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 29 May 2026.

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

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 181 217 216
Rank change year-on-year +36 -1 +9
Contract jobs requiring an IT Support 747 359 474
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.53% 1.25% 1.11%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.65% 1.35% 1.19%
Number of daily rates quoted 312 171 309
10th Percentile £146 £140 £131
25th Percentile £163 £173 £151
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £200 £215 £193
Median % change year-on-year -7.09% +11.69% -
75th Percentile £244 £288 £238
90th Percentile £399 £419 £325
UK excluding London median daily rate £190 £200 £185
% change year-on-year -5.00% +8.11% +2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 192 65 101
10th Percentile £13.12 £13.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £15.79 £16.02 £12.00
Median hourly rate £18.50 £18.75 £13.96
Median % change year-on-year -1.33% +34.31% -25.55%
75th Percentile £20.69 £23.80 £22.25
90th Percentile £23.75 £35.67 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £18.40 £13.00
% change year-on-year +0.53% +41.56% -28.92%

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 45,155 26,550 39,743
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.31% 92.33% 92.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,543 17,231 25,865
10th Percentile £325 £290 £280
25th Percentile £413 £405 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £505 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.49% -3.81% -2.78%
75th Percentile £619 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,003 1,045 2,776
10th Percentile £15.01 £14.00 £12.81
25th Percentile £20.50 £17.87 £16.30
Median hourly rate £42.50 £27.99 £37.18
Median % change year-on-year +51.84% -24.72% -17.38%
75th Percentile £66.38 £59.90 £61.30
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £73.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.61 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +73.38% -37.13% -5.88%

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 29 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 29 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 29 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 +31 650 £200 -9.09% 280
UK excluding London +27 588 £190 -5.00% 279
East of England +34 140 £200 +11.11% 43
London -27 139 £210 -11.74% 45
South East +13 127 £210 -20.00% 89
North of England -35 109 £173 -13.75% 76
Midlands -15 82 £200 +33.00% 43
Work from Home -13 78 £244 +5.41% 49
North West -3 69 £173 -13.75% 43
Scotland +25 50 £178 +5.97% 12
South West -17 50 £148 -32.95% 21
East Midlands +3 47 £200 +10.34% 28
Yorkshire -47 34 £190 -5.00% 23
West Midlands -47 34 £180 +20.00% 15
Wales -5 19 - - 7
Northern Ireland +2 11 - - 1
North East -25 6 £120 - 12

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

For the 6 months to 29 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.

1 366 (49.00%) Microsoft
2 362 (48.46%) Windows
3 308 (41.23%) Microsoft 365
4 256 (34.27%) Active Directory
5 239 (31.99%) Customer Service
6 146 (19.54%) Windows 10
7 144 (19.28%) Problem-Solving
8 135 (18.07%) ITIL
9 104 (13.92%) Azure
10 96 (12.85%) ServiceNow
11 80 (10.71%) Microsoft Intune
12 77 (10.31%) Wi-Fi
13 64 (8.57%) Entra ID
14 62 (8.30%) JIRA
15 60 (8.03%) ITSM
15 60 (8.03%) VPN
16 59 (7.90%) SLA
17 56 (7.50%) SharePoint
18 52 (6.96%) Time Management
19 50 (6.69%) Security Cleared
20 44 (5.89%) LAN
20 44 (5.89%) Microsoft Office
20 44 (5.89%) SC Cleared
20 44 (5.89%) User Experience
21 43 (5.76%) DNS
22 42 (5.62%) DHCP
23 37 (4.95%) Apple iOS
23 37 (4.95%) Migration
24 36 (4.82%) Degree
24 36 (4.82%) Service Delivery

