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 27 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 78 62 77
Rank change year-on-year -16 +15 -17
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,492 1,060 1,189
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.06% 3.71% 2.79%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.62% 4.08% 3.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 976 712 795
10th Percentile £314 £305 £302
25th Percentile £400 £400 £402
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.14% -4.05% -1.96%
75th Percentile £576 £580 £600
90th Percentile £688 £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 25 46
10th Percentile £16.00 £22.25 £16.25
25th Percentile £23.08 £46.25 £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 £72.50 £63.71
90th Percentile £70.00 £91.50 £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 41,181 26,010 36,599
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.50% 91.03% 85.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,765 16,696 23,578
10th Percentile £325 £303 £300
25th Percentile £413 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £512 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.14% -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 2,462 1,066 2,486
10th Percentile £14.68 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.73 £17.92 £16.00
Median hourly rate £41.94 £27.45 £36.02
Median % change year-on-year +52.79% -23.80% -2.64%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.05 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.69 £25.15 £37.75
% change year-on-year +69.72% -33.38% +7.86%

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 27 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 27 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 27 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 -8 1,286 £488 -1.52% 890
UK excluding London +5 683 £475 +11.76% 502
London -21 649 £513 -0.49% 501
Work from Home -17 399 £500 +4.28% 460
North of England -3 198 £450 +5.88% 144
Midlands +1 165 £475 +17.72% 60
North West +8 125 £420 -6.04% 90
South East -4 125 £490 +12.00% 133
West Midlands -8 114 £475 -7.32% 40
Scotland +9 75 £500 +11.11% 26
South West -9 71 £475 +26.67% 47
Yorkshire -21 54 £513 +28.13% 29
East Midlands +5 51 £550 +54.06% 19
East of England -12 33 £410 -13.68% 63
North East -18 19 £450 -0.55% 27
Wales -14 14 £450 +47.06% 20
Northern Ireland -3 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 55 (3.69%) SharePoint
2 49 (3.28%) Confluence
3 43 (2.88%) CMS
4 22 (1.47%) Microsoft Exchange
5 14 (0.94%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 7 (0.47%) Apache
6 7 (0.47%) WordPress
7 5 (0.34%) Camunda
7 5 (0.34%) Drupal
7 5 (0.34%) Mendix
7 5 (0.34%) Skype for Business
8 4 (0.27%) Ethereum
8 4 (0.27%) Hyperledger
8 4 (0.27%) Kentico
8 4 (0.27%) Umbraco
9 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.20%) nginx
10 2 (0.13%) Appian
10 2 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 42 (2.82%) Sketch
2 25 (1.68%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.61%) Microsoft Excel
4 23 (1.54%) Photoshop
5 19 (1.27%) Chatbot
6 18 (1.21%) Adobe Illustrator
7 17 (1.14%) Adobe After Effects
8 15 (1.01%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 15 (1.01%) MS Visio
9 14 (0.94%) 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%) Spreadsheet
13 3 (0.20%) UXPin
14 2 (0.13%) Final Cut Pro
14 2 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
14 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
14 2 (0.13%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 12 (0.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (0.60%) Shopify
3 8 (0.54%) Workday HCM
4 6 (0.40%) Sage X3
