User Stories Contract Job Trends in England
User Story
UK > England
The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England citing User Stories skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 31 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 121 | 139 | 167 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +18 | +28 | -24 |
| Contract jobs citing User Stories | 1,036 | 619 | 450 |
| As % of all contract jobs in England | 2.24% | 2.12% | 1.44% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 2.62% | 2.34% | 1.67% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 674 | 440 | 290 |
| 10th Percentile | £358 | £352 | £350 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £413 | £420 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £580 | £594 | £600 |
| 90th Percentile | £650 | £700 | £675 |
| UK median daily rate | £500 | £500 | £523 |
| % change year-on-year | - | -4.31% | -0.48% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 20 | 8 | 1 |
| 10th Percentile | £48.65 | £31.04 | - |
| 25th Percentile | £52.00 | £31.49 | - |
| Median hourly rate | £63.75 | £58.63 | £33.07 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +8.73% | +77.29% | -37.31% |
| 75th Percentile | £85.00 | £74.26 | - |
| 90th Percentile | £88.20 | £80.11 | - |
| UK median hourly rate | £57.50 | £58.63 | £33.07 |
| % change year-on-year | -1.93% | +77.29% | -37.31% |
All Process & Methodology Skills
England
User Stories falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies citing process or methodology skills in England.
| 6 months to 31 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 39,592 | 26,442 | 26,986 |
| As % of all contract jobs advertised in England | 85.79% | 90.66% | 86.64% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 23,766 | 16,786 | 16,470 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £300 | £313 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £405 | £418 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £508 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +3.45% | -3.33% | -4.55% |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £625 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £750 |
| UK median daily rate | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | -2.33% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 3,267 | 1,710 | 986 |
| 10th Percentile | £13.50 | £14.69 | £15.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.00 | £17.87 | £20.03 |
| Median hourly rate | £35.00 | £25.15 | £39.59 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +39.17% | -36.47% | -11.03% |
| 75th Percentile | £66.46 | £44.98 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £67.50 | £74.47 |
| UK median hourly rate | £34.94 | £25.15 | £36.08 |
| % change year-on-year | +38.91% | -30.30% | -17.81% |
User Stories Job Vacancy Trend in England
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing User Stories relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.
User Stories Daily Rate Trend in England
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing User Stories.
User Stories Daily Rate Histogram in England
Daily rate distribution for jobs citing User Stories in England over the 6 months to 31 October 2026.
User Stories Hourly Rate Trend in England
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing User Stories.
User Stories Hourly Rate Histogram in England
Hourly rate distribution for jobs citing User Stories in England over the 6 months to 31 October 2026.
User Stories Contract Job Locations in England
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing User Stories within the England region over the 6 months to 31 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | +13 | 629 | £525 | +2.44% | 63 |
| North of England | -52 | 127 | £474 | -8.85% | 37 |
| Midlands | -2 | 113 | £450 | +5.88% | 15 |
| West Midlands | +23 | 92 | £450 | -2.70% | 10 |
| South East | -45 | 75 | £450 | -5.26% | 32 |
| North West | -17 | 67 | £500 | -2.91% | 19 |
| Yorkshire | -43 | 51 | £463 | -11.06% | 9 |
| South West | -6 | 43 | £458 | -8.50% | 18 |
| East of England | +1 | 30 | £491 | +9.17% | 5 |
| East Midlands | -14 | 21 | £425 | +5.99% | 5 |
| North East | -33 | 9 | £408 | -18.50% | 11 |
| User Stories UK |
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User Stories Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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.
Processes & Methodologies
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agile | 69.2% | 717 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 46.7% | 484 |
| 3 | Acceptance Criteria | 45.6% | 472 |
| 4 | Requirements Gathering | 35.7% | 370 |
| 5 | Workshop Facilitation | 31.5% | 326 |
| 6 | Business Analysis | 28.9% | 299 |
| 7 | Scrum | 26.0% | 269 |
| 8 | User Acceptance Testing | 25.8% | 267 |
| 9 | Continuous Improvement | 21.4% | 222 |
| 10 | Stakeholder Engagement | 20.4% | 211 |
| 11 | Problem-Solving | 20.2% | 209 |
| 12 | DevOps | 20.1% | 208 |
| 13 | Sprint Planning | 18.6% | 193 |
| 14 | Roadmaps | 18.3% | 190 |
| 15 | Backlog Management | 17.4% | 180 |
| 16 | Product Backlog | 16.8% | 174 |
| 17 | Backlog Refinement | 16.3% | 169 |
| 18 | Backlog Prioritisation | 16.1% | 167 |
| 19 | Validation | 15.3% | 159 |
| 20 | AI | 15.0% | 155 |