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

6 months to
28 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 51 84 31
Rank change year-on-year +33 -53 +36
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 1,858 864 2,413
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.95% 2.94% 5.57%
As % of the Qualifications category 12.18% 9.59% 18.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,348 600 1,729
10th Percentile £417 £425 £412
25th Percentile £513 £513 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £588 £588 £600
Median % change year-on-year - -2.08% -
75th Percentile £688 £658 £688
90th Percentile £750 £713 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £588 £598
% change year-on-year +2.13% -1.67% -0.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 56 25 113
10th Percentile £16.70 £45.50 £51.30
25th Percentile £32.54 £60.75 £57.33
Median hourly rate £55.25 £78.70 £67.81
Median % change year-on-year -29.80% +16.06% -3.13%
75th Percentile £75.44 £82.10 £85.00
90th Percentile £90.13 £88.32 £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.25 £80.68 £68.67
% change year-on-year -31.52% +17.49% -8.45%

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 15,250 9,008 13,279
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.46% 30.69% 30.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,140 5,698 8,172
10th Percentile £350 £290 £300
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -1.87% -2.73%
75th Percentile £620 £625 £650
90th Percentile £725 £709 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £507 £530
% change year-on-year -1.43% -4.30% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,113 514 1,068
10th Percentile £16.81 £18.20 £13.86
25th Percentile £21.25 £22.27 £17.80
Median hourly rate £47.00 £42.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +10.59% +6.25% -25.93%
75th Percentile £70.00 £66.00 £61.60
90th Percentile £85.25 £80.07 £75.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £46.90 £45.01 £40.28
% change year-on-year +4.20% +11.75% -19.35%

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 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 28 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 28 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 +24 1,710 £580 -1.28% 533
UK excluding London +12 1,344 £600 +2.13% 482
South East +9 734 £600 +2.13% 181
London +39 365 £575 -4.17% 101
South West -3 320 £550 -8.33% 139
Work from Home +42 244 £560 -2.61% 177
East of England +14 92 £650 +18.18% 62
North of England -8 90 £690 +236.59% 54
North West +22 74 £760 +270.73% 36
Midlands -34 64 £563 -19.64% 38
West Midlands -41 48 £569 -18.75% 30
Scotland +29 41 £661 +20.14% 5
East Midlands -23 16 £550 - 8
Yorkshire -48 14 £538 -14.00% 12
Wales -7 5 - - 13
Northern Ireland - 4 £625 - 4
North East -20 2 £675 +22.73% 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 39 (2.10%) Microsoft Exchange
2 31 (1.67%) Confluence
3 25 (1.35%) SharePoint
4 15 (0.81%) Apache
5 9 (0.48%) Apache Spark
5 9 (0.48%) Skype for Business
6 7 (0.38%) Palantir Foundry
7 6 (0.32%) Mattermost
8 4 (0.22%) Apache Airflow
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.11%) nginx
10 1 (0.054%) OpenStack
Applications
1 51 (2.74%) Microsoft Office
2 41 (2.21%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (1.08%) Microsoft Project
4 13 (0.70%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.38%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.27%) MS Visio
7 4 (0.22%) AutoCAD
7 4 (0.22%) Revit
7 4 (0.22%) SOLIDWORKS
8 2 (0.11%) Lectora
8 2 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 32 (1.72%) SAP S/4HANA
2 25 (1.35%) Remedy ITSM
3 17 (0.91%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
4 6 (0.32%) Maximo
4 6 (0.32%) 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 (0.054%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.054%) SAP CCM
8 1 (0.054%) SAP FI-GL
8 1 (0.054%) SAP HR
8 1 (0.054%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 176 (9.47%) AWS
2 141 (7.59%) Azure
3 52 (2.80%) GCP
4 46 (2.48%) IaaS
5 43 (2.31%) PaaS
6 40 (2.15%) GitHub
7 35 (1.88%) Azure DevOps
