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

6 months to
8 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 60 69 33
Rank change year-on-year +9 -36 +56
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,633 1,004 2,297
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.85% 3.34% 5.15%
As % of the Qualifications category 11.36% 11.03% 16.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,137 663 1,652
10th Percentile £413 £390 £400
25th Percentile £500 £509 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £600 £600
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% - -
75th Percentile £680 £675 £691
90th Percentile £738 £725 £776
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £593 £600
% change year-on-year -2.95% -1.25% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 27 107
10th Percentile £16.35 £34.25 £47.60
25th Percentile £18.82 £59.87 £56.65
Median hourly rate £54.00 £72.50 £61.65
Median % change year-on-year -25.52% +17.61% -10.33%
75th Percentile £77.50 £81.73 £78.64
90th Percentile £90.35 £92.50 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.50 £72.50 £62.75
% change year-on-year -23.45% +15.54% -16.33%

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 14,375 9,103 13,607
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.92% 30.28% 30.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,474 5,667 8,392
10th Percentile £331 £285 £290
25th Percentile £420 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £613 £626 £650
90th Percentile £719 £725 £734
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% -0.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,071 467 1,037
10th Percentile £16.17 £19.46 £14.00
25th Percentile £19.59 £24.35 £18.32
Median hourly rate £27.50 £42.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.29% +6.25% -20.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £67.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £82.25 £82.25 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £50.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year -49.70% +25.00% -13.04%

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 8 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 8 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 8 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 +4 1,490 £575 -4.17% 400
UK excluding London +5 1,144 £575 -2.95% 346
South East +7 593 £588 +0.43% 152
London -10 338 £575 -4.17% 80
South West -1 329 £565 -5.83% 112
Work from Home +19 208 £560 -2.61% 125
Midlands -29 77 £569 -18.75% 15
North of England -23 64 £606 +51.56% 32
West Midlands -29 61 £563 -19.64% 13
East of England -1 60 £575 - 30
North West +1 51 £600 +192.68% 28
Scotland -18 30 £650 +26.21% 4
East Midlands -18 16 £650 +18.18% 2
Yorkshire - 11 £613 - 4
Northern Ireland - 8 £600 -
Wales -8 3 - - 6
North East -18 2 - -

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 49 (3.00%) Microsoft Exchange
2 47 (2.88%) SharePoint
3 27 (1.65%) Apache
4 25 (1.53%) Confluence
5 24 (1.47%) Skype for Business
6 15 (0.92%) Palantir Foundry
7 7 (0.43%) Apache Spark
8 5 (0.31%) Mattermost
9 4 (0.24%) Oracle Workflow
10 3 (0.18%) OpenStack
