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 £474, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 11 February 2026.

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

6 months to
11 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 120 67 60
Rank change year-on-year -53 -7 +51
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 409 437 675
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.06% 3.25% 3.23%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.27% 3.51% 3.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 277 242 387
10th Percentile £300 £285 £295
25th Percentile £400 £400 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £474 £463 £450
Median % change year-on-year +2.49% +2.78% -
75th Percentile £525 £539 £519
90th Percentile £575 £617 £628
UK median daily rate £475 £479 £450
% change year-on-year -0.78% +6.39% -2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 6 32
10th Percentile £20.40 £19.25 £24.55
25th Percentile £44.86 - £42.50
Median hourly rate £56.44 £20.00 £65.98
Median % change year-on-year +182.20% -69.69% +12.21%
75th Percentile £72.54 - £72.36
90th Percentile £74.26 £20.28 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £52.58 £20.00 £61.25
% change year-on-year +162.90% -67.35% -1.21%

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 18,012 12,438 19,502
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.85% 92.50% 93.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,920 7,471 12,259
10th Percentile £219 £210 £213
25th Percentile £375 £363 £368
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £479 £489
Median % change year-on-year -0.84% -2.04% -2.20%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £595
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,906 641 1,904
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.22 £12.86
25th Percentile £18.26 £20.30 £16.00
Median hourly rate £29.60 £31.76 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.80% -9.26% -
75th Percentile £62.50 £64.50 £61.66
90th Percentile £70.00 £74.44 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £30.00 £33.54 £35.00
% change year-on-year -10.55% -4.17% -2.51%

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 11 February 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 11 February 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 11 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
South East -5 139 £495 -1.00% 74
North of England -69 125 £486 +2.24% 37
North West -30 107 £481 -1.79% 26
Midlands -24 70 £438 -2.78% 31
West Midlands -2 66 £400 -9.35% 22
Scotland +14 43 £418 +2.77% 28
East of England -15 29 £363 +31.82% 14
South West -58 21 £500 +5.82% 27
Yorkshire -74 18 £500 +53.85% 9
Wales -5 14 £550 +69.23% 7
East Midlands -38 3 £575 +27.78% 9
Northern Ireland - 3 £475 - 3
North East -14 1 - - 2
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 11 February 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.

1 263 (64.30%) Cisco
2 196 (47.92%) Firewall
3 184 (44.99%) Security Cleared
4 135 (33.01%) SC Cleared
5 120 (29.34%) Cisco Certification
6 116 (28.36%) WAN
7 106 (25.92%) LAN
7 106 (25.92%) Palo Alto
8 101 (24.69%) CCNP
9 90 (22.00%) BGP
9 90 (22.00%) VPN
10 80 (19.56%) DNS
11 77 (18.83%) Network Security
12 72 (17.60%) F5
13 70 (17.11%) Load Balancing
14 69 (16.87%) Juniper
15 61 (14.91%) CCNA
16 60 (14.67%) TCP/IP
17 59 (14.43%) OSPF
18 58 (14.18%) VMware
19 52 (12.71%) Python
20 51 (12.47%) DV Cleared
21 50 (12.22%) Cisco ISE
22 49 (11.98%) CheckPoint
23 47 (11.49%) Ansible
23 47 (11.49%) Wireless
24 46 (11.25%) SolarWinds
25 45 (11.00%) VLAN
25 45 (11.00%) VMware NSX
26 44 (10.76%) SSL

