Reference Data Contract Job Trends
Reference Data
UK
The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Reference Data in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Reference Data over the 6 months leading up to 2 November 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 2 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 552 | 493 | 501 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -59 | +8 | +50 |
| Contract jobs citing Reference Data | 142 | 71 | 50 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.26% | 0.21% | 0.14% |
| As % of the Miscellaneous category | 0.73% | 0.58% | 0.45% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 92 | 49 | 33 |
| 10th Percentile | £402 | £445 | £302 |
| 25th Percentile | £436 | £510 | £431 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £550 | £600 | £585 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -8.33% | +2.56% | -0.76% |
| 75th Percentile | £675 | £700 | £750 |
| 90th Percentile | £750 | £780 | £825 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £426 | £550 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | -22.64% | +10.00% | -10.71% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | £56.26 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | - | - | - |
| Median hourly rate | £70.00 | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | - | - | - |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | - |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £70.00 | - | - |
All Generic Skills
UK
Reference Data falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies citing generic IT skills.
| 6 months to 2 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing generic IT skills | 19,550 | 12,253 | 11,233 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 35.74% | 35.80% | 30.73% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 11,667 | 7,531 | 6,660 |
| 10th Percentile | £319 | £283 | £277 |
| 25th Percentile | £421 | £406 | £410 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £513 | £526 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.44% | -2.52% | -4.41% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £638 | £660 |
| 90th Percentile | £739 | £750 | £788 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £494 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.85% | -1.20% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1,510 | 668 | 347 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.74 | £13.50 | £16.85 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.48 | £17.98 | £22.31 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.51 | £27.00 | £41.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +31.52% | -34.15% | -7.34% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.50 | £51.06 | £70.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £72.50 | £75.16 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £33.99 | £25.58 | £43.46 |
| % change year-on-year | +32.90% | -41.15% | -5.89% |
Reference Data Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Reference Data relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Reference Data Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Reference Data.
Reference Data Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Reference Data over the 6 months to 2 November 2026.
Reference Data Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Reference Data.
Reference Data Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing Reference Data over the 6 months to 2 November 2026.
Reference Data Top 14 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Reference Data within the UK over the 6 months to 2 November 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -59 | 133 | £550 | -8.33% | 79 |
| London | -45 | 90 | £600 | -4.00% | 58 |
| Work from Home | -24 | 53 | £525 | -4.55% | 23 |
| UK excluding London | -66 | 46 | £426 | -22.64% | 31 |
| North of England | -58 | 12 | £411 | -21.71% | 7 |
| Midlands | -33 | 11 | £447 | -12.78% | 8 |
| East of England | - | 11 | £625 | - | 4 |
| West Midlands | -34 | 7 | £650 | +36.84% | 5 |
| North West | - | 7 | £426 | - | 5 |
| Yorkshire | -40 | 5 | £405 | -22.86% | 2 |
| Scotland | - | 5 | £411 | - | 2 |
| East Midlands | -12 | 4 | £425 | -22.82% | 3 |
| South West | -28 | 4 | £575 | - | 1 |
| South East | -66 | 4 | £488 | -15.22% | 5 |
Reference Data Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Miscellaneous
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data Structures | 15.5% | 22 |
| 2 | Legacy Systems | 9.9% | 14 |
| 2 | Onboarding | 9.9% | 14 |
| 4 | Product Ownership | 9.2% | 13 |
| 5 | Management Information System | 8.5% | 12 |
| 6 | Cloud Native | 7.7% | 11 |
| 7 | Fixed Income | 7.0% | 10 |
| 8 | Derivative | 6.3% | 9 |
| 9 | Data Protection Act | 5.6% | 8 |
| 9 | Equities | 5.6% | 8 |
| 11 | Pricing Data | 4.2% | 6 |
| 12 | Algorithms | 3.5% | 5 |
| 13 | Foreign Exchange (FX) | 2.8% | 4 |
| 13 | Market Risk | 2.8% | 4 |
| 15 | Distributed Systems | 2.1% | 3 |
| 15 | NHS | 2.1% | 3 |
| 15 | Reinsurance | 2.1% | 3 |
| 15 | Replication | 2.1% | 3 |
| 15 | Taxonomies | 2.1% | 3 |
| 20 | Analytical Mindset | 1.4% | 2 |