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

6 months to
28 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 76 44 52
Rank change year-on-year -32 +8 +84
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,219 1,561 1,877
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.38% 4.26% 4.11%
As % of the Qualifications category 10.13% 14.52% 13.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 848 980 1,260
10th Percentile £465 £413 £385
25th Percentile £513 £500 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £600 £600
75th Percentile £688 £686 £688
90th Percentile £750 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £599 £577
% change year-on-year +0.17% +3.81% -1.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 36 62 112
10th Percentile £19.82 £46.25 £54.06
25th Percentile - £55.87 £58.75
Median hourly rate £25.15 £63.29 £67.13
Median % change year-on-year -60.26% -5.71% -4.79%
75th Percentile £71.00 £74.76 £77.50
90th Percentile £85.63 £100.00 £80.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.00 £63.15 £68.63
% change year-on-year +6.10% -7.98% -4.21%

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 12,038 10,748 13,416
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.35% 29.36% 29.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,771 6,455 8,492
10th Percentile £305 £310 £300
25th Percentile £413 £420 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £725 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £518 £538
% change year-on-year -3.38% -3.72% +2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,018 531 765
10th Percentile £17.53 £18.97 £17.72
25th Percentile £19.38 £24.18 £27.50
Median hourly rate £25.15 £42.88 £53.67
Median % change year-on-year -41.35% -20.10% +19.26%
75th Percentile £45.46 £67.01 £68.75
90th Percentile £73.75 £75.00 £80.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £46.71 £52.50
% change year-on-year -46.16% -11.02% +16.67%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 -26 1,121 £600 - 486
UK excluding London -20 826 £600 +0.17% 446
South East -4 418 £600 +2.13% 236
London -36 293 £625 +6.38% 97
South West -6 265 £625 +4.17% 136
Work from Home -2 174 £600 - 168
Midlands -16 87 £588 -2.08% 21
West Midlands -18 82 £575 -8.00% 18
East of England -19 28 £538 -2.23% 27
North of England -59 23 £500 -9.09% 17
Scotland -49 19 £628 +21.55% 8
North West -17 15 £500 - 16
Northern Ireland 0 8 £594 -
Yorkshire -51 6 £521 -5.23% 1
East Midlands -11 5 £725 +55.91% 3
Wales -13 5 £600 -14.29% 13
North East -15 2 £625 +11.11%

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 50 (4.10%) SharePoint
2 47 (3.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 40 (3.28%) Apache
4 32 (2.63%) Skype for Business
5 25 (2.05%) Confluence
6 11 (0.90%) SharePoint Server
7 10 (0.82%) Exchange Server 2003
7 10 (0.82%) Exchange Server 2007
7 10 (0.82%) Exchange Server 2010
7 10 (0.82%) Exchange Server 2013
7 10 (0.82%) Office Communications Server
8 6 (0.49%) IIS
9 5 (0.41%) OpenStack
10 4 (0.33%) CMS
11 3 (0.25%) Apache Spark
11 3 (0.25%) Documentum
11 3 (0.25%) nginx
12 1 (0.082%) Mattermost
Applications
