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 28 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 128 150 160
Rank change year-on-year +22 +10 -40
Contract jobs citing User Stories 884 489 565
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.03% 1.92% 1.51%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.38% 2.10% 1.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 600 317 381
10th Percentile £357 £358 £350
25th Percentile £413 £416 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £513 £535
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -4.21% +1.90%
75th Percentile £576 £625 £588
90th Percentile £650 £725 £638
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +0.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 2 6
10th Percentile £35.00 £54.90 £31.71
25th Percentile £67.50 £57.00 £32.03
Median hourly rate £72.50 £61.75 £33.04
Median % change year-on-year +17.41% +86.92% -48.38%
75th Percentile £83.00 £67.75 £57.77
90th Percentile £90.57 £70.60 £69.25
UK median hourly rate £73.38 £53.50 £33.04
% change year-on-year +37.16% +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 37,130 23,233 31,970
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 85.37% 91.23% 85.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,419 14,972 20,715
10th Percentile £325 £300 £304
25th Percentile £418 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.97% -1.90% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £729 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £515 £504 £525
% change year-on-year +2.23% -4.05% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,325 1,147 2,335
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.20 £12.79
25th Percentile £21.00 £17.87 £16.06
Median hourly rate £47.00 £25.50 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +84.31% -33.11% +1.65%
75th Percentile £68.55 £55.00 £61.60
90th Percentile £82.25 £72.50 £73.55
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £37.50
% change year-on-year +74.79% -32.93% +2.63%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 +26 508 £525 -1.18% 93
North of England -21 121 £475 +2.70% 40
Midlands -10 99 £475 +2.98% 20
West Midlands -6 77 £475 +2.70% 13
South East -29 74 £450 -11.11% 63
North West -24 60 £432 -18.20% 21
Yorkshire -29 42 £505 +15.43% 14
South West -15 40 £485 -0.51% 18
East of England -12 27 £525 +23.46% 7
East Midlands -13 22 £459 +6.07% 7
North East -27 20 £425 -2.02% 5
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
1 151 (17.08%) Confluence
2 23 (2.60%) CMS
3 16 (1.81%) SharePoint
4 7 (0.79%) 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 41 (4.64%) MS Visio
2 38 (4.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 22 (2.49%) Microsoft Office
4 16 (1.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.68%) Notion
6 3 (0.34%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.11%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.11%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.11%) InVision
7 1 (0.11%) Sketch
7 1 (0.11%) Trello
7 1 (0.11%) Zeplin
Business Applications
1 14 (1.58%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.24%) Dynamics CRM
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
1 188 (21.27%) Azure
2 75 (8.48%) AWS
2 75 (8.48%) Azure DevOps
3 66 (7.47%) Power Platform
4 23 (2.60%) GCP
4 23 (2.60%) GitHub
5 22 (2.49%) SaaS
6 20 (2.26%) Dynamics 365
6 20 (2.26%) Salesforce Service Cloud
7 15 (1.70%) Microsoft 365
7 15 (1.70%) PowerApps
7 15 (1.70%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
8 14 (1.58%) Azure Data Factory
8 14 (1.58%) Entra ID
8 14 (1.58%) Power Automate
