User Experience Contract Job Trends

UX
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring User Experience skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 28 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 78 61 76
Rank change year-on-year -17 +15 -16
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,499 1,079 1,191
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.07% 3.77% 2.79%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.63% 4.14% 3.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 979 723 798
10th Percentile £316 £305 £306
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £575 £580 £600
90th Percentile £680 £693 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 63 26 46
10th Percentile £16.00 £24.05 £16.25
25th Percentile £23.08 £45.69 £23.75
Median hourly rate £33.99 £53.50 £29.14
Median % change year-on-year -36.47% +83.63% -13.92%
75th Percentile £60.85 £70.63 £63.71
90th Percentile £70.00 £90.50 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £70.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year -51.44% +180.00% +42.86%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

User Experience falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 41,286 26,078 36,653
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.54% 91.02% 85.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,818 16,706 23,627
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £512 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.19% -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,472 1,084 2,486
10th Percentile £14.68 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.85 £18.08 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.28 £27.52 £36.00
Median % change year-on-year +53.64% -23.57% -1.09%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.84 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.19 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £37.50
% change year-on-year +78.93% -32.93% +7.14%

User Experience
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing User Experience relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

User Experience job vacancy trend in the UK

User Experience
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing User Experience.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing User Experience

User Experience
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing User Experience over the 6 months to 28 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for User Experience in the UK

User Experience
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing User Experience.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing User Experience

User Experience
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing User Experience over the 6 months to 28 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for User Experience in the UK

User Experience
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 User Experience within the UK over the 6 months to 28 May 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 -10 1,290 £488 -1.91% 909
UK excluding London +6 686 £475 +11.76% 516
London -23 652 £514 -0.24% 506
Work from Home -20 400 £500 +4.17% 471
North of England -10 199 £450 +0.67% 147
Midlands +5 166 £475 +17.72% 66
North West +4 126 £420 -6.67% 93
South East -9 125 £490 +8.89% 136
West Midlands -9 115 £475 -5.00% 43
Scotland +10 77 £505 +10.99% 24
South West -5 71 £475 +26.67% 48
Yorkshire -25 54 £513 +28.13% 32
East Midlands +9 51 £550 +54.49% 22
East of England -12 32 £410 -14.14% 65
North East -22 19 £450 -0.55% 24
Wales -13 14 £450 +47.06% 21
Northern Ireland -2 3 - - 16

