3rd Line Support Contract Job Trends
Third Line Support
UK
The median Third Line Support daily rate in the UK is £350, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 23 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 647 | 503 | 512 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -144 | +9 | -25 |
| Contract jobs requiring a 3rd Line Support | 53 | 64 | 51 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.096% | 0.19% | 0.14% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.10% | 0.21% | 0.15% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 41 | 53 | 34 |
| 10th Percentile | £225 | £263 | £248 |
| 25th Percentile | £250 | £375 | £278 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £350 | £450 | £408 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -22.22% | +10.43% | +25.38% |
| 75th Percentile | £488 | £500 | £450 |
| 90th Percentile | £575 | £550 | £538 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £300 | £438 | £363 |
| % change year-on-year | -31.43% | +20.69% | +11.54% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | £22.13 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.85 | £29.00 | £23.45 |
| Median hourly rate | £15.37 | £30.00 | £27.59 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -48.78% | +8.74% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £15.88 | £31.00 | £39.38 |
| 90th Percentile | £46.85 | - | £51.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £15.37 | - | £24.18 |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. 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.
| 6 months to 23 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title | 50,638 | 30,447 | 34,540 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 91.79% | 90.86% | 92.95% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,785 | 19,268 | 20,825 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £278 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £737 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,202 | 1,682 | 1,373 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.25 | £13.80 | £15.07 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.25 | £17.30 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.00 | £25.15 | £40.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.02% | -37.13% | -10.11% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.84 | £50.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £68.75 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.00 | £40.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +60.00% | -37.50% | -9.09% |
3rd Line Support Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '3rd Line Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
3rd Line Support Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.
3rd Line Support Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing 3rd Line Support over the 6 months to 23 October 2026.
3rd Line Support Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in the UK.
3rd Line Support Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing 3rd Line Support over the 6 months to 23 October 2026.
3rd Line Support Top 15 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 3rd Line Support within the UK over the 6 months to 23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -114 | 52 | £325 | -27.78% | 47 |
| UK excluding London | -97 | 45 | £300 | -31.43% | 39 |
| South East | -59 | 19 | £375 | -25.00% | 16 |
| Midlands | -45 | 11 | £300 | -25.00% | 13 |
| East of England | -19 | 10 | £255 | -27.07% | |
| North of England | -60 | 9 | £372 | -4.13% | 6 |
| East Midlands | - | 9 | £300 | - | 6 |
| Work from Home | -81 | 8 | £288 | +2.22% | 12 |
| London | -97 | 8 | £625 | +38.89% | 8 |
| North West | -47 | 6 | £400 | +3.23% | 3 |
| South West | -38 | 2 | £318 | -18.06% | 3 |
| West Midlands | -59 | 2 | £250 | -37.50% | 7 |
| Yorkshire | - | 2 | £305 | - | |
| North East | - | 2 | £320 | - | 3 |
| Scotland | -27 | 1 | £413 | - | 1 |
3rd Line Support Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 23 October 2026, 3rd Line Support 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 featuring 3rd Line Support in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Active Directory | 66.0% | 35 |
| 1 | Microsoft | 66.0% | 35 |
| 1 | Windows | 66.0% | 35 |
| 4 | Windows Server | 49.1% | 26 |
| 5 | Entra ID | 43.4% | 23 |
| 6 | PowerShell | 39.6% | 21 |
| 7 | Infrastructure Engineering | 35.8% | 19 |
| 7 | VMware | 35.8% | 19 |
| 9 | Azure | 32.1% | 17 |
| 9 | Hyper-V | 32.1% | 17 |
| 11 | Microsoft 365 | 30.2% | 16 |
| 11 | VMware Infrastructure | 30.2% | 16 |
| 13 | DHCP | 28.3% | 15 |
| 13 | DNS | 28.3% | 15 |
| 13 | Security Cleared | 28.3% | 15 |
| 16 | Microsoft Exchange | 26.4% | 14 |
| 17 | Problem-Solving | 22.6% | 12 |
| 18 | Microsoft Intune | 20.8% | 11 |
| 18 | SharePoint | 20.8% | 11 |
| 20 | ITIL | 18.9% | 10 |
| 20 | ITSM | 18.9% | 10 |
| 22 | DV Cleared | 17.0% | 9 |
| 22 | Firewall | 17.0% | 9 |
| 24 | Server Management | 15.1% | 8 |
| 24 | vSphere | 15.1% | 8 |
| 26 | Change Management | 13.2% | 7 |
| 26 | Identity Access Management | 13.2% | 7 |
| 26 | Incident Management | 13.2% | 7 |
| 26 | Privileged Access Management | 13.2% | 7 |
| 26 | VPN | 13.2% | 7 |
3rd Line Support Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3rd Line Support Engineer | 77.4% | 41 |
| 2 | 3rd Line Infrastructure Support | 32.1% | 17 |
| 3 | 2nd/3rd Line Support | 30.2% | 16 |
| 3 | 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer | 30.2% | 16 |
| 3 | Infrastructure Support Engineer | 30.2% | 16 |
| 6 | 2nd/3rd Line Support Engineer | 28.3% | 15 |
| 7 | IT Support Engineer | 26.4% | 14 |
| 8 | 2nd/3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer | 20.8% | 11 |
| 8 | IT Infrastructure Engineer | 20.8% | 11 |
| 10 | 3rd Line Support Analyst | 13.2% | 7 |
| 10 | Infrastructure Security Engineer | 13.2% | 7 |
| 10 | IT Security Engineer | 13.2% | 7 |
| 10 | Security Support Engineer | 13.2% | 7 |
| 14 | 3rd Line Server Support | 7.5% | 4 |
| 14 | 3rd Line Technical Support | 7.5% | 4 |
| 14 | Active Directory Support | 7.5% | 4 |
| 14 | Applications Support | 7.5% | 4 |
| 14 | Desktop Support | 7.5% | 4 |
| 14 | Remote Support Engineer | 7.5% | 4 |
| 14 | Technical Support Analyst | 7.5% | 4 |