Service Desk Analyst Contract Job Trends
Service Desk Analyst
UK
The median Service Desk Analyst daily rate in the UK is £200, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 21 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 497 | 381 | 306 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -116 | -75 | -50 |
| Contract jobs requiring a Service Desk Analyst | 196 | 178 | 269 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.36% | 0.53% | 0.73% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.39% | 0.59% | 0.78% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 111 | 63 | 143 |
| 10th Percentile | £120 | £130 | £127 |
| 25th Percentile | £150 | £149 | £140 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £200 | £178 | £190 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +12.68% | -6.58% | +2.01% |
| 75th Percentile | £238 | £220 | £220 |
| 90th Percentile | £294 | £280 | £286 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £200 | £170 | £175 |
| % change year-on-year | +17.65% | -2.86% | -0.57% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 20 | 69 | 37 |
| 10th Percentile | £12.99 | £13.80 | £14.31 |
| 25th Percentile | £14.36 | £14.38 | £15.50 |
| Median hourly rate | £15.81 | £16.00 | £17.44 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -1.19% | -8.26% | +11.65% |
| 75th Percentile | £17.52 | £19.33 | £18.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £21.79 | £23.52 | £24.38 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £15.81 | £16.00 | £17.44 |
| % change year-on-year | -1.19% | -8.26% | +11.67% |
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.
| 6 months to 21 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title | 50,636 | 30,412 | 34,439 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 91.85% | 90.89% | 92.95% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,773 | 19,217 | 20,765 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £278 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,181 | 1,679 | 1,379 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.25 | £13.80 | £15.02 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.33 | £17.30 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.56 | £25.15 | £40.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +65.23% | -37.13% | -10.11% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.50 | £50.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £68.75 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £41.06 | £24.42 | £40.33 |
| % change year-on-year | +68.12% | -39.44% | -8.14% |
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 Daily Rate Trend
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 21 October 2026.
Service Desk Analyst Hourly Rate Trend
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 21 October 2026.
Service Desk Analyst Top 16 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 21 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 | -121 | 170 | £200 | +12.68% | 34 |
| UK excluding London | -98 | 164 | £200 | +17.65% | 40 |
| North of England | -52 | 57 | £175 | +3.70% | 9 |
| North West | -23 | 48 | £169 | +3.85% | 3 |
| Work from Home | -40 | 46 | £150 | -15.49% | 7 |
| South East | -43 | 31 | £244 | +33.56% | 7 |
| East of England | -48 | 30 | £161 | -15.13% | 4 |
| South West | -18 | 23 | £185 | +5.71% | 8 |
| London | -95 | 20 | £215 | -21.82% | 1 |
| Midlands | -45 | 14 | £140 | +5.80% | 5 |
| Scotland | -22 | 13 | £275 | +111.54% | 4 |
| West Midlands | -42 | 10 | £140 | -44.00% | 2 |
| Yorkshire | -37 | 7 | £220 | +35.38% | 4 |
| East Midlands | -22 | 4 | £118 | -9.97% | 3 |
| North East | -43 | 2 | £200 | +11.11% | 2 |
| Wales | -12 | 1 | £150 | - | 3 |
Service Desk Analyst Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 21 October 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.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windows | 41.8% | 82 |
| 2 | Customer Service | 39.3% | 77 |
| 3 | Microsoft 365 | 38.8% | 76 |
| 4 | Microsoft | 36.2% | 71 |
| 5 | Active Directory | 31.6% | 62 |
| 6 | ITIL | 26.0% | 51 |
| 7 | Problem-Solving | 23.5% | 46 |
| 8 | ServiceNow | 20.9% | 41 |
| 9 | ITSM | 19.4% | 38 |
| 10 | Security Cleared | 18.9% | 37 |
| 11 | SC Cleared | 15.8% | 31 |
| 12 | Windows 10 | 12.2% | 24 |
| 13 | Azure | 11.2% | 22 |
| 13 | Microsoft Office | 11.2% | 22 |
| 13 | SLA | 11.2% | 22 |
| 16 | Continuous Improvement | 10.2% | 20 |
| 16 | Service Management | 10.2% | 20 |
| 18 | Entra ID | 8.7% | 17 |
| 18 | Service Delivery | 8.7% | 17 |
| 20 | Incident Management | 8.2% | 16 |
| 20 | SharePoint | 8.2% | 16 |
| 22 | macOS | 7.7% | 15 |
| 23 | Collaborative Working | 7.1% | 14 |
| 23 | VPN | 7.1% | 14 |
| 25 | Customer Experience | 6.1% | 12 |
| 26 | OneDrive | 5.1% | 10 |
| 27 | Android | 4.6% | 9 |
| 27 | Microsoft Exchange | 4.6% | 9 |
| 29 | Apple iOS | 4.1% | 8 |
| 29 | 4.1% | 8 |
Service Desk Analyst Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Service Analyst | 99.5% | 195 |
| 2 | IT Analyst | 25.5% | 50 |
| 3 | Service Desk Support Analyst | 8.2% | 16 |
| 4 | Support Analyst | 6.1% | 12 |
| 5 | Senior Service Desk Analyst | 5.1% | 10 |
| 6 | 1st Line Service Desk Analyst | 4.1% | 8 |
| 6 | 2nd Line Service Desk Analyst | 4.1% | 8 |
| 6 | IT Support Analyst | 4.1% | 8 |
| 9 | Service Management Analyst | 2.0% | 4 |
| 10 | 1st/2nd Line Service Desk Analyst | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | 1st/2nd Line Support Analyst | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | IT Support Engineer | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | Junior Analyst | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | Remote Support Analyst | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | Service Desk Engineer | 1.0% | 2 |
| 10 | Telephony Analyst | 1.0% | 2 |
| 17 | 1st Line Support Analyst | 0.5% | 1 |
| 17 | Cisco Analyst | 0.5% | 1 |
| 17 | Digital Analyst | 0.5% | 1 |
| 17 | Financial Analyst | 0.5% | 1 |