User Experience
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 56 (3.74%) SharePoint
2 49 (3.27%) Confluence
3 42 (2.80%) CMS
4 22 (1.47%) Microsoft Exchange
5 14 (0.93%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 8 (0.53%) Apache
7 7 (0.47%) WordPress
8 5 (0.33%) Camunda
8 5 (0.33%) Drupal
8 5 (0.33%) Mendix
8 5 (0.33%) Skype for Business
9 4 (0.27%) Ethereum
9 4 (0.27%) Hyperledger
9 4 (0.27%) Kentico
9 4 (0.27%) Umbraco
10 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
10 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
10 3 (0.20%) nginx
11 2 (0.13%) Appian
11 2 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 44 (2.94%) Sketch
2 26 (1.73%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.60%) Microsoft Excel
4 23 (1.53%) Photoshop
5 19 (1.27%) Chatbot
6 18 (1.20%) Adobe After Effects
6 18 (1.20%) Adobe Illustrator
7 17 (1.13%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 15 (1.00%) MS Visio
9 14 (0.93%) Microsoft Office
10 10 (0.67%) InVision
11 7 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
12 4 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
12 4 (0.27%) Trello
13 3 (0.20%) Final Cut Pro
13 3 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
13 3 (0.20%) UserZoom
13 3 (0.20%) UXPin
14 2 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
14 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 12 (0.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (0.60%) Shopify
3 8 (0.53%) Workday HCM
4 6 (0.40%) Sage X3
5 5 (0.33%) NetSuite
6 2 (0.13%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.13%) Oracle iProcurement
6 2 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
6 2 (0.13%) ResourceLink
6 2 (0.13%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.067%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.067%) Eloqua
7 1 (0.067%) Integrated Workplace Management System
7 1 (0.067%) Magento
7 1 (0.067%) Oracle EBS R12
7 1 (0.067%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.067%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 230 (15.34%) Azure
2 216 (14.41%) Figma
3 133 (8.87%) AWS
4 109 (7.27%) Power Platform
5 107 (7.14%) Microsoft 365
6 58 (3.87%) Entra ID
7 54 (3.60%) Azure DevOps
8 50 (3.34%) GCP
9 49 (3.27%) GitHub
9 49 (3.27%) SaaS
10 40 (2.67%) Microsoft Copilot
11 33 (2.20%) Power Automate
11 33 (2.20%) PowerApps
11 33 (2.20%) Serverless
12 32 (2.13%) GitHub Actions
13 27 (1.80%) OneDrive
14 24 (1.60%) Google Workspace
15 22 (1.47%) Copilot Studio
16 21 (1.40%) Google Sheets
17 19 (1.27%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 20 (1.33%) Wi-Fi
2 18 (1.20%) DNS
3 16 (1.07%) Wireless
4 15 (1.00%) DHCP
5 14 (0.93%) LAN
6 13 (0.87%) Internet
7 12 (0.80%) Intranet
8 11 (0.73%) SD-WAN
9 10 (0.67%) HTTP
9 10 (0.67%) TCP/IP
10 9 (0.60%) VPN
11 8 (0.53%) Cisco Wireless
11 8 (0.53%) WAN
12 7 (0.47%) 5G
12 7 (0.47%) Skype
12 7 (0.47%) WLAN
13 6 (0.40%) SNMP
14 5 (0.33%) 802.11
14 5 (0.33%) Firewall
14 5 (0.33%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 74 (4.94%) Power BI
2 27 (1.80%) NoSQL
2 27 (1.80%) Relational Database
3 26 (1.73%) PostgreSQL
4 22 (1.47%) SQL Server
5 21 (1.40%) Metadata
6 19 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
7 15 (1.00%) MongoDB
7 15 (1.00%) MySQL
7 15 (1.00%) Power Query
8 12 (0.80%) Tableau
9 11 (0.73%) Big Data
10 8 (0.53%) BigQuery
10 8 (0.53%) DynamoDB
11 6 (0.40%) Elasticsearch
11 6 (0.40%) Oracle BI Publisher
11 6 (0.40%) Oracle Database
11 6 (0.40%) Pinecone
11 6 (0.40%) Redis