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 (1.96%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.47%) Confluence
3 5 (1.22%) Apache
3 5 (1.22%) IIS
Applications
1 19 (4.65%) MS Visio
2 5 (1.22%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.98%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.73%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.49%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 26 (6.36%) AWS
2 24 (5.87%) Azure
3 6 (1.47%) Entra ID
3 6 (1.47%) GCP
3 6 (1.47%) Virtual Private Cloud
4 5 (1.22%) Nutanix
5 3 (0.73%) Amazon CloudWatch
5 3 (0.73%) Amazon EC2
5 3 (0.73%) Amazon ELB
5 3 (0.73%) Amazon S3
5 3 (0.73%) Catchpoint
5 3 (0.73%) IaaS
5 3 (0.73%) Mimecast
5 3 (0.73%) PaaS
5 3 (0.73%) SaaS
6 2 (0.49%) AWS IoT
6 2 (0.49%) GitHub
6 2 (0.49%) Google Ads
7 1 (0.24%) Azure Sentinel
7 1 (0.24%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 196 (47.92%) Firewall
2 116 (28.36%) WAN
3 106 (25.92%) LAN
4 90 (22.00%) BGP
4 90 (22.00%) VPN
5 80 (19.56%) DNS
6 77 (18.83%) Network Security
7 60 (14.67%) TCP/IP
8 59 (14.43%) OSPF
9 50 (12.22%) Cisco ISE
10 47 (11.49%) Wireless
11 45 (11.00%) VLAN
12 44 (10.76%) SSL
13 39 (9.54%) IPsec
14 38 (9.29%) Wi-Fi
15 37 (9.05%) Wireshark
16 36 (8.80%) BIG-IP
16 36 (8.80%) HTTP
17 35 (8.56%) MPLS
17 35 (8.56%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.24%) Oracle Database
1 1 (0.24%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 29 (7.09%) Fiddler
2 10 (2.44%) JIRA
2 10 (2.44%) Sonatype Nexus
3 5 (1.22%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.98%) GitLab
5 3 (0.73%) Git
6 1 (0.24%) ClearCase
6 1 (0.24%) Robot Framework
General
1 67 (16.38%) Social Skills
2 39 (9.54%) Public Sector
3 34 (8.31%) Banking
4 32 (7.82%) Investment Banking
5 30 (7.33%) Documentation Skills
6 22 (5.38%) Telecoms
7 18 (4.40%) Manufacturing
8 14 (3.42%) Analytical Skills
9 10 (2.44%) Finance
10 9 (2.20%) Legal
11 3 (0.73%) Electronics
11 3 (0.73%) Marketing
11 3 (0.73%) Military
12 2 (0.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.49%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (0.49%) Law
12 2 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.24%) French Language
13 1 (0.24%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.24%) Police
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (4.89%) 802.1X
2 6 (1.47%) LDAP
3 5 (1.22%) SAML
4 4 (0.98%) RFC 2544
5 1 (0.24%) Django
5 1 (0.24%) gRPC
5 1 (0.24%) Jinja
5 1 (0.24%) JSON
5 1 (0.24%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 102 (24.94%) Data Centre
2 21 (5.13%) Management Information System
3 12 (2.93%) NHS
3 12 (2.93%) Onboarding
3 12 (2.93%) Operational Technology
4 10 (2.44%) PKI
4 10 (2.44%) Self-Motivation
5 9 (2.20%) Data Protection Act
5 9 (2.20%) Security Posture
6 4 (0.98%) Driving Licence
6 4 (0.98%) Fibre Optics
6 4 (0.98%) Hybrid Cloud
6 4 (0.98%) IoT
7 3 (0.73%) 3D Printing
7 3 (0.73%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (0.73%) Linux Command Line
7 3 (0.73%) Public Cloud
7 3 (0.73%) Virtual Team
8 2 (0.49%) Life Science
8 2 (0.49%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 39 (9.54%) Windows
2 26 (6.36%) Windows Server
3 19 (4.65%) Linux
4 3 (0.73%) CatOS
5 1 (0.24%) Data ONTAP
5 1 (0.24%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 70 (17.11%) Load Balancing
