IT Support Contract Job Trends

IT Support
UK

The median IT Support daily rate in the UK is £200, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 2 May 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
2 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 170 242 209
Rank change year-on-year +72 -33 +10
Contract jobs requiring an IT Support 745 321 505
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.57% 1.09% 1.16%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.71% 1.18% 1.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 338 161 324
10th Percentile £150 £150 £129
25th Percentile £163 £178 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £215 £200
Median % change year-on-year -7.21% +7.50% +6.67%
75th Percentile £238 £288 £244
90th Percentile £352 £419 £325
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £200 £190
% change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% +8.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 171 51 114
10th Percentile £13.12 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £15.79 £17.44 £12.00
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.51 £15.42
Median % change year-on-year -0.05% +20.04% -18.84%
75th Percentile £20.69 £24.42 £22.23
90th Percentile £23.75 £35.89 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £18.31 £13.30
% change year-on-year +1.07% +37.63% -28.11%

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.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 43,667 27,136 40,368
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.30% 92.52% 92.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,936 17,712 26,266
10th Percentile £315 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £501 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.82% -1.90% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +3.16% -3.55% -1.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,813 1,033 2,668
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.14 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.50 £16.30
Median hourly rate £44.00 £29.00 £36.02
Median % change year-on-year +51.72% -19.49% -19.95%
75th Percentile £66.00 £62.50 £60.75
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.46 £28.00 £39.50
% change year-on-year +62.36% -29.11% -6.91%

IT Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'IT Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

IT Support job vacancy trend in the UK

IT Support
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for IT Support job vacancies in the UK

IT Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing IT Support over the 6 months to 2 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for IT Support in the UK

IT Support
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Support job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for IT Support job vacancies in the UK

IT Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing IT Support over the 6 months to 2 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IT Support in the UK

IT Support
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 IT Support within the UK over the 6 months to 2 May 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 +65 648 £200 -9.20% 270
UK excluding London +48 581 £190 -5.00% 271
London -14 144 £200 -15.79% 34
East of England +37 142 £203 +12.50% 52
North of England +4 136 £175 -12.50% 57
South East +4 108 £200 -33.33% 74
North West +9 84 £175 -12.50% 25
Midlands -33 71 £188 +25.00% 34
Work from Home -32 64 £216 -14.36% 40
Scotland +37 51 £250 +29.03% 10
South West -17 45 £148 -31.40% 46
East Midlands -8 40 £200 +14.00% 11
Yorkshire -34 39 £190 -5.00% 24
West Midlands -53 30 £180 +20.00% 23
Wales +2 22 £165 -13.16% 7
North East -10 13 £125 - 9
Northern Ireland +2 6 - - 4

IT Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 2 May 2026, IT Support 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 Support in the job title.

1 368 (49.40%) Microsoft
2 362 (48.59%) Windows
3 311 (41.74%) Microsoft 365
4 261 (35.03%) Active Directory
5 247 (33.15%) Customer Service
6 140 (18.79%) Windows 10
7 127 (17.05%) Problem-Solving
8 124 (16.64%) ITIL
9 84 (11.28%) ServiceNow
10 82 (11.01%) Azure
11 79 (10.60%) Wi-Fi
12 67 (8.99%) SLA
13 64 (8.59%) Microsoft Intune
14 62 (8.32%) Entra ID
15 60 (8.05%) Time Management
16 55 (7.38%) Security Cleared
16 55 (7.38%) VPN
17 52 (6.98%) JIRA
18 51 (6.85%) ITSM
18 51 (6.85%) Microsoft Office
19 49 (6.58%) SC Cleared
20 47 (6.31%) Asset Management
21 44 (5.91%) SharePoint
22 42 (5.64%) LAN
23 41 (5.50%) DNS
24 40 (5.37%) DHCP
25 38 (5.10%) User Experience
26 36 (4.83%) Android
27 35 (4.70%) Microsoft Exchange
28 34 (4.56%) A+ Certification

