Systems or Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
UK
The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring SDLC skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited SDLC over the 6 months leading up to 1 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 1 Jul 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 95 | 86 | 80 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -9 | -6 | +1 |
| Contract jobs citing SDLC | 824 | 1,049 | 1,636 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK | 2.67% | 2.43% | 2.93% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 2.94% | 2.85% | 3.27% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 540 | 712 | 1,077 |
| 10th Percentile | £330 | £379 | £413 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £445 | £495 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £550 | £600 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -4.55% | -8.33% | +4.35% |
| 75th Percentile | £649 | £678 | £713 |
| 90th Percentile | £813 | £825 | £825 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £466 | £500 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | -6.80% | -4.76% | +0.96% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 12 | 29 | 42 |
| 10th Percentile | £48.75 | £35.40 | £41.23 |
| 25th Percentile | £49.69 | £48.00 | £47.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £51.25 | £50.00 | £55.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.50% | -9.09% | +0.20% |
| 75th Percentile | £60.31 | £62.50 | £63.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £83.98 | £73.75 | £71.05 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £50.00 | £48.00 | £52.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +4.17% | -8.57% | -4.55% |
All Process and Methodology Skills
UK
SDLC falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.
| Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills | 27,997 | 36,800 | 49,961 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 90.87% | 85.25% | 89.54% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 17,653 | 23,447 | 34,408 |
| 10th Percentile | £300 | £300 | £325 |
| 25th Percentile | £405 | £413 | £438 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £501 | £525 | £550 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -4.57% | -4.55% | +1.85% |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £638 | £650 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £750 | £750 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £475 | £500 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | -5.00% | - | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1,376 | 2,552 | 1,712 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.20 | £12.74 | £11.87 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.44 | £16.06 | £16.25 |
| Median hourly rate | £25.15 | £37.50 | £36.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -32.93% | +4.17% | +38.46% |
| 75th Percentile | £53.78 | £61.30 | £64.72 |
| 90th Percentile | £70.00 | £72.50 | £75.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £24.66 | £38.12 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | -35.31% | +8.91% | +66.67% |
SDLC
Job Vacancy Trend
Job postings citing SDLC as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
SDLC
Contractor Daily Rate Trend
3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing SDLC.
SDLC
Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 1 July 2025.
SDLC
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend
3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing SDLC.
SDLC
Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 1 July 2025.
SDLC
Top 16 Contract Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SDLC within the UK over the 6 months to 1 July 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -26 | 624 | £525 | -8.70% | 4,083 |
| London | -18 | 383 | £580 | -3.33% | 2,139 |
| UK excluding London | +22 | 378 | £466 | -6.80% | 2,424 |
| Work from Home | 0 | 297 | £525 | -4.55% | 1,813 |
| Scotland | +31 | 132 | £475 | +5.56% | 297 |
| North of England | +13 | 104 | £466 | +3.56% | 495 |
| North West | +6 | 75 | £454 | +0.83% | 305 |
| Midlands | +29 | 58 | £410 | -26.13% | 317 |
| South East | -3 | 39 | £475 | -17.39% | 591 |
| West Midlands | +15 | 32 | £483 | -28.44% | 189 |
| Yorkshire | +7 | 29 | £520 | +9.47% | 154 |
| East Midlands | +11 | 25 | £375 | -15.73% | 124 |
| South West | +2 | 22 | £500 | -16.67% | 309 |
| Wales | +9 | 14 | £466 | -7.26% | 66 |
| East of England | +16 | 12 | £538 | +34.38% | 284 |
| Northern Ireland | -7 | 2 | £325 | -16.13% | 82 |
SDLC
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:
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