Security Cleared Contract Job Trends in Reading

Security Clearance
Berkshire > Reading

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in Reading with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 29 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 5 1
Rank change year-on-year +3 -4 +4
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 203 154 329
As % of all contract jobs in Reading 26.30% 18.47% 30.75%
As % of the Qualifications category 71.23% 58.56% 71.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 157 78 217
10th Percentile £255 £405 £205
25th Percentile £306 £525 £213
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £625 £575
Median % change year-on-year -28.00% +8.70% -
75th Percentile £538 £663 £619
90th Percentile £625 £700 £688
Berkshire median daily rate £445 £550 £525
% change year-on-year -19.09% +4.76% -10.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 4 23
10th Percentile £64.03 £61.63 £51.58
25th Percentile £71.50 £61.71 £56.58
Median hourly rate £90.00 £68.20 £61.60
Median % change year-on-year +31.97% +10.71% -5.23%
75th Percentile £97.50 £75.45 £74.70
90th Percentile £121.77 £76.49 £87.53
Berkshire median hourly rate £73.50 £62.47 £62.32
% change year-on-year +17.66% +0.24% +3.87%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Reading

Security Cleared falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in Reading.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 285 263 461
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading 36.92% 31.53% 43.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 198 124 292
10th Percentile £255 £262 £205
25th Percentile £343 £430 £278
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £476 £600 £534
Median % change year-on-year -20.71% +12.36% -2.91%
75th Percentile £550 £663 £619
90th Percentile £635 £688 £688
Berkshire median daily rate £446 £525 £513
% change year-on-year -15.05% +2.44% -6.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 4 23
10th Percentile £65.00 £61.63 £51.58
25th Percentile £78.00 £61.71 £56.58
Median hourly rate £90.00 £68.20 £61.60
Median % change year-on-year +31.97% +10.71% -5.23%
75th Percentile £97.50 £75.45 £74.70
90th Percentile £117.04 £76.49 £87.53
Berkshire median hourly rate £72.00 £61.63 £61.60
% change year-on-year +16.83% +0.04% -5.23%

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in Reading

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Security Cleared relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading.

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in Reading

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Security Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in Reading

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in Reading over the 6 months to 29 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Cleared in Reading

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Security Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in Reading

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Security Cleared in Reading over the 6 months to 29 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Security Cleared in Reading

