C Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

C
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring C skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 29 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 283 270 107
Rank change year-on-year -13 -163 +54
Contract jobs citing C 177 81 419
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.68% 0.59% 1.98%
As % of the Programming Languages category 2.96% 2.07% 8.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 43 30 157
10th Percentile £400 £248 £400
25th Percentile £425 £300 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £400 £538
Median % change year-on-year +18.75% -25.65% +7.60%
75th Percentile £534 £493 £600
90th Percentile £635 £575 £660
UK median daily rate £475 £496 £535
% change year-on-year -4.23% -7.29% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 32 158
10th Percentile £59.69 £54.33 £46.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £59.00 £59.25
Median hourly rate £67.50 £68.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -0.74% +4.62% -
75th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £76.40 £84.25 £85.00
UK median hourly rate £67.50 £68.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -0.74% +4.62% +8.33%

All Programming Languages
UK excluding London

C falls under the Programming Languages category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring coding skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for coding skills 5,988 3,918 5,014
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 22.91% 28.50% 23.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,737 2,594 3,282
10th Percentile £335 £313 £319
25th Percentile £408 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £475 £490
Median % change year-on-year +3.58% -3.06% -2.00%
75th Percentile £575 £550 £582
90th Percentile £650 £625 £650
UK median daily rate £510 £511 £525
% change year-on-year -0.10% -2.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 465 174 453
10th Percentile £35.65 £27.96 £37.51
25th Percentile £56.25 £44.63 £52.50
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.84% -4.62% +4.00%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.38 £70.00
90th Percentile £77.00 £79.61 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £55.00 £62.50
% change year-on-year +18.18% -12.00% +2.97%

C
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing C relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

C job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

C
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing C.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing C

C
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing C in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 29 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for C in the UK excluding London

C
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing C.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing C

C
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing C in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 29 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for C in the UK excluding London

C
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 C within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 29 June 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
East of England +1 59 £613 +53.13% 62
South East -17 50 £500 - 88
South West -17 38 £450 -21.74% 44
Midlands -41 20 £462 +515.33% 25
West Midlands -40 19 £450 - 13
North of England -70 5 £625 +66.67% 34
Northern Ireland - 3 £425 - 3
Scotland -20 2 - - 6
North East -35 2 £625 - 3
North West -44 2 - - 24
East Midlands -15 1 £525 +600.00% 12
Yorkshire -48 1 - - 7
Wales - 1 £460 - 3
C
UK

