PhD Job Trends in Oxfordshire

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil, EngD, Doctorate)
South East > Oxfordshire

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in Oxfordshire with a requirement for PhD qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 8 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 70 59 83
Rank change year-on-year -11 +24 -17
Permanent jobs citing PhD 17 13 17
As % of all permanent jobs in Oxfordshire 1.09% 1.83% 1.23%
As % of the Qualifications category 5.99% 6.25% 6.34%
Number of salaries quoted 17 2 12
10th Percentile - £41,500 £50,000
25th Percentile £50,750 £47,500 £51,875
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,000 £62,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.40% +13.64% -22.40%
75th Percentile £62,250 £80,000 £60,000
90th Percentile £63,750 £87,500 £78,000
South East median annual salary £57,500 £77,500 £58,000
% change year-on-year -25.81% +33.62% +5.45%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Oxfordshire

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

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 284 208 268
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in Oxfordshire 18.28% 29.25% 19.43%
Number of salaries quoted 182 88 173
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,138 £31,250
25th Percentile £42,500 £39,929 £41,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £56,250 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +11.11% +12.50% -0.99%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £59,750
90th Percentile £78,750 £82,875 £73,750
South East median annual salary £60,000 £50,803 £52,500
% change year-on-year +18.10% -3.23% -

PhD
Job Vacancy Trend in Oxfordshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing PhD relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in Oxfordshire.

PhD job vacancy trend in Oxfordshire

PhD
Salary Trend in Oxfordshire

Salary distribution trend for jobs in Oxfordshire citing PhD.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in Oxfordshire citing PhD

PhD
Salary Histogram in Oxfordshire

Salary distribution for jobs citing PhD in Oxfordshire over the 6 months to 8 August 2026.

Salary histogram for PhD in Oxfordshire

PhD
Job Locations in Oxfordshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing PhD within the Oxfordshire region over the 6 months to 8 August 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Oxford -17 14 £56,000 -10.40% 10
Abingdon - 1 £55,000 - 2
PhD
South East

PhD
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Oxfordshire 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:

Applications
1 1 (5.88%) SOLIDWORKS
1 1 (5.88%) Zemax
Cloud Services
1 7 (41.18%) AWS
2 3 (17.65%) Azure
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (23.53%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 8 (47.06%) LabVIEW
General
1 15 (88.24%) Social Skills
2 10 (58.82%) Electronics
3 8 (47.06%) Analytical Skills
3 8 (47.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
3 8 (47.06%) Organisational Skills
4 4 (23.53%) Aerospace
4 4 (23.53%) Automotive
4 4 (23.53%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 9 (52.94%) Senior
1 9 (52.94%) Systems Engineer
2 8 (47.06%) Senior Systems Engineer
3 7 (41.18%) C# Software Engineer
3 7 (41.18%) Software Engineer
4 5 (29.41%) C++ Software Engineer
4 5 (29.41%) Python Engineer
4 5 (29.41%) Python Software Engineer
5 4 (23.53%) AWS Engineer
5 4 (23.53%) AWS Software Engineer
6 2 (11.76%) .NET Software Engineer
7 1 (5.88%) Physicist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (23.53%) Django
1 4 (23.53%) Vue
2 3 (17.65%) Blazor
3 2 (11.76%) .NET
Miscellaneous
1 8 (47.06%) Fibre Optics
2 4 (23.53%) Distributed Computing
3 1 (5.88%) AI Agents
Operating Systems
1 4 (23.53%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 10 (58.82%) Physics
2 9 (52.94%) Validation
3 8 (47.06%) Customer Engagement
3 8 (47.06%) Fault Analysis
3 8 (47.06%) Microscopy
3 8 (47.06%) Motion Control
3 8 (47.06%) Project Planning
3 8 (47.06%) Prototyping
3 8 (47.06%) Regulatory Compliance
3 8 (47.06%) Risk Assessment
3 8 (47.06%) Roadmaps
3 8 (47.06%) Technical Leadership
3 8 (47.06%) Technology Roadmap
3 8 (47.06%) Technology Strategy
3 8 (47.06%) Workflow
4 7 (41.18%) Design Patterns
4 7 (41.18%) Machine Learning
4 7 (41.18%) Software Engineering
5 4 (23.53%) Agile
6 3 (17.65%) TDD
Programming Languages
1 14 (82.35%) Python
2 8 (47.06%) MATLAB
3 7 (41.18%) C#
3 7 (41.18%) JavaScript
3 7 (41.18%) TypeScript
4 6 (35.29%) C++
5 1 (5.88%) Rust
Qualifications
1 17 (100.00%) Degree
2 16 (94.12%) Master's Degree
3 7 (41.18%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (17.65%) QA
Systems Management
1 4 (23.53%) Kubernetes
2 3 (17.65%) Terraform