Designer Contract Job Trends

Designer
UK

The median Designer daily rate in the UK is £480, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 27 February 2026.

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

6 months to
27 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 160 166 161
Rank change year-on-year +6 -5 -16
Contract jobs requiring a Designer 714 521 644
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.72% 1.70% 1.46%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.87% 1.83% 1.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 539 355 422
10th Percentile £348 £300 £325
25th Percentile £400 £370 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £480 £475 £488
Median % change year-on-year +1.05% -2.71% -7.00%
75th Percentile £556 £575 £573
90th Percentile £638 £645 £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 8 9 13
10th Percentile £22.18 £30.32 £15.50
25th Percentile £26.02 £31.50 £45.00
Median hourly rate £40.83 £33.54 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +21.72% -32.92% +21.95%
75th Percentile £53.12 £48.75 £53.00
90th Percentile £58.33 £75.00 £66.77
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.05 £33.52 £45.21
% change year-on-year +16.48% -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 38,124 28,451 41,052
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.79% 92.87% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,974 17,854 27,035
10th Percentile £309 £290 £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 £720 £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 2,315 836 2,340
10th Percentile £14.64 £16.38 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.49 £16.30
Median hourly rate £33.50 £34.31 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.35% -1.99% -12.50%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £72.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £31.50 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -3.08% -7.14% -6.67%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 +1 565 £475 - 168
London +9 330 £475 - 83
UK excluding London -35 256 £454 -0.22% 105
Work from Home +2 227 £475 +5.56% 96
North of England -21 98 £425 +6.12% 24
North West -1 49 £402 +0.50% 17
South East -35 43 £500 -9.09% 33
Scotland +11 37 £450 -1.10% 3
Yorkshire -53 33 £535 +22.22% 1
Midlands -50 32 £400 -1.23% 19
South West -19 29 £460 -4.17% 17
West Midlands -46 26 £375 -20.00% 18
North East -9 16 £400 -11.11% 6
East of England -29 9 £425 -10.53% 10
Wales +4 8 £506 +114.51%
East Midlands -24 6 £402 +0.38% 1
Northern Ireland - 2 £625 -

Designer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 27 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.

