SC Cleared Contract Job Trends in the West Midlands

Security Check (SC) Clearance
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the West Midlands with a requirement for SC Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 12 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 9 8
Rank change year-on-year +6 -1 +7
Contract jobs citing SC Cleared 482 167 242
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 18.88% 11.35% 12.91%
As % of the Qualifications category 55.28% 36.87% 40.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 366 114 181
10th Percentile £363 £400 £325
25th Percentile £453 £474 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £551 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.13% +22.33% -16.67%
75th Percentile £583 £658 £588
90th Percentile £689 £700 £650
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% -2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 5 13
10th Percentile - £23.63 £19.70
25th Percentile £18.20 £31.32 £62.50
Median hourly rate £21.46 £35.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -38.69% -46.15% +71.72%
75th Percentile £25.15 - £67.50
90th Percentile - £39.18 £69.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £60.00 £56.49
% change year-on-year -58.08% +6.21% -6.63%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
West Midlands

SC Cleared 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 in the West Midlands.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 872 453 601
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 34.16% 30.80% 32.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 613 293 362
10th Percentile £305 £191 £275
25th Percentile £425 £400 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £463
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% +12.37% -7.45%
75th Percentile £576 £600 £575
90th Percentile £675 £700 £650
England median daily rate £521 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -0.86% -3.58% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 17 43
10th Percentile £14.00 £16.97 £17.20
25th Percentile £16.30 £18.50 £23.00
Median hourly rate £19.44 £29.00 £34.50
Median % change year-on-year -32.98% -15.94% +76.92%
75th Percentile £25.15 £35.00 £67.50
90th Percentile £33.50 £52.50 £68.50
England median hourly rate £25.15 £47.50 £45.88
% change year-on-year -47.05% +3.53% +1.96%

SC Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SC Cleared relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

SC Cleared job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

SC Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing SC Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing SC Cleared

SC Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SC Cleared in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 12 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SC Cleared in the West Midlands

SC Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing SC Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing SC Cleared

SC Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SC Cleared in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 12 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for SC Cleared in the West Midlands

SC Cleared
Contract Job Locations in the West Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SC Cleared within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 12 February 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
Shropshire +1 208 £503 +2.34% 53
Birmingham +3 91 £478 -30.70% 22
Warwickshire -1 75 £400 -28.67% 11
Worcestershire +13 64 £650 +85.71% 5
Herefordshire +2 47 £625 +13.64% 3
Coventry - 5 £488 -
Solihull -7 4 £435 +6.75% 6
Staffordshire - 4 £270 - 8
Wolverhampton -1 2 - -
SC Cleared
England

