Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) formerly Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for MCSE qualifications. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months to 15 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
15 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 467 553 607
Rank change year-on-year +86 +54 -102
Contract jobs citing MCSE 107 148 253
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.25% 0.26% 0.29%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.83% 0.95% 1.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 82 121 176
10th Percentile £272 £105 £153
25th Percentile £313 £200 £245
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £388 £475 £425
Median % change year-on-year -18.42% +11.76% -3.41%
75th Percentile £556 £575 £538
90th Percentile £591 £650 £595
UK excluding London median daily rate £438 £463 £375
% change year-on-year -5.41% +23.33% -16.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 4 9
10th Percentile £11.98 - £15.13
25th Percentile £13.31 £16.25 £16.25
Median hourly rate £17.50 £17.50 £21.35
Median % change year-on-year - -18.03% -70.95%
75th Percentile £18.75 £20.68 £28.75
90th Percentile £22.52 £24.16 £69.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.50 £17.50 £19.43
% change year-on-year - -9.91% -73.57%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

MCSE is in the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 12,821 15,525 18,800
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 30.13% 27.19% 21.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,940 10,364 12,432
10th Percentile £307 £330 £336
25th Percentile £425 £450 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £531 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.45% +4.76% +7.69%
75th Percentile £650 £650 £626
90th Percentile £738 £743 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £530 £525 £500
% change year-on-year +0.95% +5.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,052 789 770
10th Percentile £13.69 £15.25 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.72 £20.47 £19.77
Median hourly rate £40.00 £54.00 £43.85
Median % change year-on-year -25.93% +23.15% +13.90%
75th Percentile £61.35 £67.50 £58.66
90th Percentile £76.15 £79.30 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.63 £49.94 £35.00
% change year-on-year -18.63% +42.68% -1.41%

MCSE
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing MCSE as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for MCSE in the UK

MCSE
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing MCSE.

Daily rate trend for MCSE in the UK

MCSE
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing MCSE over the 6 months to 15 May 2024.

Daily rate histogram for MCSE in the UK

MCSE
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing MCSE.

Hourly rate trend for MCSE in the UK

MCSE
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing MCSE over the 6 months to 15 May 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for MCSE in the UK

MCSE
Top 15 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing MCSE within the UK over the 6 months to 15 May 2024. 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
UK excluding London +36 89 £438 -5.41% 54
England +50 74 £400 -13.51% 52
Scotland +67 26 £340 +209.09% 9
South East +27 22 £538 -0.92% 7
Work from Home +94 19 £478 -8.17% 24
South West +19 15 £538 -2.27% 12
North of England +4 14 £425 -22.73% 10
London +84 12 £325 -13.33% 10
North West +3 10 £303 -53.46% 3
Midlands +20 5 £117 -47.53% 9
East of England +12 5 £425 +286.36% 3
North East +14 4 £488 +343.18% 1
East Midlands +7 3 £130 -41.70% 2
West Midlands +15 2 £117 -43.27% 7
Northern Ireland +7 2 - - 4

