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 3 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 130 160 141
Rank change year-on-year +30 -19 -21
Contract jobs citing User Stories 791 411 621
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.06% 1.70% 1.65%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.40% 1.87% 1.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 562 265 432
10th Percentile £350 £350 £375
25th Percentile £409 £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 £656 £650
UK median daily rate £494 £490 £530
% change year-on-year +0.82% -7.55% +1.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 2 7
10th Percentile £48.86 £54.90 £31.71
25th Percentile £60.61 £57.00 £32.36
Median hourly rate £71.25 £61.75 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +17.62% -17.97%
75th Percentile £74.26 £67.75 £59.88
90th Percentile - £70.60 £68.60
UK median hourly rate £72.50 £53.50 £52.50
% change year-on-year +35.51% +1.90% -17.97%

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 32,977 22,016 32,582
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 85.99% 90.82% 86.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,149 14,501 21,512
10th Percentile £313 £310 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.81% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £614 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,015 852 2,158
10th Percentile £15.38 £15.00 £12.92
25th Percentile £19.34 £19.96 £15.78
Median hourly rate £37.50 £32.50 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% - -13.33%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.64 £58.69
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.25 £70.66
UK median hourly rate £35.77 £31.76 £32.50
% change year-on-year +12.61% -2.28% -10.41%

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 3 April 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 3 April 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 3 April 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 +49 443 £500 -4.76% 93
North of England +10 144 £480 +6.67% 73
Midlands -18 78 £475 +1.33% 22
North West 0 72 £409 -18.15% 37
South East -47 72 £475 -5.00% 55
West Midlands -27 58 £492 +2.71% 14
Yorkshire -24 52 £510 +27.50% 20
South West -20 28 £475 -17.39% 14
North East 0 22 £475 +18.75% 16
East Midlands -18 20 £401 +1.45% 7
East of England -31 19 £476 +26.80% 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
1 161 (20.35%) Confluence
2 28 (3.54%) SharePoint
3 15 (1.90%) CMS
4 11 (1.39%) Microsoft Exchange
5 9 (1.14%) SAS
6 3 (0.38%) Anypoint
6 3 (0.38%) Camunda
7 2 (0.25%) Drupal
7 2 (0.25%) JBoss
7 2 (0.25%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.25%) Sitecore CMS
7 2 (0.25%) WordPress
8 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.13%) Apache Solr
8 1 (0.13%) SharePoint Server
8 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 47 (5.94%) Microsoft Excel
2 44 (5.56%) MS Visio
3 27 (3.41%) Microsoft Office
4 20 (2.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.63%) Adobe XD
5 5 (0.63%) Sketch
6 4 (0.51%) Notion
7 3 (0.38%) Chatbot
7 3 (0.38%) InVision
7 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
7 3 (0.38%) Zeplin
8 2 (0.25%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 16 (2.02%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.76%) Adobe Campaign
2 6 (0.76%) NetSuite
2 6 (0.76%) Payment Gateway
2 6 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (0.51%) Eloqua
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle Financials
4 3 (0.38%) Salesforce CRM
4 3 (0.38%) Temenos T24
5 2 (0.25%) Actimize
5 2 (0.25%) Aladdin
5 2 (0.25%) Dynamics AX
5 2 (0.25%) Exchequer
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Receivables
5 2 (0.25%) Primavera
5 2 (0.25%) ProductWriter
5 2 (0.25%) SAP BPC
5 2 (0.25%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 127 (16.06%) Azure
