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

6 months to
21 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 55 80 31
Rank change year-on-year +25 -49 +39
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,821 878 2,390
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.93% 2.98% 5.50%
As % of the Qualifications category 12.02% 9.69% 17.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,312 609 1,720
10th Percentile £413 £425 £411
25th Percentile £510 £513 £510
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £588 £600
Median % change year-on-year +2.13% -2.08% -
75th Percentile £688 £656 £688
90th Percentile £750 £713 £776
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £588 £600
% change year-on-year +2.13% -2.08% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 52 23 111
10th Percentile £16.42 £44.00 £51.25
25th Percentile £32.54 £60.75 £57.33
Median hourly rate £56.25 £75.00 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +11.11% -3.57%
75th Percentile £76.94 £81.73 £85.00
90th Percentile £91.03 £87.85 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £56.25 £79.69 £67.81
% change year-on-year -29.41% +17.52% -9.59%

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 15,147 9,057 13,372
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.73% 30.76% 30.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,077 5,764 8,252
10th Percentile £345 £295 £300
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £525 £536
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -2.05% -2.55%
75th Percentile £619 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £709 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £510 £530
% change year-on-year -1.96% -3.77% +0.95%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,098 505 1,051
10th Percentile £16.35 £18.43 £13.85
25th Percentile £21.25 £22.50 £17.80
Median hourly rate £45.46 £42.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.96% +6.25% -25.93%
75th Percentile £70.00 £66.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.08 £80.84 £75.24
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.46 £46.30 £40.00
% change year-on-year -1.81% +15.75% -20.00%

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 21 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 21 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 21 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 +18 1,674 £582 -1.02% 435
UK excluding London +12 1,315 £600 +2.13% 361
South East +9 722 £600 +2.35% 143
London +33 358 £575 -0.98% 100
South West -3 315 £550 -8.33% 115
Work from Home +27 236 £560 -2.61% 152
North of England +7 91 £690 +236.59% 38
East of England +10 84 £625 +13.64% 43
North West +10 74 £760 +270.73% 27
Midlands -32 62 £569 -18.75% 24
West Midlands -42 45 £569 -18.75% 23
Scotland +23 40 £653 +24.38% 2
East Midlands -20 17 £588 +6.82% 1
Yorkshire -50 15 £525 -16.00% 7
Northern Ireland - 6 £600 - 1
Wales -7 2 - - 4
North East -15 2 £675 +22.73% 4

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 40 (2.20%) Microsoft Exchange
2 26 (1.43%) Confluence
3 25 (1.37%) SharePoint
4 16 (0.88%) Apache
5 11 (0.60%) Skype for Business
6 8 (0.44%) Apache Spark
6 8 (0.44%) Palantir Foundry
7 5 (0.27%) Mattermost
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle Workflow
9 3 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
10 2 (0.11%) nginx
11 1 (0.055%) OpenStack
Applications
1 52 (2.86%) Microsoft Office
2 42 (2.31%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (1.10%) 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 30 (1.65%) SAP S/4HANA
2 24 (1.32%) Remedy ITSM
3 17 (0.93%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 6 (0.33%) Maximo
4 6 (0.33%) SAP EWM
5 4 (0.22%) Oracle Assets
5 4 (0.22%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.22%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.22%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 3 (0.16%) SAP GRC
7 2 (0.11%) Primavera
7 2 (0.11%) SAP FI
7 2 (0.11%) SAP WM
8 1 (0.055%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.055%) SAP CCM
8 1 (0.055%) SAP FI-GL
8 1 (0.055%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.055%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 177 (9.72%) AWS
2 139 (7.63%) Azure
3 51 (2.80%) GCP
4 46 (2.53%) IaaS
