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 19 September 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 83 39 53
Rank change year-on-year -44 +14 +111
Contract jobs citing DV Cleared 970 1,835 2,000
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 2.94% 4.76% 4.04%
As % of the Qualifications category 9.37% 16.29% 14.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 684 1,219 1,311
10th Percentile £463 £425 £400
25th Percentile £515 £513 £488
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £588 £600 £575
Median % change year-on-year -2.08% +4.35% -2.13%
75th Percentile £650 £688 £675
90th Percentile £723 £763 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £585 £570
% change year-on-year -1.71% +2.63% -0.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 32 92 113
10th Percentile - £50.00 £50.44
25th Percentile £25.15 £58.24 £56.49
Median hourly rate £45.00 £70.20 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.89% +0.28% -4.44%
75th Percentile £80.34 £80.00 £78.00
90th Percentile £87.48 £89.75 £82.74
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £70.20 £72.33
% change year-on-year -0.28% -2.95% -1.26%

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 10,355 11,265 13,931
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 31.43% 29.24% 28.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,468 6,928 8,970
10th Percentile £300 £313 £325
25th Percentile £413 £425 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £711 £729 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - +2.34%
Number of hourly rates quoted 838 653 735
10th Percentile £17.87 £17.00 £16.57
25th Percentile £18.87 £24.18 £25.75
Median hourly rate £25.15 £49.00 £54.00
Median % change year-on-year -48.67% -9.26% +20.00%
75th Percentile £45.00 £68.00 £69.81
90th Percentile £71.00 £76.08 £78.28
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £52.50 £51.90
% change year-on-year -52.10% +1.17% +15.32%

DV Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing DV Cleared as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for DV Cleared 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 19 September 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 19 September 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for DV Cleared in the UK

DV Cleared
Top 16 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 19 September 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 -40 917 £580 -3.33% 595
UK excluding London -27 714 £575 -1.71% 539
South East -9 353 £578 -3.75% 187
South West -7 233 £600 +4.35% 136
London -66 198 £625 +4.17% 126
Work from Home -44 151 £595 -1.65% 219
West Midlands -16 70 £600 -1.23% 38
Midlands -30 70 £600 - 69
East of England -18 41 £550 - 79
Scotland -9 15 £525 -25.00% 17
North of England -72 10 £575 -11.54% 52
North West -23 7 £500 -18.10% 37
Northern Ireland -17 4 £600 +2.13% 3
Wales -9 3 £600 -14.29% 6
Yorkshire -46 2 £625 -7.41% 13
North East -2 1 £625 +4.17% 2

DV Cleared
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 41 (4.23%) Apache
1 41 (4.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 26 (2.68%) SharePoint
3 19 (1.96%) Confluence
4 16 (1.65%) Skype for Business
5 13 (1.34%) SharePoint Server