7 35 (1.88%) Microsoft 365
8 30 (1.61%) OpenShift
9 29 (1.56%) Serverless
10 26 (1.40%) GitHub Actions
11 17 (0.91%) Amazon S3
12 15 (0.81%) Amazon EC2
12 15 (0.81%) OCI
13 14 (0.75%) AWS Lambda
13 14 (0.75%) Power Platform
14 12 (0.65%) Amazon ECS
14 12 (0.65%) Amazon EKS
14 12 (0.65%) Azure AKS
14 12 (0.65%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 115 (6.19%) Firewall
2 98 (5.27%) DNS
3 72 (3.88%) Network Security
4 62 (3.34%) LAN
4 62 (3.34%) WAN
5 55 (2.96%) VPN
6 41 (2.21%) BGP
6 41 (2.21%) DHCP
7 31 (1.67%) OSPF
8 25 (1.35%) TCP/IP
9 22 (1.18%) Junos
10 20 (1.08%) VSAN
11 19 (1.02%) SAN
12 18 (0.97%) Ethernet VPN
13 17 (0.91%) Cisco ISE
13 17 (0.91%) MPLS
13 17 (0.91%) VLAN
13 17 (0.91%) VXLAN
14 16 (0.86%) BIG-IP
14 16 (0.86%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
2 25 (1.35%) SQL Server
3 23 (1.24%) Elasticsearch
4 16 (0.86%) Oracle Database
5 15 (0.81%) Amazon RDS
6 13 (0.70%) MongoDB
7 11 (0.59%) Power BI
8 10 (0.54%) Hadoop
9 9 (0.48%) Big Data
9 9 (0.48%) MySQL
10 8 (0.43%) Relational Database
11 7 (0.38%) InfluxDB
11 7 (0.38%) Metadata
11 7 (0.38%) Redis
11 7 (0.38%) SAP HANA
12 6 (0.32%) MariaDB
12 6 (0.32%) NoSQL
13 5 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
13 5 (0.27%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 4 (0.22%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 71 (3.82%) JIRA
2 25 (1.35%) GitLab
3 24 (1.29%) Git
4 23 (1.24%) Jenkins
5 9 (0.48%) Maven
6 8 (0.43%) Cypress.io
6 8 (0.43%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.32%) Artifactory
7 6 (0.32%) Robot Framework
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
10 2 (0.11%) Visual Studio
11 1 (0.054%) TestDirector
General
1 299 (16.09%) Social Skills
2 212 (11.41%) Public Sector
3 116 (6.24%) Analytical Skills
4 81 (4.36%) Finance
5 64 (3.44%) Military
6 53 (2.85%) Documentation Skills
7 46 (2.48%) Legal
8 30 (1.61%) Presentation Skills
9 25 (1.35%) Telecoms
10 23 (1.24%) Organisational Skills
11 22 (1.18%) Police
12 20 (1.08%) Aerospace
12 20 (1.08%) Law
13 16 (0.86%) Manufacturing
14 9 (0.48%) Banking
14 9 (0.48%) Electronics
14 9 (0.48%) Marketing
15 6 (0.32%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 3 (0.16%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 331 (17.81%) Architect
2 139 (7.48%) Lead
3 134 (7.21%) Senior
4 111 (5.97%) Analyst
5 99 (5.33%) Consultant
6 96 (5.17%) Network Engineer
7 91 (4.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 87 (4.68%) Technical Architect
9 78 (4.20%) Developer
10 59 (3.18%) SOC Analyst
11 57 (3.07%) Project Manager
11 57 (3.07%) Tester
12 56 (3.01%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
12 56 (3.01%) Security Architect
13 51 (2.74%) DevOps Engineer
14 43 (2.31%) Software Engineer
15 39 (2.10%) Designer
15 39 (2.10%) DV Cleared Project Manager
16 35 (1.88%) Administrator
16 35 (1.88%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (1.83%) REST
2 28 (1.51%) React
3 19 (1.02%) Elastic Stack
3 19 (1.02%) Node.js
4 17 (0.91%) Apache NiFi
5 16 (0.86%) 802.1X
5 16 (0.86%) Kafka
6 14 (0.75%) Web Services
7 13 (0.70%) .NET
7 13 (0.70%) AngularJS
7 13 (0.70%) LDAP
8 12 (0.65%) ModSecurity
8 12 (0.65%) OAuth
9 10 (0.54%) Flask
9 10 (0.54%) PyTorch
9 10 (0.54%) RESTful
9 10 (0.54%) SailPoint
9 10 (0.54%) SOAP
9 10 (0.54%) Spring
10 9 (0.48%) FastAPI
Miscellaneous
1 96 (5.17%) PKI
2 68 (3.66%) Data Centre
3 50 (2.69%) Security Operations Centre
4 35 (1.88%) Cloud Native
5 33 (1.78%) Onboarding
6 29 (1.56%) Clustering
6 29 (1.56%) Management Information System
7 23 (1.24%) Hybrid Cloud
7 23 (1.24%) Product Ownership
8 20 (1.08%) Cyberattack
9 19 (1.02%) Analytical Mindset
9 19 (1.02%) Cyber Threat
9 19 (1.02%) Public Cloud
10 16 (0.86%) Greenfield Project
10 16 (0.86%) Replication
10 16 (0.86%) Security Posture
11 14 (0.75%) Driving Licence
11 14 (0.75%) Enterprise Storage
11 14 (0.75%) Legacy Systems
11 14 (0.75%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 259 (13.94%) Windows
2 205 (11.03%) Linux
3 82 (4.41%) Windows Server
4 29 (1.56%) Windows 10
5 26 (1.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (0.70%) Ubuntu
7 12 (0.65%) Windows 7
