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

6 months to
30 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 76 58 70
Rank change year-on-year -18 +12 -8
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,441 1,096 1,245
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.05% 3.75% 2.86%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.61% 4.13% 3.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 975 745 835
10th Percentile £313 £304 £306
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.08% -4.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £594
90th Percentile £688 £709 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 22 50
10th Percentile £16.44 £26.78 £16.25
25th Percentile £21.12 £42.50 £24.06
Median hourly rate £50.00 £53.50 £32.11
Median % change year-on-year -6.54% +66.64% -8.27%
75th Percentile £62.38 £80.35 £63.84
90th Percentile £74.80 £94.50 £73.82
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.75 £70.00 £25.00
% change year-on-year -37.50% +180.00% +3.09%

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 39,921 26,554 37,629
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.61% 90.86% 86.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,152 17,143 24,256
10th Percentile £319 £308 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £521 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.03% -0.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £744 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £483 £500
% change year-on-year +1.04% -3.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,393 1,068 2,439
10th Percentile £14.96 £14.81 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.91 £18.51 £16.00
Median hourly rate £41.56 £29.07 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +42.95% -16.94% -6.17%
75th Percentile £66.00 £62.24 £59.95
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.71 £28.00 £36.50
% change year-on-year +52.52% -23.29% +1.39%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -15 1,244 £492 -1.60% 490
London -17 647 £513 -1.44% 204
UK excluding London -7 623 £475 +11.76% 366
Work from Home -28 368 £475 -2.81% 267
North of England +2 198 £450 +0.39% 102
Midlands -4 145 £500 +24.69% 71
North West +4 120 £425 -5.56% 65
South East -21 108 £485 +5.84% 96
West Midlands -18 96 £475 +1.33% 53
South West -12 70 £469 +25.00% 35
Scotland -10 58 £496 +10.28% 16
Yorkshire -24 53 £506 +26.48% 23
East Midlands +4 49 £550 +53.63% 18
East of England -25 30 £418 -12.11% 39
North East -7 23 £410 -9.39% 16
Wales -7 15 £375 +22.55% 6
Northern Ireland -3 3 - - 12

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 52 (3.61%) Confluence
2 50 (3.47%) SharePoint
3 40 (2.78%) CMS
4 17 (1.18%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 16 (1.11%) Microsoft Exchange
6 7 (0.49%) Apache
7 6 (0.42%) Mendix
7 6 (0.42%) WordPress
8 5 (0.35%) Camunda
8 5 (0.35%) Drupal
8 5 (0.35%) Headless CMS
9 4 (0.28%) Ethereum
9 4 (0.28%) Hyperledger
9 4 (0.28%) Sitecore CMS
9 4 (0.28%) Umbraco
10 3 (0.21%) Anypoint
10 3 (0.21%) Apache Spark
10 3 (0.21%) nginx
11 2 (0.14%) HCL Notes
11 2 (0.14%) IIS
Applications
1 42 (2.91%) Sketch
