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 10 May 2026.

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

6 months to
10 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 171 232 214
Rank change year-on-year +61 -18 +2
Contract jobs requiring an IT Support 748 339 482
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.57% 1.15% 1.12%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.70% 1.25% 1.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 332 167 309
10th Percentile £147 £140 £132
25th Percentile £163 £166 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £213 £198
Median % change year-on-year -6.12% +7.59% +5.33%
75th Percentile £240 £269 £244
90th Percentile £371 £415 £325
UK excluding London median daily rate £188 £200 £190
% change year-on-year -6.25% +5.26% +8.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 175 58 107
10th Percentile £13.12 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £15.79 £17.44 £12.00
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.63 £15.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.70% +24.20% -18.92%
75th Percentile £20.60 £24.09 £22.24
90th Percentile £23.75 £35.92 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £18.31 £13.00
% change year-on-year +1.07% +40.81% -28.10%

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 44,077 27,186 39,942
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.24% 92.51% 92.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,083 17,732 26,002
10th Percentile £319 £300 £280
25th Percentile £413 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -1.46% -2.38% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.65% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,853 1,054 2,673
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.00 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.38 £18.50 £16.25
Median hourly rate £44.50 £28.68 £36.65
Median % change year-on-year +55.19% -21.76% -18.56%
75th Percentile £67.25 £62.50 £61.30
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.78 £27.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +66.47% -31.25% -5.73%

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 10 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 10 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 10 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 +44 651 £200 -8.28% 297
UK excluding London +33 585 £188 -6.25% 298
East of England +44 145 £203 +12.50% 50
London 0 142 £200 -16.09% 43
North of England -14 126 £175 -7.89% 66
South East 0 112 £210 -21.86% 80
North West +3 80 £175 -6.67% 26
Midlands -28 74 £188 +25.00% 45
Work from Home -28 66 £213 -10.53% 56
Scotland +34 51 £250 +43.88% 13
South West -19 49 £148 -31.40% 45
East Midlands -10 40 £200 +14.00% 21
Yorkshire -48 35 £190 - 30
West Midlands -46 33 £178 +18.33% 23
Wales -6 19 £160 -15.79% 9
North East -11 11 £125 - 11
Northern Ireland +1 9 - - 2

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

For the 6 months to 10 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.

1 364 (48.66%) Microsoft
2 356 (47.59%) Windows
3 305 (40.78%) Microsoft 365
4 255 (34.09%) Active Directory
5 240 (32.09%) Customer Service
6 140 (18.72%) Windows 10
7 131 (17.51%) Problem-Solving
8 128 (17.11%) ITIL
9 87 (11.63%) Azure
10 83 (11.10%) ServiceNow
11 77 (10.29%) Wi-Fi
12 68 (9.09%) Microsoft Intune
13 65 (8.69%) SLA
14 64 (8.56%) Entra ID
15 58 (7.75%) Time Management
15 58 (7.75%) VPN
16 55 (7.35%) Security Cleared
17 54 (7.22%) JIRA
18 52 (6.95%) ITSM
19 49 (6.55%) SC Cleared
20 47 (6.28%) SharePoint
21 44 (5.88%) Microsoft Office
22 42 (5.61%) LAN
23 40 (5.35%) DNS
24 39 (5.21%) Asset Management
24 39 (5.21%) DHCP
25 36 (4.81%) Migration
25 36 (4.81%) Service Delivery
25 36 (4.81%) User Experience
26 34 (4.55%) Windows Server