11 6 (0.40%) ZAP BI
Development Applications
1 99 (6.60%) JIRA
2 92 (6.14%) Git
3 32 (2.13%) GitLab
4 27 (1.80%) Cypress.io
5 23 (1.53%) Jenkins
6 17 (1.13%) JUnit
7 15 (1.00%) Vite
8 14 (0.93%) Gradle
9 13 (0.87%) Axure RP
10 12 (0.80%) Android Studio
10 12 (0.80%) Browser DevTools
11 11 (0.73%) Xcode
12 10 (0.67%) CircleCI
13 9 (0.60%) Selenium
14 8 (0.53%) fastlane
14 8 (0.53%) Visual Studio
15 7 (0.47%) Postman
16 6 (0.40%) Mocha
16 6 (0.40%) Mockito
16 6 (0.40%) webpack
General
1 449 (29.95%) Social Skills
2 258 (17.21%) Finance
3 192 (12.81%) Public Sector
4 145 (9.67%) Analytical Skills
5 113 (7.54%) Banking
6 67 (4.47%) Retail
7 64 (4.27%) Marketing
8 36 (2.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 35 (2.33%) Influencing Skills
9 35 (2.33%) Legal
10 31 (2.07%) Presentation Skills
11 28 (1.87%) Manufacturing
12 26 (1.73%) Automotive
13 21 (1.40%) Publishing
14 17 (1.13%) Investment Banking
14 17 (1.13%) Organisational Skills
15 16 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
15 16 (1.07%) Pharmaceutical
16 15 (1.00%) Games
17 13 (0.87%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 319 (21.28%) Designer
2 230 (15.34%) Senior
3 200 (13.34%) Developer
4 143 (9.54%) UX Designer
5 121 (8.07%) Analyst
6 94 (6.27%) Lead
7 74 (4.94%) UI Designer
8 70 (4.67%) Consultant
9 68 (4.54%) Senior Designer
10 65 (4.34%) Architect
11 63 (4.20%) Product Designer
12 62 (4.14%) Business Analyst
13 49 (3.27%) User Experience Researcher
14 47 (3.14%) Content Designer
14 47 (3.14%) User Researcher
15 45 (3.00%) UI/UX Designer
16 42 (2.80%) IT Support
16 42 (2.80%) Product Manager
17 40 (2.67%) Service Designer
18 36 (2.40%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 165 (11.01%) React
2 136 (9.07%) CSS
3 123 (8.21%) HTML
4 105 (7.00%) REST
5 77 (5.14%) RESTful
6 75 (5.00%) AngularJS
7 55 (3.67%) Spring
8 54 (3.60%) .NET
8 54 (3.60%) Spring Boot
9 41 (2.74%) GraphQL
10 39 (2.60%) Node.js
11 34 (2.27%) HTML5
12 33 (2.20%) JSON
12 33 (2.20%) Redux
13 32 (2.13%) CSS3
14 31 (2.07%) Jest
15 28 (1.87%) Kafka
16 25 (1.67%) Next.js
17 24 (1.60%) OAuth
18 23 (1.53%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 153 (10.21%) Product Ownership
2 71 (4.74%) Mobile App
3 57 (3.80%) Onboarding
4 33 (2.20%) AI Agents
5 30 (2.00%) Cloud Native
5 30 (2.00%) Data Structures
6 28 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
7 22 (1.47%) Legacy Systems
8 20 (1.33%) Animation
9 19 (1.27%) Data Protection Act
10 18 (1.20%) Analytical Mindset
10 18 (1.20%) Self-Motivation
11 17 (1.13%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
12 15 (1.00%) Graphic Design
12 15 (1.00%) Social Media
12 15 (1.00%) Virtual Reality
13 14 (0.93%) NHS
14 13 (0.87%) Algorithms
14 13 (0.87%) Augmented Reality
14 13 (0.87%) Data Centre
Operating Systems
1 106 (7.07%) Windows
2 46 (3.07%) Android
3 43 (2.87%) Apple iOS
4 36 (2.40%) Windows 10
5 25 (1.67%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.07%) Linux
7 8 (0.53%) Windows Server
8 6 (0.40%) Unix
8 6 (0.40%) Windows 7
9 5 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.067%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 507 (33.82%) UX Design
2 460 (30.69%) Agile
3 238 (15.88%) AI
4 216 (14.41%) Problem-Solving
5 204 (13.61%) User Research
6 203 (13.54%) Analytics
7 190 (12.68%) Continuous Improvement
8 183 (12.21%) Stakeholder Management
9 175 (11.67%) CI/CD
10 167 (11.14%) Roadmaps
11 161 (10.74%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 148 (9.87%) DevOps
13 144 (9.61%) Prototyping