C
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 5 (2.82%) Tuxedo
2 1 (0.56%) ColdFusion
2 1 (0.56%) Confluence
2 1 (0.56%) Oracle SOA Suite
2 1 (0.56%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 9 (5.08%) Simulink
2 3 (1.69%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.56%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 2 (1.13%) Oracle Retail
1 2 (1.13%) Teamcenter
2 1 (0.56%) BASE24
2 1 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 7 (3.95%) AWS
2 5 (2.82%) GitHub
3 4 (2.26%) GitHub Copilot
4 3 (1.69%) Azure
4 3 (1.69%) Power Platform
5 2 (1.13%) Azure DevOps
5 2 (1.13%) GCP
5 2 (1.13%) OCI
5 2 (1.13%) SaaS
6 1 (0.56%) Amazon CloudWatch
6 1 (0.56%) AWS CloudFormation
6 1 (0.56%) BlazeMeter
6 1 (0.56%) Copilot Studio
6 1 (0.56%) Dynamics 365
6 1 (0.56%) GitHub Actions
6 1 (0.56%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 19 (10.73%) Ethernet
2 17 (9.60%) Software-Defined Radio
2 17 (9.60%) Wireless
3 3 (1.69%) Bluetooth
3 3 (1.69%) Modbus
3 3 (1.69%) RS-232
3 3 (1.69%) RS-422
3 3 (1.69%) RS-485
3 3 (1.69%) SpaceWire
4 2 (1.13%) 3GPP
4 2 (1.13%) 4G
4 2 (1.13%) 5G
4 2 (1.13%) 5G NR
4 2 (1.13%) LTE
4 2 (1.13%) Microwave Backhaul
4 2 (1.13%) MPLS
4 2 (1.13%) Radio Access Network
4 2 (1.13%) VoLTE
4 2 (1.13%) Wi-Fi
4 2 (1.13%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (5.65%) Ingres
2 5 (2.82%) Relational Database
3 4 (2.26%) RDBMS
3 4 (2.26%) SQL Server
4 3 (1.69%) Power BI
4 3 (1.69%) Tableau
5 1 (0.56%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.56%) NonStop SQL
5 1 (0.56%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.56%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 21 (11.86%) Rational DOORS
2 14 (7.91%) Git
3 12 (6.78%) Rational Rhapsody
4 5 (2.82%) JIRA
4 5 (2.82%) Oracle Forms
4 5 (2.82%) Visual Studio
5 4 (2.26%) Team Foundation Server
6 2 (1.13%) GitLab
7 1 (0.56%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.56%) CMake
7 1 (0.56%) GoogleTest
7 1 (0.56%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.56%) JMeter
7 1 (0.56%) LoadRunner
7 1 (0.56%) PetaLinux
7 1 (0.56%) Postman
7 1 (0.56%) PVCS
General
1 30 (16.95%) Social Skills
2 29 (16.38%) Aerospace
3 22 (12.43%) Electronics
4 16 (9.04%) Law
5 10 (5.65%) Analytical Skills
5 10 (5.65%) Documentation Skills
5 10 (5.65%) Manufacturing
6 6 (3.39%) Automotive
7 5 (2.82%) Public Sector
8 4 (2.26%) Avionics
9 2 (1.13%) Retail
10 1 (0.56%) Finance
10 1 (0.56%) Games
10 1 (0.56%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 82 (46.33%) Software Engineer
2 56 (31.64%) Embedded Engineer
3 42 (23.73%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 19 (10.73%) C++ Software Engineer
5 18 (10.17%) Senior
6 17 (9.60%) C Software Engineer
6 17 (9.60%) C/C++ Software Engineer
7 16 (9.04%) Developer
8 10 (5.65%) Lead
9 9 (5.08%) Software Developer
9 9 (5.08%) Test Leader
10 8 (4.52%) DSP Engineer
10 8 (4.52%) DSP Software Engineer
11 7 (3.95%) Algorithm Engineer
11 7 (3.95%) Validation Engineer
12 6 (3.39%) FPGA Engineer
12 6 (3.39%) SC Cleared Software Engineer
12 6 (3.39%) Senior Software Engineer
13 5 (2.82%) Embedded C Engineer
13 5 (2.82%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (7.34%) Yocto
2 7 (3.95%) .NET
3 5 (2.82%) WinForms
4 4 (2.26%) Qt
5 3 (1.69%) ADO
5 3 (1.69%) COM
5 3 (1.69%) LDAP
5 3 (1.69%) ODBC
5 3 (1.69%) REST
6 2 (1.13%) Itk
6 2 (1.13%) QML
6 2 (1.13%) XML
7 1 (0.56%) AngularJS
7 1 (0.56%) Flash
7 1 (0.56%) GStreamer
7 1 (0.56%) Middleware