5 5 (0.34%) 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
1 231 (15.48%) Azure
2 213 (14.28%) Figma
3 131 (8.78%) AWS
4 109 (7.31%) Power Platform
5 106 (7.10%) Microsoft 365
6 58 (3.89%) Entra ID
7 54 (3.62%) Azure DevOps
8 49 (3.28%) GCP
9 48 (3.22%) GitHub
9 48 (3.22%) SaaS
10 40 (2.68%) Microsoft Copilot
11 33 (2.21%) Power Automate
11 33 (2.21%) PowerApps
11 33 (2.21%) Serverless
12 31 (2.08%) GitHub Actions
13 26 (1.74%) OneDrive
14 24 (1.61%) Google Workspace
15 23 (1.54%) Copilot Studio
16 21 (1.41%) Google Sheets
17 19 (1.27%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 18 (1.21%) DNS
2 17 (1.14%) Wi-Fi
3 15 (1.01%) DHCP
4 13 (0.87%) Wireless
5 12 (0.80%) Internet
5 12 (0.80%) LAN
6 11 (0.74%) Intranet
7 10 (0.67%) HTTP
7 10 (0.67%) SD-WAN
7 10 (0.67%) TCP/IP
8 8 (0.54%) VPN
9 7 (0.47%) Cisco Wireless
9 7 (0.47%) Skype
9 7 (0.47%) WAN
10 6 (0.40%) 5G
10 6 (0.40%) SNMP
10 6 (0.40%) WLAN
11 5 (0.34%) Network Security
11 5 (0.34%) SMS
12 4 (0.27%) Firewall
Database & Business Intelligence
1 74 (4.96%) Power BI
2 27 (1.81%) NoSQL
2 27 (1.81%) Relational Database
3 25 (1.68%) PostgreSQL
4 22 (1.47%) SQL Server
5 20 (1.34%) Metadata
6 19 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
7 15 (1.01%) MongoDB
7 15 (1.01%) MySQL
7 15 (1.01%) Power Query
8 12 (0.80%) Tableau
9 11 (0.74%) Big Data
10 8 (0.54%) BigQuery
10 8 (0.54%) DynamoDB
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
12 5 (0.34%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 99 (6.64%) JIRA
2 92 (6.17%) Git
3 32 (2.14%) GitLab
4 27 (1.81%) Cypress.io
5 22 (1.47%) Jenkins
6 17 (1.14%) JUnit
7 15 (1.01%) Vite
8 14 (0.94%) Gradle
9 13 (0.87%) Axure RP
10 12 (0.80%) Android Studio
10 12 (0.80%) Browser DevTools
11 11 (0.74%) Xcode
12 10 (0.67%) CircleCI
13 9 (0.60%) Selenium
14 8 (0.54%) fastlane
14 8 (0.54%) Visual Studio
15 7 (0.47%) Postman
16 6 (0.40%) Mocha
16 6 (0.40%) Mockito
16 6 (0.40%) webpack
General
1 442 (29.62%) Social Skills
2 256 (17.16%) Finance
3 193 (12.94%) Public Sector
4 146 (9.79%) Analytical Skills
5 111 (7.44%) Banking
6 65 (4.36%) Marketing
7 64 (4.29%) Retail
8 36 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 34 (2.28%) Influencing Skills
9 34 (2.28%) Legal
10 31 (2.08%) Presentation Skills
11 28 (1.88%) Manufacturing
12 26 (1.74%) Automotive
13 20 (1.34%) Publishing
14 17 (1.14%) Investment Banking
14 17 (1.14%) Organisational Skills
14 17 (1.14%) Pharmaceutical
15 16 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
16 15 (1.01%) Games
17 13 (0.87%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 316 (21.18%) Designer
2 228 (15.28%) Senior
3 200 (13.40%) Developer
4 142 (9.52%) UX Designer
5 121 (8.11%) Analyst
6 92 (6.17%) Lead
7 72 (4.83%) UI Designer
8 71 (4.76%) Consultant
9 66 (4.42%) Senior Designer
10 65 (4.36%) Architect
11 63 (4.22%) Product Designer
12 62 (4.16%) Business Analyst
13 47 (3.15%) Content Designer
13 47 (3.15%) User Experience Researcher
13 47 (3.15%) User Researcher
14 45 (3.02%) UI/UX Designer
15 42 (2.82%) IT Support
16 41 (2.75%) Product Manager
17 40 (2.68%) Service Designer
18 36 (2.41%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 164 (10.99%) React
2 135 (9.05%) CSS
3 123 (8.24%) HTML
4 105 (7.04%) REST
5 77 (5.16%) RESTful
6 74 (4.96%) AngularJS
7 54 (3.62%) .NET
7 54 (3.62%) Spring
8 53 (3.55%) Spring Boot
9 41 (2.75%) GraphQL
10 39 (2.61%) Node.js
11 34 (2.28%) HTML5
12 33 (2.21%) Redux
13 32 (2.14%) CSS3
13 32 (2.14%) JSON
14 31 (2.08%) Jest
15 27 (1.81%) Kafka
16 25 (1.68%) Next.js
17 23 (1.54%) OAuth
17 23 (1.54%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 150 (10.05%) Product Ownership
2 71 (4.76%) Mobile App
3 57 (3.82%) Onboarding
4 34 (2.28%) AI Agents
5 31 (2.08%) Data Structures
