Software Engineering Contract Job Trends in Bristol

Software Engineering
South West > Bristol

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Bristol requiring Software Engineering skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 17 12
Rank change year-on-year +14 -5 +2
Contract jobs citing Software Engineering 237 54 109
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 17.82% 7.95% 9.94%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 22.90% 8.72% 12.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 49 15 13
10th Percentile £426 £337 £455
25th Percentile £500 £355 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £370 £525
Median % change year-on-year +41.89% -29.52% -
75th Percentile £610 £450 £538
90th Percentile £644 £616 £660
South West median daily rate £550 £506 £525
% change year-on-year +8.64% -3.57% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 151 30 84
10th Percentile £61.25 £64.75 £52.50
25th Percentile - £65.00 £65.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £67.50 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -3.70% -3.57% +6.87%
75th Percentile £68.00 £68.00 -
90th Percentile - £70.50 £70.25
South West median hourly rate £65.00 £67.75 £70.00
% change year-on-year -4.06% -3.21% +6.87%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Bristol

Software Engineering 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 in Bristol.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 1,035 619 893
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol 77.82% 91.16% 81.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 517 322 495
10th Percentile £340 £250 £260
25th Percentile £425 £363 £384
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% -10.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £575 £573 £600
90th Percentile £638 £650 £688
South West median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 260 102 215
10th Percentile £19.33 £18.13 £40.00
25th Percentile £47.75 £18.87 £50.63
Median hourly rate £65.00 £33.75 £67.50
Median % change year-on-year +92.59% -50.00% +3.85%
75th Percentile £68.00 £68.00 £72.50
90th Percentile £72.54 £73.38 £77.50
South West median hourly rate £57.50 £25.15 £57.44
% change year-on-year +128.63% -56.22% -11.63%

Software Engineering
Job Vacancy Trend in Bristol

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Software Engineering relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol.

Software Engineering job vacancy trend in Bristol

Software Engineering
Daily Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Daily Rate Histogram in Bristol

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineering in Bristol over the 6 months to 16 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Software Engineering in Bristol

Software Engineering
Hourly Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Hourly Rate Histogram in Bristol

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineering in Bristol over the 6 months to 16 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Engineering in Bristol