1 58 (4.76%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (1.56%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.23%) Microsoft Project
4 7 (0.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.41%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.082%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 17 (1.39%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.82%) Remedy ITSM
2 10 (0.82%) SAP EWM
2 10 (0.82%) SAP WM
3 7 (0.57%) Primavera
4 6 (0.49%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
5 3 (0.25%) Maximo
5 3 (0.25%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle Assets
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle Cash Management
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle General Ledger
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle Payroll
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.082%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.082%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 131 (10.75%) Azure
2 125 (10.25%) AWS
3 60 (4.92%) Microsoft 365
4 43 (3.53%) GitHub
4 43 (3.53%) Serverless
5 35 (2.87%) GCP
6 29 (2.38%) OpenShift
7 28 (2.30%) Azure DevOps
8 20 (1.64%) Amazon S3
8 20 (1.64%) GitHub Actions
9 17 (1.39%) AWS CloudFormation
10 16 (1.31%) Entra ID
11 15 (1.23%) Amazon ECS
11 15 (1.23%) AWS Lambda
12 14 (1.15%) Amazon EC2
12 14 (1.15%) Power Platform
13 13 (1.07%) Azure Sentinel
14 11 (0.90%) IaaS
14 11 (0.90%) npm
15 10 (0.82%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 84 (6.89%) Firewall
2 76 (6.23%) DNS
3 49 (4.02%) Network Security
4 45 (3.69%) LAN
5 37 (3.04%) VPN
6 34 (2.79%) DHCP
7 31 (2.54%) WAN
8 28 (2.30%) TCP/IP
9 27 (2.21%) Cisco IOS
10 26 (2.13%) Junos
10 26 (2.13%) Skype
11 24 (1.97%) Cisco ISE
12 23 (1.89%) BGP
12 23 (1.89%) Cisco Firepower
13 21 (1.72%) SAN
14 20 (1.64%) Wireless
15 15 (1.23%) VLAN
16 14 (1.15%) OSPF
17 13 (1.07%) iSCSI
18 12 (0.98%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (2.13%) Big Data
2 24 (1.97%) PostgreSQL
3 18 (1.48%) Elasticsearch
4 17 (1.39%) Hadoop
5 13 (1.07%) SQL Server
6 12 (0.98%) Oracle Database
7 11 (0.90%) Redis
8 10 (0.82%) Relational Database
9 9 (0.74%) Amazon RDS
9 9 (0.74%) MongoDB
10 8 (0.66%) Power BI
11 7 (0.57%) InfluxDB
12 6 (0.49%) SAP HANA
13 5 (0.41%) RDBMS
14 4 (0.33%) Metadata
15 3 (0.25%) Apache Hive
15 3 (0.25%) Looker
15 3 (0.25%) MySQL
15 3 (0.25%) NoSQL
15 3 (0.25%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 45 (3.69%) GitLab
2 44 (3.61%) Jenkins
3 39 (3.20%) JIRA
4 37 (3.04%) Git
5 18 (1.48%) SonarQube
6 14 (1.15%) Maven
7 12 (0.98%) Bitbucket
8 11 (0.90%) Artifactory
9 10 (0.82%) Sonatype Nexus
10 7 (0.57%) Cypress.io
11 6 (0.49%) Selenium
12 5 (0.41%) JUnit
12 5 (0.41%) Postman
13 4 (0.33%) CircleCI
13 4 (0.33%) Gradle
13 4 (0.33%) MSI
13 4 (0.33%) Robot Framework
13 4 (0.33%) Snyk
13 4 (0.33%) SoapUI
13 4 (0.33%) webpack
General
1 258 (21.16%) Social Skills
2 194 (15.91%) Public Sector
3 85 (6.97%) Analytical Skills
4 69 (5.66%) Finance
5 45 (3.69%) Telecoms
6 44 (3.61%) Military
7 39 (3.20%) Manufacturing
8 26 (2.13%) Electronics
8 26 (2.13%) Marketing
9 25 (2.05%) Documentation Skills
9 25 (2.05%) Legal
10 23 (1.89%) Law
11 20 (1.64%) Banking