6 29 (1.94%) Cloud Native
7 27 (1.81%) Enterprise Software
8 19 (1.27%) Animation
8 19 (1.27%) Data Protection Act
8 19 (1.27%) Legacy Systems
9 18 (1.21%) Analytical Mindset
10 17 (1.14%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 16 (1.07%) Self-Motivation
12 15 (1.01%) Social Media
12 15 (1.01%) Virtual Reality
13 14 (0.94%) NHS
14 13 (0.87%) Algorithms
14 13 (0.87%) Augmented Reality
14 13 (0.87%) Graphic Design
14 13 (0.87%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 107 (7.17%) Windows
2 46 (3.08%) Android
3 43 (2.88%) Apple iOS
4 36 (2.41%) Windows 10
5 25 (1.68%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.07%) Linux
7 8 (0.54%) Windows Server
8 6 (0.40%) Unix
8 6 (0.40%) Windows 7
9 5 (0.34%) 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
1 502 (33.65%) UX Design
2 457 (30.63%) Agile
3 239 (16.02%) AI
4 214 (14.34%) Problem-Solving
5 203 (13.61%) User Research
6 200 (13.40%) Analytics
7 188 (12.60%) Continuous Improvement
8 179 (12.00%) Stakeholder Management
9 174 (11.66%) CI/CD
10 165 (11.06%) Roadmaps
11 158 (10.59%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 147 (9.85%) DevOps
13 145 (9.72%) Prototyping
14 136 (9.12%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 128 (8.58%) Decision-Making
16 126 (8.45%) UX Research
16 126 (8.45%) Wireframes
17 121 (8.11%) Service Design
18 108 (7.24%) Workshop Facilitation
19 101 (6.77%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 161 (10.79%) JavaScript
2 124 (8.31%) Python
3 121 (8.11%) SQL
4 114 (7.64%) Java
4 114 (7.64%) TypeScript
5 55 (3.69%) C#
6 48 (3.22%) PowerShell
7 32 (2.14%) Kotlin
8 21 (1.41%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 19 (1.27%) Bash
10 14 (0.94%) Swift
11 11 (0.74%) C++
12 9 (0.60%) Lua
13 8 (0.54%) Korn
14 6 (0.40%) Perl
14 6 (0.40%) VBA
14 6 (0.40%) VBScript
15 5 (0.34%) R
15 5 (0.34%) Scala
15 5 (0.34%) VB
Qualifications
1 194 (13.00%) Security Cleared
2 142 (9.52%) SC Cleared
3 138 (9.25%) Degree
4 29 (1.94%) BPSS Clearance
4 29 (1.94%) Computer Science Degree
5 25 (1.68%) DV Cleared
6 20 (1.34%) Microsoft Certification
7 14 (0.94%) Master's Degree
8 13 (0.87%) Azure Certification
9 10 (0.67%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (0.47%) CCNP
10 7 (0.47%) ITIL Certification
11 6 (0.40%) CCA
11 6 (0.40%) CCIE
11 6 (0.40%) DBS Check
12 5 (0.34%) Citrix Certification
12 5 (0.34%) PMI Certification
12 5 (0.34%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 4 (0.27%) ISTQB
13 4 (0.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 262 (17.56%) Accessibility
2 108 (7.24%) QA
3 92 (6.17%) WCAG
4 48 (3.22%) Data Quality
5 30 (2.01%) GDPR
6 19 (1.27%) Actionable Recommendations
7 17 (1.14%) 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%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.13%) NCSC
12 2 (0.13%) NIST
System Software
1 68 (4.56%) Active Directory
2 53 (3.55%) Docker
3 21 (1.41%) Virtual Desktop
4 16 (1.07%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.40%) Firmware
6 5 (0.34%) 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 56 (3.75%) Kubernetes
2 49 (3.28%) Terraform
3 40 (2.68%) Microsoft Intune
4 35 (2.35%) Grafana
5 34 (2.28%) SCCM
6 17 (1.14%) Ansible
6 17 (1.14%) 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%) HAProxy
12 1 (0.067%) Rancher
Vendors
1 220 (14.75%) Microsoft
2 94 (6.30%) Adobe
3 65 (4.36%) Google
4 63 (4.22%) ServiceNow
5 43 (2.88%) Salesforce
6 41 (2.75%) Oracle
7 38 (2.55%) SAP
8 21 (1.41%) Citrix
9 20 (1.34%) Splunk
10 19 (1.27%) Databricks
11 17 (1.14%) Workday
12 16 (1.07%) Apple
12 16 (1.07%) Cisco
12 16 (1.07%) Dynatrace
12 16 (1.07%) VMware
13 11 (0.74%) Aruba
14 9 (0.60%) Foundry
14 9 (0.60%) MuleSoft
14 9 (0.60%) OpenAI
15 8 (0.54%) Zscaler