Network Engineer Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Network Engineer
UK > UK excluding London

The median Network Engineer daily rate in the UK excluding London is £470, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 4 March 2026.

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

6 months to
4 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 111 70 61
Rank change year-on-year -41 -9 +45
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 463 420 661
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.20% 3.21% 3.16%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.41% 3.48% 3.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 309 250 382
10th Percentile £300 £300 £288
25th Percentile £400 £400 £339
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £461 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.01% +2.39% -
75th Percentile £525 £550 £519
90th Percentile £581 £613 £630
UK median daily rate £475 £475 £460
% change year-on-year - +3.26% -2.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 4 23
10th Percentile £20.40 £18.95 £21.05
25th Percentile £44.86 £19.63 £33.75
Median hourly rate £56.44 £20.00 £65.98
Median % change year-on-year +182.20% -69.69% +6.42%
75th Percentile £72.54 - £73.75
90th Percentile £74.26 - -
UK median hourly rate £52.58 £20.00 £53.75
% change year-on-year +162.90% -62.79% -14.99%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK excluding London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the UK excluding London. 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 excluding London with a recognized job title 19,220 12,067 19,446
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.42% 92.30% 92.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,497 7,537 12,142
10th Percentile £242 £209 £213
25th Percentile £385 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £475 £488
Median % change year-on-year +1.32% -2.56% -2.50%
75th Percentile £580 £588 £594
90th Percentile £675 £674 £681
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,067 660 2,011
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.28 £12.82
25th Percentile £18.50 £21.00 £15.78
Median hourly rate £32.50 £32.50 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year - -7.14% -10.88%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.00 £71.90
UK median hourly rate £33.50 £34.00 £34.00
% change year-on-year -1.47% - -16.05%

Network Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Network Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Network Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Network Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Network Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Engineer in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 4 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Network Engineer in the UK excluding London

Network Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Network Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Network Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Network Engineer in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 4 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Engineer in the UK excluding London

Network Engineer
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Network Engineer within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 4 March 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
South East +16 156 £485 -3.00% 95
North of England -57 150 £481 - 59
North West -25 126 £486 -1.89% 31
Midlands -18 80 £429 -4.72% 56
West Midlands +1 75 £400 -9.35% 27
Scotland +12 44 £415 +0.30% 19
East of England -18 29 £400 +32.23% 36
South West -58 24 £506 +7.14% 37
Yorkshire -67 24 £440 +10.00% 22
Wales -6 20 £500 +42.86% 23
East Midlands -45 3 £500 +11.11% 29
Northern Ireland - 2 £430 - 4
North East -15 1 - - 6
South Coast - 1 £575 -
Network Engineer
UK

Network Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London

For the 6 months to 4 March 2026, Network Engineer 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 across the UK excluding London region featuring Network Engineer in the job title.

1 283 (61.12%) Cisco
2 227 (49.03%) Firewall
3 200 (43.20%) Security Cleared
4 141 (30.45%) SC Cleared
5 136 (29.37%) Cisco Certification
6 134 (28.94%) WAN
7 126 (27.21%) LAN
8 113 (24.41%) CCNP
9 110 (23.76%) Palo Alto
10 106 (22.89%) BGP
11 104 (22.46%) DNS
11 104 (22.46%) VPN
12 90 (19.44%) F5
13 85 (18.36%) Load Balancing
14 84 (18.14%) Juniper
15 83 (17.93%) Network Security
16 72 (15.55%) OSPF
17 68 (14.69%) TCP/IP
18 67 (14.47%) CCNA
19 62 (13.39%) VMware
20 60 (12.96%) DV Cleared
21 56 (12.10%) VLAN
22 55 (11.88%) Cisco ISE
22 55 (11.88%) Wireless
23 50 (10.80%) CheckPoint
24 49 (10.58%) Python
25 47 (10.15%) Aruba
25 47 (10.15%) SSL
25 47 (10.15%) Windows
26 46 (9.94%) SolarWinds