Security Cleared
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Reading 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 (2.46%) Microsoft Exchange
2 3 (1.48%) Confluence
3 2 (0.99%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.49%) CMS
4 1 (0.49%) Drupal
4 1 (0.49%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.49%) WordPress
Applications
1 4 (1.97%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.99%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.49%) CATIA
3 1 (0.49%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.49%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.49%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 2 (0.99%) SAP HCM
1 2 (0.99%) SAP PS
1 2 (0.99%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.49%) Primavera
2 1 (0.49%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 42 (20.69%) Azure
2 36 (17.73%) AWS
3 18 (8.87%) Entra ID
4 15 (7.39%) OneDrive
5 14 (6.90%) GCP
6 9 (4.43%) Microsoft 365
7 6 (2.96%) Azure DevOps
8 5 (2.46%) AWS CloudFormation
9 4 (1.97%) Azure Sentinel
9 4 (1.97%) IaaS
9 4 (1.97%) OpenShift
9 4 (1.97%) Power Automate
9 4 (1.97%) Power Platform
10 3 (1.48%) Azure AKS
10 3 (1.48%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 3 (1.48%) Azure Monitor
10 3 (1.48%) GitHub
10 3 (1.48%) GitHub Actions
10 3 (1.48%) PaaS
11 2 (0.99%) AWS Control Tower
Communications & Networking
1 11 (5.42%) Firewall
2 10 (4.93%) Unified Communications
3 9 (4.43%) 4G
3 9 (4.43%) Wi-Fi
4 6 (2.96%) DNS
5 5 (2.46%) DHCP
5 5 (2.46%) LAN
5 5 (2.46%) WebEx
5 5 (2.46%) Wireless
6 4 (1.97%) Cisco Nexus
6 4 (1.97%) Network Security
6 4 (1.97%) WLAN
7 3 (1.48%) TCP/IP
8 2 (0.99%) Cisco ISE
8 2 (0.99%) DWDM
9 1 (0.49%) BGP
9 1 (0.49%) BIG-IP
9 1 (0.49%) EIGRP
9 1 (0.49%) H.323
9 1 (0.49%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (2.46%) NoSQL
2 2 (0.99%) Power BI
3 1 (0.49%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 7 (3.45%) JIRA
2 5 (2.46%) Jenkins
3 3 (1.48%) Android Studio
3 3 (1.48%) Bitbucket
3 3 (1.48%) Subversion
4 2 (0.99%) Burp Suite
4 2 (0.99%) Metasploit
4 2 (0.99%) Visual Studio
5 1 (0.49%) Git
5 1 (0.49%) GitLab
5 1 (0.49%) Rational DOORS
General
1 58 (28.57%) Social Skills
2 49 (24.14%) Public Sector
3 17 (8.37%) Analytical Skills
4 9 (4.43%) Military
5 7 (3.45%) Finance
6 6 (2.96%) Legal
7 3 (1.48%) Aerospace
8 2 (0.99%) Telecoms
9 1 (0.49%) Advertising
9 1 (0.49%) Billing
9 1 (0.49%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.49%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 45 (22.17%) Consultant
2 33 (16.26%) Network Consultant
3 17 (8.37%) Architect
4 15 (7.39%) Senior
5 14 (6.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 12 (5.91%) Network Engineer
7 11 (5.42%) Cloud Engineer
7 11 (5.42%) Developer
8 10 (4.93%) Tester
9 9 (4.43%) Infrastructure Support
9 9 (4.43%) Infrastructure Support Engineer
9 9 (4.43%) Support Engineer
10 8 (3.94%) Analyst
10 8 (3.94%) Project Manager
11 7 (3.45%) Android Developer
11 7 (3.45%) Platform Engineer
11 7 (3.45%) Technical Architect
12 6 (2.96%) Technology Consultant
12 6 (2.96%) Windows Infrastructure Engineer
12 6 (2.96%) Windows Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (1.97%) Loki
2 3 (1.48%) ARM Templates
3 2 (0.99%) AngularJS
3 2 (0.99%) Elastic Stack
3 2 (0.99%) jQuery
3 2 (0.99%) Node.js
3 2 (0.99%) OAuth
3 2 (0.99%) OAuth2
3 2 (0.99%) OpenID
3 2 (0.99%) React
3 2 (0.99%) SAML
3 2 (0.99%) Web Services
4 1 (0.49%) .NET
4 1 (0.49%) GraphQL
4 1 (0.49%) REST
4 1 (0.49%) RESTful
4 1 (0.49%) SailPoint
4 1 (0.49%) Spring
4 1 (0.49%) Spring Boot
4 1 (0.49%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 10 (4.93%) Cloud Native
1 10 (4.93%) PKI
2 9 (4.43%) Data Centre
3 6 (2.96%) Onboarding
3 6 (2.96%) PMI
4 5 (2.46%) Driving Licence
4 5 (2.46%) Handset
5 4 (1.97%) Management Information System
