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 19 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 19 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 613 | 528 | 519 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -85 | -9 | +69 |
| Contract jobs requiring an IT Consultant | 70 | 31 | 43 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.13% | 0.094% | 0.12% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.14% | 0.10% | 0.12% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 39 | 23 | 24 |
| 10th Percentile | £188 | £398 | £419 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £460 | £508 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £450 | £520 | £540 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -13.46% | -3.70% | +1.41% |
| 75th Percentile | £679 | £606 | £647 |
| 90th Percentile | £875 | £695 | £838 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £650 | £460 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +41.30% | -8.00% | -11.11% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.
| 6 months to 19 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title | 50,412 | 30,137 | 34,715 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 91.87% | 90.91% | 92.94% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,580 | 19,016 | 20,925 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £278 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £736 | £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 | 4,171 | 1,674 | 1,399 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.25 | £13.80 | £15.02 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.33 | £17.30 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.06 | £25.15 | £40.33 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.26% | -37.63% | -10.39% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.50 | £50.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £68.75 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.32 | £24.42 | £40.33 |
| % change year-on-year | +65.11% | -39.44% | -9.38% |
IT Consultant Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'IT Consultant' in the job title 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 jobs citing IT Consultant over the 6 months to 19 October 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 jobs citing IT Consultant within the UK over the 6 months to 19 October 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 | -93 | 66 | £450 | -13.88% | 49 |
| London | -79 | 36 | £425 | -19.05% | 15 |
| UK excluding London | -82 | 32 | £650 | +41.30% | 34 |
| Work from Home | -77 | 16 | £650 | +36.84% | 23 |
| South West | - | 16 | £750 | - | 4 |
| Midlands | -33 | 7 | £388 | -35.42% | 4 |
| North of England | -71 | 4 | £450 | -0.77% | 7 |
| North West | - | 4 | £450 | - | 7 |
| East Midlands | - | 4 | - | - | 2 |
| West Midlands | -48 | 3 | £388 | -35.42% | 2 |
| South East | -56 | 3 | £700 | +40.00% | 13 |
| Scotland | -24 | 2 | £365 | -2.67% | 1 |
| Yorkshire | -37 | 1 | £400 | -11.80% | |
| Northern Ireland | - | 1 | £638 | - |
IT Consultant Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 19 October 2026, IT Consultant contract job roles required 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 job ads featuring IT Consultant in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azure | 35.7% | 25 |
| 2 | Microsoft | 30.0% | 21 |
| 3 | Active Directory | 24.3% | 17 |
| 4 | Cybersecurity | 22.9% | 16 |
| 5 | Stakeholder Management | 20.0% | 14 |
| 6 | Roadmaps | 17.1% | 12 |
| 7 | Windows | 15.7% | 11 |
| 8 | Change Management | 14.3% | 10 |
| 8 | Disaster Recovery | 14.3% | 10 |
| 8 | Entra ID | 14.3% | 10 |
| 8 | Microsoft 365 | 14.3% | 10 |
| 8 | Migration | 14.3% | 10 |
| 8 | Network Security | 14.3% | 10 |
| 8 | VPN | 14.3% | 10 |
| 15 | Firewall | 12.9% | 9 |
| 15 | Palo Alto | 12.9% | 9 |
| 17 | Digital Transformation Programme | 11.4% | 8 |
| 18 | Identity Management | 10.0% | 7 |
| 18 | Microsoft Intune | 10.0% | 7 |
| 18 | WAN | 10.0% | 7 |
| 18 | Windows 10 | 10.0% | 7 |
| 18 | Workshop Facilitation | 10.0% | 7 |
| 23 | DNS | 8.6% | 6 |
| 23 | IT Audit | 8.6% | 6 |
| 23 | Project Delivery | 8.6% | 6 |
| 23 | Sarbanes-Oxley | 8.6% | 6 |
| 23 | Zero Trust | 8.6% | 6 |
| 28 | Data Integration | 7.1% | 5 |
| 28 | Infrastructure Engineering | 7.1% | 5 |
| 28 | ITIL | 7.1% | 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 | 22.9% | 16 |
| 1 | Support Consultant | 22.9% | 16 |
| 3 | Disaster Recovery Consultant | 12.9% | 9 |
| 4 | Active Directory Consultant | 10.0% | 7 |
| 4 | IT Audit Consultant | 10.0% | 7 |
| 6 | SOX Consultant | 8.6% | 6 |
| 7 | Infrastructure Consultant | 7.1% | 5 |
| 7 | IT Architect | 7.1% | 5 |
| 7 | Transformation Consultant | 7.1% | 5 |
| 10 | Senior IT Consultant | 5.7% | 4 |
| 11 | Service Design Consultant | 4.3% | 3 |
| 11 | Windows Consultant | 4.3% | 3 |
| 13 | Cybersecurity Consultant | 2.9% | 2 |
| 13 | IT Risk Consultant | 2.9% | 2 |
| 13 | IT Security Consultant | 2.9% | 2 |
| 16 | Asset Management Consultant | 1.4% | 1 |
| 16 | Bid Consultant | 1.4% | 1 |
| 16 | Change Consultant | 1.4% | 1 |
| 16 | Digital Transformation Consultant | 1.4% | 1 |
| 16 | Dynamics 365 Consultant | 1.4% | 1 |