Designer Contract Job Trends

Designer
UK

The median Designer daily rate in the UK is £479, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 February 2026.

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

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 155 162 164
Rank change year-on-year +7 +2 -16
Contract jobs requiring a Designer 719 525 643
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.73% 1.71% 1.47%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.89% 1.84% 1.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 542 357 421
10th Percentile £338 £300 £325
25th Percentile £400 £364 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £479 £475 £489
Median % change year-on-year +0.84% -2.86% -6.86%
75th Percentile £556 £575 £574
90th Percentile £638 £643 £613
UK excluding London median daily rate £454 £455 £465
% change year-on-year -0.22% -2.15% -6.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 9 13
10th Percentile £22.45 £30.32 £15.50
25th Percentile £27.03 £31.50 £45.00
Median hourly rate £50.00 £33.54 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +49.08% -32.92% +21.95%
75th Percentile £56.00 £48.75 £53.00
90th Percentile £64.93 £75.00 £66.77
UK excluding London median hourly rate £50.00 £33.52 £45.21
% change year-on-year +49.16% -25.86% +8.29%

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 38,045 28,496 40,781
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.80% 92.87% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,894 17,862 26,852
10th Percentile £309 £293 £275
25th Percentile £408 £406 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £721 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.32% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,319 828 2,327
10th Percentile £14.61 £16.43 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.50 £16.30
Median hourly rate £33.17 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -5.23% - -10.26%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.68 £75.00 £71.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.00 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -4.62% -7.14% -2.78%

Designer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Designer job vacancy trend in the UK

Designer
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Designer job vacancies in the UK

Designer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Designer over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Designer in the UK

Designer
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Designer job vacancies in the UK

Designer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Designer over the 6 months to 26 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Designer in the UK

Designer
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Designer within the UK over the 6 months to 26 February 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 -15 571 £475 - 187
London +18 333 £475 - 93
UK excluding London -34 258 £454 -0.22% 119
Work from Home -7 228 £475 +5.56% 164
North of England -19 99 £425 +6.12% 27
North West -2 50 £401 +0.25% 19
South East -37 44 £500 -9.09% 44
Scotland +7 37 £450 -1.10% 2
Yorkshire -51 33 £535 +22.22% 1
Midlands -51 32 £400 -1.23% 17
South West -21 29 £460 -4.17% 19
West Midlands -50 26 £375 -20.00% 15
North East -6 16 £400 -11.11% 7
East of England -18 9 £425 -10.53% 11
Wales +3 8 £506 +114.51%
East Midlands -27 6 £402 +0.38% 2
Northern Ireland - 2 £625 -

Designer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 26 February 2026, Designer 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 Designer in the job title.

1 255 (35.47%) Service Design
2 252 (35.05%) User Experience
3 221 (30.74%) Agile
4 204 (28.37%) UX Design
5 202 (28.09%) Accessibility
5 202 (28.09%) Figma
5 202 (28.09%) User Research
6 169 (23.50%) Security Cleared
7 158 (21.97%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
8 156 (21.70%) Prototyping
9 139 (19.33%) SC Cleared
10 129 (17.94%) Interaction Design
11 121 (16.83%) Workshop Facilitation
12 115 (15.99%) Journey Map
13 99 (13.77%) Wireframes
14 96 (13.35%) Usability Testing
15 80 (11.13%) Adobe
16 75 (10.43%) Inclusive Design
17 73 (10.15%) Problem-Solving
18 66 (9.18%) Analytics
19 65 (9.04%) WCAG
20 60 (8.34%) Design Thinking
21 58 (8.07%) Roadmaps
21 58 (8.07%) Stakeholder Engagement
22 56 (7.79%) Stakeholder Management
23 55 (7.65%) AI
24 54 (7.51%) Continuous Improvement
25 52 (7.23%) Sketch
25 52 (7.23%) Storytelling
26 45 (6.26%) Co-Creation