5 4 (1.97%) Security Operations Centre
5 4 (1.97%) Self-Motivation
5 4 (1.97%) Virtual Team
6 3 (1.48%) Mobile App
7 2 (0.99%) Cyber Security Posture
8 1 (0.49%) Cyber Threat
8 1 (0.49%) Data Protection Act
8 1 (0.49%) Fibre Optics
8 1 (0.49%) Greenfield Project
8 1 (0.49%) Operational Technology
8 1 (0.49%) Private Cloud
8 1 (0.49%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 41 (20.20%) Windows
2 27 (13.30%) Linux
3 14 (6.90%) Windows 10
4 9 (4.43%) Android
5 4 (1.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (1.97%) Windows Server
6 2 (0.99%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.49%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 47 (23.15%) Roadmaps
2 45 (22.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
3 38 (18.72%) Migration
4 36 (17.73%) CI/CD
5 31 (15.27%) Collaborative Working
6 23 (11.33%) Problem-Solving
7 22 (10.84%) ITSM
8 21 (10.34%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 20 (9.85%) ITIL
9 20 (9.85%) Service Management
10 19 (9.36%) Agile
11 17 (8.37%) Cybersecurity
12 16 (7.88%) Continuous Improvement
13 15 (7.39%) Change Management
13 15 (7.39%) DevOps
14 14 (6.90%) DevSecOps
14 14 (6.90%) Infrastructure as Code
15 13 (6.40%) Validation
16 12 (5.91%) Project Management
16 12 (5.91%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 26 (12.81%) Python
2 22 (10.84%) PowerShell
3 9 (4.43%) Bash
4 5 (2.46%) Bicep
4 5 (2.46%) Java
4 5 (2.46%) SQL
5 4 (1.97%) C#
5 4 (1.97%) JavaScript
6 3 (1.48%) Kusto Query Language
7 2 (0.99%) Ada
7 2 (0.99%) Assembly Language
7 2 (0.99%) C
7 2 (0.99%) MATLAB
8 1 (0.49%) PHP
Qualifications
1 155 (76.35%) SC Cleared
2 30 (14.78%) DV Cleared
3 16 (7.88%) AWS Certification
4 14 (6.90%) Degree
5 9 (4.43%) Azure Certification
6 8 (3.94%) CISSP
7 7 (3.45%) PMP
8 6 (2.96%) MAPM
8 6 (2.96%) PMI Certification
9 5 (2.46%) APMP
9 5 (2.46%) GIAC
9 5 (2.46%) TOGAF Certification
10 4 (1.97%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 4 (1.97%) CCNP
10 4 (1.97%) Cisco Certification
11 3 (1.48%) CEH
11 3 (1.48%) CFCE
11 3 (1.48%) GCFA
11 3 (1.48%) GCIA
11 3 (1.48%) GCIH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (4.43%) NCSC
2 7 (3.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 6 (2.96%) QA
4 5 (2.46%) NIST
5 4 (1.97%) GDPR
5 4 (1.97%) PMO
5 4 (1.97%) SLA
6 2 (0.99%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (0.99%) HIPAA
6 2 (0.99%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.49%) Def Stans
7 1 (0.49%) JSP 440
System Software
1 30 (14.78%) Active Directory
2 8 (3.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (2.96%) Docker
4 5 (2.46%) vSphere
5 3 (1.48%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.99%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.49%) Terminal Services
7 1 (0.49%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.49%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 13 (6.40%) Kubernetes
1 13 (6.40%) SCCM
2 12 (5.91%) Terraform
3 8 (3.94%) Single Sign-On
4 5 (2.46%) Microsoft Intune
5 4 (1.97%) Ansible
5 4 (1.97%) Argo
5 4 (1.97%) Cisco CUCM
5 4 (1.97%) Grafana
5 4 (1.97%) Kustomize
5 4 (1.97%) Prometheus
6 3 (1.48%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
6 3 (1.48%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 2 (0.99%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.99%) Kibana
7 2 (0.99%) Nessus
7 2 (0.99%) Nmap
8 1 (0.49%) Cisco UCCE
8 1 (0.49%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.49%) vRealize
Vendors
1 53 (26.11%) Cisco
2 43 (21.18%) Microsoft
3 34 (16.75%) Aruba
4 16 (7.88%) ServiceNow
5 13 (6.40%) VMware
6 12 (5.91%) Google
7 4 (1.97%) LogRhythm
7 4 (1.97%) Red Hat
7 4 (1.97%) Tanium
8 3 (1.48%) ArcSight
8 3 (1.48%) Atlassian
8 3 (1.48%) Coverity
8 3 (1.48%) Juniper
8 3 (1.48%) Splunk
8 3 (1.48%) Thales
9 2 (0.99%) Citrix
9 2 (0.99%) F5
9 2 (0.99%) FireEye
9 2 (0.99%) Nokia
9 2 (0.99%) SAP