Business Analyst Contract Job Trends

Business Analyst (BA)
UK

The median Business Analyst (BA) daily rate in the UK is £500, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 7 October 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 59 41 51
Rank change year-on-year -18 +10 -15
Contract jobs requiring a Business Analyst 2,076 1,643 1,450
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.78% 4.98% 3.85%
As % of the Job Titles category 4.11% 5.48% 4.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,381 1,135 1,066
10th Percentile £363 £350 £363
25th Percentile £425 £410 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year - -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £619
90th Percentile £663 £725 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +5.56% - -5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 9 12
10th Percentile £27.85 £27.13 £20.69
25th Percentile £35.94 £31.49 £38.21
Median hourly rate £61.50 £32.89 £58.25
Median % change year-on-year +86.99% -43.54% +2.19%
75th Percentile £77.65 £40.00 £75.94
90th Percentile £104.00 £59.19 £80.55
UK excluding London median hourly rate £66.90 £40.00 £34.80
% change year-on-year +67.25% +14.96% -45.45%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 50,571 29,988 35,006
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.10% 90.83% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,735 18,924 21,160
10th Percentile £325 £277 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £638 £621 £638
90th Percentile £736 £725 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4,035 1,621 1,511
10th Percentile £14.42 £13.75 £14.99
25th Percentile £19.50 £17.30 £20.75
Median hourly rate £41.71 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +65.84% -40.82% -4.49%
75th Percentile £67.50 £50.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.00 £74.87
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.71 £25.08 £43.00
% change year-on-year +66.34% -41.69% -2.05%

Business Analyst
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Business Analyst' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Business Analyst job vacancy trend in the UK

Business Analyst
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK

Business Analyst
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Business Analyst over the 6 months to 7 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Business Analyst in the UK

Business Analyst
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Business Analyst job vacancies in the UK

Business Analyst
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Business Analyst over the 6 months to 7 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Business Analyst in the UK

Business Analyst
Top 18 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Business Analyst within the UK over the 6 months to 7 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
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -21 1,740 £513 +2.50% 1,173
London -16 1,003 £525 -5.19% 538
UK excluding London -8 861 £475 +5.56% 740
Work from Home -9 638 £500 - 513
North of England -18 249 £463 +8.82% 202
South East -7 184 £500 +2.56% 189
Midlands -5 166 £450 +20.00% 123
West Midlands +15 130 £450 -5.26% 82
North West -15 115 £447 +3.95% 111
Scotland +4 113 £465 +8.90% 59
Yorkshire -22 97 £463 +12.12% 65
South West +2 88 £484 +5.22% 58
North East -17 38 £525 +31.09% 26
East Midlands -30 35 £460 +28.49% 41
Wales -2 30 £448 +2.29% 16
East of England -20 29 £450 - 50
Northern Ireland +6 12 £388 -26.19% 43
Channel Islands -4 2 £550 +18.92% 3

Business Analyst Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 7 October 2026, Business Analyst contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Business Analyst in the job title.

1 818 (39.40%) Stakeholder Management
2 770 (37.09%) Business Analysis
3 720 (34.68%) Requirements Gathering
4 700 (33.72%) Agile
5 635 (30.59%) Workshop Facilitation
6 573 (27.60%) User Stories
7 419 (20.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 394 (18.98%) User Acceptance Testing
9 351 (16.91%) Acceptance Criteria
10 261 (12.57%) Problem-Solving
11 258 (12.43%) SQL
12 246 (11.85%) JIRA
12 246 (11.85%) Process Improvement
13 240 (11.56%) Validation
14 238 (11.46%) Data Analysis
15 233 (11.22%) Migration
16 223 (10.74%) AI
17 206 (9.92%) Decision-Making
18 197 (9.49%) Microsoft
19 192 (9.25%) Data Modelling
20 185 (8.91%) Security Cleared
21 176 (8.48%) Confluence
22 169 (8.14%) Requirements Workshops
23 168 (8.09%) Scrum
24 167 (8.04%) Azure
24 167 (8.04%) Degree
25 161 (7.76%) GAP Analysis
26 155 (7.47%) Impact Assessments
27 154 (7.42%) Translating Business Requirements
28 153 (7.37%) Project Delivery

