IT Consultant Contract Job Trends
IT Consultant
UK
The median IT Consultant daily rate in the UK is £450, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 15 November 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 15 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 632 | 552 | 526 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -80 | -26 | +59 |
| Contract IT Consultant jobs | 65 | 34 | 37 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.12% | 0.096% | 0.10% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.13% | 0.11% | 0.11% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 37 | 23 | 20 |
| 10th Percentile | £188 | £349 | £406 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £454 | £477 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £450 | £520 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -13.46% | -0.95% | -2.78% |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £606 | £647 |
| 90th Percentile | £677 | £695 | £763 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £460 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +8.70% | -8.00% | +13.64% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 15 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 50,683 | 32,136 | 33,980 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.79% | 91.00% | 92.91% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,745 | 20,384 | 20,503 |
| 10th Percentile | £330 | £278 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £411 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £619 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,363 | 1,875 | 1,271 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.22 | £14.22 | £15.10 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.25 | £17.87 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.00 | £25.15 | £36.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.02% | -30.14% | -19.10% |
| 75th Percentile | £68.75 | £53.99 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £81.73 | £70.00 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +59.05% | -28.14% | -21.35% |
IT Consultant Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT Consultant job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
IT Consultant Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Consultant job vacancies in the UK.
IT Consultant Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for IT Consultant jobs over the 6 months to 15 November 2026.
IT Consultant Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Consultant job vacancies in the UK.
IT Consultant Top 14 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT Consultant jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 15 November 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -93 | 61 | £425 | -18.66% | 66 |
| London | -66 | 37 | £425 | -24.44% | 21 |
| UK excluding London | -81 | 25 | £500 | +8.70% | 45 |
| Work from Home | -71 | 9 | £500 | +5.26% | 33 |
| South West | - | 9 | £650 | - | 2 |
| Midlands | -28 | 7 | £388 | -35.42% | 2 |
| South East | -58 | 5 | £425 | -15.00% | 19 |
| East Midlands | - | 4 | - | - | 2 |
| West Midlands | -39 | 3 | £388 | -35.42% | |
| North West | -50 | 3 | £450 | - | 10 |
| North of England | -65 | 3 | £450 | +3.81% | 12 |
| Scotland | -23 | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| Yorkshire | -33 | 1 | £400 | -7.73% | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 1 | £638 | - |
IT Consultant Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 15 November 2026, IT Consultant contract job ads cited the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract IT Consultant job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azure | 35.4% | 23 |
| 2 | Microsoft | 29.2% | 19 |
| 3 | Cybersecurity | 24.6% | 16 |
| 4 | Active Directory | 23.1% | 15 |
| 4 | Stakeholder Management | 23.1% | 15 |
| 6 | Roadmaps | 18.5% | 12 |
| 7 | Migration | 16.9% | 11 |
| 8 | Change Management | 15.4% | 10 |
| 8 | Network Security | 15.4% | 10 |
| 8 | VPN | 15.4% | 10 |
| 8 | Windows | 15.4% | 10 |
| 12 | Entra ID | 13.8% | 9 |
| 12 | Firewall | 13.8% | 9 |
| 12 | Microsoft 365 | 13.8% | 9 |
| 12 | Palo Alto | 13.8% | 9 |
| 16 | IT Audit | 12.3% | 8 |
| 16 | Sarbanes-Oxley | 12.3% | 8 |
| 18 | Digital Transformation Programme | 10.8% | 7 |
| 18 | DNS | 10.8% | 7 |
| 18 | WAN | 10.8% | 7 |
| 18 | Workshop Facilitation | 10.8% | 7 |
| 22 | Identity Management | 9.2% | 6 |
| 22 | Microsoft Intune | 9.2% | 6 |
| 22 | Project Delivery | 9.2% | 6 |
| 22 | Windows 10 | 9.2% | 6 |
| 22 | Zero Trust | 9.2% | 6 |
| 27 | Business Case | 7.7% | 5 |
| 27 | Data Integration | 7.7% | 5 |
| 27 | Infrastructure Engineering | 7.7% | 5 |
| 27 | ITIL | 7.7% | 5 |
IT Consultant Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IT Support | 21.5% | 14 |
| 1 | Support Consultant | 21.5% | 14 |
| 3 | IT Audit Consultant | 13.8% | 9 |
| 4 | SOX Consultant | 12.3% | 8 |
| 5 | Active Directory Consultant | 9.2% | 6 |
| 6 | Infrastructure Consultant | 7.7% | 5 |
| 6 | IT Architect | 7.7% | 5 |
| 6 | Transformation Consultant | 7.7% | 5 |
| 9 | Senior IT Consultant | 6.2% | 4 |
| 10 | Disaster Recovery Consultant | 4.6% | 3 |
| 10 | Service Design Consultant | 4.6% | 3 |
| 10 | Windows Consultant | 4.6% | 3 |
| 13 | Cybersecurity Consultant | 3.1% | 2 |
| 13 | IT Risk Consultant | 3.1% | 2 |
| 13 | IT Security Consultant | 3.1% | 2 |
| 13 | Principal Consultant | 3.1% | 2 |
| 17 | Asset Management Consultant | 1.5% | 1 |
| 17 | Bid Consultant | 1.5% | 1 |
| 17 | Change Consultant | 1.5% | 1 |
| 17 | Digital Transformation Consultant | 1.5% | 1 |