2 29 (2.01%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.67%) Microsoft Excel
4 20 (1.39%) Chatbot
5 18 (1.25%) MS Visio
6 13 (0.90%) Microsoft Office
6 13 (0.90%) Photoshop
7 11 (0.76%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 11 (0.76%) InVision
8 9 (0.62%) Adobe After Effects
9 8 (0.56%) Adobe Illustrator
10 6 (0.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
11 5 (0.35%) Spreadsheet
11 5 (0.35%) Trello
12 4 (0.28%) UserZoom
13 3 (0.21%) Adobe Captivate
13 3 (0.21%) Microsoft Project
13 3 (0.21%) UXPin
14 2 (0.14%) Blender
14 2 (0.14%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 14 (0.97%) SAP S/4HANA
2 12 (0.83%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.69%) Shopify
4 8 (0.56%) Workday HCM
5 6 (0.42%) Sage X3
6 2 (0.14%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (0.14%) Payment Gateway
6 2 (0.14%) ResourceLink
6 2 (0.14%) SAP CO
6 2 (0.14%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.14%) SAP FI
6 2 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.069%) assyst
7 1 (0.069%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.069%) SAP CRM
7 1 (0.069%) SAP PP
7 1 (0.069%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 229 (15.89%) Azure
2 206 (14.30%) Figma
3 124 (8.61%) AWS
4 109 (7.56%) Power Platform
5 93 (6.45%) Microsoft 365
6 58 (4.02%) Azure DevOps
7 53 (3.68%) Entra ID
8 50 (3.47%) GCP
9 46 (3.19%) GitHub
10 38 (2.64%) Microsoft Copilot
10 38 (2.64%) Power Automate
10 38 (2.64%) PowerApps
10 38 (2.64%) SaaS
11 32 (2.22%) Serverless
12 25 (1.73%) GitHub Actions
13 23 (1.60%) Copilot Studio
13 23 (1.60%) Google Workspace
14 21 (1.46%) Miro
15 20 (1.39%) Dynamics 365
15 20 (1.39%) Google Sheets
Communications & Networking
1 15 (1.04%) DNS
2 12 (0.83%) Internet
2 12 (0.83%) Intranet
2 12 (0.83%) LAN
2 12 (0.83%) Wi-Fi
3 11 (0.76%) HTTP
3 11 (0.76%) SD-WAN
3 11 (0.76%) Wireless
4 9 (0.62%) DHCP
4 9 (0.62%) VPN
5 8 (0.56%) WAN
6 7 (0.49%) TCP/IP
7 6 (0.42%) Cisco Wireless
7 6 (0.42%) Firewall
7 6 (0.42%) Network Security
7 6 (0.42%) SNMP
7 6 (0.42%) WLAN
8 5 (0.35%) 5G
8 5 (0.35%) SMS
8 5 (0.35%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 74 (5.14%) Power BI
2 26 (1.80%) NoSQL
2 26 (1.80%) Relational Database
3 25 (1.73%) PostgreSQL
4 23 (1.60%) SQL Server
5 19 (1.32%) Data Warehouse
6 17 (1.18%) Metadata
7 16 (1.11%) MongoDB
7 16 (1.11%) MySQL
8 13 (0.90%) Tableau
9 11 (0.76%) Power Query
10 10 (0.69%) Big Data
10 10 (0.69%) BigQuery
11 7 (0.49%) Looker
11 7 (0.49%) Oracle BI Publisher
11 7 (0.49%) Pinecone
12 6 (0.42%) DynamoDB
12 6 (0.42%) Oracle Database
12 6 (0.42%) Redis
12 6 (0.42%) ZAP BI
Development Applications
1 108 (7.49%) JIRA
2 87 (6.04%) Git
3 35 (2.43%) GitLab
4 30 (2.08%) Cypress.io
5 21 (1.46%) JUnit
6 20 (1.39%) Jenkins
7 17 (1.18%) Axure RP
8 13 (0.90%) Gradle
9 12 (0.83%) Selenium
10 11 (0.76%) CircleCI
11 10 (0.69%) Browser DevTools
12 9 (0.62%) Vite
13 8 (0.56%) Android Studio
13 8 (0.56%) Visual Studio
14 7 (0.49%) Mockito
14 7 (0.49%) Xcode
15 6 (0.42%) Mocha
15 6 (0.42%) Postman
16 5 (0.35%) Storybook
16 5 (0.35%) TestRail
General
1 453 (31.44%) Social Skills
2 267 (18.53%) Finance
3 205 (14.23%) Public Sector
4 154 (10.69%) Analytical Skills
5 111 (7.70%) Banking