Business Analyst Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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
1 176 (8.48%) Confluence
2 26 (1.25%) SharePoint
3 8 (0.39%) CMS
4 4 (0.19%) SAS
5 3 (0.14%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.096%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 2 (0.096%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.096%) Appian
6 2 (0.096%) Camunda
6 2 (0.096%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.048%) Apache
7 1 (0.048%) Apache Superset
7 1 (0.048%) Headless CMS
7 1 (0.048%) Moodle
7 1 (0.048%) Oracle Coherence
7 1 (0.048%) PowerExchange
7 1 (0.048%) Totara
Applications
1 103 (4.96%) MS Visio
2 73 (3.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 37 (1.78%) Microsoft Office
4 28 (1.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
6 4 (0.19%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.19%) Notion
7 1 (0.048%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.048%) InfoPath
7 1 (0.048%) Trello
7 1 (0.048%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 37 (1.78%) Dynamics CRM
2 32 (1.54%) SAP S/4HANA
3 17 (0.82%) Salesforce CRM
4 13 (0.63%) Oracle Receivables
5 12 (0.58%) Oracle Payables
6 11 (0.53%) Aladdin
6 11 (0.53%) Oracle EBS
7 9 (0.43%) Endur
8 8 (0.39%) Maximo
8 8 (0.39%) Oracle General Ledger
9 6 (0.29%) Workday HCM
10 5 (0.24%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
10 5 (0.24%) SAP ERP
10 5 (0.24%) SAP FI
10 5 (0.24%) SAP HR
11 4 (0.19%) HFM
11 4 (0.19%) NetSuite
11 4 (0.19%) Oracle Financials
11 4 (0.19%) SAP CO
11 4 (0.19%) SAP SCM
Cloud Services
1 167 (8.04%) Azure
2 130 (6.26%) Power Platform
3 87 (4.19%) Azure DevOps
4 57 (2.75%) Dynamics 365
5 55 (2.65%) AWS
6 34 (1.64%) SaaS
7 28 (1.35%) Lucidchart
8 26 (1.25%) Salesforce Service Cloud
8 26 (1.25%) Snowflake
9 25 (1.20%) Miro
10 23 (1.11%) Microsoft 365
11 19 (0.92%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
12 14 (0.67%) GCP
12 14 (0.67%) SuccessFactors
13 12 (0.58%) Entra ID
13 12 (0.58%) Figma
14 11 (0.53%) Microsoft Copilot
15 10 (0.48%) Microsoft Purview
16 9 (0.43%) Power Automate
17 8 (0.39%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 8 (0.39%) Network Security
2 5 (0.24%) Intranet
3 4 (0.19%) Wireless
4 3 (0.14%) DNS
4 3 (0.14%) Wi-Fi
5 2 (0.096%) 802.11
5 2 (0.096%) Cisco ISE
5 2 (0.096%) PBX
5 2 (0.096%) VoIP
5 2 (0.096%) VPN
5 2 (0.096%) WAN
5 2 (0.096%) Wireless Security
5 2 (0.096%) WLAN
6 1 (0.048%) 5G
6 1 (0.048%) DNSSEC
6 1 (0.048%) Mobile Backhaul
6 1 (0.048%) Radio Access Network
6 1 (0.048%) SD-WAN
6 1 (0.048%) TETRA
6 1 (0.048%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 111 (5.35%) Power BI
2 48 (2.31%) Data Warehouse
3 43 (2.07%) Metadata
4 37 (1.78%) Data Lake
5 19 (0.92%) Tableau
6 10 (0.48%) Semantic Layer
7 9 (0.43%) Relational Database
8 7 (0.34%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (0.29%) Data Mining
9 6 (0.29%) GIS
9 6 (0.29%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 6 (0.29%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 6 (0.29%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 5 (0.24%) MongoDB
10 5 (0.24%) SQL Server
11 4 (0.19%) Electronic Patient Records
11 4 (0.19%) Looker
12 3 (0.14%) Big Data
12 3 (0.14%) Oracle Database
12 3 (0.14%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 246 (11.85%) JIRA
2 3 (0.14%) Balsamiq
3 2 (0.096%) Eclipse
3 2 (0.096%) GitLab
3 2 (0.096%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.048%) Hudson
4 1 (0.048%) Oracle Forms
4 1 (0.048%) Rational DOORS
General
1 710 (34.20%) Finance
2 649 (31.26%) Social Skills
3 437 (21.05%) Analytical Skills
4 281 (13.54%) Banking
5 185 (8.91%) Public Sector
6 164 (7.90%) Documentation Skills
7 135 (6.50%) Retail
8 90 (4.34%) Front Office
9 72 (3.47%) Investment Banking
10 71 (3.42%) Legal
11 57 (2.75%) Influencing Skills
12 56 (2.70%) Manufacturing
13 48 (2.31%) Presentation Skills
14 38 (1.83%) Local Government
15 35 (1.69%) Back Office
16 34 (1.64%) Organisational Skills
17 33 (1.59%) Billing
18 31 (1.49%) Financial Institution
19 29 (1.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
