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 £463, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 12 October 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 108 112 60
Rank change year-on-year +4 -52 +9
Contract jobs requiring a Network Engineer 644 344 572
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.29% 2.18% 3.29%
As % of the Job Titles category 2.51% 2.43% 3.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 335 248 294
10th Percentile £301 £300 £278
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.63% - +11.76%
75th Percentile £528 £550 £550
90th Percentile £600 £632 £625
UK median daily rate £475 £475 £495
% change year-on-year - -4.04% +10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 9 14
10th Percentile £8.00 £20.40 £18.95
25th Percentile £55.00 £22.03 £20.00
Median hourly rate £68.75 £35.00 £21.39
Median % change year-on-year +96.43% +63.65% -67.58%
75th Percentile £77.69 £67.25 £54.69
90th Percentile £92.53 £84.33 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £68.75 £34.00 £41.50
% change year-on-year +102.21% -18.07% -32.24%

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 25,622 14,143 16,048
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.96% 89.57% 92.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,785 8,692 9,132
10th Percentile £300 £206 £220
25th Percentile £413 £363 £367
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £490
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
75th Percentile £600 £575 £588
90th Percentile £688 £671 £675
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,538 1,337 1,218
10th Percentile £14.22 £13.50 £14.73
25th Percentile £19.00 £16.38 £19.50
Median hourly rate £41.71 £25.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +66.84% -41.18% -4.49%
75th Percentile £67.84 £50.00 £66.25
90th Percentile £78.75 £69.65 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £41.71 £25.15 £41.27
% change year-on-year +65.84% -39.05% -8.30%

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 12 October 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 12 October 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 12 October 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
North of England +29 246 £500 +2.15% 90
North West +28 169 £500 - 45
Midlands -5 107 £475 +18.75% 75
West Midlands -19 85 £475 +23.38% 37
South East -74 85 £463 -7.50% 94
Scotland +19 83 £400 -5.88% 27
Yorkshire -3 64 £463 -5.08% 30
East of England +9 61 £410 +7.19% 46
South West -2 58 £535 -14.06% 56
Wales +17 37 £363 - 23
East Midlands +4 22 £475 -26.92% 38
North East -28 13 £600 -4.00% 15
Northern Ireland +1 2 £425 -10.53% 7
Channel Islands -3 2 £600 +36.36%
Network Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 12 October 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.

1 351 (54.50%) Cisco
2 231 (35.87%) Firewall
3 184 (28.57%) Security Cleared
4 175 (27.17%) WAN
5 169 (26.24%) LAN
6 150 (23.29%) Cisco Certification
7 148 (22.98%) Network Security
8 143 (22.20%) Wireless
9 138 (21.43%) VPN
10 131 (20.34%) BGP
11 114 (17.70%) Palo Alto
12 111 (17.24%) CCNP
13 109 (16.93%) DNS
14 107 (16.61%) SC Cleared
15 94 (14.60%) OSPF
16 92 (14.29%) F5
17 85 (13.20%) Load Balancing
18 82 (12.73%) Problem-Solving
19 75 (11.65%) Wi-Fi
20 74 (11.49%) VLAN
21 73 (11.34%) CCNA
22 71 (11.02%) TCP/IP
23 69 (10.71%) DV Cleared
24 64 (9.94%) Fortinet