IT Support Skill Set
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 44 (5.91%) SharePoint
2 35 (4.70%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.40%) Confluence
4 2 (0.27%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 51 (6.85%) Microsoft Office
2 29 (3.89%) Spreadsheet
3 17 (2.28%) Microsoft Excel
4 5 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 10 (1.34%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.13%) assyst
Cloud Services
1 311 (41.74%) Microsoft 365
2 82 (11.01%) Azure
3 62 (8.32%) Entra ID
4 23 (3.09%) Azure DevOps
5 21 (2.82%) OneDrive
6 20 (2.68%) Google Workspace
7 10 (1.34%) SaaS
8 3 (0.40%) IaaS
9 2 (0.27%) Azure Sentinel
9 2 (0.27%) PaaS
9 2 (0.27%) Power Platform
9 2 (0.27%) PowerApps
9 2 (0.27%) Slack
10 1 (0.13%) Adobe Creative Cloud
10 1 (0.13%) Amazon EC2
10 1 (0.13%) Amazon S3
10 1 (0.13%) AWS
10 1 (0.13%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 79 (10.60%) Wi-Fi
2 55 (7.38%) VPN
3 42 (5.64%) LAN
4 41 (5.50%) DNS
5 40 (5.37%) DHCP
6 26 (3.49%) Firewall
7 23 (3.09%) WAN
8 21 (2.82%) TCP/IP
9 18 (2.42%) SAN
10 15 (2.01%) Wireless
11 13 (1.74%) VLAN
12 10 (1.34%) Network Security
13 9 (1.21%) Skype
14 7 (0.94%) Internet
14 7 (0.94%) VoIP
15 6 (0.81%) Cisco IOS
15 6 (0.81%) Remote Desktop
15 6 (0.81%) WLAN
16 3 (0.40%) DMZ
16 3 (0.40%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.54%) Oracle Database
1 4 (0.54%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 52 (6.98%) JIRA
2 6 (0.81%) Git
3 3 (0.40%) Chocolatey
4 1 (0.13%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 360 (48.32%) Social Skills
2 50 (6.71%) Analytical Skills
3 45 (6.04%) Finance
4 44 (5.91%) Organisational Skills
5 38 (5.10%) Manufacturing
6 22 (2.95%) Public Sector
7 19 (2.55%) Banking
8 17 (2.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 16 (2.15%) Telecoms
10 14 (1.88%) Law
11 11 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
12 9 (1.21%) Marketing
13 7 (0.94%) Legal
13 7 (0.94%) Pharmaceutical
14 6 (0.81%) Electronics
14 6 (0.81%) Front Office
15 3 (0.40%) Investment Banking
15 3 (0.40%) Local Government
16 2 (0.27%) Billing
16 2 (0.27%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (0.81%) CSS
1 6 (0.81%) X-Windows
2 4 (0.54%) .NET
2 4 (0.54%) .NET Core
2 4 (0.54%) .NET Framework
2 4 (0.54%) HTML
2 4 (0.54%) React
3 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
3 2 (0.27%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 82 (11.01%) Onboarding
2 31 (4.16%) Driving Licence
3 21 (2.82%) Self-Motivation
4 18 (2.42%) Analytical Mindset
4 18 (2.42%) Data Centre
5 15 (2.01%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (1.48%) Virtual Team
7 9 (1.21%) Video Conferencing
8 7 (0.94%) Smartphone
9 6 (0.81%) iPhone
9 6 (0.81%) Mobile App
10 5 (0.67%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (0.67%) Life Science
10 5 (0.67%) NHS
11 4 (0.54%) Greenfield Project
12 3 (0.40%) Educational Technology
12 3 (0.40%) Management Information System
13 2 (0.27%) Housing Association
13 2 (0.27%) IoT
13 2 (0.27%) iPad
Operating Systems
1 362 (48.59%) Windows
2 140 (18.79%) Windows 10
3 36 (4.83%) Android
4 34 (4.56%) Windows Server
5 32 (4.30%) Apple iOS
6 25 (3.36%) Mac OS
7 16 (2.15%) Linux
8 8 (1.07%) Windows 7
9 7 (0.94%) Mac OS X
10 4 (0.54%) Windows 8
10 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 247 (33.15%) Customer Service
2 127 (17.05%) Problem-Solving
3 124 (16.64%) ITIL
4 60 (8.05%) Time Management
5 51 (6.85%) ITSM
6 47 (6.31%) Asset Management
7 38 (5.10%) User Experience
8 34 (4.56%) Service Delivery
9 33 (4.43%) Migration
10 25 (3.36%) Break/Fix
11 24 (3.22%) Change Management
11 24 (3.22%) DevOps
12 23 (3.09%) Service Management
13 21 (2.82%) Continuous Improvement
13 21 (2.82%) Process Improvement
14 20 (2.68%) Cybersecurity
14 20 (2.68%) Problem Management
15 19 (2.55%) Inventory Management
16 18 (2.42%) Computer Science
17 16 (2.15%) Kalman Filter
Programming Languages
1 23 (3.09%) C#
2 22 (2.95%) SQL
3 19 (2.55%) PowerShell
4 6 (0.81%) Python
5 4 (0.54%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 55 (7.38%) Security Cleared
2 49 (6.58%) SC Cleared
3 34 (4.56%) A+ Certification
3 34 (4.56%) Degree
4 32 (4.30%) Microsoft Certification
5 25 (3.36%) Network+ Certification
6 19 (2.55%) CCNA
6 19 (2.55%) Cisco Certification
7 16 (2.15%) MCSE
8 11 (1.48%) DV Cleared
9 10 (1.34%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (0.81%) ITIL Certification
11 3 (0.40%) DBS Check
12 1 (0.13%) HND
12 1 (0.13%) MCSA
12 1 (0.13%) PMI Certification
12 1 (0.13%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (8.99%) SLA
2 6 (0.81%) Cyber Essentials
2 6 (0.81%) PMO
3 2 (0.27%) GDPR
3 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
4 1 (0.13%) GxP
4 1 (0.13%) ITGC
System Software
1 261 (35.03%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.61%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.34%) Hyper-V
4 3 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.27%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 64 (8.59%) Microsoft Intune
2 33 (4.43%) SCCM
3 14 (1.88%) Jamf Pro
4 9 (1.21%) ServiceCenter
5 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (0.40%) WSUS
6 2 (0.27%) PaperCut
7 1 (0.13%) Dell DRAC
7 1 (0.13%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.13%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 368 (49.40%) Microsoft
2 84 (11.28%) ServiceNow
3 32 (4.30%) Dell
4 26 (3.49%) Apple
5 21 (2.82%) HP
6 18 (2.42%) Cisco
7 16 (2.15%) VMware
8 14 (1.88%) Google
9 11 (1.48%) Remedy
10 8 (1.07%) Avaya
10 8 (1.07%) Citrix
10 8 (1.07%) Meraki
10 8 (1.07%) Mitel
11 7 (0.94%) SAP
11 7 (0.94%) SOTI
12 6 (0.81%) Autodesk
12 6 (0.81%) Bloomberg
13 5 (0.67%) Oracle
14 4 (0.54%) Barracuda Networks
14 4 (0.54%) Palo Alto