8 11 (0.59%) Android
9 10 (0.54%) Mac OS
10 8 (0.43%) Unix
11 7 (0.38%) VMS
11 7 (0.38%) Windows Server 2003
12 6 (0.32%) CentOS
13 5 (0.27%) Data ONTAP
13 5 (0.27%) Debian
13 5 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
14 4 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
15 3 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
16 2 (0.11%) AIX
16 2 (0.11%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 304 (16.36%) Agile
2 190 (10.23%) Problem-Solving
3 153 (8.23%) ITIL
4 149 (8.02%) DevOps
5 141 (7.59%) CI/CD
6 138 (7.43%) Cybersecurity
7 132 (7.10%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 122 (6.57%) Service Management
9 115 (6.19%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 115 (6.19%) Stakeholder Management
10 113 (6.08%) Continuous Improvement
11 93 (5.01%) ITSM
12 87 (4.68%) Infrastructure as Code
13 85 (4.57%) Decision-Making
14 84 (4.52%) Project Delivery
15 80 (4.31%) Risk Management
16 74 (3.98%) SIEM
17 72 (3.88%) Project Management
17 72 (3.88%) Roadmaps
17 72 (3.88%) Security Operations
Programming Languages
1 138 (7.43%) Python
2 107 (5.76%) PowerShell
3 58 (3.12%) SQL
4 46 (2.48%) Java
5 34 (1.83%) Bash
6 33 (1.78%) JavaScript
7 24 (1.29%) TypeScript
8 22 (1.18%) C#
9 15 (0.81%) Go
10 13 (0.70%) Shell Script
11 11 (0.59%) Bicep
12 9 (0.48%) C
12 9 (0.48%) C++
12 9 (0.48%) PL/SQL
13 8 (0.43%) VB
14 7 (0.38%) VBScript
15 6 (0.32%) Embedded C
15 6 (0.32%) Rust
15 6 (0.32%) Search Processing Language
16 5 (0.27%) ABAP
Qualifications
1 1,858 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 589 (31.70%) SC Cleared
3 58 (3.12%) Degree
4 52 (2.80%) CISSP
5 50 (2.69%) Cisco Certification
6 38 (2.05%) CISM
7 26 (1.40%) CCNA
7 26 (1.40%) CompTIA Security+
7 26 (1.40%) Microsoft Certification
8 22 (1.18%) CCNP
9 19 (1.02%) CESG Certified Professional
10 18 (0.97%) Computer Science Degree
11 17 (0.91%) AWS Certification
11 17 (0.91%) BPSS Clearance
11 17 (0.91%) GIAC
12 14 (0.75%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 13 (0.70%) CompTIA CySA+
14 12 (0.65%) Azure Certification
14 12 (0.65%) CEH
14 12 (0.65%) CTC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 80 (4.31%) NIST
2 62 (3.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 51 (2.74%) PMO
4 47 (2.53%) NCSC
5 41 (2.21%) QA
6 37 (1.99%) JSP 440
7 23 (1.24%) GRC
8 20 (1.08%) RMADS
8 20 (1.08%) SLA
9 12 (0.65%) Cyber Essentials
10 11 (0.59%) GDPR
10 11 (0.59%) NIST 800
11 10 (0.54%) Data Quality
12 9 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 8 (0.43%) Accessibility
14 5 (0.27%) Government Security Classifications
14 5 (0.27%) WCAG
15 4 (0.22%) Def Stans
15 4 (0.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 4 (0.22%) P3O
System Software
1 120 (6.46%) Active Directory
2 107 (5.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 92 (4.95%) Docker
4 54 (2.91%) VMware NSX
5 43 (2.31%) VMware ESXi
6 36 (1.94%) Hyper-V
7 22 (1.18%) vSphere
8 15 (0.81%) BitLocker
9 12 (0.65%) vCloud
10 11 (0.59%) Firmware
11 8 (0.43%) Microsoft App-V
12 7 (0.38%) Oracle RAC
13 6 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
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%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 134 (7.21%) Kubernetes
2 119 (6.40%) Terraform
3 82 (4.41%) Ansible
4 55 (2.96%) vCenter Server
5 40 (2.15%) SCCM
6 26 (1.40%) Grafana
7 24 (1.29%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 24 (1.29%) Single Sign-On
8 21 (1.13%) Prometheus
9 15 (0.81%) FortiGate
9 15 (0.81%) Puppet
10 13 (0.70%) SCOM
11 12 (0.65%) Nessus
11 12 (0.65%) Progress Chef
12 11 (0.59%) Podman
13 10 (0.54%) Forefront Identity Manager
13 10 (0.54%) NetIQ Identity Manager
13 10 (0.54%) WMI
14 9 (0.48%) WSUS
15 8 (0.43%) vMotion
Vendors
1 197 (10.60%) Microsoft
2 196 (10.55%) VMware
3 111 (5.97%) Cisco
4 63 (3.39%) Splunk
5 60 (3.23%) ServiceNow
6 58 (3.12%) SAP
7 50 (2.69%) NetApp
8 49 (2.64%) Juniper
9 47 (2.53%) Oracle
10 37 (1.99%) Red Hat
11 28 (1.51%) F5
12 26 (1.40%) Remedy
13 25 (1.35%) SolarWinds
14 23 (1.24%) Fortinet
15 22 (1.18%) Dell
16 20 (1.08%) Palo Alto
17 18 (0.97%) Sparx
18 17 (0.91%) Citrix
18 17 (0.91%) Google
19 15 (0.81%) Veeam