Degree Contract Job Trends in Cheshire

Academic Degree
North West > Cheshire

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Cheshire with a requirement for Degree qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 29 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 13 12 10
Rank change year-on-year -1 -2 +4
Contract jobs citing Degree 76 56 58
As % of all contract jobs in Cheshire 10.87% 11.57% 10.92%
As % of the Qualifications category 30.89% 41.18% 48.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 57 43 42
10th Percentile £324 £277 £158
25th Percentile £359 £330 £259
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £443 £475 £519
Median % change year-on-year -6.74% -8.43% +17.23%
75th Percentile £519 £563 £619
90th Percentile £620 £598 £689
North West median daily rate £415 £475 £510
% change year-on-year -12.63% -6.86% +8.80%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 3 3
10th Percentile - - £16.53
25th Percentile - £31.25 £20.33
Median hourly rate - £32.50 £26.66
Median % change year-on-year - +21.91% -49.46%
75th Percentile - £33.75 -
90th Percentile - - -
North West median hourly rate £57.81 £28.75 £26.52
% change year-on-year +101.06% +8.41% -34.59%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Cheshire

Degree 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 Cheshire.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 246 136 120
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Cheshire 35.19% 28.10% 22.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 153 99 82
10th Percentile £331 £230 £158
25th Percentile £394 £325 £390
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £422 £450
Median % change year-on-year +10.19% -6.27% -13.08%
75th Percentile £588 £520 £569
90th Percentile £650 £580 £680
North West median daily rate £481 £499 £500
% change year-on-year -3.51% -0.30% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 6 5
10th Percentile £29.99 £28.20 -
25th Percentile £35.59 £31.25 -
Median hourly rate £82.50 £32.50 £14.00
Median % change year-on-year +153.85% +132.14% -65.00%
75th Percentile £83.75 £72.38 £26.66
90th Percentile £111.15 £85.63 -
North West median hourly rate £44.90 £29.64 £16.06
% change year-on-year +51.51% +84.53% -60.43%

Degree
Job Vacancy Trend in Cheshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Degree relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Cheshire.

Degree job vacancy trend in Cheshire

Degree
Daily Rate Trend in Cheshire

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Cheshire citing Degree.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Cheshire citing Degree

Degree
Daily Rate Histogram in Cheshire

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Degree in Cheshire over the 6 months to 29 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Degree in Cheshire

Degree
Hourly Rate Trend in Cheshire

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Cheshire citing Degree.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Cheshire citing Degree

Degree
Contract Job Locations in Cheshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Degree within the Cheshire region over the 6 months to 29 May 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
Knutsford +8 49 £427 -7.66% 3
Chester -3 15 £613 +88.46% 3
Warrington +1 8 £325 +73.33% 10
Macclesfield +2 1 £600 +3.45% 3
Northwich - 1 - -
Degree
North West