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 47 (6.28%) SharePoint
2 33 (4.41%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (0.53%) Confluence
4 3 (0.40%) HCL Notes
Applications
1 44 (5.88%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (3.74%) Spreadsheet
3 18 (2.41%) 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
1 305 (40.78%) Microsoft 365
2 87 (11.63%) Azure
3 64 (8.56%) Entra ID
4 23 (3.07%) Azure DevOps
5 21 (2.81%) OneDrive
6 16 (2.14%) 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 77 (10.29%) Wi-Fi
2 58 (7.75%) VPN
3 42 (5.61%) LAN
4 40 (5.35%) DNS
5 39 (5.21%) DHCP
6 23 (3.07%) Firewall
6 23 (3.07%) WAN
7 20 (2.67%) TCP/IP
8 19 (2.54%) SAN
9 15 (2.01%) VLAN
9 15 (2.01%) Wireless
10 7 (0.94%) Internet
10 7 (0.94%) Network Security
10 7 (0.94%) Remote Desktop
10 7 (0.94%) WLAN
11 6 (0.80%) Skype
11 6 (0.80%) VoIP
12 3 (0.40%) Cisco IOS
12 3 (0.40%) DMZ
12 3 (0.40%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.53%) Oracle Database
1 4 (0.53%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 54 (7.22%) JIRA
2 6 (0.80%) Git
3 3 (0.40%) Chocolatey
4 1 (0.13%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 356 (47.59%) Social Skills
2 54 (7.22%) Analytical Skills
3 43 (5.75%) Finance
3 43 (5.75%) Organisational Skills
4 34 (4.55%) Manufacturing
5 20 (2.67%) Public Sector
6 19 (2.54%) Banking
7 16 (2.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 16 (2.14%) Law
8 13 (1.74%) Telecoms
9 11 (1.47%) Documentation Skills
10 8 (1.07%) Marketing
11 7 (0.94%) Legal
11 7 (0.94%) Pharmaceutical
12 6 (0.80%) Front Office
13 3 (0.40%) Electronics
13 3 (0.40%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.40%) Local Government
14 2 (0.27%) Japanese Language
14 2 (0.27%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (0.94%) CSS
2 6 (0.80%) X-Windows
3 4 (0.53%) .NET
3 4 (0.53%) .NET Core
3 4 (0.53%) .NET Framework
3 4 (0.53%) HTML
3 4 (0.53%) React
4 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
4 2 (0.27%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 82 (10.96%) Onboarding
2 29 (3.88%) Driving Licence
3 19 (2.54%) Self-Motivation
4 18 (2.41%) Analytical Mindset
4 18 (2.41%) Data Centre
5 15 (2.01%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (1.47%) Virtual Team
7 9 (1.20%) Video Conferencing
8 7 (0.94%) Smartphone
9 5 (0.67%) iPhone
9 5 (0.67%) Legacy Systems
9 5 (0.67%) Life Science
9 5 (0.67%) NHS
10 4 (0.53%) Greenfield Project
11 3 (0.40%) Blackberry
11 3 (0.40%) CCTV
11 3 (0.40%) Educational Technology
11 3 (0.40%) Mobile App
12 2 (0.27%) iPad
12 2 (0.27%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 356 (47.59%) Windows
2 140 (18.72%) Windows 10
3 34 (4.55%) Windows Server
4 32 (4.28%) Android
4 32 (4.28%) Apple iOS
5 24 (3.21%) Mac OS
6 12 (1.60%) Linux
7 8 (1.07%) Windows 7
8 7 (0.94%) Mac OS X
9 4 (0.53%) Windows 8
9 4 (0.53%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (0.53%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 240 (32.09%) Customer Service
2 131 (17.51%) Problem-Solving
3 128 (17.11%) ITIL
4 58 (7.75%) Time Management
5 52 (6.95%) ITSM
6 39 (5.21%) Asset Management
7 36 (4.81%) Migration
7 36 (4.81%) Service Delivery
7 36 (4.81%) User Experience
8 24 (3.21%) DevOps
9 23 (3.07%) Change Management
9 23 (3.07%) Service Management
10 21 (2.81%) Break/Fix
11 19 (2.54%) Problem Management
11 19 (2.54%) Process Improvement
12 17 (2.27%) Continuous Improvement
13 16 (2.14%) Computer Science
14 15 (2.01%) Cybersecurity
14 15 (2.01%) Incident Management
14 15 (2.01%) Kalman Filter
Programming Languages
1 23 (3.07%) C#
2 22 (2.94%) SQL
3 18 (2.41%) PowerShell
4 6 (0.80%) Python
5 4 (0.53%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 55 (7.35%) Security Cleared
2 49 (6.55%) SC Cleared
3 33 (4.41%) A+ Certification
4 32 (4.28%) Microsoft Certification
5 31 (4.14%) Degree
6 25 (3.34%) Network+ Certification
7 19 (2.54%) CCNA
7 19 (2.54%) Cisco Certification
8 16 (2.14%) MCSE
9 11 (1.47%) Computer Science Degree
9 11 (1.47%) DV Cleared
10 3 (0.40%) DBS Check
10 3 (0.40%) ITIL Certification
11 1 (0.13%) HND
11 1 (0.13%) MCSA
11 1 (0.13%) PMI Certification
11 1 (0.13%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 65 (8.69%) SLA
2 6 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
2 6 (0.80%) 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
1 255 (34.09%) Active Directory
2 13 (1.74%) VMware Infrastructure
3 11 (1.47%) Hyper-V
4 3 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.27%) vSphere
6 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 68 (9.09%) Microsoft Intune
2 33 (4.41%) SCCM
3 11 (1.47%) Jamf Pro
4 9 (1.20%) 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
1 364 (48.66%) Microsoft
2 83 (11.10%) ServiceNow
3 33 (4.41%) Dell
4 26 (3.48%) Apple
5 22 (2.94%) HP
6 17 (2.27%) VMware
7 15 (2.01%) Cisco
8 11 (1.47%) Google
8 11 (1.47%) Remedy
9 8 (1.07%) Avaya
9 8 (1.07%) Citrix
9 8 (1.07%) Meraki
9 8 (1.07%) Mitel
10 7 (0.94%) SOTI
11 6 (0.80%) Bloomberg
12 5 (0.67%) Autodesk
12 5 (0.67%) Oracle
13 4 (0.53%) Barracuda Networks
13 4 (0.53%) Palo Alto
13 4 (0.53%) SAP