12 17 (1.39%) Presentation Skills
13 12 (0.98%) Aerospace
13 12 (0.98%) Police
14 10 (0.82%) Organisational Skills
15 8 (0.66%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 1 (0.082%) Aviation
Job Titles
1 222 (18.21%) Architect
2 92 (7.55%) Consultant
3 64 (5.25%) Analyst
3 64 (5.25%) Network Engineer
4 60 (4.92%) Support Engineer
5 56 (4.59%) Developer
6 55 (4.51%) Senior
7 52 (4.27%) Solutions Architect
8 48 (3.94%) DevOps Engineer
8 48 (3.94%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
8 48 (3.94%) Lead
9 38 (3.12%) Technical Architect
10 37 (3.04%) 3rd Line Engineer
11 35 (2.87%) Cloud Engineer
12 34 (2.79%) Infrastructure Architect
12 34 (2.79%) Network Architect
13 32 (2.63%) Project Manager
14 30 (2.46%) Administrator
15 28 (2.30%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 24 (1.97%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (3.04%) Apache NiFi
2 31 (2.54%) REST
3 26 (2.13%) Kafka
4 21 (1.72%) React
5 18 (1.48%) Elastic Stack
5 18 (1.48%) OAuth
6 17 (1.39%) Node.js
6 17 (1.39%) YAML
7 16 (1.31%) .NET
7 16 (1.31%) OpenID
8 15 (1.23%) OAuth2
8 15 (1.23%) SAML
9 14 (1.15%) RabbitMQ
10 13 (1.07%) RESTful
11 9 (0.74%) JSON
11 9 (0.74%) SOAP
11 9 (0.74%) Spring
11 9 (0.74%) Web Services
12 8 (0.66%) Flask
12 8 (0.66%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 74 (6.07%) PKI
2 46 (3.77%) Data Centre
3 34 (2.79%) Management Information System
4 31 (2.54%) Onboarding
5 25 (2.05%) Cyber Threat
6 21 (1.72%) Private Cloud
6 21 (1.72%) Security Operations Centre
7 20 (1.64%) Cloud Native
7 20 (1.64%) Replication
8 15 (1.23%) Driving Licence
9 13 (1.07%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (1.07%) Greenfield Project
10 12 (0.98%) Enterprise Software
11 11 (0.90%) Cyber Defence
12 10 (0.82%) CSOC
12 10 (0.82%) Fat Client
12 10 (0.82%) Hybrid Cloud
12 10 (0.82%) Legacy Systems
12 10 (0.82%) Thin Client
13 9 (0.74%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 205 (16.82%) Windows
2 113 (9.27%) Linux
3 76 (6.23%) Windows Server
4 30 (2.46%) Windows 10
5 26 (2.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 18 (1.48%) Android
6 18 (1.48%) Mac OS
6 18 (1.48%) Windows Server 2019
7 15 (1.23%) Windows 7
8 13 (1.07%) Unix
9 11 (0.90%) Windows Server 2003
10 10 (0.82%) CentOS
11 7 (0.57%) Ubuntu
12 3 (0.25%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.16%) Debian
13 2 (0.16%) VMS
14 1 (0.082%) Data ONTAP
14 1 (0.082%) Mac OS X
14 1 (0.082%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 224 (18.38%) Agile
2 132 (10.83%) DevOps
3 127 (10.42%) Cybersecurity
4 125 (10.25%) Problem-Solving
5 117 (9.60%) CI/CD
6 84 (6.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 80 (6.56%) ITIL
8 76 (6.23%) Infrastructure as Code
9 75 (6.15%) Stakeholder Management
10 67 (5.50%) Containerisation
11 66 (5.41%) Continuous Improvement
12 65 (5.33%) Risk Management
13 64 (5.25%) Service Management
14 61 (5.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 61 (5.00%) ITSM
15 58 (4.76%) Mentoring
16 57 (4.68%) Migration
16 57 (4.68%) Scrum
17 55 (4.51%) SIEM
18 52 (4.27%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 147 (12.06%) Python
2 111 (9.11%) PowerShell