9 12 (1.36%) Figma
9 12 (1.36%) Lucidchart
10 9 (1.02%) Miro
11 8 (0.90%) Snowflake
12 6 (0.68%) Fivetran
Communications & Networking
1 8 (0.90%) 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%) HTTP
4 2 (0.23%) Wireless
5 1 (0.11%) 5G
5 1 (0.11%) BGP
5 1 (0.11%) FTP
5 1 (0.11%) NFC
5 1 (0.11%) NGFW
5 1 (0.11%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 45 (5.09%) Power BI
2 30 (3.39%) Data Warehouse
3 29 (3.28%) Metadata
4 16 (1.81%) Relational Database
5 10 (1.13%) NoSQL
5 10 (1.13%) Tableau
6 9 (1.02%) Data Lake
6 9 (1.02%) SQL Server
7 8 (0.90%) PostgreSQL
8 7 (0.79%) Delta Lake
9 6 (0.68%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (0.68%) BigQuery
9 6 (0.68%) Parquet
10 5 (0.57%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 4 (0.45%) Big Data
11 4 (0.45%) Data Mining
12 3 (0.34%) OLAP
12 3 (0.34%) Redis
13 2 (0.23%) MongoDB
13 2 (0.23%) Oracle OLAP
Development Applications
1 218 (24.66%) JIRA
2 28 (3.17%) Postman
3 24 (2.71%) Git
4 19 (2.15%) GitLab
5 12 (1.36%) Jenkins
6 11 (1.24%) Selenium
7 9 (1.02%) Gradle
8 7 (0.79%) Team Foundation Server
9 6 (0.68%) Cucumber
9 6 (0.68%) REST Assured
10 5 (0.57%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 5 (0.57%) Balsamiq
11 4 (0.45%) JUnit
11 4 (0.45%) SonarQube
11 4 (0.45%) Zephyr
12 3 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
13 2 (0.23%) Artifactory
13 2 (0.23%) Bitbucket
13 2 (0.23%) SoapUI
13 2 (0.23%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 333 (37.67%) Social Skills
2 229 (25.90%) Analytical Skills
3 226 (25.57%) Finance
4 111 (12.56%) Banking
5 109 (12.33%) Public Sector
6 70 (7.92%) Documentation Skills
7 57 (6.45%) Retail
8 34 (3.85%) Presentation Skills
9 32 (3.62%) Marketing
10 28 (3.17%) Legal
11 22 (2.49%) Investment Banking
12 21 (2.38%) Influencing Skills
13 18 (2.04%) Manufacturing
13 18 (2.04%) Organisational Skills
14 16 (1.81%) Military
14 16 (1.81%) Retail Banking
15 14 (1.58%) Aerospace
16 13 (1.47%) Front Office
17 12 (1.36%) Back Office
17 12 (1.36%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 462 (52.26%) Analyst
2 421 (47.62%) Business Analyst
3 126 (14.25%) Senior
4 117 (13.24%) Product Owner
5 78 (8.82%) Developer
5 78 (8.82%) Senior Analyst
6 72 (8.14%) Senior Business Analyst
7 60 (6.79%) Product Manager
7 60 (6.79%) Technical Analyst
8 52 (5.88%) Technical Business Analyst
9 39 (4.41%) Salesforce Business Analyst
10 38 (4.30%) Salesforce Analyst
11 37 (4.19%) Lead
12 30 (3.39%) Data Analyst
12 30 (3.39%) Implementation Analyst
13 27 (3.05%) Data Business Analyst
14 23 (2.60%) Banking Analyst
15 21 (2.38%) Consultant
15 21 (2.38%) Project Analyst
15 21 (2.38%) Systems Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (3.96%) REST
2 24 (2.71%) JSON
3 18 (2.04%) React
3 18 (2.04%) RESTful
4 16 (1.81%) ADO
5 15 (1.70%) AngularJS
6 14 (1.58%) XML
7 12 (1.36%) Lightning Web Components
8 11 (1.24%) Spring Boot
9 9 (1.02%) .NET
9 9 (1.02%) Middleware
9 9 (1.02%) Node.js
10 8 (0.90%) OAuth
10 8 (0.90%) Oracle Fusion
11 7 (0.79%) CSS
11 7 (0.79%) HTML
11 7 (0.79%) OpenID
11 7 (0.79%) SOAP
11 7 (0.79%) Spring
11 7 (0.79%) VML
Miscellaneous
1 300 (33.94%) Product Ownership
2 32 (3.62%) Onboarding
3 29 (3.28%) Analytical Mindset
4 26 (2.94%) Data Protection Act
5 25 (2.83%) CMDB
6 23 (2.60%) Self-Motivation
7 22 (2.49%) Legacy Systems
8 19 (2.15%) Cloud Native
9 17 (1.92%) Data Structures
10 15 (1.70%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 14 (1.58%) Management Information System
12 13 (1.47%) Virtual Team
13 10 (1.13%) Greenfield Project
13 10 (1.13%) Life Science
13 10 (1.13%) Reinsurance
14 9 (1.02%) AI Agents
