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 2 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 80 61 70
Rank change year-on-year -19 +9 -8
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,402 1,062 1,261
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.13% 3.65% 2.85%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.66% 4.04% 3.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 968 730 835
10th Percentile £312 £306 £306
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £481 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.30% -3.75% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £600
90th Percentile £661 £688 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £447 £475
% change year-on-year +6.26% -5.89% +2.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 44 24 46
10th Percentile £17.01 £29.83 £16.25
25th Percentile £17.69 £41.75 £24.06
Median hourly rate £47.25 £51.00 £31.71
Median % change year-on-year -7.35% +60.83% -19.21%
75th Percentile £61.81 £75.12 £61.63
90th Percentile £79.68 £92.50 £73.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.75 £61.75 £25.00
% change year-on-year -42.11% +147.00% -44.44%

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 38,313 26,307 38,195
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.58% 90.51% 86.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,289 17,086 24,815
10th Percentile £313 £308 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £635 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £485 £485 £500
% change year-on-year - -3.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,251 967 2,341
10th Percentile £14.96 £15.00 £12.82
25th Percentile £18.87 £20.24 £16.00
Median hourly rate £35.50 £32.00 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +10.94% -1.54% -11.33%
75th Percentile £65.00 £63.75 £57.50
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.25 £70.66
UK excluding London median hourly rate £34.85 £31.08 £31.65
% change year-on-year +12.13% -1.80% -12.39%

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 2 April 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 2 April 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 2 April 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 -18 1,215 £490 -2.00% 728
London -18 627 £500 -2.91% 296
UK excluding London -8 608 £475 +6.26% 522
Work from Home -29 367 £475 -3.85% 357
North of England +2 210 £450 - 176
North West +12 131 £420 -6.67% 94
South East -13 124 £490 -2.24% 122
Midlands -15 119 £500 +25.00% 93
West Midlands -33 78 £475 +9.51% 62
South West -15 65 £463 +23.33% 59
Yorkshire -21 54 £513 +28.04% 45
Scotland -5 51 £496 +13.43% 23
East Midlands -10 41 £550 +54.49% 31
East of England -22 29 £425 -10.99% 33
North East 0 24 £405 -15.63% 39
Wales -1 15 £375 -6.25% 19
Northern Ireland -6 3 - - 5

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 57 (4.07%) SharePoint
2 47 (3.35%) Confluence
3 42 (3.00%) CMS
4 21 (1.50%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 18 (1.28%) Microsoft Exchange
6 11 (0.78%) Headless CMS
7 10 (0.71%) Apache
8 7 (0.50%) Sitecore CMS
8 7 (0.50%) Umbraco
9 5 (0.36%) Camunda
10 4 (0.29%) Ethereum
10 4 (0.29%) Hyperledger
10 4 (0.29%) Mendix
11 3 (0.21%) Anypoint
11 3 (0.21%) Apache Spark
11 3 (0.21%) Drupal
11 3 (0.21%) Jupyter