3 67 (5.50%) SQL
4 63 (5.17%) Java
5 40 (3.28%) JavaScript
6 35 (2.87%) Bash
7 21 (1.72%) C#
8 19 (1.56%) Go
9 17 (1.39%) C++
10 16 (1.31%) TypeScript
11 10 (0.82%) C
11 10 (0.82%) Shell Script
12 8 (0.66%) VB
12 8 (0.66%) VBScript
13 5 (0.41%) ABAP
14 4 (0.33%) Bicep
15 3 (0.25%) Kusto Query Language
15 3 (0.25%) PHP
15 3 (0.25%) T-SQL
16 2 (0.16%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 1,219 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 381 (31.26%) SC Cleared
3 42 (3.45%) CISSP
4 41 (3.36%) Degree
5 35 (2.87%) Microsoft Certification
6 26 (2.13%) Cisco Certification
7 25 (2.05%) CISM
8 17 (1.39%) CCNP
9 15 (1.23%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (1.15%) CEH
11 13 (1.07%) CESG Certified Professional
12 12 (0.98%) GIAC
12 12 (0.98%) MCSE
13 11 (0.90%) CCNA
14 10 (0.82%) Azure Certification
14 10 (0.82%) PMI Certification
15 9 (0.74%) AWS Certification
15 9 (0.74%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 8 (0.66%) CompTIA Security+
16 8 (0.66%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 61 (5.00%) NIST
2 51 (4.18%) NCSC
3 42 (3.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 28 (2.30%) SLA
5 20 (1.64%) NIST 800
6 19 (1.56%) JSP 440
6 19 (1.56%) PMO
7 18 (1.48%) QA
8 17 (1.39%) GDPR
9 14 (1.15%) RMADS
10 12 (0.98%) Data Quality
11 5 (0.41%) P3O
12 4 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
12 4 (0.33%) Def Stans
12 4 (0.33%) GRC
12 4 (0.33%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 3 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 3 (0.25%) EU AI Act
13 3 (0.25%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 3 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 104 (8.53%) Active Directory
2 76 (6.23%) Docker
3 71 (5.82%) VMware Infrastructure
4 43 (3.53%) VMware ESXi
5 38 (3.12%) VMware NSX
6 32 (2.63%) vSphere
7 14 (1.15%) Virtual Machines
8 13 (1.07%) NFS
9 10 (0.82%) Brightmail
9 10 (0.82%) ISA Server
10 6 (0.49%) Virtual Desktop
11 5 (0.41%) BitLocker
11 5 (0.41%) Firmware
12 4 (0.33%) Hyper-V
13 2 (0.16%) Oracle RAC
13 2 (0.16%) Virtual Servers
14 1 (0.082%) GPFS
14 1 (0.082%) Slurm Workload Manager
14 1 (0.082%) Terminal Services
14 1 (0.082%) UAG
Systems Management
1 116 (9.52%) Kubernetes
2 103 (8.45%) Terraform
3 84 (6.89%) Ansible
4 37 (3.04%) Grafana
4 37 (3.04%) vCenter Server
5 31 (2.54%) Prometheus
6 23 (1.89%) SCCM
7 22 (1.80%) Single Sign-On
8 20 (1.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 13 (1.07%) WMI
10 12 (0.98%) Progress Chef
11 11 (0.90%) Microsoft Clustering
12 10 (0.82%) Podman
12 10 (0.82%) Puppet
13 9 (0.74%) Microsoft Intune
13 9 (0.74%) SCOM
14 8 (0.66%) Argo
15 7 (0.57%) FortiGate
16 6 (0.49%) Kibana
16 6 (0.49%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 187 (15.34%) Microsoft
2 146 (11.98%) VMware
3 118 (9.68%) Cisco
4 68 (5.58%) Juniper
5 55 (4.51%) SAP
6 50 (4.10%) Splunk
7 32 (2.63%) Palantir
7 32 (2.63%) SolarWinds
8 30 (2.46%) Oracle
9 25 (2.05%) Foundry
9 25 (2.05%) Red Hat
10 24 (1.97%) Dell
11 21 (1.72%) Veeam
12 19 (1.56%) HP
13 18 (1.48%) Apple
13 18 (1.48%) NetApp
14 15 (1.23%) Atlassian
14 15 (1.23%) ServiceNow
15 14 (1.15%) Google
16 13 (1.07%) Cloudera