24 64 (9.94%) SD-WAN
24 64 (9.94%) VMware
25 61 (9.47%) Python
26 56 (8.70%) Infrastructure Engineering
27 53 (8.23%) Migration
27 53 (8.23%) MPLS

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 (1.24%) SAS
2 4 (0.62%) Confluence
3 1 (0.16%) CMS
3 1 (0.16%) FactoryTalk
3 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.16%) OpenStack
3 1 (0.16%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 12 (1.86%) MS Visio
2 5 (0.78%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 51 (7.92%) Azure
2 42 (6.52%) AWS
3 27 (4.19%) GCP
4 16 (2.48%) GitHub
5 9 (1.40%) IaaS
6 7 (1.09%) AWS Direct Connect
6 7 (1.09%) Microsoft 365
7 6 (0.93%) Entra ID
7 6 (0.93%) Nutanix
7 6 (0.93%) OCI
8 5 (0.78%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 4 (0.62%) Azure Sentinel
10 3 (0.47%) Azure DevOps
10 3 (0.47%) Cloudflare
10 3 (0.47%) GitHub Actions
11 2 (0.31%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 1 (0.16%) AWS Lambda
12 1 (0.16%) Azure Monitor
12 1 (0.16%) IBM Watson
12 1 (0.16%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 231 (35.87%) Firewall
2 175 (27.17%) WAN
3 169 (26.24%) LAN
4 148 (22.98%) Network Security
5 143 (22.20%) Wireless
6 138 (21.43%) VPN
7 131 (20.34%) BGP
8 109 (16.93%) DNS
9 94 (14.60%) OSPF
10 75 (11.65%) Wi-Fi
11 74 (11.49%) VLAN
12 71 (11.02%) TCP/IP
13 64 (9.94%) SD-WAN
14 53 (8.23%) MPLS
15 51 (7.92%) Cisco ASA
16 46 (7.14%) Cisco Nexus
16 46 (7.14%) DHCP
17 44 (6.83%) SSL
18 42 (6.52%) Cisco Firepower
19 39 (6.06%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (0.78%) GIS
2 1 (0.16%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 20 (3.11%) Git
2 17 (2.64%) Jenkins
3 14 (2.17%) JIRA
4 11 (1.71%) Fiddler
5 7 (1.09%) GitLab
6 3 (0.47%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.16%) Artifactory
General
1 84 (13.04%) Social Skills
2 41 (6.37%) Analytical Skills
3 40 (6.21%) Banking
4 39 (6.06%) Telecoms
5 38 (5.90%) Public Sector
6 32 (4.97%) Finance
7 26 (4.04%) Investment Banking
8 15 (2.33%) Documentation Skills
9 14 (2.17%) Legal
10 13 (2.02%) Manufacturing
11 6 (0.93%) Police
12 5 (0.78%) Military
13 4 (0.62%) Aerospace
13 4 (0.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 4 (0.62%) Retail
14 3 (0.47%) Influencing Skills
14 3 (0.47%) Organisational Skills
15 2 (0.31%) Pharmaceutical
16 1 (0.16%) Financial Institution
16 1 (0.16%) Law
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (5.59%) Terraform
2 23 (3.57%) 802.1X
3 10 (1.55%) REST
4 8 (1.24%) NETCONF
5 7 (1.09%) JSON
6 5 (0.78%) SAML
6 5 (0.78%) XML
6 5 (0.78%) YAML
7 3 (0.47%) Java RMI
8 2 (0.31%) LDAP
8 2 (0.31%) ModSecurity
9 1 (0.16%) Regular Expression
9 1 (0.16%) RESTCONF
9 1 (0.16%) XMPP
9 1 (0.16%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 94 (14.60%) Data Centre
2 21 (3.26%) Driving Licence
3 20 (3.11%) Management Information System
3 20 (3.11%) PKI
4 19 (2.95%) Operational Technology
5 18 (2.80%) Hybrid Cloud
6 17 (2.64%) Onboarding
6 17 (2.64%) Self-Motivation
7 12 (1.86%) Cloud Native
8 10 (1.55%) SCADA
9 9 (1.40%) Security Posture
10 8 (1.24%) Data Protection Act
10 8 (1.24%) Public Cloud
11 7 (1.09%) CMDB
11 7 (1.09%) Fibre Optics
11 7 (1.09%) Video Conferencing
12 5 (0.78%) NHS
12 5 (0.78%) Private Cloud
13 4 (0.62%) Cyber Defence
13 4 (0.62%) Handset
Operating Systems
1 42 (6.52%) Windows
2 37 (5.75%) Linux
3 13 (2.02%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (0.62%) Unix