5 43 (2.36%) PaaS
6 39 (2.14%) GitHub
7 36 (1.98%) Microsoft 365
8 31 (1.70%) Azure DevOps
9 30 (1.65%) OpenShift
10 28 (1.54%) Serverless
11 26 (1.43%) GitHub Actions
12 19 (1.04%) Amazon S3
13 16 (0.88%) Amazon EC2
14 15 (0.82%) OCI
15 14 (0.77%) AWS Lambda
16 12 (0.66%) Amazon EKS
16 12 (0.66%) Entra ID
16 12 (0.66%) Power Platform
17 11 (0.60%) Amazon ECS
17 11 (0.60%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 118 (6.48%) Firewall
2 100 (5.49%) DNS
3 72 (3.95%) Network Security
4 62 (3.40%) LAN
5 61 (3.35%) WAN
6 54 (2.97%) VPN
7 42 (2.31%) DHCP
8 41 (2.25%) BGP
9 31 (1.70%) OSPF
10 27 (1.48%) TCP/IP
11 24 (1.32%) Junos
12 19 (1.04%) Cisco ISE
12 19 (1.04%) SAN
12 19 (1.04%) VSAN
13 18 (0.99%) Ethernet VPN
14 17 (0.93%) Cisco IOS
14 17 (0.93%) MPLS
14 17 (0.93%) VLAN
14 17 (0.93%) VXLAN
15 16 (0.88%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (1.65%) PostgreSQL
2 23 (1.26%) Elasticsearch
2 23 (1.26%) SQL Server
3 15 (0.82%) Amazon RDS
4 14 (0.77%) MongoDB
4 14 (0.77%) Oracle Database
5 10 (0.55%) Hadoop
5 10 (0.55%) Power BI
6 9 (0.49%) Big Data
6 9 (0.49%) MySQL
7 8 (0.44%) Relational Database
8 7 (0.38%) InfluxDB
8 7 (0.38%) Redis
8 7 (0.38%) SAP HANA
9 6 (0.33%) MariaDB
9 6 (0.33%) Metadata
10 5 (0.27%) NoSQL
10 5 (0.27%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.22%) Data Warehouse
11 4 (0.22%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 65 (3.57%) JIRA
2 25 (1.37%) Git
3 24 (1.32%) GitLab
3 24 (1.32%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.49%) Maven
5 8 (0.44%) Sonatype Nexus
6 6 (0.33%) Artifactory
6 6 (0.33%) Robot Framework
7 5 (0.27%) Cypress.io
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle APEX
9 3 (0.16%) Bitbucket
9 3 (0.16%) MLflow
9 3 (0.16%) Selenium
9 3 (0.16%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 2 (0.11%) ERwin
10 2 (0.11%) MSI
10 2 (0.11%) Postman
10 2 (0.11%) REST Assured
11 1 (0.055%) Gradle
11 1 (0.055%) SonarQube
General
1 291 (15.98%) Social Skills
2 200 (10.98%) Public Sector
3 118 (6.48%) Analytical Skills
4 82 (4.50%) Finance
5 63 (3.46%) Military
6 54 (2.97%) Documentation Skills
7 46 (2.53%) Legal
8 30 (1.65%) Presentation Skills
9 26 (1.43%) Telecoms
10 24 (1.32%) Organisational Skills
11 21 (1.15%) Aerospace
11 21 (1.15%) Police
12 19 (1.04%) Law
13 14 (0.77%) Manufacturing
14 11 (0.60%) Electronics
14 11 (0.60%) Marketing
15 9 (0.49%) Banking
16 6 (0.33%) Influencing Skills
17 5 (0.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 3 (0.16%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 330 (18.12%) Architect
2 129 (7.08%) Senior
3 127 (6.97%) Lead
4 106 (5.82%) Analyst
5 95 (5.22%) Consultant
6 93 (5.11%) Network Engineer
7 86 (4.72%) Technical Architect
8 85 (4.67%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 74 (4.06%) Developer
10 59 (3.24%) Tester
11 58 (3.19%) SOC Analyst
12 55 (3.02%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
13 53 (2.91%) Security Architect
14 52 (2.86%) Project Manager
15 51 (2.80%) DevOps Engineer
16 43 (2.36%) Software Engineer
17 38 (2.09%) DV Cleared Project Manager
18 36 (1.98%) 3rd Line Engineer
19 35 (1.92%) Designer
19 35 (1.92%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (1.76%) REST
2 22 (1.21%) React
3 18 (0.99%) Node.js
4 17 (0.93%) Apache NiFi
4 17 (0.93%) Elastic Stack
4 17 (0.93%) OAuth
5 15 (0.82%) 802.1X
6 14 (0.77%) Kafka
6 14 (0.77%) Web Services
7 13 (0.71%) LDAP
8 12 (0.66%) .NET
8 12 (0.66%) AngularJS
8 12 (0.66%) ModSecurity
9 11 (0.60%) OAuth2
9 11 (0.60%) OpenID
9 11 (0.60%) SailPoint
9 11 (0.60%) SAML
10 10 (0.55%) Flask
10 10 (0.55%) SOAP
10 10 (0.55%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 95 (5.22%) PKI
2 68 (3.73%) Data Centre
3 50 (2.75%) Security Operations Centre
4 32 (1.76%) Onboarding
5 31 (1.70%) Cloud Native
6 30 (1.65%) Management Information System
7 28 (1.54%) Clustering
8 24 (1.32%) Product Ownership
9 23 (1.26%) Hybrid Cloud
10 20 (1.10%) Cyberattack
11 19 (1.04%) Analytical Mindset
11 19 (1.04%) Public Cloud
12 18 (0.99%) Replication
13 17 (0.93%) Cyber Threat
14 15 (0.82%) Greenfield Project
14 15 (0.82%) Security Posture
15 14 (0.77%) Driving Licence
15 14 (0.77%) Enterprise Storage
15 14 (0.77%) Private Cloud
16 13 (0.71%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 253 (13.89%) Windows
