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 £460, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 24 May 2026.

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

6 months to
24 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 97 93 57
Rank change year-on-year -4 -36 +18
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 584 359 625
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.36% 2.81% 3.07%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.57% 3.06% 3.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 370 243 383
10th Percentile £303 £303 £273
25th Percentile £400 £375 £335
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £450 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.22% - +2.86%
75th Percentile £537 £550 £525
90th Percentile £600 £613 £634
UK median daily rate £474 £475 £470
% change year-on-year -0.21% +1.06% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 4 13
10th Percentile £53.99 £19.56 £15.60
25th Percentile £56.44 £21.15 £20.74
Median hourly rate £75.25 £22.27 £72.50
Median % change year-on-year +237.97% -69.29% +16.94%
75th Percentile £78.75 £35.94 £73.75
90th Percentile - £60.13 £75.24
UK median hourly rate £73.00 £50.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +46.00% +25.00% -36.74%

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 22,757 11,722 18,835
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.91% 91.79% 92.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,158 7,509 11,498
10th Percentile £300 £213 £213
25th Percentile £402 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £488
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% -2.50%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £594
90th Percentile £684 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £513 £508 £525
% change year-on-year +0.99% -3.33% -3.31%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,587 818 2,316
10th Percentile £14.64 £13.96 £12.50
25th Percentile £19.91 £17.30 £15.75
Median hourly rate £43.69 £26.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +64.87% -33.75% -5.11%
75th Percentile £67.25 £62.50 £61.64
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £28.00 £36.50
% change year-on-year +51.81% -23.30% -18.89%

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 24 May 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 24 May 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 24 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
South East +7 183 £463 -7.50% 74
North of England -38 175 £474 -3.62% 55
North West -7 140 £474 -5.16% 24
Midlands +3 112 £425 - 34
West Midlands +19 104 £425 +54.55% 23
Scotland +11 46 £418 +4.38% 29
East of England -6 46 £453 +13.13% 20
South West -29 45 £533 +10.18% 26
Wales -5 26 £425 +21.43% 13
Yorkshire -66 25 £450 -8.54% 19
North East -19 10 £600 +108.70% 12
East Midlands -38 4 £500 +11.11% 11
Northern Ireland +2 2 £468 -18.70% 5
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 24 May 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.

1 331 (56.68%) Cisco
2 267 (45.72%) Firewall
3 233 (39.90%) Security Cleared
4 174 (29.79%) WAN
5 173 (29.62%) LAN
5 173 (29.62%) SC Cleared
6 171 (29.28%) Cisco Certification
7 136 (23.29%) DNS
8 134 (22.95%) CCNP
9 133 (22.77%) BGP
9 133 (22.77%) VPN
10 130 (22.26%) Palo Alto
11 127 (21.75%) F5
12 120 (20.55%) Network Security
13 115 (19.69%) Load Balancing
14 93 (15.92%) OSPF
15 85 (14.55%) VMware
15 85 (14.55%) Wireless
16 81 (13.87%) CCNA
17 75 (12.84%) Juniper
18 73 (12.50%) VLAN
19 68 (11.64%) DV Cleared
19 68 (11.64%) TCP/IP
20 63 (10.79%) Wi-Fi
21 61 (10.45%) SD-WAN
22 60 (10.27%) VMware Infrastructure
23 59 (10.10%) Aruba
24 58 (9.93%) High Availability
25 57 (9.76%) BIG-IP
26 55 (9.42%) CheckPoint