11 3 (0.21%) nginx
12 2 (0.14%) Appian
13 1 (0.071%) Strapi
Applications
1 44 (3.14%) Sketch
2 35 (2.50%) Adobe XD
3 28 (2.00%) Microsoft Excel
4 24 (1.71%) MS Visio
5 22 (1.57%) Chatbot
6 16 (1.14%) Microsoft Office
7 14 (1.00%) InVision
8 12 (0.86%) Photoshop
9 8 (0.57%) Adobe Illustrator
10 7 (0.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
11 6 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
12 5 (0.36%) Adobe After Effects
12 5 (0.36%) Adobe Creative Suite
13 4 (0.29%) Trello
13 4 (0.29%) UXPin
14 3 (0.21%) Adobe Captivate
14 3 (0.21%) Microsoft Project
14 3 (0.21%) UserZoom
15 2 (0.14%) Camtasia
15 2 (0.14%) OmniGraffle
Business Applications
1 16 (1.14%) Dynamics CRM
2 12 (0.86%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.50%) Shopify
3 7 (0.50%) Workday HCM
4 6 (0.43%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.21%) Magento
5 3 (0.21%) SAP CO
5 3 (0.21%) SAP FI
5 3 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
6 2 (0.14%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.14%) ResourceLink
6 2 (0.14%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.14%) Sprinklr
7 1 (0.071%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.071%) Integrated Workplace Management System
7 1 (0.071%) iTrent
7 1 (0.071%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.071%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.071%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 232 (16.55%) Azure
2 195 (13.91%) Figma
3 133 (9.49%) AWS
4 103 (7.35%) Power Platform
5 87 (6.21%) Microsoft 365
6 63 (4.49%) Azure DevOps
7 57 (4.07%) GCP
8 53 (3.78%) Entra ID
9 52 (3.71%) GitHub
10 48 (3.42%) SaaS
11 39 (2.78%) PowerApps
12 37 (2.64%) Power Automate
13 35 (2.50%) Serverless
14 32 (2.28%) GitHub Actions
15 27 (1.93%) Microsoft Copilot
16 23 (1.64%) Dynamics 365
16 23 (1.64%) Google Workspace
16 23 (1.64%) Miro
17 22 (1.57%) Cloud Computing
18 20 (1.43%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 17 (1.21%) DNS
2 16 (1.14%) Wireless
3 12 (0.86%) HTTP
4 11 (0.78%) Intranet
4 11 (0.78%) LAN
4 11 (0.78%) VPN
4 11 (0.78%) Wi-Fi
5 9 (0.64%) DHCP
5 9 (0.64%) Firewall
5 9 (0.64%) Internet
5 9 (0.64%) SD-WAN
5 9 (0.64%) TCP/IP
5 9 (0.64%) WAN
6 7 (0.50%) BGP
6 7 (0.50%) Cisco ISE
6 7 (0.50%) Cisco Wireless
7 6 (0.43%) Network Security
7 6 (0.43%) SSL
8 5 (0.36%) NX-OS
8 5 (0.36%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (4.92%) Power BI
2 34 (2.43%) NoSQL
2 34 (2.43%) Relational Database
3 29 (2.07%) PostgreSQL
4 25 (1.78%) Data Warehouse
5 23 (1.64%) MySQL
5 23 (1.64%) SQL Server
6 18 (1.28%) Tableau
7 17 (1.21%) Metadata
7 17 (1.21%) MongoDB
8 12 (0.86%) BigQuery
9 9 (0.64%) Looker
10 8 (0.57%) Power Query
11 7 (0.50%) Pinecone
11 7 (0.50%) Redis
12 6 (0.43%) DynamoDB
12 6 (0.43%) ZAP BI
13 5 (0.36%) Hadoop
14 4 (0.29%) Azure SQL Database
14 4 (0.29%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 108 (7.70%) JIRA
2 85 (6.06%) Git
3 43 (3.07%) GitLab
4 29 (2.07%) Cypress.io
5 28 (2.00%) Jenkins
6 26 (1.85%) JUnit
7 23 (1.64%) Axure RP
8 14 (1.00%) Gradle
9 13 (0.93%) Android Studio
9 13 (0.93%) Selenium
10 12 (0.86%) CircleCI
11 11 (0.78%) Xcode
12 10 (0.71%) Browser DevTools
12 10 (0.71%) Postman
13 9 (0.64%) Eclipse
14 8 (0.57%) Artifactory
14 8 (0.57%) Mocha
14 8 (0.57%) Mockito
14 8 (0.57%) Visual Studio
14 8 (0.57%) Vite