11 1 (0.061%) Apache Airflow
Applications
1 58 (3.55%) Microsoft Office
2 42 (2.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (1.22%) Microsoft Project
4 11 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.37%) MS Visio
5 6 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.12%) Lectora
Business Applications
1 20 (1.22%) Remedy ITSM
2 14 (0.86%) SAP S/4HANA
3 13 (0.80%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 7 (0.43%) Maximo
5 4 (0.24%) Oracle Applications
5 4 (0.24%) Oracle Assets
5 4 (0.24%) Oracle ERP
5 4 (0.24%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.24%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 4 (0.24%) SAP EWM
6 3 (0.18%) SAP WM
7 2 (0.12%) Primavera
7 2 (0.12%) SAP GRC
8 1 (0.061%) Oracle Payroll
8 1 (0.061%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.061%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 150 (9.19%) AWS
2 133 (8.14%) Azure
3 54 (3.31%) Microsoft 365
4 50 (3.06%) GCP
5 49 (3.00%) GitHub
6 40 (2.45%) OpenShift
7 38 (2.33%) Serverless
8 33 (2.02%) Azure DevOps
8 33 (2.02%) IaaS
9 30 (1.84%) PaaS
10 29 (1.78%) GitHub Actions
11 20 (1.22%) Amazon S3
11 20 (1.22%) Entra ID
12 18 (1.10%) Amazon EC2
13 16 (0.98%) AWS CloudFormation
13 16 (0.98%) AWS Lambda
14 15 (0.92%) Power Platform
15 14 (0.86%) Azure AKS
15 14 (0.86%) Azure Sentinel
16 13 (0.80%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 119 (7.29%) Firewall
2 102 (6.25%) DNS
3 72 (4.41%) Network Security
4 55 (3.37%) LAN
5 52 (3.18%) VPN
5 52 (3.18%) WAN
6 44 (2.69%) DHCP
7 41 (2.51%) TCP/IP
8 39 (2.39%) BGP
9 29 (1.78%) Junos
10 28 (1.71%) OSPF
11 26 (1.59%) Skype
12 22 (1.35%) Cisco IOS
12 22 (1.35%) Cisco ISE
13 18 (1.10%) Ethernet VPN
13 18 (1.10%) MPLS
13 18 (1.10%) VLAN
14 17 (1.04%) VXLAN
15 16 (0.98%) SAN
16 13 (0.80%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (2.02%) PostgreSQL
2 25 (1.53%) Elasticsearch
3 18 (1.10%) SQL Server
4 16 (0.98%) Big Data
5 14 (0.86%) Amazon RDS
5 14 (0.86%) Hadoop
5 14 (0.86%) Oracle Database
6 11 (0.67%) Power BI
6 11 (0.67%) Redis
6 11 (0.67%) Relational Database
7 9 (0.55%) MongoDB
8 8 (0.49%) Metadata
8 8 (0.49%) MySQL
9 7 (0.43%) InfluxDB
9 7 (0.43%) SAP HANA
10 4 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
10 4 (0.24%) DynamoDB
10 4 (0.24%) RDBMS
10 4 (0.24%) SAP Data Services
10 4 (0.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 55 (3.37%) JIRA
2 29 (1.78%) Git
2 29 (1.78%) GitLab
3 27 (1.65%) Jenkins
4 13 (0.80%) Maven
5 11 (0.67%) Artifactory
6 10 (0.61%) SonarQube
6 10 (0.61%) Sonatype Nexus
7 7 (0.43%) Cypress.io
8 6 (0.37%) Bitbucket
8 6 (0.37%) Robot Framework
9 4 (0.24%) Oracle APEX
9 4 (0.24%) Postman
9 4 (0.24%) Selenium
10 3 (0.18%) CircleCI
10 3 (0.18%) Gradle
10 3 (0.18%) JUnit
10 3 (0.18%) Snyk
10 3 (0.18%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 3 (0.18%) webpack
General
1 301 (18.43%) Social Skills
2 198 (12.12%) Public Sector
3 126 (7.72%) Analytical Skills
4 74 (4.53%) Finance
5 66 (4.04%) Military
6 49 (3.00%) Documentation Skills
7 46 (2.82%) Legal
8 27 (1.65%) Presentation Skills
9 23 (1.41%) Aerospace
9 23 (1.41%) Organisational Skills
9 23 (1.41%) Telecoms
10 17 (1.04%) Law
