IT Support Contract Job Trends

IT Support
UK

The median IT Support daily rate in the UK is £188, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 February 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 150 271 189
Rank change year-on-year +121 -82 +44
Contract jobs requiring an IT Support 763 276 574
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.88% 0.90% 1.29%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.05% 0.97% 1.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 390 145 356
10th Percentile £146 £151 £131
25th Percentile £156 £178 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £188 £200 £200
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £213 £250 £244
90th Percentile £275 £331 £325
UK excluding London median daily rate £178 £195 £194
% change year-on-year -8.97% +0.65% +10.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 177 35 113
10th Percentile £12.50 £15.83 £11.50
25th Percentile £15.79 £18.20 £12.92
Median hourly rate £18.87 £23.59 £17.50
Median % change year-on-year -20.01% +34.80% -5.41%
75th Percentile £21.00 £24.42 £22.25
90th Percentile £23.75 £35.00 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £22.00 £15.44
% change year-on-year -15.91% +42.49% -12.87%

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 37,309 28,353 41,398
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.77% 92.89% 93.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,419 17,689 27,239
10th Percentile £306 £291 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.05% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,278 825 2,334
10th Percentile £14.61 £16.25 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.46 £16.30
Median hourly rate £31.76 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -9.27% - -12.01%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.00 £72.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £32.50 £35.80
% change year-on-year -7.69% -9.22% -0.98%

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 23 February 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 23 February 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 23 February 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 +117 683 £188 -6.25% 367
UK excluding London +88 612 £178 -8.97% 377
North of England +57 169 £175 -12.50% 79
London +28 138 £200 -11.11% 66
East of England +44 124 £203 +12.50% 59
South East +45 112 £200 -15.92% 132
North West +30 87 £175 -7.28% 39
Midlands -20 78 £175 - 41
Work from Home +17 75 £190 -15.56% 69
South West +1 59 £160 -20.00% 37
Yorkshire -12 51 £190 -28.57% 35
East Midlands -3 47 £200 +14.00% 17
Scotland +40 42 £200 +4.17% 26
North East +10 31 £125 - 8
West Midlands -47 31 £175 +2.94% 23
Wales +4 20 £165 -17.50% 11
Northern Ireland +2 8 - - 3

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

For the 6 months to 23 February 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.

1 379 (49.67%) Windows
2 351 (46.00%) Microsoft
3 322 (42.20%) Microsoft 365
4 273 (35.78%) Customer Service
5 243 (31.85%) Active Directory
6 158 (20.71%) Windows 10
7 139 (18.22%) Problem-Solving
8 124 (16.25%) ITIL
9 119 (15.60%) Security Cleared
10 108 (14.15%) SC Cleared
11 98 (12.84%) Microsoft Office
12 93 (12.19%) ServiceNow
13 81 (10.62%) Azure
14 80 (10.48%) SLA
15 79 (10.35%) Android
16 76 (9.96%) Asset Management
17 75 (9.83%) Microsoft Intune
18 72 (9.44%) Wi-Fi
19 70 (9.17%) ITSM
20 69 (9.04%) Time Management
21 60 (7.86%) Degree
22 59 (7.73%) Mac OS
23 55 (7.21%) VPN
24 54 (7.08%) DNS
25 53 (6.95%) Entra ID
26 52 (6.82%) Business Intelligence
27 51 (6.68%) Cisco
27 51 (6.68%) SharePoint
28 50 (6.55%) Apple
29 49 (6.42%) DHCP