14 138 (9.21%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 131 (8.74%) Decision-Making
16 128 (8.54%) UX Research
17 127 (8.47%) Wireframes
18 124 (8.27%) Service Design
19 107 (7.14%) Workshop Facilitation
20 104 (6.94%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 162 (10.81%) JavaScript
2 124 (8.27%) Python
3 121 (8.07%) SQL
4 116 (7.74%) TypeScript
5 115 (7.67%) Java
6 56 (3.74%) C#
7 49 (3.27%) PowerShell
8 32 (2.13%) Kotlin
9 21 (1.40%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 19 (1.27%) Bash
11 14 (0.93%) Swift
12 11 (0.73%) C++
13 9 (0.60%) Lua
14 8 (0.53%) Korn
15 6 (0.40%) Perl
15 6 (0.40%) VBA
15 6 (0.40%) VBScript
16 5 (0.33%) R
16 5 (0.33%) Scala
16 5 (0.33%) VB
Qualifications
1 193 (12.88%) Security Cleared
2 142 (9.47%) Degree
3 141 (9.41%) SC Cleared
4 30 (2.00%) Computer Science Degree
5 29 (1.93%) BPSS Clearance
6 25 (1.67%) DV Cleared
7 20 (1.33%) Microsoft Certification
8 14 (0.93%) Master's Degree
9 13 (0.87%) Azure Certification
10 11 (0.73%) Cisco Certification
11 8 (0.53%) CCNP
12 7 (0.47%) CCIE
12 7 (0.47%) ITIL Certification
13 6 (0.40%) CCA
13 6 (0.40%) DBS Check
14 5 (0.33%) Citrix Certification
14 5 (0.33%) PMI Certification
14 5 (0.33%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 4 (0.27%) CWNA
15 4 (0.27%) CWSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 264 (17.61%) Accessibility
2 109 (7.27%) QA
3 92 (6.14%) WCAG
4 47 (3.14%) Data Quality
5 30 (2.00%) GDPR
6 20 (1.33%) Actionable Recommendations
7 17 (1.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 7 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
8 7 (0.47%) PMO
8 7 (0.47%) SLA
9 6 (0.40%) GMP
9 6 (0.40%) GxP
10 4 (0.27%) GRC
10 4 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 4 (0.27%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.20%) Disclosure Scotland
11 3 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.13%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.13%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.13%) NCSC
System Software
1 68 (4.54%) Active Directory
2 54 (3.60%) Docker
3 21 (1.40%) Virtual Desktop
4 16 (1.07%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.40%) Firmware
6 5 (0.33%) BitLocker
7 4 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
8 3 (0.20%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
9 2 (0.13%) XenApp
9 2 (0.13%) XenDesktop
10 1 (0.067%) ISA Server
10 1 (0.067%) Varnish
10 1 (0.067%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 57 (3.80%) Kubernetes
2 50 (3.34%) Terraform
3 40 (2.67%) Microsoft Intune
4 35 (2.33%) Grafana
5 34 (2.27%) SCCM
6 17 (1.13%) Ansible
6 17 (1.13%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (0.67%) Prometheus
8 9 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.27%) Podman
10 3 (0.20%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
11 2 (0.13%) Clonezilla
11 2 (0.13%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.13%) HP ALM
11 2 (0.13%) Packer
11 2 (0.13%) WSUS
12 1 (0.067%) AirWatch
12 1 (0.067%) Argo
12 1 (0.067%) Rancher
12 1 (0.067%) SysTrack
Vendors
1 222 (14.81%) Microsoft
2 97 (6.47%) Adobe
3 65 (4.34%) Google
4 62 (4.14%) ServiceNow
5 43 (2.87%) Salesforce
6 42 (2.80%) Oracle
7 38 (2.54%) SAP
8 21 (1.40%) Citrix
9 20 (1.33%) Splunk
10 19 (1.27%) Databricks
11 17 (1.13%) Cisco
11 17 (1.13%) Workday
12 16 (1.07%) Apple
12 16 (1.07%) Dynatrace
12 16 (1.07%) VMware
13 12 (0.80%) Aruba
14 9 (0.60%) MuleSoft
14 9 (0.60%) OpenAI
15 8 (0.53%) Foundry
15 8 (0.53%) Zscaler