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 1 October 2026.

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

6 months to
1 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 207 174 235
Rank change year-on-year -33 +61 -7
Contract jobs requiring an IT Support 752 566 396
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.37% 1.71% 1.05%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.49% 1.88% 1.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 397 276 206
10th Percentile £154 £127 £125
25th Percentile £166 £153 £156
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £188 £192
Median % change year-on-year +6.67% -2.47% -3.88%
75th Percentile £260 £238 £243
90th Percentile £315 £344 £331
UK excluding London median daily rate £200 £175 £185
% change year-on-year +14.29% -5.41% -2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 182 136 45
10th Percentile £13.45 £12.91 £14.91
25th Percentile £15.81 £13.75 £17.88
Median hourly rate £17.73 £17.44 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year +1.63% -22.49% +21.36%
75th Percentile £20.51 £21.52 £24.18
90th Percentile £24.98 £24.25 £26.17
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.73 £16.50 £21.00
% change year-on-year +7.42% -21.43% +16.67%

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 50,623 30,078 35,169
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.20% 90.98% 92.96%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,851 19,013 21,316
10th Percentile £325 £276 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £630 £623 £638
90th Percentile £734 £725 £749
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,956 1,609 1,552
10th Percentile £14.50 £13.75 £14.86
25th Percentile £19.91 £17.30 £20.94
Median hourly rate £41.74 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +65.94% -41.51% -2.82%
75th Percentile £67.50 £51.25 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.31 £74.86
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.87 £25.08 £43.00
% change year-on-year +66.97% -41.69% -2.05%

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 1 October 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 1 October 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 1 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 -36 656 £200 +6.67% 414
UK excluding London -34 562 £200 +14.29% 303
London -30 172 £222 +1.26% 141
South East -29 137 £250 +31.58% 64
North of England -58 122 £190 +8.57% 56
Work from Home -38 103 £233 +3.33% 100
East of England +13 96 £200 +16.96% 44
North West -13 85 £200 +14.29% 31
Midlands -34 74 £193 +21.26% 62
South West -36 55 £208 +12.16% 41
Scotland +5 53 £210 +14.29% 27
West Midlands -27 41 £185 +12.12% 34
Yorkshire -54 35 £128 -13.56% 18
East Midlands -10 33 £200 +26.98% 27
Wales -18 14 £168 -10.19% 14
Northern Ireland -6 11 - - 5
North East -47 2 £188 +7.14% 7

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

For the 6 months to 1 October 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.

1 445 (59.18%) Microsoft
1 445 (59.18%) Windows
2 390 (51.86%) Microsoft 365
3 317 (42.15%) Customer Service
4 289 (38.43%) Active Directory
5 236 (31.38%) Problem-Solving
6 180 (23.94%) Windows 10
7 169 (22.47%) ITIL
8 122 (16.22%) Azure
9 116 (15.43%) Microsoft Intune
10 115 (15.29%) ITSM
11 111 (14.76%) ServiceNow
12 106 (14.10%) SharePoint
13 86 (11.44%) Entra ID
14 83 (11.04%) VPN
15 70 (9.31%) Microsoft Office
16 69 (9.18%) Degree
17 65 (8.64%) Service Delivery
18 64 (8.51%) Apple iOS
19 63 (8.38%) Mac OS
19 63 (8.38%) Security Cleared
20 57 (7.58%) OneDrive
21 55 (7.31%) Microsoft Exchange
21 55 (7.31%) TCP/IP
22 54 (7.18%) Asset Management
23 53 (7.05%) User Experience
24 52 (6.91%) SC Cleared
25 51 (6.78%) Service Management
26 50 (6.65%) Continuous Improvement
26 50 (6.65%) DNS