20 28 (1.35%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (1.30%) Oracle Fusion
2 17 (0.82%) JSON
3 16 (0.77%) Middleware
3 16 (0.77%) XML
4 10 (0.48%) ADO
5 6 (0.29%) SailPoint
6 5 (0.24%) EDI
6 5 (0.24%) FHIR
6 5 (0.24%) Gherkin
6 5 (0.24%) Terraform
7 4 (0.19%) 802.1X
7 4 (0.19%) OpenAPI
7 4 (0.19%) Swagger
8 3 (0.14%) FIX Protocol
8 3 (0.14%) STL
9 2 (0.096%) Microsoft Graph
9 2 (0.096%) REST
9 2 (0.096%) SAP ALE
9 2 (0.096%) VML
9 2 (0.096%) WebAuthn
Miscellaneous
1 200 (9.63%) Product Ownership
2 92 (4.43%) Onboarding
3 54 (2.60%) Derivative
4 49 (2.36%) Data Protection Act
5 40 (1.93%) Data Structures
5 40 (1.93%) Legacy Systems
6 35 (1.69%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 31 (1.49%) Analytical Mindset
7 31 (1.49%) Management Information System
8 29 (1.40%) Fixed Income
9 28 (1.35%) NHS
10 26 (1.25%) Reference Data
11 22 (1.06%) Credit Risk
12 21 (1.01%) Equities
12 21 (1.01%) Operational Technology
13 20 (0.96%) Taxonomies
14 17 (0.82%) AI Agents
14 17 (0.82%) FMCG
15 16 (0.77%) Hedge funds
15 16 (0.77%) Market Risk
Operating Systems
1 15 (0.72%) Windows
2 4 (0.19%) Android
3 3 (0.14%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.048%) Linux
4 1 (0.048%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 818 (39.40%) Stakeholder Management
2 770 (37.09%) Business Analysis
3 720 (34.68%) Requirements Gathering
4 700 (33.72%) Agile
5 635 (30.59%) Workshop Facilitation
6 573 (27.60%) User Stories
7 419 (20.18%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 394 (18.98%) User Acceptance Testing
9 351 (16.91%) Acceptance Criteria
10 261 (12.57%) Problem-Solving
11 246 (11.85%) Process Improvement
12 240 (11.56%) Validation
13 238 (11.46%) Data Analysis
14 233 (11.22%) Migration
15 223 (10.74%) AI
16 206 (9.92%) Decision-Making
17 192 (9.25%) Data Modelling
18 169 (8.14%) Requirements Workshops
19 168 (8.09%) Scrum
20 161 (7.76%) GAP Analysis
Programming Languages
1 258 (12.43%) SQL
2 31 (1.49%) Python
3 15 (0.72%) Korn
4 9 (0.43%) Java
5 5 (0.24%) PL/SQL
6 2 (0.096%) C#
6 2 (0.096%) R
6 2 (0.096%) T-SQL
7 1 (0.048%) ABAP
7 1 (0.048%) C
7 1 (0.048%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 1 (0.048%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.048%) Kusto Query Language
7 1 (0.048%) Ruby
7 1 (0.048%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 185 (8.91%) Security Cleared
2 167 (8.04%) Degree
3 145 (6.98%) SC Cleared
4 55 (2.65%) BPSS Clearance
5 38 (1.83%) IIBA
6 35 (1.69%) CBAP
7 27 (1.30%) PMI Certification
8 23 (1.11%) ACCA
9 22 (1.06%) CIMA
10 17 (0.82%) PMP
11 12 (0.58%) DV Cleared
11 12 (0.58%) FFIEC
12 10 (0.48%) ISEB
13 9 (0.43%) Microsoft Certification
14 7 (0.34%) ISTQB
15 6 (0.29%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 6 (0.29%) Master's Degree
16 5 (0.24%) Computer Science Degree
17 4 (0.19%) APMG
17 4 (0.19%) CSPO
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 148 (7.13%) Data Quality
2 103 (4.96%) QA
3 31 (1.49%) GDPR
4 23 (1.11%) NIST
5 21 (1.01%) MiFID
6 20 (0.96%) PMO
7 17 (0.82%) Accessibility
8 15 (0.72%) EMIR
9 14 (0.67%) GRC
9 14 (0.67%) IFRS
9 14 (0.67%) ISO 20022
10 13 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
11 12 (0.58%) COBIT
11 12 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 10 (0.48%) Basel III
13 7 (0.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 5 (0.24%) GxP
14 5 (0.24%) HL7
14 5 (0.24%) SEPA
15 4 (0.19%) ISO 15022
System Software
1 14 (0.67%) Active Directory
2 8 (0.39%) Virtual Desktop
3 6 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.096%) Docker
Systems Management
1 9 (0.43%) Kubernetes
2 3 (0.14%) HP ALM
3 2 (0.096%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.048%) Autotask
4 1 (0.048%) Grafana
4 1 (0.048%) Kibana
Vendors
1 197 (9.49%) Microsoft
2 132 (6.36%) SAP
3 115 (5.54%) Salesforce
4 75 (3.61%) ServiceNow
5 69 (3.32%) Oracle
6 33 (1.59%) Murex
7 30 (1.45%) Databricks
8 21 (1.01%) Workday
9 18 (0.87%) CyberArk
10 15 (0.72%) Ariba
10 15 (0.72%) IBM
11 13 (0.63%) Bloomberg
11 13 (0.63%) Guidewire
11 13 (0.63%) IFS
12 11 (0.53%) Charles River
13 10 (0.48%) Pega
14 8 (0.39%) Calypso
15 7 (0.34%) Avaloq
15 7 (0.34%) Infor
15 7 (0.34%) Informatica