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 7 (1.20%) Confluence
2 3 (0.51%) Apache
2 3 (0.51%) IIS
3 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.17%) CMS
4 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 13 (2.23%) MS Visio
2 7 (1.20%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 50 (8.56%) Azure
2 42 (7.19%) AWS
3 23 (3.94%) GCP
4 11 (1.88%) GitHub
5 9 (1.54%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 7 (1.20%) Google Kubernetes Engine
7 6 (1.03%) Azure Sentinel
8 5 (0.86%) Entra ID
8 5 (0.86%) Nutanix
9 4 (0.68%) Google Compute Engine
9 4 (0.68%) SaaS
10 3 (0.51%) AWS Direct Connect
10 3 (0.51%) Azure DevOps
10 3 (0.51%) Catchpoint
10 3 (0.51%) GitHub Actions
10 3 (0.51%) Google Ads
10 3 (0.51%) IaaS
10 3 (0.51%) OCI
10 3 (0.51%) Route 53
11 2 (0.34%) Azure ExpressRoute
Communications & Networking
1 267 (45.72%) Firewall
2 174 (29.79%) WAN
3 173 (29.62%) LAN
4 136 (23.29%) DNS
5 133 (22.77%) BGP
5 133 (22.77%) VPN
6 120 (20.55%) Network Security
7 93 (15.92%) OSPF
8 85 (14.55%) Wireless
9 73 (12.50%) VLAN
10 68 (11.64%) TCP/IP
11 63 (10.79%) Wi-Fi
12 61 (10.45%) SD-WAN
13 57 (9.76%) BIG-IP
14 53 (9.08%) Cisco Nexus
15 50 (8.56%) IPsec
16 45 (7.71%) SSL
17 44 (7.53%) DHCP
18 42 (7.19%) Wireshark
19 38 (6.51%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.17%) Oracle Reports
1 1 (0.17%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 27 (4.62%) Fiddler
2 19 (3.25%) JIRA
3 12 (2.05%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.54%) Git
5 7 (1.20%) Sonatype Nexus
6 6 (1.03%) GitLab
7 2 (0.34%) Browser DevTools
General
1 75 (12.84%) Social Skills
2 38 (6.51%) Banking
3 36 (6.16%) Investment Banking
4 32 (5.48%) Documentation Skills
5 28 (4.79%) Manufacturing
6 27 (4.62%) Public Sector
7 23 (3.94%) Analytical Skills
7 23 (3.94%) Telecoms
8 13 (2.23%) Finance
9 11 (1.88%) Legal
10 9 (1.54%) Aerospace
11 6 (1.03%) Military
12 5 (0.86%) Law
12 5 (0.86%) Police
12 5 (0.86%) Retail
13 3 (0.51%) Influencing Skills
14 1 (0.17%) Back Office
14 1 (0.17%) Electronics
14 1 (0.17%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.17%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (5.82%) 802.1X
2 10 (1.71%) LDAP
3 9 (1.54%) SAML
4 2 (0.34%) REST
4 2 (0.34%) RFC 2544
5 1 (0.17%) Django
5 1 (0.17%) Jinja
5 1 (0.17%) NETCONF
5 1 (0.17%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 120 (20.55%) Data Centre
2 22 (3.77%) Management Information System
3 16 (2.74%) PKI
4 12 (2.05%) Security Posture
5 11 (1.88%) Data Protection Act
5 11 (1.88%) Hybrid Cloud
6 10 (1.71%) Operational Technology
7 9 (1.54%) Clustering
7 9 (1.54%) NHS
7 9 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (1.20%) Onboarding
9 5 (0.86%) Cloud Native
9 5 (0.86%) Public Cloud
10 4 (0.68%) Linux Command Line
11 3 (0.51%) SCADA
11 3 (0.51%) Wiki
12 2 (0.34%) Enterprise Cloud
12 2 (0.34%) Enterprise Software
12 2 (0.34%) Life Science
12 2 (0.34%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 55 (9.42%) Windows
2 32 (5.48%) Linux
3 13 (2.23%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.68%) Unix
5 3 (0.51%) CatOS
6 1 (0.17%) Data ONTAP
6 1 (0.17%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.17%) Solaris
6 1 (0.17%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.17%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.17%) Windows 7
6 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2008