General
1 452 (32.24%) Social Skills
2 268 (19.12%) Finance
3 202 (14.41%) Public Sector
4 166 (11.84%) Analytical Skills
5 114 (8.13%) Banking
6 60 (4.28%) Marketing
7 47 (3.35%) Retail
8 29 (2.07%) Presentation Skills
9 28 (2.00%) Influencing Skills
9 28 (2.00%) Legal
10 22 (1.57%) Manufacturing
11 20 (1.43%) Documentation Skills
12 18 (1.28%) Pharmaceutical
13 17 (1.21%) Games
14 14 (1.00%) Financial Institution
14 14 (1.00%) Investment Banking
14 14 (1.00%) Publishing
15 13 (0.93%) Front Office
15 13 (0.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 13 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 268 (19.12%) Designer
2 221 (15.76%) Developer
3 211 (15.05%) Senior
4 136 (9.70%) UX Designer
5 133 (9.49%) Analyst
6 68 (4.85%) Lead
7 66 (4.71%) Business Analyst
8 65 (4.64%) Consultant
9 61 (4.35%) Architect
10 60 (4.28%) Product Designer
11 59 (4.21%) Senior Designer
12 49 (3.50%) User Researcher
13 44 (3.14%) UI Designer
14 42 (3.00%) Full-Stack Developer
15 41 (2.92%) Senior Developer
15 41 (2.92%) Service Designer
16 39 (2.78%) Software Engineer
16 39 (2.78%) Support Engineer
17 36 (2.57%) IT Support
18 35 (2.50%) Senior UX Designer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 174 (12.41%) React
2 153 (10.91%) CSS
3 140 (9.99%) HTML
4 113 (8.06%) REST
5 88 (6.28%) RESTful
6 84 (5.99%) AngularJS
7 66 (4.71%) Spring
8 65 (4.64%) Spring Boot
9 59 (4.21%) .NET
10 50 (3.57%) Node.js
11 43 (3.07%) HTML5
12 37 (2.64%) CSS3
13 35 (2.50%) GraphQL
14 34 (2.43%) Jest
14 34 (2.43%) Redux
15 31 (2.21%) JSON
16 27 (1.93%) Next.js
17 26 (1.85%) Vue
18 23 (1.64%) Playwright
19 21 (1.50%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 140 (9.99%) Product Ownership
2 77 (5.49%) Mobile App
3 51 (3.64%) Onboarding
4 30 (2.14%) AI Agents
5 29 (2.07%) Enterprise Software
6 28 (2.00%) Data Structures
7 24 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
8 18 (1.28%) Cloud Native
9 17 (1.21%) Data Protection Act
9 17 (1.21%) Distributed Systems
10 16 (1.14%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 15 (1.07%) NHS
12 14 (1.00%) Algorithms
12 14 (1.00%) Legacy Systems
13 13 (0.93%) Data Centre
13 13 (0.93%) Virtual Team
14 12 (0.86%) Management Information System
15 11 (0.78%) Graphic Design
15 11 (0.78%) Low-Code
16 9 (0.64%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 118 (8.42%) Windows
2 42 (3.00%) Android
2 42 (3.00%) Windows 10
3 30 (2.14%) Apple iOS
4 23 (1.64%) Linux
5 20 (1.43%) Mac OS
6 9 (0.64%) Unix
7 7 (0.50%) Windows Server
8 1 (0.071%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.071%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.071%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.071%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.071%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 465 (33.17%) Agile
2 458 (32.67%) UX Design
3 225 (16.05%) Problem-Solving
4 206 (14.69%) Analytics
5 204 (14.55%) User Research
6 197 (14.05%) AI
7 179 (12.77%) CI/CD
8 170 (12.13%) DevOps
9 167 (11.91%) Stakeholder Management
10 163 (11.63%) Continuous Improvement
11 161 (11.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 139 (9.91%) Prototyping
13 136 (9.70%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 135 (9.63%) Roadmaps
15 125 (8.92%) Wireframes
16 124 (8.84%) Service Design
17 123 (8.77%) Decision-Making