6 58 (4.02%) Marketing
7 53 (3.68%) Retail
8 34 (2.36%) Legal
9 32 (2.22%) Presentation Skills
10 30 (2.08%) Influencing Skills
11 22 (1.53%) Manufacturing
12 21 (1.46%) Documentation Skills
13 20 (1.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 19 (1.32%) Pharmaceutical
15 18 (1.25%) Publishing
16 17 (1.18%) Games
17 16 (1.11%) Organisational Skills
18 14 (0.97%) Automotive
19 13 (0.90%) Investment Banking
20 11 (0.76%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 300 (20.82%) Designer
2 220 (15.27%) Senior
3 195 (13.53%) Developer
4 141 (9.78%) UX Designer
5 127 (8.81%) Analyst
6 76 (5.27%) Consultant
7 74 (5.14%) Lead
8 68 (4.72%) Business Analyst
9 66 (4.58%) Product Designer
10 63 (4.37%) Architect
11 58 (4.02%) Senior Designer
11 58 (4.02%) User Researcher
12 54 (3.75%) UI Designer
13 45 (3.12%) Content Designer
14 43 (2.98%) Service Designer
15 42 (2.91%) User Experience Researcher
16 40 (2.78%) UI/UX Designer
17 38 (2.64%) Senior Developer
18 36 (2.50%) IT Support
19 35 (2.43%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 159 (11.03%) React
2 140 (9.72%) CSS
3 129 (8.95%) HTML
4 103 (7.15%) REST
5 74 (5.14%) RESTful
6 71 (4.93%) AngularJS
7 57 (3.96%) Spring
8 56 (3.89%) Spring Boot
9 53 (3.68%) .NET
10 38 (2.64%) Node.js
11 36 (2.50%) HTML5
12 34 (2.36%) JSON
12 34 (2.36%) Redux
13 33 (2.29%) GraphQL
14 32 (2.22%) CSS3
15 29 (2.01%) Jest
16 28 (1.94%) Next.js
17 25 (1.73%) Kafka
18 21 (1.46%) Playwright
18 21 (1.46%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 137 (9.51%) Product Ownership
2 71 (4.93%) Mobile App
3 53 (3.68%) Onboarding
4 35 (2.43%) AI Agents
5 32 (2.22%) Enterprise Software
6 30 (2.08%) Data Structures
7 25 (1.73%) Cloud Native
8 22 (1.53%) Analytical Mindset
9 18 (1.25%) Data Protection Act
10 17 (1.18%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 16 (1.11%) Distributed Systems
11 16 (1.11%) Virtual Reality
12 15 (1.04%) Legacy Systems
13 14 (0.97%) Augmented Reality
13 14 (0.97%) NHS
14 13 (0.90%) Low-Code
14 13 (0.90%) Management Information System
14 13 (0.90%) Self-Motivation
15 12 (0.83%) Algorithms
16 10 (0.69%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 95 (6.59%) Windows
2 38 (2.64%) Android
3 37 (2.57%) Windows 10
4 32 (2.22%) Apple iOS
5 21 (1.46%) Mac OS
6 13 (0.90%) Linux
7 9 (0.62%) Windows Server
8 5 (0.35%) Unix
8 5 (0.35%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (0.28%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.14%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.069%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.069%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 477 (33.10%) UX Design
2 468 (32.48%) Agile
3 226 (15.68%) AI
4 219 (15.20%) User Research
5 216 (14.99%) Problem-Solving
6 205 (14.23%) Analytics
7 172 (11.94%) CI/CD
7 172 (11.94%) Stakeholder Management
8 171 (11.87%) Continuous Improvement
9 168 (11.66%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 162 (11.24%) DevOps
11 160 (11.10%) Roadmaps
12 146 (10.13%) Prototyping
13 136 (9.44%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 132 (9.16%) UX Research
15 131 (9.09%) Wireframes
16 130 (9.02%) Service Design
17 117 (8.12%) Decision-Making