Network Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 8 (1.73%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.30%) Confluence
3 5 (1.08%) Apache
3 5 (1.08%) IIS
4 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 18 (3.89%) MS Visio
2 6 (1.30%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.65%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (0.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.43%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 30 (6.48%) AWS
2 27 (5.83%) Azure
3 11 (2.38%) GCP
4 8 (1.73%) Virtual Private Cloud
5 7 (1.51%) Entra ID
6 5 (1.08%) GitHub
6 5 (1.08%) Nutanix
7 4 (0.86%) Google Kubernetes Engine
7 4 (0.86%) SaaS
8 3 (0.65%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 3 (0.65%) Amazon EC2
8 3 (0.65%) Amazon ELB
8 3 (0.65%) Amazon S3
8 3 (0.65%) Catchpoint
8 3 (0.65%) Google Ads
8 3 (0.65%) IaaS
8 3 (0.65%) Mimecast
8 3 (0.65%) PaaS
9 2 (0.43%) AWS IoT
9 2 (0.43%) Azure ExpressRoute
Communications & Networking
1 227 (49.03%) Firewall
2 134 (28.94%) WAN
3 126 (27.21%) LAN
4 106 (22.89%) BGP
5 104 (22.46%) DNS
5 104 (22.46%) VPN
6 83 (17.93%) Network Security
7 72 (15.55%) OSPF
8 68 (14.69%) TCP/IP
9 56 (12.10%) VLAN
10 55 (11.88%) Cisco ISE
10 55 (11.88%) Wireless
11 47 (10.15%) SSL
12 45 (9.72%) BIG-IP
12 45 (9.72%) Wi-Fi
13 41 (8.86%) IPsec
14 39 (8.42%) SD-WAN
14 39 (8.42%) Wireshark
15 37 (7.99%) Cisco Nexus
15 37 (7.99%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.22%) Oracle Database
1 1 (0.22%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 30 (6.48%) Fiddler
2 11 (2.38%) JIRA
3 9 (1.94%) Jenkins
3 9 (1.94%) Sonatype Nexus
4 5 (1.08%) Git
5 4 (0.86%) GitLab
6 1 (0.22%) ClearCase
General
1 74 (15.98%) Social Skills
2 38 (8.21%) Banking
3 36 (7.78%) Investment Banking
3 36 (7.78%) Public Sector
4 35 (7.56%) Documentation Skills
5 26 (5.62%) Telecoms
6 17 (3.67%) Manufacturing
7 13 (2.81%) Analytical Skills
8 12 (2.59%) Finance
9 11 (2.38%) Legal
10 4 (0.86%) Military
11 3 (0.65%) Electronics
11 3 (0.65%) Law
11 3 (0.65%) Marketing
12 2 (0.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.43%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (0.43%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.22%) Aerospace
13 1 (0.22%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.22%) Police
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (7.13%) 802.1X
2 7 (1.51%) LDAP
3 5 (1.08%) RFC 2544
3 5 (1.08%) SAML
4 1 (0.22%) Django
Miscellaneous
1 113 (24.41%) Data Centre
2 22 (4.75%) Management Information System
3 14 (3.02%) PKI
4 13 (2.81%) NHS
4 13 (2.81%) Operational Technology
5 10 (2.16%) Data Protection Act
5 10 (2.16%) Onboarding
5 10 (2.16%) Security Posture
5 10 (2.16%) Self-Motivation
6 8 (1.73%) Clustering
7 5 (1.08%) Fibre Optics
7 5 (1.08%) Hybrid Cloud
8 4 (0.86%) IoT
9 3 (0.65%) 3D Printing
9 3 (0.65%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (0.65%) Linux Command Line
9 3 (0.65%) Public Cloud
10 2 (0.43%) SCADA
10 2 (0.43%) Virtual Team
10 2 (0.43%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 47 (10.15%) Windows
2 24 (5.18%) Windows Server
3 21 (4.54%) Linux
4 3 (0.65%) CatOS
5 1 (0.22%) Data ONTAP
5 1 (0.22%) Ubuntu
5 1 (0.22%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (18.36%) Load Balancing
2 40 (8.64%) High Availability