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
1 106 (14.10%) SharePoint
2 55 (7.31%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (1.73%) HCL Notes
4 3 (0.40%) Confluence
5 1 (0.13%) CMS
Applications
1 70 (9.31%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.73%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (0.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.66%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.27%) Acrobat
5 2 (0.27%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 6 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.40%) HFM
3 1 (0.13%) Monis
Cloud Services
1 390 (51.86%) Microsoft 365
2 122 (16.22%) Azure
3 86 (11.44%) Entra ID
4 57 (7.58%) OneDrive
5 18 (2.39%) AWS
6 11 (1.46%) SaaS
7 5 (0.66%) Google Workspace
8 4 (0.53%) AWS Direct Connect
8 4 (0.53%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 4 (0.53%) IaaS
8 4 (0.53%) Mimecast
9 3 (0.40%) Azure DevOps
9 3 (0.40%) Slack
10 2 (0.27%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (0.27%) Power Platform
10 2 (0.27%) PowerApps
11 1 (0.13%) AWS CloudFormation
11 1 (0.13%) Nutanix
11 1 (0.13%) Power Automate
11 1 (0.13%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 83 (11.04%) VPN
2 55 (7.31%) TCP/IP
3 50 (6.65%) DNS
4 44 (5.85%) DHCP
5 39 (5.19%) Wi-Fi
6 37 (4.92%) LAN
6 37 (4.92%) WAN
7 28 (3.72%) Firewall
8 15 (1.99%) Wireless
9 11 (1.46%) Network Security
10 8 (1.06%) VLAN
11 7 (0.93%) VoIP
12 6 (0.80%) Internet
12 6 (0.80%) SAN
13 5 (0.66%) IP Telephony
13 5 (0.66%) PSTN
13 5 (0.66%) Remote Desktop
13 5 (0.66%) SD-WAN
13 5 (0.66%) WLAN
14 4 (0.53%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.27%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Amazon RDS
2 1 (0.13%) BusinessObjects
2 1 (0.13%) Crystal Reports
2 1 (0.13%) Db2
2 1 (0.13%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 38 (5.05%) JIRA
2 3 (0.40%) Git
3 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
General
1 394 (52.39%) Social Skills
2 89 (11.84%) Analytical Skills
3 50 (6.65%) Finance
4 38 (5.05%) Manufacturing
5 30 (3.99%) Organisational Skills
6 17 (2.26%) Public Sector
7 16 (2.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 16 (2.13%) Retail
8 14 (1.86%) Legal
9 12 (1.60%) Banking
10 11 (1.46%) Telecoms
11 9 (1.20%) Marketing
12 8 (1.06%) Law
13 5 (0.66%) Back Office
13 5 (0.66%) Local Government
13 5 (0.66%) Pharmaceutical
14 4 (0.53%) Multimedia
15 3 (0.40%) Documentation Skills
16 2 (0.27%) Front Office
17 1 (0.13%) Police
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (0.66%) CSS
2 3 (0.40%) ODBC
2 3 (0.40%) Oracle Fusion
3 1 (0.13%) Software Packaging
3 1 (0.13%) Terraform
Miscellaneous
1 116 (15.43%) Onboarding
2 36 (4.79%) Driving Licence
3 34 (4.52%) Video Conferencing
4 29 (3.86%) Data Centre
5 15 (1.99%) Self-Motivation
6 14 (1.86%) Analytical Mindset
7 13 (1.73%) Blackberry
8 9 (1.20%) CMDB
8 9 (1.20%) Enterprise Software
8 9 (1.20%) Operational Technology
9 8 (1.06%) Digital Signage
10 7 (0.93%) EPoS
10 7 (0.93%) iPad
11 5 (0.66%) iPhone
11 5 (0.66%) Mobile App
12 4 (0.53%) CCTV
12 4 (0.53%) Virtual Team
13 3 (0.40%) BYOD
13 3 (0.40%) Management Information System
14 2 (0.27%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 445 (59.18%) Windows
2 180 (23.94%) Windows 10
3 64 (8.51%) Apple iOS
4 63 (8.38%) Mac OS
5 38 (5.05%) Windows Server
6 36 (4.79%) Android
7 7 (0.93%) Linux
8 3 (0.40%) Windows 7
9 2 (0.27%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 317 (42.15%) Customer Service
2 236 (31.38%) Problem-Solving
3 169 (22.47%) ITIL
4 115 (15.29%) ITSM
5 65 (8.64%) Service Delivery
6 54 (7.18%) Asset Management
7 53 (7.05%) User Experience
8 51 (6.78%) Service Management
9 50 (6.65%) Continuous Improvement
10 47 (6.25%) Migration
11 29 (3.86%) Root Cause Analysis
12 25 (3.32%) Computer Science
13 24 (3.19%) Inventory Management
13 24 (3.19%) Stakeholder Management
14 23 (3.06%) Customer Experience
14 23 (3.06%) Data Protection
14 23 (3.06%) Incident Management
15 22 (2.93%) Break/Fix
15 22 (2.93%) Time Management
16 21 (2.79%) Mobile Device Management
Programming Languages
1 25 (3.32%) PowerShell
2 15 (1.99%) SQL
3 6 (0.80%) Python
4 3 (0.40%) C#
5 2 (0.27%) Java
5 2 (0.27%) JavaScript
5 2 (0.27%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.13%) R
Qualifications
1 69 (9.18%) Degree
2 63 (8.38%) Security Cleared
3 52 (6.91%) SC Cleared
4 32 (4.26%) A+ Certification
5 29 (3.86%) Microsoft Certification
6 23 (3.06%) Computer Science Degree
7 17 (2.26%) Network+ Certification
8 15 (1.99%) DBS Check
9 14 (1.86%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 10 (1.33%) BPSS Clearance
10 10 (1.33%) ITIL Certification
11 8 (1.06%) DV Cleared
12 6 (0.80%) CCNA
12 6 (0.80%) Cisco Certification
12 6 (0.80%) MCSE
13 5 (0.66%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 4 (0.53%) MCITP
15 1 (0.13%) Azure Certification
15 1 (0.13%) HNC
15 1 (0.13%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (6.52%) SLA
2 7 (0.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (0.66%) COBIT
4 3 (0.40%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
5 2 (0.27%) GDPR
6 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 1 (0.13%) ITGC
6 1 (0.13%) NCSC
6 1 (0.13%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 289 (38.43%) Active Directory
2 16 (2.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (1.60%) Hyper-V
4 1 (0.13%) Docker
4 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 116 (15.43%) Microsoft Intune
2 48 (6.38%) SCCM
3 21 (2.79%) Jamf Pro
4 5 (0.66%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (0.53%) Ansible
5 4 (0.53%) Clonezilla
6 3 (0.40%) WSUS
7 2 (0.27%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.13%) AirWatch
8 1 (0.13%) Dell DRAC
8 1 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.13%) Kubernetes
8 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Clustering
8 1 (0.13%) ServiceCenter
8 1 (0.13%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 445 (59.18%) Microsoft
2 111 (14.76%) ServiceNow
3 40 (5.32%) Apple
4 24 (3.19%) Cisco
5 22 (2.93%) VMware
6 14 (1.86%) Palo Alto
7 13 (1.73%) Lotus
7 13 (1.73%) Meraki
8 11 (1.46%) Dell
9 9 (1.20%) Samsung
10 8 (1.06%) Remedy
11 7 (0.93%) Citrix
11 7 (0.93%) iManage
12 6 (0.80%) Google
12 6 (0.80%) Siemens
13 5 (0.66%) Bomgar
13 5 (0.66%) Fortinet
13 5 (0.66%) HP
14 4 (0.53%) CrowdStrike
14 4 (0.53%) Zscaler