18 113 (7.84%) Usability Testing
19 111 (7.70%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 171 (11.87%) JavaScript
2 128 (8.88%) SQL
3 122 (8.47%) Python
4 117 (8.12%) Java
5 113 (7.84%) TypeScript
6 58 (4.02%) C#
7 43 (2.98%) PowerShell
8 27 (1.87%) Kotlin
9 19 (1.32%) Bash
10 16 (1.11%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 11 (0.76%) C++
12 9 (0.62%) Lua
12 9 (0.62%) Swift
13 7 (0.49%) Korn
14 6 (0.42%) Go
14 6 (0.42%) Scala
14 6 (0.42%) VBA
15 5 (0.35%) Perl
15 5 (0.35%) PL/SQL
15 5 (0.35%) R
Qualifications
1 197 (13.67%) Security Cleared
2 146 (10.13%) SC Cleared
3 124 (8.61%) Degree
4 34 (2.36%) BPSS Clearance
5 30 (2.08%) Computer Science Degree
6 26 (1.80%) DV Cleared
7 21 (1.46%) Microsoft Certification
8 14 (0.97%) Master's Degree
9 13 (0.90%) Azure Certification
10 12 (0.83%) Cisco Certification
11 9 (0.62%) CCNP
12 8 (0.56%) PMI Certification
13 7 (0.49%) CCA
14 6 (0.42%) CCIE
14 6 (0.42%) Citrix Certification
15 4 (0.28%) ISTQB
15 4 (0.28%) ITIL Certification
15 4 (0.28%) OCA
15 4 (0.28%) Oracle Certification
15 4 (0.28%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 254 (17.63%) Accessibility
2 125 (8.67%) QA
3 80 (5.55%) WCAG
4 45 (3.12%) Data Quality
5 38 (2.64%) GDPR
6 26 (1.80%) Actionable Recommendations
7 17 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 10 (0.69%) SLA
9 8 (0.56%) PMO
10 6 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (0.42%) GMP
10 6 (0.42%) GxP
11 5 (0.35%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 4 (0.28%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 4 (0.28%) GRC
13 3 (0.21%) Disclosure Scotland
13 3 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 3 (0.21%) NCSC
13 3 (0.21%) NIST
13 3 (0.21%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 72 (5.00%) Active Directory
2 54 (3.75%) Docker
3 19 (1.32%) Virtual Desktop
4 18 (1.25%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.42%) Firmware
6 5 (0.35%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.21%) XenApp
7 3 (0.21%) XenDesktop
8 2 (0.14%) Microsoft App-V
9 1 (0.069%) ISA Server
9 1 (0.069%) Varnish
9 1 (0.069%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 58 (4.02%) Kubernetes
2 48 (3.33%) Terraform
3 35 (2.43%) Grafana
4 33 (2.29%) Microsoft Intune
5 27 (1.87%) SCCM
6 18 (1.25%) Ansible
7 16 (1.11%) Single Sign-On
8 12 (0.83%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.35%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.28%) Podman
11 3 (0.21%) Argo
11 3 (0.21%) HP ALM
11 3 (0.21%) Nagios
11 3 (0.21%) Rancher
11 3 (0.21%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 2 (0.14%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.14%) SysTrack
12 2 (0.14%) WSUS
13 1 (0.069%) AirWatch
13 1 (0.069%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 207 (14.37%) Microsoft
2 88 (6.11%) Adobe
3 69 (4.79%) Google
4 53 (3.68%) ServiceNow
5 51 (3.54%) SAP
6 46 (3.19%) Oracle
7 43 (2.98%) Salesforce
8 23 (1.60%) Citrix
9 20 (1.39%) Splunk
10 18 (1.25%) VMware
11 17 (1.18%) Workday
12 15 (1.04%) Cisco
13 14 (0.97%) Apple
13 14 (0.97%) Databricks
14 9 (0.62%) Aruba
14 9 (0.62%) Dynatrace
14 9 (0.62%) Foundry
14 9 (0.62%) MuleSoft
14 9 (0.62%) OpenAI
14 9 (0.62%) Zscaler