10 17 (1.04%) Manufacturing
11 16 (0.98%) Police
12 14 (0.86%) Marketing
13 13 (0.80%) Electronics
14 10 (0.61%) Banking
15 6 (0.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 3 (0.18%) Influencing Skills
17 2 (0.12%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 289 (17.70%) Architect
2 98 (6.00%) Analyst
2 98 (6.00%) Senior
3 80 (4.90%) Consultant
4 78 (4.78%) Lead
5 75 (4.59%) Network Engineer
6 70 (4.29%) Developer
7 69 (4.23%) Technical Architect
8 55 (3.37%) Tester
9 54 (3.31%) DevOps Engineer
10 53 (3.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 47 (2.88%) Support Engineer
12 44 (2.69%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
13 43 (2.63%) SOC Analyst
14 39 (2.39%) Security Architect
15 38 (2.33%) Infrastructure Architect
15 38 (2.33%) Project Manager
16 37 (2.27%) 3rd Line Engineer
17 36 (2.20%) Solutions Architect
18 31 (1.90%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (2.20%) REST
2 29 (1.78%) Apache NiFi
3 26 (1.59%) OAuth
4 22 (1.35%) React
5 20 (1.22%) OpenID
6 19 (1.16%) Kafka
6 19 (1.16%) OAuth2
6 19 (1.16%) SAML
7 15 (0.92%) Flask
7 15 (0.92%) Node.js
8 14 (0.86%) 802.1X
8 14 (0.86%) FastAPI
9 13 (0.80%) Elastic Stack
9 13 (0.80%) LDAP
9 13 (0.80%) Web Services
10 12 (0.73%) .NET
11 11 (0.67%) RabbitMQ
12 10 (0.61%) gRPC
12 10 (0.61%) Spring
12 10 (0.61%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 100 (6.12%) PKI
2 58 (3.55%) Data Centre
3 38 (2.33%) Security Operations Centre
4 36 (2.20%) Management Information System
5 26 (1.59%) Cloud Native
6 22 (1.35%) Hybrid Cloud
7 21 (1.29%) Clustering
8 20 (1.22%) Cyber Threat
9 19 (1.16%) Cyberattack
10 18 (1.10%) Onboarding
10 18 (1.10%) Product Ownership
11 17 (1.04%) Replication
12 16 (0.98%) Analytical Mindset
13 15 (0.92%) Private Cloud
14 13 (0.80%) Driving Licence
14 13 (0.80%) Insider Threat
15 12 (0.73%) Legacy Systems
16 11 (0.67%) CSOC
16 11 (0.67%) Cyber Defence
17 10 (0.61%) Fat Client
Operating Systems
1 250 (15.31%) Windows
2 172 (10.53%) Linux
3 79 (4.84%) Windows Server
4 32 (1.96%) Windows 10
5 27 (1.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 16 (0.98%) Windows 7
7 14 (0.86%) Ubuntu
8 11 (0.67%) Mac OS
9 10 (0.61%) Android
10 8 (0.49%) CentOS
11 6 (0.37%) VMS
11 6 (0.37%) Windows Server 2019
12 5 (0.31%) Unix
12 5 (0.31%) Windows Server 2003
13 3 (0.18%) Debian
13 3 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
14 2 (0.12%) Data ONTAP
14 2 (0.12%) Rocky
15 1 (0.061%) Embedded Linux
15 1 (0.061%) Mac OS X
Processes & Methodologies
1 272 (16.66%) Agile
2 211 (12.92%) Problem-Solving
3 152 (9.31%) DevOps
4 149 (9.12%) Cybersecurity
5 138 (8.45%) ITIL
6 130 (7.96%) CI/CD
7 117 (7.16%) Service Management
8 103 (6.31%) Continuous Improvement
8 103 (6.31%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 99 (6.06%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 87 (5.33%) ITSM
11 82 (5.02%) Stakeholder Management
12 76 (4.65%) Infrastructure as Code
12 76 (4.65%) Risk Management
13 72 (4.41%) Containerisation
14 71 (4.35%) Project Delivery
15 70 (4.29%) Incident Response
16 69 (4.23%) SIEM
17 64 (3.92%) Decision-Making
18 62 (3.80%) Knowledge Transfer
Programming Languages
1 143 (8.76%) Python