7 1 (0.56%) PostGIS
7 1 (0.56%) Protocol Buffers
7 1 (0.56%) Razor View Engine
7 1 (0.56%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 30 (16.95%) FPGA
2 28 (15.82%) Embedded Systems
3 16 (9.04%) PCIe
4 12 (6.78%) RISC-V
5 11 (6.21%) VHDL
6 9 (5.08%) Algorithms
6 9 (5.08%) Verilog
7 8 (4.52%) Device Driver
7 8 (4.52%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (3.39%) MicroBlaze
9 3 (1.69%) ARM Cortex
9 3 (1.69%) Cyber Threat
9 3 (1.69%) Data Centre
9 3 (1.69%) Low-Code
10 2 (1.13%) Analytical Mindset
10 2 (1.13%) ASIC
10 2 (1.13%) CAN bus
10 2 (1.13%) Cloud Native
10 2 (1.13%) Legacy Applications
10 2 (1.13%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 46 (25.99%) Linux
2 19 (10.73%) Embedded Linux
3 12 (6.78%) FreeRTOS
4 11 (6.21%) Windows
5 5 (2.82%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 110 (62.15%) Software Engineering
2 33 (18.64%) Problem-Solving
3 32 (18.08%) Validation
4 30 (16.95%) Agile
4 30 (16.95%) Test Automation
5 22 (12.43%) Signal Processing
6 20 (11.30%) Digital Signal Processing
6 20 (11.30%) Workflow
7 19 (10.73%) Embedded Software Development
8 17 (9.60%) Workflow Management
9 16 (9.04%) Software Testing
10 15 (8.47%) CI/CD
10 15 (8.47%) Verification and Validation
11 13 (7.34%) Data Management
11 13 (7.34%) UML
12 11 (6.21%) Data Acquisition
12 11 (6.21%) DevOps
12 11 (6.21%) TDD
13 10 (5.65%) Customer Requirements
13 10 (5.65%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 90 (50.85%) C++
2 35 (19.77%) Ada
3 27 (15.25%) Embedded C
3 27 (15.25%) Python
4 20 (11.30%) SQL
5 19 (10.73%) MATLAB
6 13 (7.34%) PL/SQL
7 11 (6.21%) ProC
8 8 (4.52%) C#
8 8 (4.52%) Embedded C++
8 8 (4.52%) Java
9 6 (3.39%) SystemVerilog
9 6 (3.39%) VB
10 5 (2.82%) VB6
11 4 (2.26%) Bash
12 3 (1.69%) Rust
13 2 (1.13%) Shell Script
14 1 (0.56%) JavaScript
14 1 (0.56%) Perl
14 1 (0.56%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 58 (32.77%) Security Cleared
2 47 (26.55%) SC Cleared
3 9 (5.08%) Degree
3 9 (5.08%) DV Cleared
4 6 (3.39%) BPSS Clearance
5 1 (0.56%) CCNA
5 1 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
5 1 (0.56%) ISTQB
5 1 (0.56%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
5 1 (0.56%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
5 1 (0.56%) Six Sigma Black Belt
5 1 (0.56%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (10.73%) Def Stans
2 12 (6.78%) QA
3 10 (5.65%) MISRA
4 7 (3.95%) DO-178B
5 3 (1.69%) MIL-STD-1553
6 2 (1.13%) IEC 61508
6 2 (1.13%) ISO 26262
7 1 (0.56%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.56%) DICOM
7 1 (0.56%) HL7
7 1 (0.56%) ISO 14001
7 1 (0.56%) ISO 8583
7 1 (0.56%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.56%) MISRA C
System Software
1 18 (10.17%) Firmware
2 6 (3.39%) Embedded Firmware
3 3 (1.69%) Active Directory
3 3 (1.69%) Docker
4 2 (1.13%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.56%) Oracle RAC
5 1 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 4 (2.26%) Kubernetes
1 4 (2.26%) Terraform
2 1 (0.56%) Grafana
2 1 (0.56%) HP ALM
2 1 (0.56%) Nagios
2 1 (0.56%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 17 (9.60%) Oracle
2 9 (5.08%) Xilinx
3 8 (4.52%) IBM
3 8 (4.52%) Intel
4 7 (3.95%) MathWorks
5 5 (2.82%) Microsemi
6 4 (2.26%) Lauterbach
7 3 (1.69%) Actian
7 3 (1.69%) Microsoft
7 3 (1.69%) SAP
8 2 (1.13%) Google
8 2 (1.13%) HP
8 2 (1.13%) QNX
9 1 (0.56%) Cisco
9 1 (0.56%) Citrix
9 1 (0.56%) EMC
9 1 (0.56%) NetScout
9 1 (0.56%) NVIDIA
9 1 (0.56%) Remedy
9 1 (0.56%) VMware