Degree
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cheshire 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 23 (30.26%) Confluence
2 13 (17.11%) SharePoint
3 2 (2.63%) Camunda
4 1 (1.32%) JBoss
4 1 (1.32%) Mule
4 1 (1.32%) Mule ESB
4 1 (1.32%) WebLogic
Applications
1 26 (34.21%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (6.58%) MS Visio
3 4 (5.26%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (3.95%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (1.32%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 9 (11.84%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (5.26%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (1.32%) SAP PM
3 1 (1.32%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 16 (21.05%) AWS
2 12 (15.79%) Azure
2 12 (15.79%) Microsoft 365
3 6 (7.89%) GCP
4 5 (6.58%) Entra ID
4 5 (6.58%) Power Platform
5 3 (3.95%) Apigee
5 3 (3.95%) Azure DevOps
5 3 (3.95%) Google Kubernetes Engine
5 3 (3.95%) Kong
5 3 (3.95%) OpenShift
5 3 (3.95%) SaaS
5 3 (3.95%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 1 (1.32%) AWS CloudFormation
6 1 (1.32%) AWS Lambda
6 1 (1.32%) Azure Logic Apps
6 1 (1.32%) Azure Monitor
6 1 (1.32%) Azure Sentinel
6 1 (1.32%) IaaS
6 1 (1.32%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 13 (17.11%) VPN
2 9 (11.84%) Firewall
2 9 (11.84%) Skype
3 7 (9.21%) Wireless
4 6 (7.89%) DNS
4 6 (7.89%) Network Security
5 3 (3.95%) Cisco ISE
5 3 (3.95%) FTP
5 3 (3.95%) Internet
6 2 (2.63%) SSH
7 1 (1.32%) Cisco IOS
7 1 (1.32%) DHCP
7 1 (1.32%) DMZ
7 1 (1.32%) DWDM
7 1 (1.32%) IPsec
7 1 (1.32%) MPLS
7 1 (1.32%) OSPF
7 1 (1.32%) SSL
7 1 (1.32%) WAN
7 1 (1.32%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (6.58%) Power BI
2 3 (3.95%) Relational Database
2 3 (3.95%) SQL Server
3 2 (2.63%) Apache Cassandra
3 2 (2.63%) MongoDB
3 2 (2.63%) NoSQL
3 2 (2.63%) PostgreSQL
3 2 (2.63%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 31 (40.79%) JIRA
2 5 (6.58%) Postman
3 3 (3.95%) Git
4 2 (2.63%) Cucumber
4 2 (2.63%) GitLab
4 2 (2.63%) JUnit
5 1 (1.32%) Bitbucket
5 1 (1.32%) Eclipse
5 1 (1.32%) IntelliJ
5 1 (1.32%) MLflow
5 1 (1.32%) Selenium
5 1 (1.32%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 46 (60.53%) Finance
2 38 (50.00%) Social Skills
3 29 (38.16%) Banking
4 14 (18.42%) Analytical Skills
5 9 (11.84%) Organisational Skills
6 7 (9.21%) Documentation Skills
6 7 (9.21%) Public Sector
7 4 (5.26%) Corporate Banking
7 4 (5.26%) Retail
8 2 (2.63%) Retail Banking
9 1 (1.32%) Financial Institution
9 1 (1.32%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (1.32%) Investment Banking
9 1 (1.32%) Legal
9 1 (1.32%) Manufacturing
9 1 (1.32%) Military
9 1 (1.32%) Pharmaceutical
9 1 (1.32%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (1.32%) Publishing
9 1 (1.32%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 19 (25.00%) Analyst
2 16 (21.05%) Business Analyst
3 9 (11.84%) 1st Line Support
4 6 (7.89%) Consultant
4 6 (7.89%) Security Engineer
5 5 (6.58%) Architect
5 5 (6.58%) Banking Analyst
5 5 (6.58%) Banking Business Analyst
5 5 (6.58%) Project Manager
5 5 (6.58%) Security Consultant
6 4 (5.26%) Payments Analyst
6 4 (5.26%) Payments Business Analyst
6 4 (5.26%) Solutions Architect
7 3 (3.95%) Incident Analyst
7 3 (3.95%) Incident and Problem Analyst
7 3 (3.95%) Linux Engineer
7 3 (3.95%) Problem Analyst
7 3 (3.95%) Problem Management Analyst
7 3 (3.95%) Technical Analyst
7 3 (3.95%) Technical Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (11.84%) JSON
2 8 (10.53%) REST
2 8 (10.53%) XML
3 7 (9.21%) SOAP
3 7 (9.21%) Swagger
4 3 (3.95%) 802.1X
4 3 (3.95%) JWT
4 3 (3.95%) Middleware
4 3 (3.95%) OAuth
4 3 (3.95%) OpenAPI
5 2 (2.63%) .NET
5 2 (2.63%) AngularJS
5 2 (2.63%) React
6 1 (1.32%) ARM Templates
6 1 (1.32%) Jest
6 1 (1.32%) LangChain
6 1 (1.32%) Microsoft Graph