18 113 (8.06%) UX Research
19 103 (7.35%) Usability Testing
20 97 (6.92%) Full-Stack Development
Programming Languages
1 186 (13.27%) JavaScript
2 144 (10.27%) SQL
3 124 (8.84%) Python
4 123 (8.77%) Java
5 114 (8.13%) TypeScript
6 64 (4.56%) C#
7 54 (3.85%) PowerShell
8 28 (2.00%) Kotlin
9 18 (1.28%) Bash
10 14 (1.00%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 12 (0.86%) C++
11 12 (0.86%) Perl
12 9 (0.64%) Lua
12 9 (0.64%) Swift
13 8 (0.57%) PHP
14 7 (0.50%) PL/SQL
15 6 (0.43%) Go
15 6 (0.43%) Korn
15 6 (0.43%) Scala
15 6 (0.43%) VBA
Qualifications
1 188 (13.41%) Security Cleared
2 136 (9.70%) SC Cleared
3 122 (8.70%) Degree
4 35 (2.50%) BPSS Clearance
5 28 (2.00%) Computer Science Degree
6 19 (1.36%) DV Cleared
6 19 (1.36%) Microsoft Certification
7 16 (1.14%) Master's Degree
8 12 (0.86%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (0.78%) CCNP
10 9 (0.64%) Azure Certification
11 8 (0.57%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.50%) MOS
13 6 (0.43%) Citrix Certification
13 6 (0.43%) OCA
13 6 (0.43%) Oracle Certification
14 5 (0.36%) CCA
15 4 (0.29%) CCIE
15 4 (0.29%) ISTQB
15 4 (0.29%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 248 (17.69%) Accessibility
2 131 (9.34%) QA
3 78 (5.56%) WCAG
4 47 (3.35%) Data Quality
5 38 (2.71%) GDPR
6 21 (1.50%) Actionable Recommendations
7 18 (1.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 15 (1.07%) SLA
9 8 (0.57%) PMO
10 6 (0.43%) NCSC
11 5 (0.36%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 4 (0.29%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 4 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
12 4 (0.29%) GMP
12 4 (0.29%) GRC
12 4 (0.29%) GxP
12 4 (0.29%) NIST
13 3 (0.21%) Government Security Classifications
13 3 (0.21%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 74 (5.28%) Active Directory
2 69 (4.92%) Docker
3 19 (1.36%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (1.14%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (0.36%) Firmware
6 4 (0.29%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.14%) ProxySG
8 1 (0.071%) ISA Server
8 1 (0.071%) Varnish
8 1 (0.071%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.071%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.071%) XenApp
8 1 (0.071%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 61 (4.35%) Kubernetes
2 43 (3.07%) Terraform
3 37 (2.64%) Microsoft Intune
4 25 (1.78%) SCCM
5 24 (1.71%) Grafana
6 15 (1.07%) Ansible
7 12 (0.86%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.43%) Jamf Pro
8 6 (0.43%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.36%) FortiGate
10 4 (0.29%) Argo
11 3 (0.21%) HP ALM
11 3 (0.21%) Nagios
11 3 (0.21%) Rancher
12 2 (0.14%) Podman
12 2 (0.14%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 2 (0.14%) SysTrack
13 1 (0.071%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 1 (0.071%) Consul
13 1 (0.071%) Kibana
Vendors
1 216 (15.41%) Microsoft
2 87 (6.21%) Adobe
3 75 (5.35%) Google
4 65 (4.64%) ServiceNow
5 45 (3.21%) SAP
6 42 (3.00%) Oracle
7 35 (2.50%) Salesforce
8 21 (1.50%) Citrix
9 20 (1.43%) VMware
10 19 (1.36%) Splunk
11 18 (1.28%) Cisco
12 15 (1.07%) Apple
13 13 (0.93%) Workday
14 11 (0.78%) Red Hat
15 9 (0.64%) Ekahau
15 9 (0.64%) MuleSoft
15 9 (0.64%) OpenAI
15 9 (0.64%) Sitecore
15 9 (0.64%) Zscaler
16 8 (0.57%) Databricks