2 40 (8.64%) Problem-Solving
3 37 (7.99%) Network Design
4 36 (7.78%) Network Monitoring
5 34 (7.34%) Migration
6 29 (6.26%) ITSM
7 28 (6.05%) Data Loss Prevention
7 28 (6.05%) ITIL
7 28 (6.05%) Malware Detection/Protection
7 28 (6.05%) Service Management
8 27 (5.83%) Collaborative Working
8 27 (5.83%) Project Delivery
9 24 (5.18%) Network Architecture
10 22 (4.75%) Network Management
11 21 (4.54%) Cybersecurity
12 18 (3.89%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 18 (3.89%) Network Segmentation
13 17 (3.67%) Change Management
14 16 (3.46%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 49 (10.58%) Python
2 13 (2.81%) Bash
3 8 (1.73%) Lisp
4 7 (1.51%) Perl
4 7 (1.51%) PowerShell
5 5 (1.08%) SQL
6 1 (0.22%) C
6 1 (0.22%) C++
6 1 (0.22%) Java
6 1 (0.22%) PHP
6 1 (0.22%) Ruby
6 1 (0.22%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 200 (43.20%) Security Cleared
2 141 (30.45%) SC Cleared
3 136 (29.37%) Cisco Certification
4 113 (24.41%) CCNP
5 67 (14.47%) CCNA
6 60 (12.96%) DV Cleared
7 19 (4.10%) Degree
8 18 (3.89%) JNCIS
9 15 (3.24%) JNCIA
10 14 (3.02%) CCIE
11 12 (2.59%) JNCIP
11 12 (2.59%) Network+ Certification
12 6 (1.30%) Computer Science Degree
13 2 (0.43%) CCDP
13 2 (0.43%) CompTIA Security+
13 2 (0.43%) ISTQB
13 2 (0.43%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 2 (0.43%) MCSE
13 2 (0.43%) Microsoft Certification
13 2 (0.43%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (1.08%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 5 (1.08%) NIST
2 4 (0.86%) PCI DSS
2 4 (0.86%) QA
2 4 (0.86%) SLA
3 2 (0.43%) Cyber Essentials
3 2 (0.43%) Disclosure Scotland
3 2 (0.43%) GDPR
3 2 (0.43%) NCSC
3 2 (0.43%) PMO
4 1 (0.22%) Actionable Recommendations
4 1 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.22%) GRC
4 1 (0.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
4 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 1 (0.22%) JSP 440
System Software
1 42 (9.07%) VMware NSX
2 39 (8.42%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (6.26%) Active Directory
4 24 (5.18%) Firmware
5 9 (1.94%) Docker
6 5 (1.08%) Hyper-V
7 4 (0.86%) vSphere
8 2 (0.43%) KVM
8 2 (0.43%) vCloud
8 2 (0.43%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.22%) Citrix Presentation Server
9 1 (0.22%) ProxySG
9 1 (0.22%) RHEV
9 1 (0.22%) Xen
Systems Management
1 44 (9.50%) Ansible
2 31 (6.70%) FortiGate
3 19 (4.10%) Terraform
4 18 (3.89%) vCenter Server
5 6 (1.30%) Nagios
6 5 (1.08%) Single Sign-On
7 4 (0.86%) Cisco Prime
8 3 (0.65%) Kubernetes
8 3 (0.65%) Microsoft Intune
9 2 (0.43%) Dell DRAC
9 2 (0.43%) WSUS
10 1 (0.22%) Amdocs OSS
10 1 (0.22%) Backup Exec
10 1 (0.22%) CASB
10 1 (0.22%) Nessus
10 1 (0.22%) Norton AntiVirus
10 1 (0.22%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.22%) SCOM
10 1 (0.22%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 283 (61.12%) Cisco
2 110 (23.76%) Palo Alto
3 90 (19.44%) F5
4 84 (18.14%) Juniper
5 62 (13.39%) VMware
6 50 (10.80%) CheckPoint
7 47 (10.15%) Aruba
8 46 (9.94%) SolarWinds
9 41 (8.86%) Blue Coat
10 37 (7.99%) McAfee
11 32 (6.91%) Meraki
12 25 (5.40%) Fortinet
13 24 (5.18%) Microsoft
14 21 (4.54%) NetApp
15 17 (3.67%) ServiceNow
16 15 (3.24%) Ekahau
17 10 (2.16%) Arista
17 10 (2.16%) Extreme Networks
17 10 (2.16%) Remedy
18 9 (1.94%) Splunk