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 requiring User Stories skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 125 154 150
Rank change year-on-year +29 -4 -31
Contract jobs citing User Stories 882 466 590
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.06% 1.89% 1.57%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.42% 2.07% 1.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 602 300 401
10th Percentile £355 £358 £350
25th Percentile £413 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -6.98% +2.38%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £650 £701 £638
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +1.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 2 6
10th Percentile £35.00 £54.90 £31.71
25th Percentile £60.61 £57.00 £32.03
Median hourly rate £70.00 £61.75 £33.04
Median % change year-on-year +13.36% +86.92% -48.38%
75th Percentile £78.55 £67.75 £57.77
90th Percentile £95.69 £70.60 £69.25
UK median hourly rate £71.25 £53.50 £33.04
% change year-on-year +33.18% +61.95% -48.38%

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 requiring process or methodology skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 36,463 22,562 32,057
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 85.13% 91.37% 85.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,069 14,583 20,746
10th Percentile £325 £303 £300
25th Percentile £415 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £517 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.67% -0.95% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £513 £507 £525
% change year-on-year +1.08% -3.43% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,280 1,047 2,378
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.20 £12.79
25th Percentile £20.81 £18.13 £16.06
Median hourly rate £47.00 £27.50 £37.75
Median % change year-on-year +70.91% -27.15% +7.43%
75th Percentile £68.00 £57.50 £61.30
90th Percentile £82.25 £75.00 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £26.75 £37.18
% change year-on-year +64.34% -28.05% +6.23%

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 job vacancy trend in England

User Stories
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing User Stories.

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 15 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for User Stories in England

User Stories
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing User Stories.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing User Stories

User Stories
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing User Stories in England over the 6 months to 15 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for User Stories in England

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 15 June 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
London +30 517 £513 -2.24% 147
North of England -30 123 £469 +4.22% 57
Midlands -4 96 £475 +2.70% 36
West Midlands -9 74 £475 +1.33% 24
South East -43 66 £450 -10.00% 68
North West -15 64 £402 -21.56% 33
South West -7 41 £485 -0.51% 25
Yorkshire -40 39 £525 +16.67% 19
East of England -14 28 £538 +34.38% 10
East Midlands -21 22 £459 +6.07% 12
North East -23 21 £425 -2.02% 9
User Stories
UK