Designer 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 19 (2.64%) CMS
1 19 (2.64%) Confluence
2 8 (1.11%) Appian
3 7 (0.97%) CICS
4 6 (0.83%) Camunda
5 3 (0.42%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.28%) OpenStack
6 2 (0.28%) SharePoint
6 2 (0.28%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.14%) LiveCycle
Applications
1 52 (7.23%) Sketch
2 37 (5.15%) Adobe XD
3 24 (3.34%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 21 (2.92%) Photoshop
5 20 (2.78%) InVision
6 19 (2.64%) Adobe Illustrator
7 13 (1.81%) Adobe After Effects
8 11 (1.53%) InDesign
9 8 (1.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 7 (0.97%) Chatbot
11 6 (0.83%) Microsoft Excel
11 6 (0.83%) Zeplin
12 5 (0.70%) CINEMA 4D
13 4 (0.56%) Adobe Captivate
13 4 (0.56%) Adobe Premiere
13 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Office
13 4 (0.56%) MS Visio
14 3 (0.42%) Spreadsheet
14 3 (0.42%) Trello
15 2 (0.28%) Blender
Business Applications
1 7 (0.97%) SAP ERP
2 5 (0.70%) Dynamics GP
2 5 (0.70%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.42%) Oracle BRM
4 1 (0.14%) Oracle CRM
4 1 (0.14%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.14%) Shopify
4 1 (0.14%) SmartPlant
4 1 (0.14%) Workfront
Cloud Services
1 202 (28.09%) Figma
2 18 (2.50%) AWS
2 18 (2.50%) Miro
2 18 (2.50%) SaaS
3 11 (1.53%) Power Platform
4 10 (1.39%) Adobe Creative Cloud
5 9 (1.25%) Azure
6 5 (0.70%) PowerApps
7 4 (0.56%) ChatGPT
7 4 (0.56%) Copilot Studio
7 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Copilot
8 3 (0.42%) Google Analytics
8 3 (0.42%) Google Workspace
9 2 (0.28%) Asana
9 2 (0.28%) Canva
9 2 (0.28%) Dynamics 365
9 2 (0.28%) Google Gemini
9 2 (0.28%) Microsoft 365
9 2 (0.28%) OpenShift
9 2 (0.28%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 10 (1.39%) Firewall
2 7 (0.97%) Network Security
3 6 (0.83%) SMS
4 3 (0.42%) Broadband
4 3 (0.42%) GPRS
4 3 (0.42%) GSM
4 3 (0.42%) IPv4
4 3 (0.42%) IPv6
4 3 (0.42%) LAN
4 3 (0.42%) TCP/IP
4 3 (0.42%) VLAN
4 3 (0.42%) VPN
5 2 (0.28%) BGP
5 2 (0.28%) Internet
5 2 (0.28%) MPLS
5 2 (0.28%) OSPF
5 2 (0.28%) SNMP
5 2 (0.28%) TACACS
5 2 (0.28%) WAN
5 2 (0.28%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (0.97%) DataStage
2 4 (0.56%) Power BI
3 3 (0.42%) Metadata
4 1 (0.14%) BigQuery
4 1 (0.14%) Electronic Patient Records
4 1 (0.14%) Pinecone
4 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 34 (4.73%) JIRA
2 28 (3.89%) Axure RP
3 3 (0.42%) Git
4 2 (0.28%) Balsamiq
4 2 (0.28%) GitLab
5 1 (0.14%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.14%) Dreamweaver
5 1 (0.14%) Postman
5 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
General
1 187 (26.01%) Social Skills
2 186 (25.87%) Public Sector
3 112 (15.58%) Finance
4 57 (7.93%) Banking
5 27 (3.76%) Marketing
6 22 (3.06%) Analytical Skills
7 17 (2.36%) Influencing Skills
8 14 (1.95%) Publishing
8 14 (1.95%) Retail
9 13 (1.81%) Presentation Skills
10 12 (1.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 12 (1.67%) Telecoms
11 11 (1.53%) Legal
11 11 (1.53%) Pharmaceutical
12 10 (1.39%) Billing
13 7 (0.97%) Advertising
13 7 (0.97%) Local Government
14 6 (0.83%) Manufacturing
15 5 (0.70%) Documentation Skills
15 5 (0.70%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (6.26%) HTML
2 39 (5.42%) CSS
3 10 (1.39%) Middleware
4 6 (0.83%) Framer.js
5 5 (0.70%) .NET
5 5 (0.70%) AngularJS
5 5 (0.70%) React
6 4 (0.56%) Lightning Web Components
7 3 (0.42%) HTML5
7 3 (0.42%) RESTful
7 3 (0.42%) Visualforce
8 2 (0.28%) CSS3