1 253 (35.43%) Service Design
2 247 (34.59%) User Experience
3 218 (30.53%) Agile
4 201 (28.15%) User Research
5 200 (28.01%) UX Design
6 198 (27.73%) Accessibility
6 198 (27.73%) Figma
7 170 (23.81%) Security Cleared
8 157 (21.99%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
9 154 (21.57%) Prototyping
10 140 (19.61%) SC Cleared
11 126 (17.65%) Interaction Design
12 121 (16.95%) Workshop Facilitation
13 114 (15.97%) Journey Map
14 99 (13.87%) Wireframes
15 94 (13.17%) Usability Testing
16 79 (11.06%) Adobe
17 73 (10.22%) Inclusive Design
17 73 (10.22%) Problem-Solving
18 65 (9.10%) Analytics
19 64 (8.96%) WCAG
20 59 (8.26%) Design Thinking
20 59 (8.26%) Roadmaps
21 58 (8.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
22 56 (7.84%) Stakeholder Management
23 55 (7.70%) AI
24 53 (7.42%) Continuous Improvement
25 52 (7.28%) Storytelling
26 50 (7.00%) Sketch
27 44 (6.16%) 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 18 (2.52%) CMS
1 18 (2.52%) Confluence
2 8 (1.12%) Appian
2 8 (1.12%) CICS
3 6 (0.84%) Camunda
4 3 (0.42%) Tomcat
5 2 (0.28%) OpenStack
5 2 (0.28%) SharePoint
5 2 (0.28%) Umbraco
6 1 (0.14%) LiveCycle
Applications
1 50 (7.00%) Sketch
2 36 (5.04%) Adobe XD
3 24 (3.36%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 21 (2.94%) Photoshop
5 20 (2.80%) InVision
6 19 (2.66%) Adobe Illustrator
7 13 (1.82%) Adobe After Effects
8 11 (1.54%) InDesign
9 8 (1.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 7 (0.98%) Chatbot
11 6 (0.84%) Microsoft Excel
11 6 (0.84%) 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 (0.98%) 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
1 198 (27.73%) Figma
2 18 (2.52%) AWS
3 17 (2.38%) Miro
3 17 (2.38%) SaaS
4 11 (1.54%) Power Platform
5 10 (1.40%) Adobe Creative Cloud
6 9 (1.26%) Azure
7 5 (0.70%) PowerApps
8 4 (0.56%) ChatGPT
8 4 (0.56%) Copilot Studio
8 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Copilot
9 3 (0.42%) Google Analytics
9 3 (0.42%) Google Workspace
10 2 (0.28%) Asana
10 2 (0.28%) Canva
10 2 (0.28%) Contentful
10 2 (0.28%) Dynamics 365
10 2 (0.28%) Google Gemini
10 2 (0.28%) Microsoft 365
10 2 (0.28%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.54%) Firewall
2 7 (0.98%) Network Security
3 6 (0.84%) 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 8 (1.12%) 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 33 (4.62%) JIRA
2 28 (3.92%) 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
1 186 (26.05%) Public Sector
1 186 (26.05%) Social Skills
2 111 (15.55%) Finance
3 58 (8.12%) Banking
4 27 (3.78%) Marketing
5 22 (3.08%) Analytical Skills
6 18 (2.52%) Influencing Skills
7 14 (1.96%) Publishing
7 14 (1.96%) Retail
8 13 (1.82%) Presentation Skills
9 12 (1.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (1.68%) Telecoms
10 11 (1.54%) Pharmaceutical
11 10 (1.40%) Billing
11 10 (1.40%) Legal
12 7 (0.98%) Advertising
12 7 (0.98%) Local Government
13 5 (0.70%) Documentation Skills
13 5 (0.70%) Manufacturing
13 5 (0.70%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (6.16%) HTML
2 38 (5.32%) CSS
3 11 (1.54%) Middleware
4 6 (0.84%) 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 39 (5.46%) Mobile App
1 39 (5.46%) Product Ownership
2 17 (2.38%) Onboarding
3 15 (2.10%) NHS
4 13 (1.82%) Data Centre
4 13 (1.82%) Mainframe
5 11 (1.54%) AI Agents
6 10 (1.40%) Data Protection Act
7 9 (1.26%) Taxonomies
8 8 (1.12%) Animation
8 8 (1.12%) BYOD
8 8 (1.12%) Graphic Design
8 8 (1.12%) VSAM
9 7 (0.98%) e-Learning
9 7 (0.98%) Management Information System
9 7 (0.98%) Social Media
10 6 (0.84%) Data Structures
10 6 (0.84%) Digital Media
10 6 (0.84%) Team-Oriented Environment
11 5 (0.70%) Motion Graphics
Operating Systems
1 11 (1.54%) Unix
2 8 (1.12%) AIX
2 8 (1.12%) Linux
2 8 (1.12%) Solaris
3 6 (0.84%) 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
1 253 (35.43%) Service Design
2 247 (34.59%) User Experience
3 218 (30.53%) Agile
4 201 (28.15%) User Research
5 200 (28.01%) UX Design
6 157 (21.99%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
7 154 (21.57%) Prototyping
8 126 (17.65%) Interaction Design
9 121 (16.95%) Workshop Facilitation
10 114 (15.97%) Journey Map
11 99 (13.87%) Wireframes
12 94 (13.17%) Usability Testing
13 73 (10.22%) Inclusive Design
13 73 (10.22%) Problem-Solving
14 65 (9.10%) Analytics
15 59 (8.26%) Design Thinking
15 59 (8.26%) Roadmaps
16 58 (8.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 56 (7.84%) Stakeholder Management
18 55 (7.70%) AI
Programming Languages
1 10 (1.40%) Python
2 9 (1.26%) JavaScript
3 8 (1.12%) COBOL
4 7 (0.98%) SQL
5 3 (0.42%) Apex Code
5 3 (0.42%) Java
5 3 (0.42%) Korn
5 3 (0.42%) PL/SQL
5 3 (0.42%) SOQL
6 1 (0.14%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 170 (23.81%) Security Cleared
2 140 (19.61%) SC Cleared
3 44 (6.16%) Degree
4 25 (3.50%) BPSS Clearance
5 16 (2.24%) DV Cleared
6 10 (1.40%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (1.12%) 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%) PMI Certification
12 1 (0.14%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 198 (27.73%) Accessibility
2 64 (8.96%) WCAG
3 8 (1.12%) GDPR
4 6 (0.84%) 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%) 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 79 (11.06%) Adobe
2 31 (4.34%) Microsoft
3 10 (1.40%) VMware
4 9 (1.26%) Google
4 9 (1.26%) Oracle
4 9 (1.26%) Salesforce
4 9 (1.26%) SAP
4 9 (1.26%) ServiceNow
5 8 (1.12%) Cisco
5 8 (1.12%) IBM
5 8 (1.12%) Juniper
6 7 (0.98%) Pega
7 6 (0.84%) Sage
8 5 (0.70%) BiZZdesign
8 5 (0.70%) F5
9 3 (0.42%) Amdocs
9 3 (0.42%) Hotjar
9 3 (0.42%) SolarWinds
10 2 (0.28%) Atlassian
10 2 (0.28%) Fortinet