User Stories
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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
1 160 (18.14%) Confluence
2 23 (2.61%) CMS
3 18 (2.04%) SharePoint
4 10 (1.13%) SAS
5 5 (0.57%) Camunda
5 5 (0.57%) Jupyter
6 3 (0.34%) Cloud Foundry
6 3 (0.34%) Drupal
6 3 (0.34%) Kentico
6 3 (0.34%) Microsoft Exchange
7 2 (0.23%) JBoss
7 2 (0.23%) Sitecore CMS
7 2 (0.23%) WordPress
8 1 (0.11%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 1 (0.11%) Apache Solr
8 1 (0.11%) Tomcat
Applications
1 40 (4.54%) MS Visio
2 39 (4.42%) Microsoft Excel
3 27 (3.06%) Microsoft Office
4 18 (2.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.68%) Notion
6 3 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.23%) Adobe XD
7 2 (0.23%) InVision
7 2 (0.23%) Sketch
7 2 (0.23%) Zeplin
8 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 14 (1.59%) Dynamics CRM
2 13 (1.47%) SAP S/4HANA
3 6 (0.68%) Adobe Campaign
3 6 (0.68%) ProductWriter
4 5 (0.57%) Teamcenter
5 4 (0.45%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.45%) Eloqua
5 4 (0.45%) Oracle Payables
5 4 (0.45%) Oracle Receivables
6 3 (0.34%) Actimize
6 3 (0.34%) Dynamics GP
6 3 (0.34%) Dynamics SL
6 3 (0.34%) Infor CloudSuite
6 3 (0.34%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.34%) Oracle EBS
6 3 (0.34%) Oracle Financials
6 3 (0.34%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.23%) Exchequer
7 2 (0.23%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 175 (19.84%) Azure
2 75 (8.50%) AWS
3 66 (7.48%) Power Platform
4 65 (7.37%) Azure DevOps
5 24 (2.72%) GitHub
6 21 (2.38%) SaaS
6 21 (2.38%) Salesforce Service Cloud
7 20 (2.27%) Dynamics 365
8 18 (2.04%) GCP
9 16 (1.81%) Microsoft 365
10 15 (1.70%) PowerApps
11 14 (1.59%) Entra ID
11 14 (1.59%) Power Automate
12 13 (1.47%) Figma
12 13 (1.47%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
13 11 (1.25%) Azure Data Factory
13 11 (1.25%) Lucidchart
14 10 (1.13%) Miro
15 8 (0.91%) Snowflake
16 6 (0.68%) Fivetran
Communications & Networking
1 8 (0.91%) Network Security
2 6 (0.68%) Firewall
3 3 (0.34%) DNS
3 3 (0.34%) WebEx
3 3 (0.34%) Wi-Fi
4 2 (0.23%) FTP
4 2 (0.23%) HTTP
4 2 (0.23%) Wireless
5 1 (0.11%) 5G
5 1 (0.11%) BGP
5 1 (0.11%) NFC
5 1 (0.11%) NGFW
5 1 (0.11%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (4.99%) Power BI
2 30 (3.40%) Metadata
3 25 (2.83%) Data Warehouse
4 12 (1.36%) Relational Database
4 12 (1.36%) Tableau
5 10 (1.13%) NoSQL
5 10 (1.13%) SQL Server
6 9 (1.02%) Data Lake
7 8 (0.91%) BigQuery
8 7 (0.79%) Delta Lake
9 6 (0.68%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
10 5 (0.57%) Big Data
10 5 (0.57%) Parquet
10 5 (0.57%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.45%) Data Mining
12 3 (0.34%) OLAP
12 3 (0.34%) Redis
13 2 (0.23%) DynamoDB
13 2 (0.23%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 224 (25.40%) JIRA
2 27 (3.06%) Postman
3 22 (2.49%) Git
4 19 (2.15%) GitLab
5 11 (1.25%) Jenkins
6 10 (1.13%) Selenium
7 9 (1.02%) Gradle
8 7 (0.79%) Team Foundation Server
9 6 (0.68%) SonarQube
10 5 (0.57%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 5 (0.57%) Balsamiq
10 5 (0.57%) REST Assured
10 5 (0.57%) Zephyr
11 4 (0.45%) Cucumber
11 4 (0.45%) JUnit
12 3 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
13 2 (0.23%) Artifactory
13 2 (0.23%) Axure RP
13 2 (0.23%) Sonatype Nexus
13 2 (0.23%) Tricentis qTest
General
1 333 (37.76%) Social Skills
2 233 (26.42%) Finance
3 227 (25.74%) Analytical Skills
4 112 (12.70%) Banking
5 108 (12.24%) Public Sector
6 74 (8.39%) Documentation Skills
7 58 (6.58%) Retail
8 37 (4.20%) Presentation Skills
9 31 (3.51%) Marketing
10 25 (2.83%) Legal
11 22 (2.49%) Influencing Skills
12 20 (2.27%) Investment Banking
13 19 (2.15%) Organisational Skills
14 18 (2.04%) Retail Banking
15 15 (1.70%) Military
16 13 (1.47%) Financial Institution
16 13 (1.47%) Front Office
16 13 (1.47%) Manufacturing
17 11 (1.25%) Back Office
18 10 (1.13%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 474 (53.74%) Analyst
2 437 (49.55%) Business Analyst
3 136 (15.42%) Senior
4 109 (12.36%) Product Owner
5 84 (9.52%) Senior Analyst
6 76 (8.62%) Senior Business Analyst
7 74 (8.39%) Developer
8 60 (6.80%) Technical Analyst
9 56 (6.35%) Product Manager
10 55 (6.24%) Technical Business Analyst
11 40 (4.54%) Salesforce Business Analyst
12 39 (4.42%) Salesforce Analyst
13 37 (4.20%) Lead
14 31 (3.51%) Implementation Analyst
15 28 (3.17%) Data Analyst
16 26 (2.95%) Data Business Analyst
17 25 (2.83%) Banking Analyst
18 23 (2.61%) SC Cleared Business Analyst
19 22 (2.49%) Digital Business Analyst
20 21 (2.38%) Senior Salesforce Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (4.08%) REST
