Service Desk Analyst Contract Job Trends

Service Desk Analyst
UK

The median Service Desk Analyst daily rate in the UK is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 10 February 2026.

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

6 months to
10 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 397 309 242
Rank change year-on-year -88 -67 +47
Contract jobs requiring a Service Desk Analyst 192 240 447
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.49% 0.78% 0.99%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.53% 0.84% 1.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 73 122 229
10th Percentile £131 £139 £125
25th Percentile £145 £144 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £186 £173
Median % change year-on-year -6.04% +7.66% -1.14%
75th Percentile £214 £210 £208
90th Percentile £294 £250 £280
UK excluding London median daily rate £170 £179 £165
% change year-on-year -4.90% +8.33% +1.23%
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 36 167
10th Percentile £13.80 £14.01 £13.09
25th Percentile £14.38 £14.99 £14.02
Median hourly rate £16.00 £17.50 £14.81
Median % change year-on-year -8.57% +18.16% -4.45%
75th Percentile £19.22 £21.46 £18.00
90th Percentile £23.63 £23.23 £21.46
UK excluding London median hourly rate £16.00 £17.50 £14.80
% change year-on-year -8.57% +18.24% -4.52%

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 36,029 28,524 41,865
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.54% 92.93% 93.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,696 17,486 27,607
10th Percentile £300 £290 £275
25th Percentile £406 £406 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £716 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £478 £490
% change year-on-year -0.63% -2.45% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,191 825 2,307
10th Percentile £14.61 £15.91 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.25 £16.50
Median hourly rate £30.00 £33.50 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.45% -4.29% -1.41%
75th Percentile £62.05 £63.25 £60.75
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.60 £31.76 £35.00
% change year-on-year -6.80% -9.26% -

Service Desk Analyst
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Service Desk Analyst job vacancy trend in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Service Desk Analyst
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Desk Analyst over the 6 months to 10 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Service Desk Analyst in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Service Desk Analyst
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Desk Analyst over the 6 months to 10 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Desk Analyst in the UK

Service Desk Analyst
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 Service Desk Analyst within the UK over the 6 months to 10 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
UK excluding London -77 174 £170 -4.90% 72
England -105 172 £170 -10.53% 70
East of England 0 61 £173 -23.33% 10
North of England -92 34 £169 +12.50% 16
South East -27 28 £175 -12.50% 28
Work from Home -57 26 £131 -25.58% 18
Midlands -45 24 £131 -30.97% 9
North West -43 19 £150 -9.09% 6
East Midlands -21 16 £131 -30.97% 3
London -60 16 £285 +50.00% 5
Scotland +4 12 £190 +16.92% 1
South West -32 10 £194 -3.13% 9
Yorkshire -60 10 £181 +34.26% 7
West Midlands -47 8 £130 -31.58% 6
Wales -5 5 £148 +5.36% 2
North East -20 5 £200 +6.67% 3
Northern Ireland -2 1 - -

Service Desk Analyst Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 10 February 2026, Service Desk 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 Service Desk Analyst in the job title.

1 106 (55.21%) Customer Service
2 66 (34.38%) Microsoft
2 66 (34.38%) Windows
3 60 (31.25%) Active Directory
4 53 (27.60%) Microsoft 365
5 49 (25.52%) ITIL
6 46 (23.96%) Problem-Solving
7 35 (18.23%) Security Cleared
8 32 (16.67%) Windows 10
9 31 (16.15%) SC Cleared
10 29 (15.10%) Microsoft Exchange
11 26 (13.54%) ServiceNow
12 23 (11.98%) Microsoft Office
13 22 (11.46%) ITSM
14 19 (9.90%) Service Management
15 16 (8.33%) SLA
16 15 (7.81%) Android
16 15 (7.81%) Google
16 15 (7.81%) Google Workspace
17 14 (7.29%) DNS
18 13 (6.77%) Apple iOS
18 13 (6.77%) Azure
18 13 (6.77%) Microsoft Intune
18 13 (6.77%) SCCM
18 13 (6.77%) Service Delivery
18 13 (6.77%) VoIP
19 12 (6.25%) Collaborative Working
19 12 (6.25%) Entra ID
19 12 (6.25%) Mac OS
20 11 (5.73%) ITIL Certification