6 1 (1.32%) Playwright
6 1 (1.32%) PyTorch
6 1 (1.32%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 13 (17.11%) Management Information System
2 6 (7.89%) Cloud Native
3 5 (6.58%) Security Posture
4 4 (5.26%) Digital Wallet
4 4 (5.26%) Onboarding
4 4 (5.26%) PKI
4 4 (5.26%) Product Ownership
5 2 (2.63%) Cloud Security Posture
5 2 (2.63%) Data Structures
5 2 (2.63%) Distributed Systems
5 2 (2.63%) Legacy Systems
5 2 (2.63%) Linux Command Line
5 2 (2.63%) PMI
5 2 (2.63%) Tandem
6 1 (1.32%) AI Agents
6 1 (1.32%) Cyber Threat
6 1 (1.32%) Distributed Computing
6 1 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
6 1 (1.32%) Operational Technology
6 1 (1.32%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 22 (28.95%) Windows
2 14 (18.42%) Linux
3 9 (11.84%) Windows 10
4 6 (7.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 6 (7.89%) Unix
5 3 (3.95%) AIX
6 1 (1.32%) Android
6 1 (1.32%) Apple iOS
6 1 (1.32%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 39 (51.32%) Agile
2 21 (27.63%) Stakeholder Management
3 20 (26.32%) DevOps
4 19 (25.00%) Change Management
5 18 (23.68%) Computer Science
5 18 (23.68%) ITIL
5 18 (23.68%) ITSM
5 18 (23.68%) Problem-Solving
6 15 (19.74%) AI
7 13 (17.11%) CI/CD
7 13 (17.11%) Project Management
8 12 (15.79%) Generative AI
9 11 (14.47%) Roadmaps
10 10 (13.16%) Customer Service
10 10 (13.16%) Scrum
11 9 (11.84%) Continuous Improvement
11 9 (11.84%) SIEM
11 9 (11.84%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 9 (11.84%) User Acceptance Testing
11 9 (11.84%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 12 (15.79%) Python
1 12 (15.79%) SQL
2 10 (13.16%) PowerShell
3 8 (10.53%) Java
4 6 (7.89%) Bash
5 2 (2.63%) JavaScript
5 2 (2.63%) Shell Script
5 2 (2.63%) TypeScript
6 1 (1.32%) C#
6 1 (1.32%) Kusto Query Language
6 1 (1.32%) Perl
6 1 (1.32%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 15 (19.74%) Computer Science Degree
2 10 (13.16%) CISSP
2 10 (13.16%) Master's Degree
3 9 (11.84%) Security Cleared
4 8 (10.53%) MBA
5 6 (7.89%) Azure Certification
5 6 (7.89%) BPSS Clearance
5 6 (7.89%) ITIL Certification
5 6 (7.89%) PMI Certification
5 6 (7.89%) PMP
6 5 (6.58%) AWS Certification
7 4 (5.26%) CCNP
7 4 (5.26%) Cisco Certification
7 4 (5.26%) SC Cleared
8 3 (3.95%) CCNA
8 3 (3.95%) CEH
8 3 (3.95%) CompTIA Security+
9 2 (2.63%) CISM
9 2 (2.63%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 2 (2.63%) SAFe Agilist
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (11.84%) NIST
2 6 (7.89%) GRC
2 6 (7.89%) PCI DSS
2 6 (7.89%) PSD2
3 5 (6.58%) GDPR
3 5 (6.58%) SLA
4 3 (3.95%) ISO 8583
4 3 (3.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (3.95%) QA
5 2 (2.63%) Basel III
5 2 (2.63%) California Consumer Privacy Act
5 2 (2.63%) HIPAA
5 2 (2.63%) ISO 20022
5 2 (2.63%) P3O
5 2 (2.63%) PMO
6 1 (1.32%) NEBOSH
6 1 (1.32%) SEPA
System Software
1 8 (10.53%) Docker
2 3 (3.95%) NFS
2 3 (3.95%) Veritas Volume Manager
3 2 (2.63%) Active Directory
3 2 (2.63%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 8 (10.53%) Kubernetes
2 6 (7.89%) Ansible
2 6 (7.89%) Progress Chef
3 5 (6.58%) Terraform
4 3 (3.95%) Cisco Prime
4 3 (3.95%) PowerBroker
4 3 (3.95%) Tivoli
4 3 (3.95%) Tivoli Storage Manager
5 2 (2.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 1 (1.32%) CA Single Sign-On
6 1 (1.32%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (1.32%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 20 (26.32%) Microsoft
2 18 (23.68%) Cisco
3 11 (14.47%) ServiceNow
4 10 (13.16%) Remedy
5 9 (11.84%) Citrix
6 7 (9.21%) Splunk
7 6 (7.89%) ForeScout
7 6 (7.89%) Red Hat
8 5 (6.58%) CyberArk
8 5 (6.58%) Oracle
9 4 (5.26%) Google
10 3 (3.95%) Broadcom
10 3 (3.95%) Fortinet
10 3 (3.95%) IBM
10 3 (3.95%) MuleSoft
10 3 (3.95%) Veritas
11 2 (2.63%) Databricks
11 2 (2.63%) SAP
11 2 (2.63%) Thales
11 2 (2.63%) Zscaler