2 20 (2.27%) JSON
3 18 (2.04%) React
3 18 (2.04%) RESTful
4 16 (1.81%) ADO
5 14 (1.59%) XML
6 12 (1.36%) AngularJS
7 11 (1.25%) Spring Boot
8 8 (0.91%) .NET
8 8 (0.91%) Lightning Web Components
8 8 (0.91%) Node.js
8 8 (0.91%) Oracle Fusion
8 8 (0.91%) VML
9 7 (0.79%) CSS
9 7 (0.79%) HTML
9 7 (0.79%) Spring
10 6 (0.68%) Kafka
10 6 (0.68%) Middleware
10 6 (0.68%) OAuth
10 6 (0.68%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 292 (33.11%) Product Ownership
2 32 (3.63%) Onboarding
3 26 (2.95%) Analytical Mindset
4 25 (2.83%) Data Protection Act
5 24 (2.72%) CMDB
6 23 (2.61%) Legacy Systems
6 23 (2.61%) Self-Motivation
7 16 (1.81%) Data Structures
7 16 (1.81%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 15 (1.70%) Cloud Native
9 14 (1.59%) Management Information System
9 14 (1.59%) Virtual Team
10 10 (1.13%) PMI
10 10 (1.13%) Reinsurance
11 9 (1.02%) AI Agents
11 9 (1.02%) Greenfield Project
12 7 (0.79%) FMCG
12 7 (0.79%) Life Science
12 7 (0.79%) Marketing Technology
12 7 (0.79%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 9 (1.02%) Windows
2 8 (0.91%) Linux
3 4 (0.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 3 (0.34%) CentOS
4 3 (0.34%) Unix
5 2 (0.23%) Android
5 2 (0.23%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.11%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 554 (62.81%) Agile
2 368 (41.72%) Acceptance Criteria
3 308 (34.92%) Stakeholder Management
4 214 (24.26%) Requirements Gathering
5 206 (23.36%) Scrum
6 202 (22.90%) Workshop Facilitation
7 192 (21.77%) User Acceptance Testing
8 178 (20.18%) Business Analysis
9 176 (19.95%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 175 (19.84%) DevOps
11 152 (17.23%) Problem-Solving
12 150 (17.01%) Roadmaps
13 148 (16.78%) Sprint Planning
14 128 (14.51%) Product Backlog
15 123 (13.95%) Continuous Improvement
16 120 (13.61%) Data Modelling
17 114 (12.93%) Analytics
17 114 (12.93%) Backlog Management
18 111 (12.59%) Migration
19 106 (12.02%) Backlog Prioritisation
Programming Languages
1 113 (12.81%) SQL
2 61 (6.92%) Python
3 40 (4.54%) Java
4 29 (3.29%) JavaScript
5 12 (1.36%) C#
6 9 (1.02%) TypeScript
7 7 (0.79%) PowerShell
8 6 (0.68%) Apex Code
9 5 (0.57%) Korn
9 5 (0.57%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.34%) R
10 3 (0.34%) Ruby
10 3 (0.34%) T-SQL
11 2 (0.23%) Bash
11 2 (0.23%) Google Apps Script
11 2 (0.23%) PHP
11 2 (0.23%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.23%) VBA
12 1 (0.11%) SOQL
12 1 (0.11%) X++
Qualifications
1 166 (18.82%) Security Cleared
2 133 (15.08%) SC Cleared
3 81 (9.18%) Degree
4 31 (3.51%) BPSS Clearance
5 29 (3.29%) CBAP
5 29 (3.29%) IIBA
6 14 (1.59%) CSPO
6 14 (1.59%) PMI Certification
7 11 (1.25%) Computer Science Degree
8 10 (1.13%) Master's Degree
9 8 (0.91%) ISTQB
10 7 (0.79%) ISEB
11 5 (0.57%) CISSP
11 5 (0.57%) DV Cleared
12 4 (0.45%) MBA
12 4 (0.45%) Microsoft Certification
12 4 (0.45%) PMP
13 3 (0.34%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
14 2 (0.23%) CompTIA Security+
14 2 (0.23%) Six Sigma Green Belt
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 112 (12.70%) QA
2 51 (5.78%) Data Quality
3 43 (4.88%) Accessibility
4 25 (2.83%) GDPR
5 10 (1.13%) GRC
5 10 (1.13%) NIST
6 7 (0.79%) SLA
7 6 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 6 (0.68%) WCAG
8 5 (0.57%) GxP
8 5 (0.57%) ISO 20022
8 5 (0.57%) Solvency II
9 4 (0.45%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 4 (0.45%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.34%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 3 (0.34%) HL7
10 3 (0.34%) PSD2
11 2 (0.23%) ISO 15022
11 2 (0.23%) SNOMED CT
11 2 (0.23%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 22 (2.49%) Docker
2 11 (1.25%) Active Directory
3 4 (0.45%) Virtual Desktop
4 2 (0.23%) IAG
4 2 (0.23%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.11%) Ceph
5 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 21 (2.38%) Kubernetes
2 16 (1.81%) Ansible
3 13 (1.47%) Terraform
4 7 (0.79%) SCCM
5 6 (0.68%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (0.57%) HP Quality Center
7 2 (0.23%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.11%) Argo
8 1 (0.11%) CASB
8 1 (0.11%) Grafana
8 1 (0.11%) HP ALM
8 1 (0.11%) Kibana
Vendors
1 127 (14.40%) Microsoft
2 83 (9.41%) Salesforce
3 54 (6.12%) ServiceNow
4 49 (5.56%) SAP
5 22 (2.49%) Oracle
6 20 (2.27%) Databricks
7 12 (1.36%) Adobe
7 12 (1.36%) Google
8 10 (1.13%) Cisco
8 10 (1.13%) Splunk
8 10 (1.13%) Zscaler
9 9 (1.02%) Workday
10 8 (0.91%) Pega
11 6 (0.68%) Fortinet
11 6 (0.68%) Guidewire
11 6 (0.68%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
12 5 (0.57%) Citrix
12 5 (0.57%) Cognizant
12 5 (0.57%) CyberArk
13 4 (0.45%) IBM