2 70 (8.85%) AWS
2 70 (8.85%) Power Platform
3 53 (6.70%) Azure DevOps
4 26 (3.29%) GCP
5 25 (3.16%) Microsoft 365
5 25 (3.16%) Salesforce Service Cloud
6 23 (2.91%) GitHub
7 22 (2.78%) Dynamics 365
8 21 (2.65%) PowerApps
9 20 (2.53%) Power Automate
10 18 (2.28%) SaaS
11 14 (1.77%) Figma
12 13 (1.64%) Entra ID
12 13 (1.64%) Lucidchart
12 13 (1.64%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
13 12 (1.52%) Miro
14 10 (1.26%) Azure Data Factory
14 10 (1.26%) GitHub Actions
15 9 (1.14%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.39%) WebEx
2 9 (1.14%) Firewall
3 8 (1.01%) Network Security
4 5 (0.63%) DNS
5 4 (0.51%) FTP
5 4 (0.51%) HTTP
6 3 (0.38%) BGP
6 3 (0.38%) VLAN
7 2 (0.25%) Software-Defined Networking
8 1 (0.13%) Cisco IPT
8 1 (0.13%) NGFW
8 1 (0.13%) VPN
8 1 (0.13%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 53 (6.70%) Power BI
2 27 (3.41%) Data Warehouse
3 19 (2.40%) Tableau
4 16 (2.02%) Metadata
5 15 (1.90%) BigQuery
6 13 (1.64%) SQL Server
7 11 (1.39%) PostgreSQL
8 10 (1.26%) Relational Database
9 9 (1.14%) NoSQL
10 6 (0.76%) Amazon Athena
10 6 (0.76%) Data Lake
11 5 (0.63%) Delta Lake
12 4 (0.51%) Big Data
13 3 (0.38%) Amazon RDS
13 3 (0.38%) Data Mining
13 3 (0.38%) MongoDB
13 3 (0.38%) OLAP
14 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database
14 2 (0.25%) Oracle OLAP
14 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 204 (25.79%) JIRA
2 21 (2.65%) Jenkins
2 21 (2.65%) Postman
3 13 (1.64%) Git
4 11 (1.39%) Selenium
5 10 (1.26%) Cucumber
6 9 (1.14%) Zephyr
7 8 (1.01%) GitLab
7 8 (1.01%) JUnit
8 6 (0.76%) SonarQube
9 5 (0.63%) Axure RP
9 5 (0.63%) Balsamiq
9 5 (0.63%) JMeter
9 5 (0.63%) REST Assured
9 5 (0.63%) TeamCity
9 5 (0.63%) TestRail
10 4 (0.51%) Sonatype Nexus
10 4 (0.51%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 3 (0.38%) Artifactory
11 3 (0.38%) Cypress.io
General
1 324 (40.96%) Social Skills
2 208 (26.30%) Analytical Skills
2 208 (26.30%) Finance
3 108 (13.65%) Public Sector
4 81 (10.24%) Banking
5 65 (8.22%) Documentation Skills
6 41 (5.18%) Presentation Skills
6 41 (5.18%) Retail
7 31 (3.92%) Marketing
8 30 (3.79%) Legal
9 22 (2.78%) Influencing Skills
10 15 (1.90%) Front Office
10 15 (1.90%) Organisational Skills
11 13 (1.64%) Financial Institution
11 13 (1.64%) Military
12 10 (1.26%) Investment Banking
12 10 (1.26%) Retail Banking
13 9 (1.14%) Back Office
14 8 (1.01%) Pharmaceutical
14 8 (1.01%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 434 (54.87%) Analyst
2 402 (50.82%) Business Analyst
3 118 (14.92%) Senior
4 85 (10.75%) Product Owner
5 79 (9.99%) Senior Analyst
6 68 (8.60%) Senior Business Analyst
7 52 (6.57%) Developer
8 41 (5.18%) Technical Analyst
9 40 (5.06%) Product Manager
10 39 (4.93%) Salesforce Business Analyst
10 39 (4.93%) Technical Business Analyst
11 38 (4.80%) Salesforce Analyst
12 28 (3.54%) Lead
13 27 (3.41%) Data Analyst
14 24 (3.03%) SC Cleared Business Analyst
15 23 (2.91%) Data Business Analyst
15 23 (2.91%) Financial Analyst
16 22 (2.78%) Designer
17 21 (2.65%) Implementation Analyst
18 20 (2.53%) Finance Business Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (3.79%) REST
2 17 (2.15%) ADO
3 16 (2.02%) XML
4 15 (1.90%) React
5 14 (1.77%) RESTful
6 11 (1.39%) JSON
6 11 (1.39%) XMPP
7 10 (1.26%) HTML
8 9 (1.14%) Kafka
8 9 (1.14%) Node.js
8 9 (1.14%) VML
9 8 (1.01%) Apache NiFi
9 8 (1.01%) CSS
10 7 (0.88%) AngularJS
10 7 (0.88%) Lightning Web Components
10 7 (0.88%) Spring
10 7 (0.88%) Web Services
11 6 (0.76%) FHIR
11 6 (0.76%) Spring Boot
12 5 (0.63%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 260 (32.87%) Product Ownership
2 23 (2.91%) Analytical Mindset
2 23 (2.91%) Onboarding
3 20 (2.53%) Self-Motivation
4 17 (2.15%) Legacy Systems
5 15 (1.90%) CMDB
5 15 (1.90%) Data Protection Act
5 15 (1.90%) PMI
6 13 (1.64%) Cloud Native
6 13 (1.64%) Management Information System