2 37 (9.05%) Network Design
3 32 (7.82%) Network Monitoring
3 32 (7.82%) Problem-Solving
4 30 (7.33%) Migration
5 29 (7.09%) Project Delivery
6 28 (6.85%) High Availability
7 25 (6.11%) Data Loss Prevention
7 25 (6.11%) Malware Detection/Protection
7 25 (6.11%) Network Architecture
7 25 (6.11%) Network Management
8 24 (5.87%) Collaborative Working
8 24 (5.87%) Cybersecurity
9 23 (5.62%) ITSM
10 20 (4.89%) Service Management
11 18 (4.40%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 17 (4.16%) Network Segmentation
13 15 (3.67%) Change Management
13 15 (3.67%) ITIL
14 14 (3.42%) Agile
Programming Languages
1 52 (12.71%) Python
2 11 (2.69%) Bash
3 8 (1.96%) Lisp
3 8 (1.96%) Perl
4 7 (1.71%) PowerShell
5 4 (0.98%) SQL
6 1 (0.24%) C
6 1 (0.24%) C++
6 1 (0.24%) Java
6 1 (0.24%) PHP
6 1 (0.24%) Ruby
6 1 (0.24%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 184 (44.99%) Security Cleared
2 135 (33.01%) SC Cleared
3 120 (29.34%) Cisco Certification
4 101 (24.69%) CCNP
5 61 (14.91%) CCNA
6 51 (12.47%) DV Cleared
7 17 (4.16%) Degree
8 13 (3.18%) CCIE
9 11 (2.69%) JNCIS
10 8 (1.96%) JNCIA
10 8 (1.96%) Network+ Certification
11 5 (1.22%) JNCIP
12 4 (0.98%) BPSS Clearance
13 3 (0.73%) CCDP
13 3 (0.73%) Computer Science Degree
14 2 (0.49%) CompTIA Security+
14 2 (0.49%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 1 (0.24%) APMG
15 1 (0.24%) CCIE Data Center
15 1 (0.24%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (1.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 4 (0.98%) NIST
2 4 (0.98%) SLA
3 3 (0.73%) PCI DSS
3 3 (0.73%) QA
4 2 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials
4 2 (0.49%) GDPR
4 2 (0.49%) GRC
4 2 (0.49%) PMO
5 1 (0.24%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 1 (0.24%) Disclosure Scotland
5 1 (0.24%) HMG Security Policy Framework
5 1 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 20000
5 1 (0.24%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
5 1 (0.24%) JSP 440
5 1 (0.24%) NCSC
System Software
1 45 (11.00%) VMware NSX
2 34 (8.31%) VMware Infrastructure
3 29 (7.09%) Active Directory
4 21 (5.13%) Firmware
5 9 (2.20%) Docker
6 6 (1.47%) Hyper-V
7 4 (0.98%) vSphere
8 2 (0.49%) KVM
8 2 (0.49%) vCloud
9 1 (0.24%) ProxySG
9 1 (0.24%) RHEV
9 1 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.24%) Xen
Systems Management
1 47 (11.49%) Ansible
2 21 (5.13%) FortiGate
2 21 (5.13%) vCenter Server
3 15 (3.67%) Terraform
4 5 (1.22%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (0.98%) Nagios
6 3 (0.73%) Cisco Prime
6 3 (0.73%) Kubernetes
6 3 (0.73%) Microsoft Intune
7 2 (0.49%) Dell DRAC
8 1 (0.24%) Amdocs OSS
8 1 (0.24%) Backup Exec
8 1 (0.24%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.24%) Norton AntiVirus
8 1 (0.24%) Proxmox
8 1 (0.24%) SCOM
8 1 (0.24%) WhatsUp Gold
8 1 (0.24%) WSUS
Vendors
1 263 (64.30%) Cisco
2 106 (25.92%) Palo Alto
3 72 (17.60%) F5
4 69 (16.87%) Juniper
5 58 (14.18%) VMware
6 49 (11.98%) CheckPoint
7 46 (11.25%) SolarWinds
8 40 (9.78%) Aruba
9 38 (9.29%) Blue Coat
10 36 (8.80%) McAfee
11 34 (8.31%) Meraki
12 28 (6.85%) Fortinet
13 21 (5.13%) Microsoft
14 20 (4.89%) NetApp
15 13 (3.18%) ServiceNow
16 10 (2.44%) Arista
16 10 (2.44%) Ekahau
17 9 (2.20%) Remedy
18 6 (1.47%) Nokia
19 5 (1.22%) Broadcom