MCSE
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 33 (30.84%) Microsoft Exchange
2 18 (16.82%) Confluence
3 17 (15.89%) SharePoint
4 7 (6.54%) IIS
5 4 (3.74%) Skype for Business
6 2 (1.87%) Exchange Server 2007
6 2 (1.87%) Exchange Server 2010
7 1 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2003
7 1 (0.93%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 7 (6.54%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (4.67%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (1.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.93%) Adobe Creative Suite
Business Applications
1 4 (3.74%) Dynamics GP
2 2 (1.87%) Eikon
Cloud Services
1 25 (23.36%) Microsoft 365
2 22 (20.56%) Azure
3 10 (9.35%) Power Platform
4 8 (7.48%) AWS
5 2 (1.87%) Cloud Computing
5 2 (1.87%) IaaS
5 2 (1.87%) Mimecast
5 2 (1.87%) OneDrive
6 1 (0.93%) Azure DevOps
6 1 (0.93%) Dynamics 365
6 1 (0.93%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 28 (26.17%) DNS
2 24 (22.43%) DHCP
3 21 (19.63%) SAN
4 12 (11.21%) VPN
5 10 (9.35%) Firewall
5 10 (9.35%) TCP/IP
6 9 (8.41%) SSL
7 7 (6.54%) NAS
8 6 (5.61%) Fibre Channel
8 6 (5.61%) Skype
9 5 (4.67%) iSCSI
9 5 (4.67%) VLAN
10 4 (3.74%) LAN
10 4 (3.74%) VoIP
10 4 (3.74%) WAN
11 3 (2.80%) Wi-Fi
12 2 (1.87%) HTTP
12 2 (1.87%) Network Security
12 2 (1.87%) Wireless
13 1 (0.93%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (13.08%) SQL Server
2 2 (1.87%) MySQL
2 2 (1.87%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.93%) BusinessObjects
3 1 (0.93%) Oracle Database
3 1 (0.93%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 18 (16.82%) JIRA
General
1 51 (47.66%) Social Skills
2 48 (44.86%) Analytical Skills
3 22 (20.56%) Public Sector
4 17 (15.89%) Military
5 15 (14.02%) Finance
6 10 (9.35%) Banking
7 8 (7.48%) Manufacturing
8 7 (6.54%) Marketing
9 6 (5.61%) Telecoms
10 4 (3.74%) Pharmaceutical
11 3 (2.80%) Electronics
11 3 (2.80%) Front Office
11 3 (2.80%) Investment Banking
12 1 (0.93%) Advertising
12 1 (0.93%) French Language
12 1 (0.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.93%) Spanish Language
12 1 (0.93%) Swedish Language
Job Titles
1 17 (15.89%) Test Engineer
2 16 (14.95%) Integration Engineer
2 16 (14.95%) Test and Integration Engineer
3 15 (14.02%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 14 (13.08%) Support Engineer
5 9 (8.41%) Field Engineer
5 9 (8.41%) IT Engineer
5 9 (8.41%) Senior
6 8 (7.48%) Field Service Engineer
7 7 (6.54%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 7 (6.54%) Server Engineer
8 6 (5.61%) 3rd Line Support
8 6 (5.61%) DBA
8 6 (5.61%) SQL DBA
9 5 (4.67%) 2nd Line Engineer
9 5 (4.67%) 2nd Line Support
9 5 (4.67%) 2nd Line Support Engineer
9 5 (4.67%) Cybersecurity Specialist
9 5 (4.67%) Security Specialist
9 5 (4.67%) VMware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (1.87%) CSS
1 2 (1.87%) LDAP
1 2 (1.87%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 26 (24.30%) PKI
2 17 (15.89%) Data Centre
3 12 (11.21%) Clustering
4 8 (7.48%) Analytical Mindset
5 7 (6.54%) Cyber Threat
6 4 (3.74%) Public Cloud
6 4 (3.74%) Video Conferencing
7 3 (2.80%) Self-Motivation
8 2 (1.87%) Blackberry
8 2 (1.87%) iPad
8 2 (1.87%) iPhone
8 2 (1.87%) Replication
9 1 (0.93%) Data Protection Act
9 1 (0.93%) Driving Licence
9 1 (0.93%) Freedom of Information
9 1 (0.93%) Freedom of Information Act
9 1 (0.93%) Hybrid Cloud
9 1 (0.93%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 79 (73.83%) Windows
2 57 (53.27%) Windows Server
3 28 (26.17%) Windows Server 2012
4 18 (16.82%) Windows 10
5 16 (14.95%) Linux
6 8 (7.48%) CentOS
7 7 (6.54%) Windows Server 2008
8 6 (5.61%) Debian
8 6 (5.61%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (3.74%) Unix
10 3 (2.80%) Mac OS
11 2 (1.87%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.93%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.93%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.93%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 46 (42.99%) ITIL
2 28 (26.17%) Agile
3 23 (21.50%) Problem-Solving
4 20 (18.69%) Critical Thinking
5 18 (16.82%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 17 (15.89%) Customer Service
6 17 (15.89%) Regression Testing
6 17 (15.89%) Test Scripting
7 13 (12.15%) Disaster Recovery
8 12 (11.21%) Service Management
9 11 (10.28%) Cybersecurity
9 11 (10.28%) High Availability
10 9 (8.41%) Task Automation
11 8 (7.48%) Penetration Testing
11 8 (7.48%) Problem Management
11 8 (7.48%) Project Management
11 8 (7.48%) Security Operations
12 7 (6.54%) Risk Assessment
12 7 (6.54%) Server Patching
12 7 (6.54%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 31 (28.97%) SQL
2 26 (24.30%) PowerShell
3 2 (1.87%) JavaScript
4 1 (0.93%) Bash
4 1 (0.93%) Bicep
4 1 (0.93%) VB
Qualifications
1 107 (100.00%) Microsoft Certification
2 35 (32.71%) MCSA
3 33 (30.84%) Degree
4 31 (28.97%) Security Cleared
5 27 (25.23%) SC Cleared
5 27 (25.23%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
6 25 (23.36%) Cisco Certification
7 22 (20.56%) CCNA
8 11 (10.28%) ITIL Certification
9 10 (9.35%) MCP
10 9 (8.41%) A+ Certification
10 9 (8.41%) Network+ Certification
11 6 (5.61%) DV Cleared
11 6 (5.61%) RHCT
12 5 (4.67%) CCNP
13 4 (3.74%) MCTS
14 2 (1.87%) BPSS Clearance
14 2 (1.87%) Computer Science Degree
14 2 (1.87%) MCSD
14 2 (1.87%) MOS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (10.28%) SLA
2 3 (2.80%) Cyber Essentials
2 3 (2.80%) NCSC
2 3 (2.80%) NIST
3 2 (1.87%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 2 (1.87%) Disclosure Scotland
4 1 (0.93%) GDPR
System Software
1 57 (53.27%) Active Directory
2 36 (33.64%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (11.21%) Hyper-V
4 8 (7.48%) vSphere
5 6 (5.61%) KVM
6 4 (3.74%) Firmware
7 3 (2.80%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.93%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 1 (0.93%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.93%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.93%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 17 (15.89%) SCCM
2 7 (6.54%) WSUS
3 3 (2.80%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (2.80%) vCenter Server
4 2 (1.87%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 2 (1.87%) Backup Exec
5 1 (0.93%) Failover Clustering
5 1 (0.93%) SCOM
Vendors
1 72 (67.29%) Microsoft
2 43 (40.19%) VMware
3 11 (10.28%) Citrix
3 11 (10.28%) Dell
3 11 (10.28%) ServiceNow
4 9 (8.41%) Red Hat
5 7 (6.54%) Cisco
6 5 (4.67%) Bloomberg
7 4 (3.74%) HP
8 3 (2.80%) Apple
8 3 (2.80%) Refinitiv
8 3 (2.80%) SAP
8 3 (2.80%) SolarWinds
9 2 (1.87%) CA
9 2 (1.87%) IronPort
9 2 (1.87%) Reuters
9 2 (1.87%) Sophos
9 2 (1.87%) Veeam
10 1 (0.93%) BEA
10 1 (0.93%) Juniper