SC Cleared
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West Midlands 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 86 (17.84%) SAS
2 34 (7.05%) Confluence
3 18 (3.73%) WebLogic
4 7 (1.45%) Tuxedo
5 6 (1.24%) Apache
5 6 (1.24%) nginx
6 2 (0.41%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.21%) NetWeaver
7 1 (0.21%) SAP EP
7 1 (0.21%) SharePoint
Applications
1 9 (1.87%) Microsoft Project
2 5 (1.04%) Mozilla Thunderbird
3 4 (0.83%) Microsoft Office
4 3 (0.62%) Microsoft Excel
5 2 (0.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.41%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.21%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.21%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.41%) SAP PP
1 2 (0.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.21%) Oracle Assets
2 1 (0.21%) SAP CRM
2 1 (0.21%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 96 (19.92%) Azure
2 86 (17.84%) AWS
3 29 (6.02%) GitHub
4 27 (5.60%) OpenShift
5 20 (4.15%) GCP
6 18 (3.73%) Amazon EC2
6 18 (3.73%) Amazon S3
7 17 (3.53%) Serverless
8 16 (3.32%) Azure Data Factory
9 13 (2.70%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 13 (2.70%) Microsoft 365
9 13 (2.70%) SaaS
10 11 (2.28%) Azure DevOps
11 10 (2.07%) Power Platform
12 9 (1.87%) Amazon ELB
12 9 (1.87%) AWS KMS
12 9 (1.87%) Azure Key Vault
12 9 (1.87%) Datadog
12 9 (1.87%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (1.87%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 30 (6.22%) Firewall
2 25 (5.19%) VPN
3 23 (4.77%) WAN
4 20 (4.15%) IPsec
5 19 (3.94%) BGP
5 19 (3.94%) MPLS
6 17 (3.53%) DNS
7 13 (2.70%) Network Security
8 9 (1.87%) Intrusion Detection
8 9 (1.87%) SMTP
8 9 (1.87%) Wireless
9 7 (1.45%) FTP
9 7 (1.45%) HTTP
9 7 (1.45%) SSH
10 6 (1.24%) LAN
10 6 (1.24%) SSL
11 5 (1.04%) IMAP
11 5 (1.04%) OpenLDAP
12 4 (0.83%) Cisco IPT
12 4 (0.83%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (7.26%) Pentaho
2 34 (7.05%) SAS Enterprise Guide
3 33 (6.85%) Oracle Database
4 29 (6.02%) PostgreSQL
5 20 (4.15%) Metadata
6 19 (3.94%) Amazon RDS
7 16 (3.32%) Data Warehouse
7 16 (3.32%) Elasticsearch
8 11 (2.28%) Metadata Repository
9 9 (1.87%) Redis
10 8 (1.66%) MongoDB
11 7 (1.45%) Amazon Aurora
12 6 (1.24%) Relational Database
13 5 (1.04%) MySQL
13 5 (1.04%) Power BI
14 4 (0.83%) InfluxDB
14 4 (0.83%) SAS Visual Analytics
15 2 (0.41%) Amazon Redshift
15 2 (0.41%) Data Hub
15 2 (0.41%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 64 (13.28%) Git
2 59 (12.24%) Jenkins
3 56 (11.62%) JIRA
4 36 (7.47%) GitLab
5 23 (4.77%) JUnit
6 20 (4.15%) Selenium
7 13 (2.70%) SonarQube
8 9 (1.87%) Mockito
9 8 (1.66%) Maven
10 7 (1.45%) MSI
10 7 (1.45%) Vagrant
11 6 (1.24%) Cucumber
12 3 (0.62%) Atlassian Bamboo
12 3 (0.62%) NeoLoad
13 2 (0.41%) DbUnit
13 2 (0.41%) jMock
13 2 (0.41%) Postman
14 1 (0.21%) ERwin
14 1 (0.21%) TestDirector
14 1 (0.21%) Zephyr
General
1 119 (24.69%) Social Skills
2 53 (11.00%) Public Sector
3 44 (9.13%) Analytical Skills
4 23 (4.77%) Finance
5 12 (2.49%) Documentation Skills
6 9 (1.87%) Aeronautics
6 9 (1.87%) Telecoms
7 6 (1.24%) Legal
8 5 (1.04%) Presentation Skills
9 2 (0.41%) Electronics
9 2 (0.41%) Influencing Skills
9 2 (0.41%) Manufacturing
10 1 (0.21%) Advertising
10 1 (0.21%) Aerospace
10 1 (0.21%) Automotive
10 1 (0.21%) Banking
10 1 (0.21%) Marketing
10 1 (0.21%) Military
10 1 (0.21%) Organisational Skills
10 1 (0.21%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 53 (11.00%) Data Engineer
2 45 (9.34%) Senior
3 42 (8.71%) Architect
4 32 (6.64%) Developer
5 29 (6.02%) Analyst
6 25 (5.19%) Platform Engineer
7 20 (4.15%) Support Engineer
8 18 (3.73%) Test Specialist
9 17 (3.53%) AWS Engineer
9 17 (3.53%) Data Architect
10 16 (3.32%) Tester
11 15 (3.11%) Release Manager
12 14 (2.90%) Business Analyst
13 13 (2.70%) Consultant
13 13 (2.70%) Engagement Manager
13 13 (2.70%) Senior Data Engineer
13 13 (2.70%) Senior Developer
14 12 (2.49%) Cloud Engineer
14 12 (2.49%) Python Developer
14 12 (2.49%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (6.85%) REST
2 18 (3.73%) Spring
2 18 (3.73%) Spring Boot
3 16 (3.32%) pytest
4 13 (2.70%) Keycloak
5 12 (2.49%) FastAPI
5 12 (2.49%) Flask
5 12 (2.49%) Kafka
6 11 (2.28%) LDAP
6 11 (2.28%) YAML
7 10 (2.07%) Middleware
8 9 (1.87%) GraphQL
8 9 (1.87%) WebSockets
9 8 (1.66%) gRPC
9 8 (1.66%) JPA
9 8 (1.66%) React
10 7 (1.45%) JSON
11 6 (1.24%) Node.js