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 56 (7.50%) SharePoint
2 29 (3.88%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.07%) HCL Notes
4 4 (0.54%) Confluence
Applications
1 44 (5.89%) Microsoft Office
2 20 (2.68%) Spreadsheet
3 17 (2.28%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.40%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 6 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.13%) assyst
Cloud Services
1 308 (41.23%) Microsoft 365
2 104 (13.92%) Azure
3 64 (8.57%) Entra ID
4 28 (3.75%) OneDrive
5 23 (3.08%) Azure DevOps
6 10 (1.34%) Google Workspace
6 10 (1.34%) SaaS
7 8 (1.07%) AWS
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%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 77 (10.31%) Wi-Fi
2 60 (8.03%) VPN
3 44 (5.89%) LAN
4 43 (5.76%) DNS
5 42 (5.62%) DHCP
6 25 (3.35%) TCP/IP
6 25 (3.35%) WAN
7 19 (2.54%) SAN
8 18 (2.41%) Firewall
8 18 (2.41%) VLAN
9 11 (1.47%) WLAN
10 10 (1.34%) Wireless
11 7 (0.94%) Internet
11 7 (0.94%) Remote Desktop
12 5 (0.67%) VoIP
13 4 (0.54%) Network Security
14 3 (0.40%) Skype
14 3 (0.40%) Unified Communications
15 2 (0.27%) PSTN
16 1 (0.13%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.54%) Oracle Database
1 4 (0.54%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 62 (8.30%) JIRA
2 6 (0.80%) Git
3 3 (0.40%) Chocolatey
4 1 (0.13%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 349 (46.72%) Social Skills
2 62 (8.30%) Analytical Skills
3 43 (5.76%) Finance
4 40 (5.35%) Organisational Skills
5 33 (4.42%) Manufacturing
6 16 (2.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 16 (2.14%) Public Sector
7 15 (2.01%) Law
8 13 (1.74%) Banking
9 10 (1.34%) Documentation Skills
9 10 (1.34%) Telecoms
10 8 (1.07%) Legal
11 7 (0.94%) Retail
12 6 (0.80%) Marketing
13 5 (0.67%) Pharmaceutical
14 4 (0.54%) Back Office
14 4 (0.54%) Front Office
15 3 (0.40%) Local Government
16 2 (0.27%) Billing
17 1 (0.13%) Investment Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (1.20%) CSS
2 6 (0.80%) X-Windows
3 4 (0.54%) .NET
3 4 (0.54%) .NET Core
3 4 (0.54%) .NET Framework
3 4 (0.54%) HTML
3 4 (0.54%) React
4 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Graph
5 1 (0.13%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 84 (11.24%) Onboarding
2 23 (3.08%) Data Centre
2 23 (3.08%) Driving Licence
3 20 (2.68%) Analytical Mindset
4 18 (2.41%) Self-Motivation
5 14 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (1.74%) Virtual Team
7 11 (1.47%) Video Conferencing
8 8 (1.07%) Blackberry
9 7 (0.94%) Smartphone
10 5 (0.67%) CCTV
10 5 (0.67%) Life Science
10 5 (0.67%) NHS
11 4 (0.54%) Greenfield Project
11 4 (0.54%) iPhone
11 4 (0.54%) Legacy Systems
12 3 (0.40%) Educational Technology
12 3 (0.40%) Housing Association
12 3 (0.40%) IoT
13 2 (0.27%) iPad
Operating Systems
1 362 (48.46%) Windows
2 146 (19.54%) Windows 10
3 37 (4.95%) Apple iOS
4 30 (4.02%) Windows Server
5 26 (3.48%) Android
6 25 (3.35%) Mac OS
7 9 (1.20%) Linux
8 8 (1.07%) Windows 7
9 6 (0.80%) 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
1 239 (31.99%) Customer Service
2 144 (19.28%) Problem-Solving
3 135 (18.07%) ITIL
4 60 (8.03%) ITSM
5 52 (6.96%) Time Management
6 44 (5.89%) User Experience
7 37 (4.95%) Migration
8 36 (4.82%) Service Delivery
9 28 (3.75%) Asset Management
10 25 (3.35%) Service Management
11 24 (3.21%) DevOps
12 23 (3.08%) Change Management
13 19 (2.54%) Problem Management
14 18 (2.41%) Data Protection
15 17 (2.28%) Break/Fix
15 17 (2.28%) Infrastructure Engineering
16 16 (2.14%) Computer Science
16 16 (2.14%) Continuous Improvement
17 14 (1.87%) Cybersecurity
17 14 (1.87%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 23 (3.08%) C#
1 23 (3.08%) SQL
2 17 (2.28%) PowerShell
3 6 (0.80%) Python
4 4 (0.54%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 50 (6.69%) Security Cleared
2 44 (5.89%) SC Cleared
3 36 (4.82%) Degree
4 32 (4.28%) Microsoft Certification
5 31 (4.15%) A+ Certification
6 26 (3.48%) Network+ Certification
7 19 (2.54%) CCNA
7 19 (2.54%) Cisco Certification
8 16 (2.14%) MCSE
9 14 (1.87%) Computer Science Degree
10 8 (1.07%) DV Cleared
11 4 (0.54%) DBS Check
12 3 (0.40%) ITIL Certification
13 2 (0.27%) BPSS Clearance
14 1 (0.13%) MCSA
14 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 1 (0.13%) PMI Certification
14 1 (0.13%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 59 (7.90%) SLA
2 6 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials
2 6 (0.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (0.67%) PMO
4 3 (0.40%) COBIT
5 2 (0.27%) GDPR
6 1 (0.13%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.13%) GxP
6 1 (0.13%) ITGC
6 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 256 (34.27%) 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 80 (10.71%) Microsoft Intune
2 29 (3.88%) SCCM
3 18 (2.41%) Jamf Pro
4 9 (1.20%) ServiceCenter
5 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 3 (0.40%) Clonezilla
6 2 (0.27%) PaperCut
6 2 (0.27%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.13%) Dell DRAC
7 1 (0.13%) vCenter Server
7 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 366 (49.00%) Microsoft
2 96 (12.85%) ServiceNow
3 30 (4.02%) Dell
4 23 (3.08%) Apple
5 19 (2.54%) HP
6 17 (2.28%) VMware
7 10 (1.34%) Cisco
8 8 (1.07%) Avaya
8 8 (1.07%) Google
8 8 (1.07%) Lotus
8 8 (1.07%) Meraki
8 8 (1.07%) Mitel
9 7 (0.94%) Remedy
10 5 (0.67%) Autodesk
10 5 (0.67%) Citrix
10 5 (0.67%) SOTI
11 4 (0.54%) Barracuda Networks
11 4 (0.54%) Bloomberg
11 4 (0.54%) Oracle
11 4 (0.54%) Palo Alto