6 1 (0.16%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.16%) Windows 7
6 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2008
6 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2012
6 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (13.20%) Load Balancing
2 82 (12.73%) Problem-Solving
3 56 (8.70%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 53 (8.23%) Migration
4 53 (8.23%) Project Delivery
5 52 (8.07%) ITIL
6 47 (7.30%) Network Design
7 44 (6.83%) Network Monitoring
8 39 (6.06%) High Availability
8 39 (6.06%) Validation
9 37 (5.75%) Change Management
10 36 (5.59%) Continuous Improvement
11 30 (4.66%) CI/CD
11 30 (4.66%) Infrastructure as Code
12 29 (4.50%) Network Segmentation
13 28 (4.35%) Zero Trust
14 27 (4.19%) Network Management
14 27 (4.19%) Technical Leadership
15 26 (4.04%) Stakeholder Management
16 24 (3.73%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 61 (9.47%) Python
2 18 (2.80%) PowerShell
3 15 (2.33%) Bash
4 9 (1.40%) ActionScript
5 6 (0.93%) SQL
6 3 (0.47%) C++
6 3 (0.47%) Perl
7 2 (0.31%) Search Processing Language
8 1 (0.16%) Go
8 1 (0.16%) Groovy
8 1 (0.16%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 184 (28.57%) Security Cleared
2 150 (23.29%) Cisco Certification
3 111 (17.24%) CCNP
4 107 (16.61%) SC Cleared
5 73 (11.34%) CCNA
6 69 (10.71%) DV Cleared
7 23 (3.57%) CCIE
8 20 (3.11%) Degree
9 8 (1.24%) CISSP
10 6 (0.93%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (0.93%) Network+ Certification
11 5 (0.78%) DBS Check
12 4 (0.62%) CCSE
12 4 (0.62%) JNCIS
13 3 (0.47%) AWS Certification
13 3 (0.47%) CCIE Security
13 3 (0.47%) CCSM
13 3 (0.47%) CompTIA Security+
13 3 (0.47%) JNCIA
13 3 (0.47%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (2.17%) SLA
2 13 (2.02%) NIST
2 13 (2.02%) QA
3 8 (1.24%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (0.78%) Disclosure Scotland
4 5 (0.78%) PCI DSS
5 3 (0.47%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.31%) GDPR
6 2 (0.31%) JSP 440
6 2 (0.31%) NIST 800
7 1 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 46 (7.14%) VMware Infrastructure
2 25 (3.88%) Firmware
3 24 (3.73%) Active Directory
4 20 (3.11%) VMware NSX
5 16 (2.48%) vSphere
6 7 (1.09%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.93%) Hyper-V
8 5 (0.78%) FreeRADIUS
9 2 (0.31%) Docker
10 1 (0.16%) Squid
10 1 (0.16%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.16%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 48 (7.45%) Ansible
2 21 (3.26%) FortiGate
3 12 (1.86%) Nagios
4 10 (1.55%) Kubernetes
5 7 (1.09%) Cisco Prime
5 7 (1.09%) Progress Chef
6 5 (0.78%) Cisco CUCM
6 5 (0.78%) Grafana
6 5 (0.78%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.31%) Avamar
7 2 (0.31%) Puppet
7 2 (0.31%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.31%) SolarWinds Orion
8 1 (0.16%) CASB
8 1 (0.16%) Cilium
8 1 (0.16%) Istio
8 1 (0.16%) Packer
8 1 (0.16%) SCOM
8 1 (0.16%) TrustSec
8 1 (0.16%) WSUS
Vendors
1 351 (54.50%) Cisco
2 114 (17.70%) Palo Alto
3 92 (14.29%) F5
4 64 (9.94%) Fortinet
4 64 (9.94%) VMware
5 52 (8.07%) CheckPoint
6 44 (6.83%) Juniper
7 42 (6.52%) Meraki
8 36 (5.59%) Microsoft
9 35 (5.43%) SolarWinds
10 32 (4.97%) Aruba
11 22 (3.42%) Nokia
12 21 (3.26%) Arista
12 21 (3.26%) ServiceNow
13 16 (2.48%) Blue Coat
14 14 (2.17%) McAfee
15 13 (2.02%) Infoblox
15 13 (2.02%) Zscaler
16 12 (1.86%) NetApp
17 10 (1.55%) Google