11 6 (1.24%) OAuth
11 6 (1.24%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 22 (4.56%) Cloud Native
2 21 (4.36%) Onboarding
3 16 (3.32%) PKI
4 15 (3.11%) Data Centre
5 11 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
5 11 (2.28%) Hybrid Cloud
6 10 (2.07%) Driving Licence
7 8 (1.66%) Legacy Systems
7 8 (1.66%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.66%) Replication
7 8 (1.66%) SCADA
8 7 (1.45%) FPGA
9 6 (1.24%) Private Cloud
9 6 (1.24%) Security Operations Centre
9 6 (1.24%) VHDL
10 5 (1.04%) Algorithms
10 5 (1.04%) Data Protection Act
10 5 (1.04%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.83%) Management Information System
12 3 (0.62%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 54 (11.20%) Linux
2 51 (10.58%) Windows
3 24 (4.98%) Unix
4 8 (1.66%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 8 (1.66%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.45%) Amazon Linux
5 7 (1.45%) Ubuntu
5 7 (1.45%) VMS
6 3 (0.62%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.41%) CentOS
8 1 (0.21%) AIX
8 1 (0.21%) Android
8 1 (0.21%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.21%) Solaris
8 1 (0.21%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (26.97%) CI/CD
2 124 (25.73%) DevOps
3 115 (23.86%) Agile
4 77 (15.98%) Problem-Solving
5 73 (15.15%) Stakeholder Management
6 71 (14.73%) Analytics
7 60 (12.45%) Continuous Improvement
8 58 (12.03%) Containerisation
8 58 (12.03%) Scrum
9 54 (11.20%) Test Automation
10 49 (10.17%) ETL
11 47 (9.75%) Migration
12 45 (9.34%) Data Pipeline
13 44 (9.13%) Data Integration
14 43 (8.92%) Business Intelligence
15 42 (8.71%) Data Modelling
16 37 (7.68%) Change Management
17 33 (6.85%) Configuration Management
18 32 (6.64%) Platform Engineering
19 30 (6.22%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 101 (20.95%) SQL
2 84 (17.43%) Python
3 36 (7.47%) Java
4 29 (6.02%) PowerShell
5 24 (4.98%) Go
6 20 (4.15%) Shell Script
7 17 (3.53%) Bash
8 7 (1.45%) Groovy
8 7 (1.45%) JavaScript
9 6 (1.24%) MATLAB
9 6 (1.24%) PL/SQL
10 5 (1.04%) Perl
10 5 (1.04%) TypeScript
11 3 (0.62%) Kusto Query Language
12 2 (0.41%) C++
13 1 (0.21%) ABAP
13 1 (0.21%) C
13 1 (0.21%) C#
13 1 (0.21%) COBOL
13 1 (0.21%) R
Qualifications
1 482 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 31 (6.43%) DV Cleared
3 24 (4.98%) Azure Certification
4 16 (3.32%) BPSS Clearance
5 12 (2.49%) AWS Certification
6 10 (2.07%) Degree
7 7 (1.45%) CISSP
7 7 (1.45%) IIBA
8 6 (1.24%) Cisco Certification
8 6 (1.24%) Microsoft Certification
9 5 (1.04%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 5 (1.04%) CCNP
10 4 (0.83%) CCIE
10 4 (0.83%) CEH
10 4 (0.83%) CISM
11 2 (0.41%) CCNA
11 2 (0.41%) DBS Check
11 2 (0.41%) GCIH
11 2 (0.41%) ISTQB
11 2 (0.41%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (4.56%) Data Quality
2 17 (3.53%) NCSC
2 17 (3.53%) QA
3 13 (2.70%) NIST
4 11 (2.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (1.66%) Accessibility
6 6 (1.24%) GDPR
7 4 (0.83%) WCAG
8 3 (0.62%) FATCA
9 2 (0.41%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.41%) PMO
10 1 (0.21%) IEC 61131
10 1 (0.21%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.21%) SLA
System Software
1 95 (19.71%) Docker
2 13 (2.70%) Active Directory
3 9 (1.87%) Postfix
4 7 (1.45%) DFS Replication
5 5 (1.04%) Dovecot
5 5 (1.04%) Squid
6 3 (0.62%) VMware Infrastructure
6 3 (0.62%) VMware NSX
7 2 (0.41%) Snort
7 2 (0.41%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 112 (23.24%) Kubernetes
2 40 (8.30%) Grafana
3 33 (6.85%) Terraform
4 32 (6.64%) Prometheus
5 15 (3.11%) Ansible
6 10 (2.07%) Kibana
7 8 (1.66%) Progress Chef
8 5 (1.04%) Nessus
8 5 (1.04%) Proxmox
9 4 (0.83%) logstash
10 3 (0.62%) FortiGate
11 2 (0.41%) CSIRT
11 2 (0.41%) Docker Swarm
11 2 (0.41%) QRadar
12 1 (0.21%) Fluentd
12 1 (0.21%) Host Intrusion Detection System
12 1 (0.21%) HP ALM
12 1 (0.21%) NetBackup
12 1 (0.21%) Puppet
12 1 (0.21%) Rsyslog
Vendors
1 85 (17.63%) Oracle
2 48 (9.96%) Microsoft
3 42 (8.71%) Talend
4 34 (7.05%) ServiceNow
5 31 (6.43%) Cisco
6 30 (6.22%) Denodo
6 30 (6.22%) Splunk
7 26 (5.39%) Dynatrace
8 23 (4.77%) Juniper
9 16 (3.32%) AppDynamics
10 14 (2.90%) Informatica
11 13 (2.70%) CyberArk
11 13 (2.70%) SAP
12 10 (2.07%) F5
13 9 (1.87%) CheckPoint
14 7 (1.45%) Jaspersoft
15 6 (1.24%) Fujitsu
16 5 (1.04%) Atlassian
16 5 (1.04%) Remedy
16 5 (1.04%) Xilinx