6 12 (1.24%) Exchange Server 2003
6 12 (1.24%) Exchange Server 2007
6 12 (1.24%) Exchange Server 2010
6 12 (1.24%) Exchange Server 2013
6 12 (1.24%) Office Communications Server
7 9 (0.93%) IIS
8 5 (0.52%) CMS
8 5 (0.52%) nginx
9 4 (0.41%) OpenStack
10 3 (0.31%) Documentum
11 2 (0.21%) Apache Spark
12 1 (0.10%) Apache Airflow
12 1 (0.10%) Camunda
12 1 (0.10%) Mattermost
Applications
1 39 (4.02%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.03%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (0.41%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.10%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 9 (0.93%) SAP EWM
1 9 (0.93%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (0.82%) SAP WM
3 7 (0.72%) Primavera
4 2 (0.21%) Maximo
4 2 (0.21%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.10%) Oracle Assets
5 1 (0.10%) Oracle Cash Management
5 1 (0.10%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.10%) Oracle General Ledger
5 1 (0.10%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.10%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.10%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 110 (11.34%) Azure
2 108 (11.13%) AWS
3 35 (3.61%) GCP
4 30 (3.09%) Microsoft 365
5 29 (2.99%) Serverless
6 27 (2.78%) OpenShift
7 23 (2.37%) GitHub
8 21 (2.16%) Azure DevOps
8 21 (2.16%) Cohesity
9 16 (1.65%) IaaS
10 15 (1.55%) PaaS
11 12 (1.24%) Azure Sentinel
12 11 (1.13%) AWS CloudFormation
13 10 (1.03%) Amazon S3
13 10 (1.03%) AWS Lambda
13 10 (1.03%) Entra ID
13 10 (1.03%) GitHub Actions
14 9 (0.93%) Amazon ECS
15 8 (0.82%) SaaS
16 7 (0.72%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 77 (7.94%) Firewall
2 70 (7.22%) DNS
3 43 (4.43%) VPN
4 42 (4.33%) Network Security
5 37 (3.81%) SAN
6 29 (2.99%) LAN
7 27 (2.78%) DHCP
8 24 (2.47%) BGP
8 24 (2.47%) WAN
9 19 (1.96%) SMTP
10 16 (1.65%) Cisco ISE
10 16 (1.65%) Fibre Channel
10 16 (1.65%) iSCSI
11 15 (1.55%) OSPF
11 15 (1.55%) SSL
11 15 (1.55%) Wireless
12 14 (1.44%) Cisco Firepower
12 14 (1.44%) Cisco IOS
12 14 (1.44%) Junos
12 14 (1.44%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (3.09%) Elasticsearch
2 29 (2.99%) Big Data
3 15 (1.55%) Hadoop
4 14 (1.44%) PostgreSQL
4 14 (1.44%) SQL Server
5 12 (1.24%) Amazon RDS
6 7 (0.72%) MongoDB
7 6 (0.62%) Oracle Database
7 6 (0.62%) Redis
8 5 (0.52%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.41%) Oracle Database 12c
9 4 (0.41%) Power BI
10 3 (0.31%) Flink
10 3 (0.31%) Looker
10 3 (0.31%) RDBMS
10 3 (0.31%) Relational Database
11 2 (0.21%) Apache Hive
11 2 (0.21%) BigQuery
11 2 (0.21%) InfluxDB
11 2 (0.21%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 43 (4.43%) Jenkins
2 36 (3.71%) GitLab
3 31 (3.20%) JIRA
4 22 (2.27%) Git
5 13 (1.34%) SonarQube
6 12 (1.24%) Bitbucket
7 10 (1.03%) SoapUI
8 8 (0.82%) Sonatype Nexus
9 7 (0.72%) Cypress.io
9 7 (0.72%) Maven
9 7 (0.72%) MSI
10 4 (0.41%) Artifactory
10 4 (0.41%) JUnit
10 4 (0.41%) Robot Framework
10 4 (0.41%) Selenium
11 3 (0.31%) CircleCI
11 3 (0.31%) Gradle
11 3 (0.31%) Postman
11 3 (0.31%) Snyk
11 3 (0.31%) webpack
General
1 187 (19.28%) Social Skills
2 160 (16.49%) Public Sector
3 49 (5.05%) Finance
4 48 (4.95%) Analytical Skills
5 45 (4.64%) Telecoms
6 36 (3.71%) Military
7 34 (3.51%) Manufacturing