6 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2012
6 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 115 (19.69%) Load Balancing
2 58 (9.93%) High Availability
3 53 (9.08%) Network Monitoring
4 51 (8.73%) Migration
5 49 (8.39%) Problem-Solving
6 42 (7.19%) ITIL
7 38 (6.51%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 34 (5.82%) Project Delivery
9 31 (5.31%) Network Design
10 28 (4.79%) Data Loss Prevention
11 27 (4.62%) Malware Detection/Protection
11 27 (4.62%) Network Management
12 26 (4.45%) ITSM
12 26 (4.45%) Validation
13 25 (4.28%) Network Architecture
13 25 (4.28%) Technical Leadership
14 24 (4.11%) Change Management
14 24 (4.11%) Service Management
15 20 (3.42%) Collaborative Working
15 20 (3.42%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 35 (5.99%) Python
2 7 (1.20%) SQL
3 4 (0.68%) Bash
4 1 (0.17%) ActionScript
4 1 (0.17%) Groovy
4 1 (0.17%) PHP
4 1 (0.17%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 233 (39.90%) Security Cleared
2 173 (29.62%) SC Cleared
3 171 (29.28%) Cisco Certification
4 134 (22.95%) CCNP
5 81 (13.87%) CCNA
6 68 (11.64%) DV Cleared
7 26 (4.45%) Degree
8 17 (2.91%) CCIE
9 16 (2.74%) JNCIS
10 15 (2.57%) JNCIA
11 13 (2.23%) Network+ Certification
12 10 (1.71%) JNCIP
13 7 (1.20%) Computer Science Degree
14 5 (0.86%) CCSE
14 5 (0.86%) CompTIA Security+
15 4 (0.68%) Azure Certification
15 4 (0.68%) CCSM
15 4 (0.68%) Server+ Certification
16 3 (0.51%) CCIE Wireless
16 3 (0.51%) CWDP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (1.71%) SLA
2 9 (1.54%) QA
3 7 (1.20%) Disclosure Scotland
4 6 (1.03%) NIST
5 3 (0.51%) JSP 440
5 3 (0.51%) PCI DSS
6 2 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 2 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 2 (0.34%) NCSC
6 2 (0.34%) PMO
7 1 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 1 (0.17%) GDPR
7 1 (0.17%) GRC
7 1 (0.17%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 60 (10.27%) VMware Infrastructure
2 37 (6.34%) VMware NSX
3 26 (4.45%) Firmware
4 21 (3.60%) Active Directory
5 8 (1.37%) VMware ESXi
6 7 (1.20%) vSphere
7 4 (0.68%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.34%) KVM
8 2 (0.34%) vCloud
8 2 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.17%) Citrix Presentation Server
9 1 (0.17%) Docker
9 1 (0.17%) FreeRADIUS
9 1 (0.17%) RHEV
9 1 (0.17%) Snort
9 1 (0.17%) Squid
9 1 (0.17%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.17%) Xen
Systems Management
1 40 (6.85%) Ansible
2 29 (4.97%) FortiGate
2 29 (4.97%) Terraform
3 9 (1.54%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (1.03%) Nagios
5 5 (0.86%) Cisco Prime
5 5 (0.86%) Kubernetes
6 3 (0.51%) WSUS
7 2 (0.34%) Avamar
7 2 (0.34%) CASB
7 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Intune
7 2 (0.34%) SCOM
7 2 (0.34%) vCenter Server
8 1 (0.17%) Cisco CUCM
8 1 (0.17%) Iperf
8 1 (0.17%) Proxmox
8 1 (0.17%) Puppet
8 1 (0.17%) SolarWinds Orion
8 1 (0.17%) Suricata
8 1 (0.17%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 331 (56.68%) Cisco
2 130 (22.26%) Palo Alto
3 127 (21.75%) F5
4 85 (14.55%) VMware
5 75 (12.84%) Juniper
6 59 (10.10%) Aruba
7 55 (9.42%) CheckPoint
8 41 (7.02%) Fortinet
9 35 (5.99%) SolarWinds
10 31 (5.31%) Microsoft
11 29 (4.97%) Blue Coat
11 29 (4.97%) McAfee
12 25 (4.28%) Meraki
13 21 (3.60%) NetApp
14 20 (3.42%) ServiceNow
15 19 (3.25%) Google
16 17 (2.91%) Extreme Networks
17 13 (2.23%) Ekahau
18 12 (2.05%) Splunk
19 11 (1.88%) Arista