Windows Systems Administrator Contract Job Trends

Windows System Administrator (Windows Sysadmin)
UK

The median Windows System Administrator (Windows Sysadmin) daily rate in the UK is £375, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 30 June 2026.

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

6 months to
30 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 646 527 582
Rank change year-on-year -119 +55 +81
Contract jobs requiring a Windows Systems Administrator 6 5 3
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.012% 0.016% 0.007%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.013% 0.018% 0.007%
Number of daily rates quoted 3 4 1
10th Percentile £363 - -
25th Percentile £368 £400 £509
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £375 £463 £519
Median % change year-on-year -18.92% -10.80% +24.94%
75th Percentile £409 £528 £528
90th Percentile £430 £533 -
UK excluding London median daily rate £438 £530 £519
% change year-on-year -17.49% +2.27% +24.94%

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 47,423 28,164 40,143
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.41% 92.05% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,738 18,025 25,769
10th Percentile £325 £288 £283
25th Percentile £415 £401 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,196 1,261 2,867
10th Percentile £15.61 £13.78 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.23 £17.33 £16.50
Median hourly rate £43.00 £27.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +59.26% -28.00% -12.79%
75th Percentile £67.50 £56.25 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.75 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -

Windows Systems Administrator
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Windows Systems Administrator' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Windows Systems Administrator job vacancy trend in the UK

Windows Systems Administrator
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Windows Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Windows Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK

Windows Systems Administrator
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Windows Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Windows Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK

Windows Systems Administrator
Top 7 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Windows Systems Administrator within the UK over the 6 months to 30 June 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 -115 4 £406 -22.62% 3
Work from Home -45 3 £360 -10.00% 1
UK excluding London -97 2 £438 -17.49% 3
East Midlands -16 1 £438 -18.30% 2
Midlands -60 1 £438 -18.30% 2
London -86 1 £375 -6.25%
South West - 1 - -

Windows Systems Administrator Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 30 June 2026, Windows Systems Administrator 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 Windows Systems Administrator in the job title.

1 6 (100.00%) Windows
2 4 (66.67%) Windows Server
3 3 (50.00%) Microsoft
4 2 (33.33%) Active Directory
4 2 (33.33%) Computer Science
4 2 (33.33%) Degree
4 2 (33.33%) PowerShell
4 2 (33.33%) SC Cleared
4 2 (33.33%) SCCM
4 2 (33.33%) SCOM
4 2 (33.33%) Security Cleared
4 2 (33.33%) Server Building
4 2 (33.33%) Software Packaging
4 2 (33.33%) VMware
5 1 (16.67%) .NET
5 1 (16.67%) BPSS Clearance
5 1 (16.67%) C++
5 1 (16.67%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (16.67%) Configuration Management
5 1 (16.67%) Continuous Improvement
5 1 (16.67%) DHCP
5 1 (16.67%) DNS
5 1 (16.67%) Entra ID
5 1 (16.67%) High Availability
5 1 (16.67%) HTTPS
5 1 (16.67%) Hyper-V
5 1 (16.67%) Java
5 1 (16.67%) LDAP
5 1 (16.67%) Mac OS
5 1 (16.67%) Master's Degree

Windows Systems Administrator 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 1 (16.67%) Microsoft Exchange
1 1 (16.67%) SharePoint
Cloud Services
1 1 (16.67%) Entra ID
1 1 (16.67%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 1 (16.67%) DHCP
1 1 (16.67%) DNS
1 1 (16.67%) HTTPS
1 1 (16.67%) NAS
1 1 (16.67%) Network Security
1 1 (16.67%) SAN
General
1 1 (16.67%) Public Sector
1 1 (16.67%) Social Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (33.33%) Software Packaging
2 1 (16.67%) .NET
2 1 (16.67%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 2 (33.33%) Management Information System
2 1 (16.67%) PACS
Operating Systems
1 6 (100.00%) Windows
2 4 (66.67%) Windows Server
3 1 (16.67%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (33.33%) Computer Science
1 2 (33.33%) Server Building
2 1 (16.67%) Configuration Management
2 1 (16.67%) Continuous Improvement
2 1 (16.67%) High Availability
2 1 (16.67%) Operational Stability
2 1 (16.67%) Process Improvement
2 1 (16.67%) Product Management
2 1 (16.67%) Software Delivery
2 1 (16.67%) Software Testing
2 1 (16.67%) Storage Management
2 1 (16.67%) Validation
2 1 (16.67%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 2 (33.33%) PowerShell
2 1 (16.67%) C++
2 1 (16.67%) Java
2 1 (16.67%) Shell Script
2 1 (16.67%) SQL
Qualifications
1 2 (33.33%) Degree
1 2 (33.33%) SC Cleared
1 2 (33.33%) Security Cleared
2 1 (16.67%) BPSS Clearance
2 1 (16.67%) Computer Science Degree
2 1 (16.67%) Master's Degree
System Software
1 2 (33.33%) Active Directory
2 1 (16.67%) Hyper-V
2 1 (16.67%) Virtual Machines
2 1 (16.67%) VMware Infrastructure
2 1 (16.67%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 2 (33.33%) SCCM
1 2 (33.33%) SCOM
2 1 (16.67%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 3 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 2 (33.33%) VMware
3 1 (16.67%) Oracle
3 1 (16.67%) Veritas