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 51 (6.68%) SharePoint
2 33 (4.33%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.39%) Confluence
4 1 (0.13%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 98 (12.84%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (4.85%) Spreadsheet
3 21 (2.75%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 8 (1.05%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.13%) assyst
2 1 (0.13%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 322 (42.20%) Microsoft 365
2 81 (10.62%) Azure
3 53 (6.95%) Entra ID
4 32 (4.19%) Google Workspace
5 29 (3.80%) OneDrive
6 15 (1.97%) SaaS
7 10 (1.31%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (0.92%) Power Platform
9 2 (0.26%) PaaS
9 2 (0.26%) PowerApps
9 2 (0.26%) Slack
10 1 (0.13%) Adobe Creative Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 72 (9.44%) Wi-Fi
2 55 (7.21%) VPN
3 54 (7.08%) DNS
4 49 (6.42%) DHCP
5 40 (5.24%) LAN
6 38 (4.98%) Wireless
7 32 (4.19%) TCP/IP
8 27 (3.54%) Firewall
9 24 (3.15%) WAN
10 15 (1.97%) Network Security
11 11 (1.44%) Cisco IOS
11 11 (1.44%) Unified Communications
11 11 (1.44%) VLAN
12 10 (1.31%) Skype
13 9 (1.18%) Internet
13 9 (1.18%) VoIP
14 8 (1.05%) Remote Desktop
15 7 (0.92%) PABX
16 6 (0.79%) WLAN
17 5 (0.66%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.52%) Oracle Database
1 4 (0.52%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Electronic Patient Records
2 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 35 (4.59%) JIRA
2 3 (0.39%) Chocolatey
3 1 (0.13%) Hudson
3 1 (0.13%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 380 (49.80%) Social Skills
2 76 (9.96%) Manufacturing
3 75 (9.83%) Organisational Skills
4 72 (9.44%) Finance
5 54 (7.08%) Public Sector
6 41 (5.37%) Telecoms
7 39 (5.11%) Marketing
8 38 (4.98%) Electronics
9 32 (4.19%) Analytical Skills
10 20 (2.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 17 (2.23%) Banking
12 10 (1.31%) Law
13 9 (1.18%) Documentation Skills
14 8 (1.05%) Pharmaceutical
15 7 (0.92%) Investment Banking
16 6 (0.79%) Aerospace
16 6 (0.79%) Front Office
17 5 (0.66%) Financial Institution
18 3 (0.39%) Legal
19 2 (0.26%) Publishing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (0.79%) X-Windows
2 4 (0.52%) .NET
2 4 (0.52%) .NET Core
2 4 (0.52%) .NET Framework
2 4 (0.52%) CSS
2 4 (0.52%) HTML
2 4 (0.52%) React
3 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Graph
3 2 (0.26%) Middleware
3 2 (0.26%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 64 (8.39%) Onboarding
2 33 (4.33%) Data Centre
3 31 (4.06%) Enterprise Software
4 30 (3.93%) Self-Motivation
5 28 (3.67%) Driving Licence
6 19 (2.49%) Video Conferencing
7 13 (1.70%) Management Information System
7 13 (1.70%) NHS
7 13 (1.70%) Smartphone
8 11 (1.44%) Virtual Team
9 8 (1.05%) Legacy Systems
9 8 (1.05%) Mobile App
10 7 (0.92%) Life Science
11 6 (0.79%) iPhone
11 6 (0.79%) Team-Oriented Environment
12 5 (0.66%) BYOD
12 5 (0.66%) Low-Code
13 4 (0.52%) Analytical Mindset
13 4 (0.52%) Blackberry
13 4 (0.52%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 379 (49.67%) Windows
2 158 (20.71%) Windows 10
3 79 (10.35%) Android
4 59 (7.73%) Mac OS
5 43 (5.64%) Apple iOS
6 32 (4.19%) Linux
7 29 (3.80%) Windows Server
8 10 (1.31%) Windows Server 2016
9 9 (1.18%) Windows Server 2019
10 8 (1.05%) Windows 7
11 7 (0.92%) Mac OS X
12 4 (0.52%) Windows 8
13 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2003
13 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
14 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 273 (35.78%) Customer Service
2 139 (18.22%) Problem-Solving
3 124 (16.25%) ITIL
4 76 (9.96%) Asset Management
5 70 (9.17%) ITSM
6 69 (9.04%) Time Management
7 52 (6.82%) Business Intelligence
8 44 (5.77%) Service Delivery
9 41 (5.37%) Service Management
10 38 (4.98%) Cybersecurity
10 38 (4.98%) Digital Marketing
10 38 (4.98%) Programme Management
11 36 (4.72%) Continuous Improvement
12 34 (4.46%) Migration
13 32 (4.19%) User Experience
14 29 (3.80%) Problem Management
15 26 (3.41%) Incident Management
16 23 (3.01%) Change Management
16 23 (3.01%) Computer Science
17 21 (2.75%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 21 (2.75%) PowerShell
2 10 (1.31%) C#
3 9 (1.18%) SQL
4 6 (0.79%) Python
5 4 (0.52%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 119 (15.60%) Security Cleared
2 108 (14.15%) SC Cleared
3 60 (7.86%) Degree
4 24 (3.15%) A+ Certification
5 22 (2.88%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.44%) Computer Science Degree
7 10 (1.31%) ITIL Certification
8 8 (1.05%) Microsoft Certified Professional
9 7 (0.92%) CCNA
9 7 (0.92%) Cisco Certification
9 7 (0.92%) DV Cleared
9 7 (0.92%) Network+ Certification
10 6 (0.79%) MCSE
11 5 (0.66%) HND
11 5 (0.66%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 5 (0.66%) MCDST
12 4 (0.52%) DBS Check
12 4 (0.52%) HNC
13 2 (0.26%) BPSS Clearance
14 1 (0.13%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 80 (10.48%) SLA
2 4 (0.52%) Cyber Essentials
2 4 (0.52%) GDPR
3 3 (0.39%) PMO
4 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 243 (31.85%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.57%) VMware Infrastructure
3 8 (1.05%) Hyper-V
4 4 (0.52%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.39%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.26%) Firmware
7 1 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
7 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 75 (9.83%) Microsoft Intune
2 48 (6.29%) SCCM
3 20 (2.62%) Jamf Pro
4 9 (1.18%) ServiceCenter
5 3 (0.39%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (0.39%) WSUS
6 1 (0.13%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 351 (46.00%) Microsoft
2 93 (12.19%) ServiceNow
3 51 (6.68%) Cisco
4 50 (6.55%) Apple
5 46 (6.03%) HP
6 45 (5.90%) Dell
7 41 (5.37%) SAP
8 18 (2.36%) Google
9 17 (2.23%) VMware
10 9 (1.18%) Mitel
11 8 (1.05%) Citrix
11 8 (1.05%) Remedy
12 7 (0.92%) Autodesk
12 7 (0.92%) SOTI
13 5 (0.66%) Bloomberg
13 5 (0.66%) Datto
13 5 (0.66%) iManage
13 5 (0.66%) Oracle
13 5 (0.66%) Palo Alto
14 4 (0.52%) Barracuda Networks