15 8 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
16 7 (0.79%) FMCG
16 7 (0.79%) Marketing Technology
16 7 (0.79%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 9 (1.02%) Linux
2 7 (0.79%) Windows
3 5 (0.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 3 (0.34%) Android
4 3 (0.34%) Apple iOS
4 3 (0.34%) CentOS
4 3 (0.34%) Unix
5 1 (0.11%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 555 (62.78%) Agile
2 368 (41.63%) Acceptance Criteria
3 304 (34.39%) Stakeholder Management
4 214 (24.21%) Requirements Gathering
4 214 (24.21%) Scrum
5 192 (21.72%) User Acceptance Testing
6 186 (21.04%) Workshop Facilitation
7 178 (20.14%) DevOps
8 176 (19.91%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 168 (19.00%) Business Analysis
10 156 (17.65%) Problem-Solving
11 152 (17.19%) Roadmaps
12 148 (16.74%) Sprint Planning
13 141 (15.95%) Product Backlog
14 133 (15.05%) Continuous Improvement
15 124 (14.03%) Backlog Management
16 115 (13.01%) Analytics
17 114 (12.90%) Validation
18 113 (12.78%) Data Modelling
19 111 (12.56%) Backlog Prioritisation
Programming Languages
1 120 (13.57%) SQL
2 67 (7.58%) Python
3 44 (4.98%) Java
4 36 (4.07%) JavaScript
5 15 (1.70%) C#
6 9 (1.02%) Apex Code
7 8 (0.90%) TypeScript
8 7 (0.79%) PowerShell
9 6 (0.68%) Korn
10 4 (0.45%) Kotlin
10 4 (0.45%) T-SQL
11 3 (0.34%) R
11 3 (0.34%) Ruby
12 2 (0.23%) Bash
12 2 (0.23%) Google Apps Script
12 2 (0.23%) PHP
12 2 (0.23%) Scala
12 2 (0.23%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.23%) VBA
13 1 (0.11%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 162 (18.33%) Security Cleared
2 132 (14.93%) SC Cleared
3 72 (8.14%) Degree
4 31 (3.51%) BPSS Clearance
5 22 (2.49%) IIBA
6 21 (2.38%) CBAP
7 14 (1.58%) CSPO
8 13 (1.47%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (1.13%) PMI Certification
10 8 (0.90%) CISSP
10 8 (0.90%) ISTQB
11 7 (0.79%) DV Cleared
11 7 (0.79%) Master's Degree
12 5 (0.57%) AWS Certification
12 5 (0.57%) ISEB
12 5 (0.57%) Microsoft Certification
13 4 (0.45%) Azure Certification
14 3 (0.34%) DBS Check
14 3 (0.34%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
14 3 (0.34%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 111 (12.56%) QA
2 53 (6.00%) Data Quality
3 40 (4.52%) Accessibility
4 22 (2.49%) GDPR
5 11 (1.24%) GRC
6 10 (1.13%) NIST
7 8 (0.90%) GxP
8 7 (0.79%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 6 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 6 (0.68%) SLA
10 5 (0.57%) ISO 20022
10 5 (0.57%) Solvency II
10 5 (0.57%) WCAG
11 4 (0.45%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.34%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.34%) HL7
13 2 (0.23%) COBIT
13 2 (0.23%) ISO 15022
13 2 (0.23%) SNOMED CT
13 2 (0.23%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 24 (2.71%) Docker
2 11 (1.24%) 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 26 (2.94%) Kubernetes
2 16 (1.81%) Ansible
2 16 (1.81%) Terraform
3 7 (0.79%) SCCM
4 6 (0.68%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (0.57%) HP Quality Center
6 2 (0.23%) HP ALM
6 2 (0.23%) Jamf Pro
7 1 (0.11%) Argo
7 1 (0.11%) CASB
7 1 (0.11%) Grafana
7 1 (0.11%) Kibana
Vendors
1 121 (13.69%) Microsoft
2 86 (9.73%) Salesforce
3 53 (6.00%) ServiceNow
4 49 (5.54%) SAP
5 20 (2.26%) Databricks
6 19 (2.15%) Oracle
7 17 (1.92%) Google
8 11 (1.24%) Adobe
9 10 (1.13%) Cisco
9 10 (1.13%) Splunk
9 10 (1.13%) Zscaler
10 9 (1.02%) Pega
10 9 (1.02%) Workday
11 6 (0.68%) Fortinet
11 6 (0.68%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
12 5 (0.57%) Citrix
12 5 (0.57%) CyberArk
12 5 (0.57%) ION Trading
12 5 (0.57%) Kronos
13 4 (0.45%) Cognizant