Postgraduate Contracts

Postgraduate
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for Postgraduate qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 508 558 693
Rank change year-on-year +50 +135 +133
Contract jobs citing Postgraduate 12 24 25
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.041% 0.055% 0.042%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.13% 0.18% 0.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 16 17
10th Percentile - £189 £175
25th Percentile - £219 £224
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £950 £460 £400
Median % change year-on-year +106.52% +15.00% +4.92%
75th Percentile - £675 £549
90th Percentile - £713 £608
UK excluding London median daily rate £950 £650 £278
% change year-on-year +46.15% +134.23% -27.21%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 6 0
10th Percentile £24.67 £25.23 -
25th Percentile £27.93 £25.40 -
Median hourly rate £34.51 £26.00 -
Median % change year-on-year +32.72% - -
75th Percentile £40.72 £42.25 -
90th Percentile £43.77 £47.50 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.02 £25.27 -
% change year-on-year +78.14% - -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

Postgraduate falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 8,993 13,316 16,299
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 30.72% 30.57% 27.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,686 8,190 10,861
10th Percentile £288 £300 £325
25th Percentile £413 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £535 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.87% -2.73% +4.76%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £707 £743 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £501 £533 £530
% change year-on-year -6.10% +0.57% +6.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 509 1,076 849
10th Percentile £18.13 £13.87 £15.25
25th Percentile £22.00 £17.88 £20.00
Median hourly rate £40.00 £40.00 £54.00
Median % change year-on-year - -25.93% +29.16%
75th Percentile £66.00 £61.60 £68.25
90th Percentile £80.20 £75.24 £80.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £40.94 £49.57
% change year-on-year +3.81% -17.41% +53.14%

Postgraduate
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Postgraduate as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Postgraduate in the UK

Postgraduate
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Postgraduate.

Daily rate trend for Postgraduate in the UK

Postgraduate
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Postgraduate.

Hourly rate trend for Postgraduate in the UK

Postgraduate
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Postgraduate over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Postgraduate in the UK

Postgraduate
Top 5 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Postgraduate within the UK over the 6 months to 1 May 2025. 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
UK excluding London +64 11 £950 +46.15% 46
England +47 7 £950 +83.57% 66
South East +47 6 £950 +46.15% 11
Wales +3 4 - - 1
Scotland +12 1 - - 7

Postgraduate
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

General
1 5 (41.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
1 5 (41.67%) Organisational Skills
2 3 (25.00%) Public Sector
3 1 (8.33%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (8.33%) Finance
3 1 (8.33%) Legal
3 1 (8.33%) Social Science
3 1 (8.33%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 4 (33.33%) Research Scientist
2 3 (25.00%) Senior
3 1 (8.33%) Consultant
3 1 (8.33%) Delivery Director
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (41.67%) EDI
Miscellaneous
1 5 (41.67%) Photography
2 4 (33.33%) Algorithms
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (33.33%) Artificial Intelligence
1 4 (33.33%) Cybersecurity
1 4 (33.33%) Knowledge Transfer
1 4 (33.33%) Machine Learning
1 4 (33.33%) Roadmaps
2 1 (8.33%) Architectural Design
2 1 (8.33%) Collaborative Working
2 1 (8.33%) Economics
2 1 (8.33%) Project Delivery
2 1 (8.33%) Stakeholder Management
2 1 (8.33%) Statistics
2 1 (8.33%) Strategic Thinking
2 1 (8.33%) Supply Chain Management
2 1 (8.33%) Target Operating Model
Programming Languages
1 1 (8.33%) Python
1 1 (8.33%) R
Qualifications
1 12 (100.00%) Degree
2 1 (8.33%) Master's Degree
2 1 (8.33%) SC Cleared
2 1 (8.33%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (8.33%) PMO
1 1 (8.33%) QA