7 12 (1.52%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 11 (1.39%) Data Structures
9 9 (1.14%) NHS
10 8 (1.01%) SWIFT Messaging Network
11 7 (0.88%) Low-Code
11 7 (0.88%) Marketing Technology
11 7 (0.88%) Mobile App
11 7 (0.88%) Reinsurance
12 6 (0.76%) Hybrid Cloud
12 6 (0.76%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 20 (2.53%) Windows
2 13 (1.64%) Linux
3 8 (1.01%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 8 (1.01%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 514 (64.98%) Agile
2 314 (39.70%) Acceptance Criteria
3 248 (31.35%) Stakeholder Management
4 199 (25.16%) Requirements Gathering
5 197 (24.91%) Workshop Facilitation
6 194 (24.53%) Scrum
7 183 (23.14%) Business Analysis
8 154 (19.47%) Problem-Solving
8 154 (19.47%) User Acceptance Testing
9 147 (18.58%) DevOps
10 141 (17.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 130 (16.43%) Roadmaps
12 119 (15.04%) Sprint Planning
13 107 (13.53%) Data Modelling
13 107 (13.53%) Migration
14 99 (12.52%) Backlog Management
15 94 (11.88%) Product Backlog
16 88 (11.13%) Continuous Improvement
17 87 (11.00%) Analytics
18 84 (10.62%) Use Case
Programming Languages
1 98 (12.39%) SQL
2 59 (7.46%) Python
3 32 (4.05%) Java
4 21 (2.65%) JavaScript
5 17 (2.15%) PowerShell
6 14 (1.77%) C#
7 12 (1.52%) Bash
8 9 (1.14%) Perl
8 9 (1.14%) TypeScript
9 8 (1.01%) Scala
10 6 (0.76%) Korn
11 5 (0.63%) Apex Code
12 4 (0.51%) T-SQL
12 4 (0.51%) VBA
13 3 (0.38%) XPath
14 2 (0.25%) Google Apps Script
14 2 (0.25%) Kotlin
14 2 (0.25%) PHP
14 2 (0.25%) PL/SQL
15 1 (0.13%) R
Qualifications
1 159 (20.10%) Security Cleared
2 131 (16.56%) SC Cleared
3 89 (11.25%) Degree
4 40 (5.06%) CBAP
5 31 (3.92%) BPSS Clearance
5 31 (3.92%) IIBA
6 22 (2.78%) PMI Certification
7 19 (2.40%) CSPO
8 11 (1.39%) Master's Degree
9 8 (1.01%) PMP
10 7 (0.88%) DV Cleared
11 6 (0.76%) CCDP
11 6 (0.76%) CCNA
11 6 (0.76%) CCNP
11 6 (0.76%) Cisco Certification
11 6 (0.76%) ISEB
11 6 (0.76%) ISTQB
11 6 (0.76%) MBA
12 5 (0.63%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (0.51%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 114 (14.41%) QA
2 41 (5.18%) Accessibility
3 40 (5.06%) Data Quality
4 23 (2.91%) GDPR
5 14 (1.77%) SLA
6 13 (1.64%) WCAG
7 9 (1.14%) PSD2
8 7 (0.88%) NIST
8 7 (0.88%) PCI DSS
9 6 (0.76%) GxP
9 6 (0.76%) HL7
9 6 (0.76%) ISO 8583
10 4 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 3 (0.38%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.38%) GMP
11 3 (0.38%) ISO 20022
11 3 (0.38%) SNOMED CT
12 2 (0.25%) EU AI Act
12 2 (0.25%) GRC
12 2 (0.25%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 19 (2.40%) Docker
2 13 (1.64%) Active Directory
3 6 (0.76%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.13%) Ceph
4 1 (0.13%) IAG
4 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.13%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 25 (3.16%) Kubernetes
2 12 (1.52%) Terraform
3 11 (1.39%) Ansible
4 7 (0.88%) SCCM
5 5 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 5 (0.63%) HP Quality Center
6 4 (0.51%) NetBackup
6 4 (0.51%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.38%) Grafana
7 3 (0.38%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.38%) Puppet
8 2 (0.25%) CASB
8 2 (0.25%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.25%) HP ALM
8 2 (0.25%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.13%) Argo
9 1 (0.13%) CloudHub
9 1 (0.13%) Kibana
Vendors
1 123 (15.55%) Microsoft
2 86 (10.87%) Salesforce
3 46 (5.82%) ServiceNow
4 39 (4.93%) SAP
5 28 (3.54%) Oracle
6 21 (2.65%) Cisco
7 17 (2.15%) Databricks
8 16 (2.02%) Adobe
9 14 (1.77%) Google
10 13 (1.64%) Citrix
11 12 (1.52%) Red Hat
11 12 (1.52%) VMware
12 10 (1.26%) MuleSoft
13 9 (1.14%) Pega
13 9 (1.14%) Splunk
14 8 (1.01%) Workday
14 8 (1.01%) Zscaler
15 7 (0.88%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
16 6 (0.76%) Guidewire
16 6 (0.76%) Zuora