Software Engineering
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Bristol 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 4 (1.69%) Confluence
2 1 (0.42%) Apache
Applications
1 4 (1.69%) Spreadsheet
2 3 (1.27%) Simulink
3 1 (0.42%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.42%) Microsoft Project
Cloud Services
1 12 (5.06%) AWS
2 10 (4.22%) Azure
3 6 (2.53%) GCP
4 4 (1.69%) OCI
5 2 (0.84%) Azure DevOps
5 2 (0.84%) dbt
5 2 (0.84%) Snowflake
6 1 (0.42%) AWS CloudFormation
6 1 (0.42%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.95%) Ethernet
2 6 (2.53%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.42%) RS-232
3 1 (0.42%) RS-422
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (2.11%) PostgreSQL
2 2 (0.84%) Data Warehouse
3 1 (0.42%) GIS
3 1 (0.42%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 12 (5.06%) Rational Rhapsody
2 11 (4.64%) GitLab
3 7 (2.95%) Visual Studio
4 6 (2.53%) Eclipse
4 6 (2.53%) Git
5 5 (2.11%) JIRA
6 3 (1.27%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.84%) Jenkins
8 1 (0.42%) Artifactory
8 1 (0.42%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.42%) JUnit
8 1 (0.42%) NUnit
8 1 (0.42%) Selenium
General
1 25 (10.55%) Aerospace
2 16 (6.75%) Social Skills
3 12 (5.06%) Finance
4 11 (4.64%) Law
5 8 (3.38%) Military
6 3 (1.27%) Public Sector
7 2 (0.84%) Analytical Skills
7 2 (0.84%) Avionics
7 2 (0.84%) Documentation Skills
7 2 (0.84%) Legal
7 2 (0.84%) Presentation Skills
7 2 (0.84%) Telecoms
8 1 (0.42%) Aviation
8 1 (0.42%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 200 (84.39%) Software Engineer
2 55 (23.21%) C++ Software Engineer
3 47 (19.83%) Embedded Engineer
3 47 (19.83%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 41 (17.30%) Ada Engineer
4 41 (17.30%) Ada Software Engineer
5 21 (8.86%) Algorithm Engineer
6 17 (7.17%) Applications Engineer
7 15 (6.33%) Java Engineer
7 15 (6.33%) Java Software Engineer
8 14 (5.91%) C# Software Engineer
8 14 (5.91%) Developer
9 12 (5.06%) PHP Software Engineer
10 8 (3.38%) Lead
11 5 (2.11%) Front-End Engineer (Client-Side Engineer)
11 5 (2.11%) Java Developer
11 5 (2.11%) Lead Software Engineer
12 4 (1.69%) Senior
12 4 (1.69%) Software Developer
13 3 (1.27%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (8.44%) Middleware
2 10 (4.22%) Node.js
2 10 (4.22%) React
3 9 (3.80%) REST
4 7 (2.95%) Qt
4 7 (2.95%) Web Services
5 6 (2.53%) .NET
6 5 (2.11%) Jest
6 5 (2.11%) Oracle Fusion
7 4 (1.69%) GraphQL
7 4 (1.69%) Quarkus
8 2 (0.84%) Flask
8 2 (0.84%) Playwright
8 2 (0.84%) pytest
8 2 (0.84%) Yocto
9 1 (0.42%) Apache NiFi
9 1 (0.42%) Bun
9 1 (0.42%) OLE
9 1 (0.42%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 32 (13.50%) Algorithms
2 7 (2.95%) Embedded Systems
3 4 (1.69%) Legacy Systems
4 2 (0.84%) Cloud Native
4 2 (0.84%) Device Driver
5 1 (0.42%) AI Agents
5 1 (0.42%) Distributed Systems
5 1 (0.42%) Legacy Applications
5 1 (0.42%) Onboarding
5 1 (0.42%) Product Ownership
5 1 (0.42%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 40 (16.88%) Linux
2 9 (3.80%) Windows
3 6 (2.53%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 2 (0.84%) Embedded Linux
5 1 (0.42%) FreeRTOS
5 1 (0.42%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 34 (14.35%) CI/CD
2 19 (8.02%) DevOps
2 19 (8.02%) UML
3 18 (7.59%) Agile
4 15 (6.33%) Test Automation
5 14 (5.91%) SysML
5 14 (5.91%) TDD
6 10 (4.22%) SDLC
6 10 (4.22%) Stakeholder Management
6 10 (4.22%) Validation
7 9 (3.80%) Configuration Management
7 9 (3.80%) Full-Stack Development
7 9 (3.80%) Multithreading
8 8 (3.38%) Containerisation
8 8 (3.38%) Wealth Management
9 7 (2.95%) Problem-Solving
9 7 (2.95%) Technical Leadership
9 7 (2.95%) Unit Testing
9 7 (2.95%) Verification and Validation
9 7 (2.95%) Virtual Environments
Programming Languages
1 82 (34.60%) Ada
2 75 (31.65%) C++
3 36 (15.19%) Java
4 28 (11.81%) C#
5 17 (7.17%) MATLAB
5 17 (7.17%) Python
6 16 (6.75%) C
7 12 (5.06%) PHP
8 11 (4.64%) JavaScript
9 10 (4.22%) TypeScript
10 6 (2.53%) SQL
11 5 (2.11%) PL/SQL
12 2 (0.84%) PowerShell
12 2 (0.84%) Rust
13 1 (0.42%) Ada 95
13 1 (0.42%) Bash
13 1 (0.42%) Scala
Qualifications
1 59 (24.89%) Security Cleared
2 53 (22.36%) SC Cleared
3 7 (2.95%) BPSS Clearance
4 2 (0.84%) Degree
5 1 (0.42%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (0.42%) ISTQB
5 1 (0.42%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (9.70%) Def Stans
2 21 (8.86%) IEC 61508
3 7 (2.95%) MISRA
4 6 (2.53%) MISRA C
4 6 (2.53%) QA
5 5 (2.11%) Accessibility
5 5 (2.11%) WCAG
6 4 (1.69%) NCSC
7 2 (0.84%) JSP 440
8 1 (0.42%) DO-178B
8 1 (0.42%) GDPR
8 1 (0.42%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 15 (6.33%) Docker
2 1 (0.42%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 11 (4.64%) Kubernetes
2 5 (2.11%) Terraform
3 3 (1.27%) Ansible
4 1 (0.42%) Progress Chef
4 1 (0.42%) PTC Integrity
4 1 (0.42%) Puppet
Vendors
1 8 (3.38%) Microsoft
2 6 (2.53%) IBM
3 5 (2.11%) MathWorks
3 5 (2.11%) Oracle
4 4 (1.69%) Red Hat
5 1 (0.42%) Databricks
5 1 (0.42%) F5
5 1 (0.42%) Google
5 1 (0.42%) Green Hills
5 1 (0.42%) PTC