8 2 (0.28%) Sass
9 1 (0.14%) A2A Protocol
9 1 (0.14%) HTML5 Canvas
9 1 (0.14%) Model Context Protocol
9 1 (0.14%) SAP Fiori
9 1 (0.14%) Semantic HTML
9 1 (0.14%) Unity (Game Engine)
9 1 (0.14%) Unity DI Container
Miscellaneous
1 40 (5.56%) Mobile App
2 39 (5.42%) Product Ownership
3 19 (2.64%) Onboarding
4 16 (2.23%) NHS
5 12 (1.67%) Data Centre
5 12 (1.67%) Mainframe
6 11 (1.53%) AI Agents
7 10 (1.39%) Data Protection Act
8 9 (1.25%) Taxonomies
9 8 (1.11%) Animation
9 8 (1.11%) e-Learning
9 8 (1.11%) Graphic Design
10 7 (0.97%) BYOD
10 7 (0.97%) Digital Media
10 7 (0.97%) Management Information System
10 7 (0.97%) Social Media
10 7 (0.97%) VSAM
11 6 (0.83%) Data Structures
11 6 (0.83%) Motion Graphics
11 6 (0.83%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 10 (1.39%) Unix
2 7 (0.97%) AIX
2 7 (0.97%) Linux
2 7 (0.97%) Solaris
3 6 (0.83%) Android
4 5 (0.70%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.14%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.14%) MVS
5 1 (0.14%) VMS
5 1 (0.14%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 255 (35.47%) Service Design
2 252 (35.05%) User Experience
3 221 (30.74%) Agile
4 204 (28.37%) UX Design
5 202 (28.09%) User Research
6 158 (21.97%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
7 156 (21.70%) Prototyping
8 129 (17.94%) Interaction Design
9 121 (16.83%) Workshop Facilitation
10 115 (15.99%) Journey Map
11 99 (13.77%) Wireframes
12 96 (13.35%) Usability Testing
13 75 (10.43%) Inclusive Design
14 73 (10.15%) Problem-Solving
15 66 (9.18%) Analytics
16 60 (8.34%) Design Thinking
17 58 (8.07%) Roadmaps
17 58 (8.07%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 56 (7.79%) Stakeholder Management
19 55 (7.65%) AI
Programming Languages
1 10 (1.39%) Python
2 9 (1.25%) JavaScript
3 7 (0.97%) COBOL
3 7 (0.97%) SQL
4 3 (0.42%) Apex Code
4 3 (0.42%) Java
4 3 (0.42%) Korn
4 3 (0.42%) PL/SQL
4 3 (0.42%) SOQL
5 1 (0.14%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 169 (23.50%) Security Cleared
2 139 (19.33%) SC Cleared
3 44 (6.12%) Degree
4 25 (3.48%) BPSS Clearance
5 16 (2.23%) DV Cleared
6 10 (1.39%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (1.11%) CCNP
8 5 (0.70%) Master's Degree
8 5 (0.70%) SAP Certification
9 4 (0.56%) CISM
9 4 (0.56%) CISSP
9 4 (0.56%) TOGAF Certification
10 3 (0.42%) CCNA
10 3 (0.42%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.42%) JNCIS
11 2 (0.28%) AWS Certification
11 2 (0.28%) CCIE
11 2 (0.28%) JNCIE
12 1 (0.14%) HND
12 1 (0.14%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 202 (28.09%) Accessibility
2 65 (9.04%) WCAG
3 8 (1.11%) GDPR
4 6 (0.83%) QA
5 4 (0.56%) Actionable Recommendations
5 4 (0.56%) NIST
6 3 (0.42%) GMP
6 3 (0.42%) GxP
7 1 (0.14%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.14%) HL7
7 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.14%) SLA
System Software
1 4 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
2 2 (0.28%) VMware NSX
3 1 (0.14%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 3 (0.42%) Nagios
2 2 (0.28%) Ansible
2 2 (0.28%) Terraform
3 1 (0.14%) Network Intrusion Detection System
Vendors
1 80 (11.13%) Adobe
2 31 (4.31%) Microsoft
3 9 (1.25%) Google
3 9 (1.25%) Oracle
3 9 (1.25%) Salesforce
3 9 (1.25%) SAP
3 9 (1.25%) ServiceNow
3 9 (1.25%) VMware
4 8 (1.11%) Cisco
4 8 (1.11%) Juniper
5 7 (0.97%) IBM
5 7 (0.97%) Pega
6 6 (0.83%) Sage
7 5 (0.70%) BiZZdesign
7 5 (0.70%) F5
8 3 (0.42%) Amdocs
8 3 (0.42%) Hopewiser
8 3 (0.42%) Hotjar
8 3 (0.42%) SolarWinds
9 2 (0.28%) Cadence