2 121 (7.41%) PowerShell
3 59 (3.61%) SQL
4 47 (2.88%) Java
5 30 (1.84%) JavaScript
6 23 (1.41%) Bash
7 20 (1.22%) TypeScript
8 18 (1.10%) C#
8 18 (1.10%) Go
9 15 (0.92%) Shell Script
10 12 (0.73%) C++
11 8 (0.49%) Bicep
11 8 (0.49%) VB
12 7 (0.43%) C
12 7 (0.43%) VBScript
13 6 (0.37%) ABAP
13 6 (0.37%) Rust
14 5 (0.31%) PL/SQL
15 4 (0.24%) PHP
16 3 (0.18%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 1,633 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 513 (31.41%) SC Cleared
3 57 (3.49%) Degree
4 56 (3.43%) CISSP
5 46 (2.82%) Cisco Certification
6 36 (2.20%) CISM
7 34 (2.08%) Microsoft Certification
8 26 (1.59%) CompTIA Security+
9 25 (1.53%) CCNP
10 20 (1.22%) CESG Certified Professional
11 19 (1.16%) Computer Science Degree
12 18 (1.10%) AWS Certification
12 18 (1.10%) GIAC
13 17 (1.04%) CCNA
14 15 (0.92%) BPSS Clearance
14 15 (0.92%) CompTIA CySA+
14 15 (0.92%) CTC Cleared
15 14 (0.86%) Azure Certification
15 14 (0.86%) JNCIS
16 10 (0.61%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 80 (4.90%) NIST
2 63 (3.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 52 (3.18%) NCSC
4 42 (2.57%) QA
5 33 (2.02%) PMO
6 31 (1.90%) JSP 440
7 21 (1.29%) GRC
8 16 (0.98%) GDPR
9 15 (0.92%) Data Quality
9 15 (0.92%) NIST 800
10 13 (0.80%) SLA
11 11 (0.67%) RMADS
12 9 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials
12 9 (0.55%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 6 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 6 (0.37%) P3O
14 5 (0.31%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 3 (0.18%) Actionable Recommendations
15 3 (0.18%) EU AI Act
15 3 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 122 (7.47%) Active Directory
2 93 (5.70%) Docker
3 75 (4.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 45 (2.76%) VMware NSX
5 31 (1.90%) VMware ESXi
6 17 (1.04%) vSphere
7 16 (0.98%) Hyper-V
8 12 (0.73%) BitLocker
9 9 (0.55%) vCloud
10 8 (0.49%) Firmware
10 8 (0.49%) Virtual Machines
11 5 (0.31%) Microsoft App-V
11 5 (0.31%) Virtual Desktop
12 4 (0.24%) NFS
12 4 (0.24%) Oracle RAC
13 3 (0.18%) GPFS
13 3 (0.18%) Lustre
13 3 (0.18%) Slurm Workload Manager
14 2 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
15 1 (0.061%) UAG
Systems Management
1 142 (8.70%) Kubernetes
2 112 (6.86%) Terraform
3 77 (4.72%) Ansible
4 48 (2.94%) vCenter Server
5 36 (2.20%) Grafana
6 35 (2.14%) Single Sign-On
7 32 (1.96%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 29 (1.78%) Prometheus
8 29 (1.78%) SCCM
9 15 (0.92%) FortiGate
10 14 (0.86%) WMI
11 13 (0.80%) Progress Chef
11 13 (0.80%) Puppet
12 10 (0.61%) Podman
12 10 (0.61%) SCOM
13 9 (0.55%) VxRail
14 7 (0.43%) Argo
14 7 (0.43%) Forefront Identity Manager
14 7 (0.43%) Nessus
14 7 (0.43%) NetIQ Identity Manager
Vendors
1 224 (13.72%) Microsoft
2 156 (9.55%) VMware
3 107 (6.55%) Cisco
4 58 (3.55%) Splunk
5 56 (3.43%) Juniper
6 47 (2.88%) Oracle
7 42 (2.57%) ServiceNow
8 40 (2.45%) NetApp
8 40 (2.45%) Red Hat
8 40 (2.45%) SAP
9 30 (1.84%) SolarWinds
10 23 (1.41%) F5
11 22 (1.35%) Remedy
12 21 (1.29%) Dell
12 21 (1.29%) Fortinet
13 20 (1.22%) Palantir
14 19 (1.16%) Palo Alto
15 16 (0.98%) Google
16 15 (0.92%) Foundry
16 15 (0.92%) Sparx