2 200 (10.98%) Linux
3 84 (4.61%) Windows Server
4 28 (1.54%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 27 (1.48%) Windows 10
6 13 (0.71%) Ubuntu
7 12 (0.66%) Windows 7
8 10 (0.55%) Android
8 10 (0.55%) Mac OS
9 7 (0.38%) Unix
9 7 (0.38%) VMS
9 7 (0.38%) Windows Server 2003
10 6 (0.33%) CentOS
11 5 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
11 5 (0.27%) Debian
11 5 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
14 2 (0.11%) AIX
14 2 (0.11%) Rocky
Processes & Methodologies
1 295 (16.20%) Agile
2 192 (10.54%) Problem-Solving
3 150 (8.24%) ITIL
4 145 (7.96%) DevOps
5 138 (7.58%) CI/CD
6 135 (7.41%) Cybersecurity
7 129 (7.08%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 122 (6.70%) Service Management
9 114 (6.26%) Continuous Improvement
10 111 (6.10%) Stakeholder Management
11 109 (5.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 94 (5.16%) ITSM
13 83 (4.56%) Project Delivery
14 82 (4.50%) Infrastructure as Code
15 81 (4.45%) Risk Management
16 77 (4.23%) Decision-Making
17 75 (4.12%) SIEM
18 71 (3.90%) Roadmaps
18 71 (3.90%) Security Operations
19 70 (3.84%) Incident Response
Programming Languages
1 136 (7.47%) Python
2 109 (5.99%) PowerShell
3 55 (3.02%) SQL
4 47 (2.58%) Java
5 33 (1.81%) Bash
6 31 (1.70%) JavaScript
7 20 (1.10%) C#
7 20 (1.10%) TypeScript
8 14 (0.77%) Go
8 14 (0.77%) Shell Script
9 10 (0.55%) Bicep
10 9 (0.49%) C
10 9 (0.49%) C++
11 8 (0.44%) VB
12 7 (0.38%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.38%) VBScript
13 6 (0.33%) Embedded C
13 6 (0.33%) Rust
14 5 (0.27%) ABAP
14 5 (0.27%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 1,821 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 577 (31.69%) SC Cleared
3 58 (3.19%) Degree
4 52 (2.86%) CISSP
5 47 (2.58%) Cisco Certification
6 38 (2.09%) CISM
7 29 (1.59%) Microsoft Certification
8 27 (1.48%) CompTIA Security+
9 23 (1.26%) CCNP
10 22 (1.21%) CCNA
11 20 (1.10%) CESG Certified Professional
12 18 (0.99%) Computer Science Degree
12 18 (0.99%) GIAC
13 17 (0.93%) AWS Certification
13 17 (0.93%) BPSS Clearance
14 14 (0.77%) CEH
15 13 (0.71%) Azure Certification
15 13 (0.71%) CompTIA CySA+
15 13 (0.71%) CTC Cleared
15 13 (0.71%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 78 (4.28%) NIST
2 60 (3.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 46 (2.53%) NCSC
4 45 (2.47%) PMO
5 41 (2.25%) QA
6 34 (1.87%) JSP 440
7 23 (1.26%) GRC
8 20 (1.10%) RMADS
9 15 (0.82%) SLA
10 12 (0.66%) GDPR
11 11 (0.60%) NIST 800
12 10 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials
13 9 (0.49%) Data Quality
13 9 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 20000
14 5 (0.27%) Government Security Classifications
15 4 (0.22%) Accessibility
15 4 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 4 (0.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 4 (0.22%) P3O
16 3 (0.16%) Def Stans
System Software
1 121 (6.64%) Active Directory
2 106 (5.82%) VMware Infrastructure
3 92 (5.05%) Docker
4 54 (2.97%) VMware NSX
5 43 (2.36%) VMware ESXi
6 33 (1.81%) Hyper-V
7 22 (1.21%) vSphere
8 15 (0.82%) BitLocker
9 12 (0.66%) vCloud
10 11 (0.60%) Firmware
11 8 (0.44%) Microsoft App-V
12 6 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
13 5 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
14 4 (0.22%) UAG
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%) Squid
Systems Management
1 133 (7.30%) Kubernetes
2 116 (6.37%) Terraform
3 79 (4.34%) Ansible
4 57 (3.13%) vCenter Server
5 39 (2.14%) SCCM
6 27 (1.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 27 (1.48%) Single Sign-On
7 25 (1.37%) Grafana
8 20 (1.10%) Prometheus
9 15 (0.82%) FortiGate
10 14 (0.77%) Puppet
11 13 (0.71%) SCOM
12 11 (0.60%) Nessus
12 11 (0.60%) Progress Chef
13 10 (0.55%) Forefront Identity Manager
13 10 (0.55%) NetIQ Identity Manager
13 10 (0.55%) Podman
13 10 (0.55%) WMI
14 8 (0.44%) VxRail
14 8 (0.44%) WSUS
Vendors
1 201 (11.04%) Microsoft
2 194 (10.65%) VMware
3 109 (5.99%) Cisco
4 63 (3.46%) Splunk
5 58 (3.19%) SAP
5 58 (3.19%) ServiceNow
6 52 (2.86%) Juniper
7 49 (2.69%) NetApp
8 45 (2.47%) Oracle
9 39 (2.14%) Red Hat
10 27 (1.48%) F5
11 26 (1.43%) SolarWinds
12 25 (1.37%) Remedy
13 23 (1.26%) Dell
13 23 (1.26%) Fortinet
14 19 (1.04%) Palo Alto
15 18 (0.99%) Google
15 18 (0.99%) Sparx
16 17 (0.93%) Citrix
17 15 (0.82%) Veeam