8 23 (2.37%) Electronics
8 23 (2.37%) Marketing
9 18 (1.86%) Law
10 14 (1.44%) Banking
10 14 (1.44%) Documentation Skills
11 13 (1.34%) Legal
12 9 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
12 9 (0.93%) Police
13 8 (0.82%) Presentation Skills
14 7 (0.72%) Aerospace
15 6 (0.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 6 (0.62%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.52%) Billing
Job Titles
1 159 (16.39%) Architect
2 85 (8.76%) Consultant
3 71 (7.32%) Senior
4 66 (6.80%) Analyst
5 45 (4.64%) Developer
5 45 (4.64%) Support Engineer
6 43 (4.43%) Network Engineer
7 40 (4.12%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 38 (3.92%) Network Architect
9 37 (3.81%) DevOps Engineer
10 33 (3.40%) Lead
11 32 (3.30%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
11 32 (3.30%) Solutions Architect
12 31 (3.20%) Administrator
13 29 (2.99%) 3rd Line Engineer
14 27 (2.78%) Project Manager
15 26 (2.68%) Data Engineer
15 26 (2.68%) Infrastructure Architect
15 26 (2.68%) VMware Engineer
16 25 (2.58%) Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (3.51%) Apache NiFi
2 26 (2.68%) Elastic Stack
3 22 (2.27%) Kafka
4 20 (2.06%) React
5 19 (1.96%) Node.js
6 18 (1.86%) REST
7 15 (1.55%) .NET
8 14 (1.44%) YAML
9 13 (1.34%) SOAP
10 11 (1.13%) RESTful
11 10 (1.03%) RabbitMQ
11 10 (1.03%) XML
12 9 (0.93%) Spring
13 7 (0.72%) JBoss Seam
13 7 (0.72%) LDAP
13 7 (0.72%) Swagger
14 6 (0.62%) Web Services
15 5 (0.52%) AngularJS
15 5 (0.52%) JSON
15 5 (0.52%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 64 (6.60%) PKI
2 61 (6.29%) Data Centre
3 40 (4.12%) Management Information System
4 34 (3.51%) Onboarding
5 20 (2.06%) Cyber Threat
6 18 (1.86%) Replication
7 15 (1.55%) Security Operations Centre
8 14 (1.44%) Driving Licence
8 14 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
9 13 (1.34%) Cloud Native
10 12 (1.24%) Private Cloud
11 11 (1.13%) Greenfield Project
11 11 (1.13%) Product Ownership
11 11 (1.13%) Video Conferencing
12 9 (0.93%) Clustering
13 8 (0.82%) Enterprise Software
14 7 (0.72%) Analytical Mindset
14 7 (0.72%) Hybrid Cloud
14 7 (0.72%) Legacy Systems
14 7 (0.72%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 190 (19.59%) Windows
2 109 (11.24%) Linux
3 92 (9.48%) Windows Server
4 42 (4.33%) Windows Server 2019
5 31 (3.20%) Windows 10
6 29 (2.99%) Windows Server 2016
7 21 (2.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 17 (1.75%) Windows Server 2003
9 12 (1.24%) Android
9 12 (1.24%) Mac OS
10 10 (1.03%) CentOS
11 9 (0.93%) Unix
12 6 (0.62%) Windows Server 2012
13 5 (0.52%) Windows 7
14 4 (0.41%) Ubuntu
15 3 (0.31%) Solaris
16 2 (0.21%) Debian
16 2 (0.21%) Oracle Linux
16 2 (0.21%) VMS
17 1 (0.10%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 197 (20.31%) Agile
2 120 (12.37%) DevOps
3 96 (9.90%) Cybersecurity
4 82 (8.45%) CI/CD
5 78 (8.04%) ITIL
5 78 (8.04%) Problem-Solving
6 62 (6.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 61 (6.29%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 59 (6.08%) SIEM
8 59 (6.08%) Stakeholder Management
9 58 (5.98%) Risk Management
10 56 (5.77%) Containerisation
11 52 (5.36%) Test Automation
12 50 (5.15%) Infrastructure as Code
13 48 (4.95%) Mentoring
13 48 (4.95%) Software Engineering
