centre
3 49 (2.59%) Security Operations Centre
4 38 (2.01%) Cloud Native
5 34 (1.80%) Onboarding
6 30 (1.59%) Clustering
7 28 (1.48%) Management Information System
8 25 (1.32%) Product Ownership
9 23 (1.22%) Hybrid Cloud
10 20 (1.06%) Cyber Threat
10 20 (1.06%) Cyberattack
11 18 (0.95%) Analytical Mindset
11 18 (0.95%) Public Cloud
12 16 (0.85%) Security Posture
13 15 (0.79%) Replication
13 15 (0.79%) Virtual Team
14 14 (0.74%) Driving Licence
14 14 (0.74%) Enterprise Storage
14 14 (0.74%) Greenfield Project
14 14 (0.74%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 269 (14.24%) Windows
2 210 (11.12%) Linux
3 89 (4.71%) Windows Server
4 25 (1.32%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 24 (1.27%) Windows 10
6 13 (0.69%) Ubuntu
7 11 (0.58%) Android
8 10 (0.53%) Mac OS
9 7 (0.37%) Unix
9 7 (0.37%) VMS
9 7 (0.37%) Windows 7
9 7 (0.37%) Windows Server 2003
10 6 (0.32%) AIX
10 6 (0.32%) CentOS
10 6 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
11 5 (0.26%) Data ONTAP
11 5 (0.26%) Debian
12 4 (0.21%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
14 2 (0.11%) Rocky
Processes & Methodologies
1 311 (16.46%) Agile
2 194 (10.27%) Problem-Solving
3 158 (8.36%) ITIL
4 148 (7.83%) DevOps
5 147 (7.78%) CI/CD
6 145 (7.68%) Cybersecurity
7 131 (6.93%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 125 (6.62%) Continuous Improvement
9 121 (6.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 120 (6.35%) Service Management
11 115 (6.09%) Stakeholder Management
12 94 (4.98%) ITSM
13 89 (4.71%) Decision-Making
13 89 (4.71%) Project Delivery
14 88 (4.66%) Infrastructure as Code
15 79 (4.18%) Risk Management
16 75 (3.97%) Project Management
16 75 (3.97%) SIEM
17 73 (3.86%) Containerisation
18 72 (3.81%) Incident Response
Programming Languages
1 143 (7.57%) Python
2 111 (5.88%) PowerShell
3 72 (3.81%) SQL
4 46 (2.44%) Java
5 34 (1.80%) JavaScript
6 31 (1.64%) Bash
7 25 (1.32%) TypeScript
8 24 (1.27%) C#
9 16 (0.85%) Go
10 12 (0.64%) Search Processing Language
11 11 (0.58%) Bicep
11 11 (0.58%) Shell Script
12 10 (0.53%) C++
12 10 (0.53%) PL/SQL
13 9 (0.48%) C
14 6 (0.32%) Embedded C
14 6 (0.32%) Rust
15 4 (0.21%) Apex Code
15 4 (0.21%) MATLAB
15 4 (0.21%) PHP
Qualifications
1 1,889 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 590 (31.23%) SC Cleared
3 57 (3.02%) Degree
4 52 (2.75%) Cisco Certification
4 52 (2.75%) CISSP
5 38 (2.01%) CISM
6 27 (1.43%) CCNA
7 25 (1.32%) CompTIA Security+
8 23 (1.22%) CCNP
8 23 (1.22%) Microsoft Certification
9 19 (1.01%) CESG Certified Professional
10 18 (0.95%) AWS Certification
10 18 (0.95%) Computer Science Degree
11 16 (0.85%) BPSS Clearance
11 16 (0.85%) GIAC
12 14 (0.74%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 13 (0.69%) Azure Certification
13 13 (0.69%) CompTIA CySA+
14 12 (0.64%) CTC Cleared
15 11 (0.58%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 80 (4.24%) NIST
2 63 (3.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 52 (2.75%) PMO
4 49 (2.59%) NCSC
5 43 (2.28%) QA
6 40 (2.12%) JSP 440
7 23 (1.22%) GRC
8 21 (1.11%) RMADS
9 19 (1.01%) SLA
10 12 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials
10 12 (0.64%) GDPR
11 11 (0.58%) Data Quality
11 11 (0.58%) NIST 800
12 9 (0.48%) Accessibility
12 9 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 6 (0.32%) WCAG
14 5 (0.26%) Government Security Classifications
14 5 (0.26%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 4 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 4 (0.21%) Def Stans
System Software
1 125 (6.62%) Active Directory
2 115 (6.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 92 (4.87%) Docker
4 56 (2.96%) VMware NSX
5 45 (2.38%) VMware ESXi
6 37 (1.96%) Hyper-V
7 22 (1.16%) vSphere
8 14 (0.74%) vCloud
9 12 (0.64%) Firmware
10 10 (0.53%) BitLocker
11 9 (0.48%) Virtual Machines
12 8 (0.42%) Microsoft App-V
12 8 (0.42%) Oracle RAC
13 4 (0.21%) UAG
13 4 (0.21%) Virtual Desktop
14 3 (0.16%) Ceph
14 3 (0.16%) GPFS
14 3 (0.16%) Lustre
14 3 (0.16%) Slurm Workload Manager
15 2 (0.11%) Squid
Systems Management
1 132 (6.99%) Kubernetes
2 119 (6.30%) Terraform
3 83 (4.39%) Ansible
4 59 (3.12%) vCenter Server
5 36 (1.91%) SCCM
6 26 (1.38%) Grafana
7 24 (1.27%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 23 (1.22%) Single Sign-On
9 21 (1.11%) Prometheus
10 17 (0.90%) SCOM
11 16 (0.85%) Puppet
12 14 (0.74%) FortiGate
13 13 (0.69%) Nessus
13 13 (0.69%) Progress Chef
14 11 (0.58%) Nagios
14 11 (0.58%) Podman
14 11 (0.58%) WMI
15 10 (0.53%) Forefront Identity Manager
15 10 (0.53%) NetIQ Identity Manager
15 10 (0.53%) WSUS
Vendors
1 205 (10.85%) VMware
2 190 (10.06%) Microsoft
3 114 (6.03%) Cisco
4 68 (3.60%) Splunk
5 58 (3.07%) ServiceNow
6 49 (2.59%) NetApp
7 48 (2.54%) Juniper
7 48 (2.54%) SAP
8 46 (2.44%) Oracle
9 36 (1.91%) Red Hat
10 30 (1.59%) SolarWinds
11 28 (1.48%) F5
12 26 (1.38%) Remedy
13 23 (1.22%) Sparx
14 22 (1.16%) Dell
14 22 (1.16%) Fortinet
15 19 (1.01%) Palo Alto
16 16 (0.85%) Citrix
16 16 (0.85%) Google
16 16 (0.85%) IBM