Service Desk 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 29 (15.10%) Microsoft Exchange
2 7 (3.65%) SharePoint
3 3 (1.56%) HCL Notes
4 2 (1.04%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 23 (11.98%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (2.60%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (2.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (1.56%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (1.04%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.52%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 53 (27.60%) Microsoft 365
2 15 (7.81%) Google Workspace
3 13 (6.77%) Azure
4 12 (6.25%) Entra ID
5 10 (5.21%) GCP
6 3 (1.56%) Power Platform
7 1 (0.52%) Cloud Computing
7 1 (0.52%) Mimecast
7 1 (0.52%) OneDrive
7 1 (0.52%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 14 (7.29%) DNS
2 13 (6.77%) VoIP
3 9 (4.69%) DHCP
4 8 (4.17%) TCP/IP
5 6 (3.13%) Wi-Fi
6 4 (2.08%) VPN
7 3 (1.56%) Broadband
8 2 (1.04%) Internet
8 2 (1.04%) Network Security
8 2 (1.04%) Remote Desktop
9 1 (0.52%) LAN
9 1 (0.52%) SAN
9 1 (0.52%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.52%) Power BI
General
1 86 (44.79%) Social Skills
2 21 (10.94%) Romanian Language
3 19 (9.90%) Public Sector
4 12 (6.25%) Polish Language
5 8 (4.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 7 (3.65%) Military
7 6 (3.13%) Analytical Skills
7 6 (3.13%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (2.60%) Legal
8 5 (2.60%) Manufacturing
8 5 (2.60%) Retail
9 4 (2.08%) Finance
9 4 (2.08%) Law
9 4 (2.08%) Local Government
10 2 (1.04%) Banking
10 2 (1.04%) Documentation Skills
10 2 (1.04%) Spanish Language
11 1 (0.52%) Pharmaceutical
11 1 (0.52%) Presentation Skills
11 1 (0.52%) Telecoms
Miscellaneous
1 11 (5.73%) Smartphone
2 10 (5.21%) Management Information System
2 10 (5.21%) Onboarding
3 7 (3.65%) Enterprise Software
4 5 (2.60%) Self-Motivation
5 4 (2.08%) Video Conferencing
6 3 (1.56%) Data Centre
7 2 (1.04%) CMDB
7 2 (1.04%) Virtual Team
8 1 (0.52%) Blackberry
8 1 (0.52%) BYOD
8 1 (0.52%) Data Protection Act
8 1 (0.52%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 66 (34.38%) Windows
2 32 (16.67%) Windows 10
3 15 (7.81%) Android
4 13 (6.77%) Apple iOS
5 12 (6.25%) Mac OS
6 2 (1.04%) Windows Server
6 2 (1.04%) Windows Server 2012
7 1 (0.52%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.52%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (55.21%) Customer Service
2 49 (25.52%) ITIL
3 46 (23.96%) Problem-Solving
4 22 (11.46%) ITSM
5 19 (9.90%) Service Management
6 13 (6.77%) Service Delivery
7 12 (6.25%) Collaborative Working
8 10 (5.21%) Incident Management
8 10 (5.21%) Problem Management
9 8 (4.17%) Digital Strategy
10 7 (3.65%) Continuous Improvement
10 7 (3.65%) Customer Experience
11 6 (3.13%) Active Listening
11 6 (3.13%) Process Improvement
11 6 (3.13%) User Experience
12 5 (2.60%) CRM
12 5 (2.60%) Cybersecurity
12 5 (2.60%) Migration
13 4 (2.08%) Mathematics
13 4 (2.08%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 1 (0.52%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 35 (18.23%) Security Cleared
2 31 (16.15%) SC Cleared
3 11 (5.73%) ITIL Certification
4 9 (4.69%) Degree
5 8 (4.17%) Microsoft Certification
6 7 (3.65%) A+ Certification
7 5 (2.60%) DV Cleared
7 5 (2.60%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 3 (1.56%) MCSA
9 1 (0.52%) BPSS Clearance
9 1 (0.52%) DBS Check
9 1 (0.52%) Microsoft Certified Professional
9 1 (0.52%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (8.33%) SLA
2 2 (1.04%) GDPR
3 1 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 60 (31.25%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.52%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 13 (6.77%) Microsoft Intune
1 13 (6.77%) SCCM
2 1 (0.52%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 66 (34.38%) Microsoft
2 26 (13.54%) ServiceNow
3 15 (7.81%) Google
4 6 (3.13%) Citrix
5 3 (1.56%) Apple
5 3 (1.56%) Lotus
6 2 (1.04%) Remedy
7 1 (0.52%) Altiris
7 1 (0.52%) Barracuda Networks
7 1 (0.52%) Bomgar
7 1 (0.52%) Dell
7 1 (0.52%) Fortinet
7 1 (0.52%) Ivanti
7 1 (0.52%) Sophos
7 1 (0.52%) VMware