14 44 (4.54%) Continuous Improvement
14 44 (4.54%) Project Management
15 43 (4.43%) Migration
15 43 (4.43%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 108 (11.13%) PowerShell
2 103 (10.62%) Python
3 61 (6.29%) SQL
4 57 (5.88%) Java
5 46 (4.74%) JavaScript
6 30 (3.09%) Bash
7 16 (1.65%) C#
7 16 (1.65%) Go
8 12 (1.24%) C++
9 10 (1.03%) C
9 10 (1.03%) Kusto Query Language
9 10 (1.03%) TypeScript
10 6 (0.62%) VB
11 5 (0.52%) PHP
12 4 (0.41%) VBScript
13 3 (0.31%) Bicep
14 2 (0.21%) PL/SQL
15 1 (0.10%) Shell Script
15 1 (0.10%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 970 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 272 (28.04%) SC Cleared
3 47 (4.85%) Degree
4 35 (3.61%) CISSP
5 25 (2.58%) Cisco Certification
6 19 (1.96%) Microsoft Certification
6 19 (1.96%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
7 18 (1.86%) CCNP
8 16 (1.65%) MCSE
9 14 (1.44%) CESG Certified Professional
10 11 (1.13%) BPSS Clearance
10 11 (1.13%) CISM
11 10 (1.03%) CCNA
11 10 (1.03%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 10 (1.03%) VCP5
11 10 (1.03%) VCP6
12 9 (0.93%) PMI Certification
13 8 (0.82%) CompTIA CySA+
14 7 (0.72%) AWS Certification
14 7 (0.72%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (4.12%) NCSC
1 40 (4.12%) NIST
2 29 (2.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 26 (2.68%) SLA
4 20 (2.06%) RMADS
5 18 (1.86%) QA
6 15 (1.55%) JSP 440
7 14 (1.44%) NIST 800
8 9 (0.93%) Data Quality
9 8 (0.82%) GDPR
9 8 (0.82%) PMO
10 4 (0.41%) Def Stans
10 4 (0.41%) P3O
11 3 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.31%) EU AI Act
12 2 (0.21%) GMP
12 2 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 1 (0.10%) COBIT
13 1 (0.10%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
System Software
1 117 (12.06%) Active Directory
2 106 (10.93%) VMware Infrastructure
3 64 (6.60%) Docker
4 59 (6.08%) VMware ESXi
5 42 (4.33%) vSphere
6 33 (3.40%) VMware NSX
7 21 (2.16%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 21 (2.16%) Virtual Servers
8 19 (1.96%) Hyper-V
9 16 (1.65%) NFS
10 12 (1.24%) Brightmail
10 12 (1.24%) ISA Server
10 12 (1.24%) Microsoft App-V
11 10 (1.03%) Terminal Services
11 10 (1.03%) Virtual Machines
12 9 (0.93%) BitLocker
13 8 (0.82%) Virtual Desktop
14 4 (0.41%) Oracle RAC
15 3 (0.31%) Firmware
16 1 (0.10%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 96 (9.90%) Ansible
2 85 (8.76%) Kubernetes
3 74 (7.63%) Terraform
4 37 (3.81%) SCCM
5 33 (3.40%) vCenter Server
6 26 (2.68%) WSUS
7 23 (2.37%) Grafana
8 21 (2.16%) Prometheus
9 16 (1.65%) Puppet
10 13 (1.34%) Microsoft Clustering
11 11 (1.13%) vRealize
12 10 (1.03%) Microsoft Intune
13 9 (0.93%) SCOM
13 9 (0.93%) vMotion
14 8 (0.82%) FortiGate
14 8 (0.82%) Kibana
14 8 (0.82%) Nagios
14 8 (0.82%) VxRail
14 8 (0.82%) WMI
15 7 (0.72%) logstash
Vendors
1 175 (18.04%) VMware
2 137 (14.12%) Microsoft
3 108 (11.13%) Cisco
4 65 (6.70%) Juniper
5 54 (5.57%) Splunk
6 37 (3.81%) NetApp
7 34 (3.51%) SAP
8 28 (2.89%) SolarWinds
9 26 (2.68%) Palantir
10 22 (2.27%) Veeam
11 21 (2.16%) Citrix
11 21 (2.16%) HP
12 19 (1.96%) Dell
13 18 (1.86%) Foundry
14 17 (1.75%) Oracle
15 16 (1.65%) Red Hat
16 14 (1.44%) Google
17 13 (1.34%) Cloudera
17 13 (1.34%) F5
18 12 (1.24%) Apple