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

6 months to
26 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 77 61 75
Rank change year-on-year -16 +14 -15
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,494 1,063 1,188
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.08% 3.72% 2.79%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.64% 4.08% 3.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 982 716 795
10th Percentile £313 £305 £302
25th Percentile £400 £400 £402
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £491 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.29% -4.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £575 £580 £600
90th Percentile £688 £697 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 25 46
10th Percentile £16.07 £22.25 £16.25
25th Percentile £23.87 £46.25 £23.75
Median hourly rate £33.99 £53.50 £29.14
Median % change year-on-year -36.47% +83.63% -10.87%
75th Percentile £61.05 £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 40,998 26,034 36,602
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.45% 91.02% 85.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,676 16,714 23,582
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.49% -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £498 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +4.74% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,430 1,064 2,485
10th Percentile £14.80 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.91 £18.12 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.28 £27.45 £36.00
Median % change year-on-year +54.01% -23.75% -3.49%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.01 £74.63 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.35 £25.15 £37.50
% change year-on-year +76.32% -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 26 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 26 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 26 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 -7 1,288 £489 -1.26% 898
UK excluding London +7 682 £475 +11.76% 500
London -22 651 £513 -0.97% 513
Work from Home -16 397 £500 +4.17% 464
North of England +1 201 £450 +5.88% 138
Midlands +7 164 £475 +18.16% 61
North West +11 125 £402 -10.07% 90
South East -11 123 £490 +12.00% 135
West Midlands -5 113 £475 -7.32% 39
Scotland +7 75 £500 +11.11% 27
South West -11 71 £475 +26.67% 47
Yorkshire -23 54 £513 +28.13% 28
East Midlands +6 51 £550 +53.63% 21
East of England -21 32 £410 -13.68% 62
North East -13 22 £450 -0.55% 21
Wales -9 14 £450 +47.06% 19
Northern Ireland -3 3 - - 17

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 54 (3.61%) SharePoint
2 50 (3.35%) Confluence
3 41 (2.74%) 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 (0.33%) Camunda
7 5 (0.33%) Drupal
7 5 (0.33%) Mendix
7 5 (0.33%) Skype for Business
8 4 (0.27%) Ethereum
8 4 (0.27%) Hyperledger
8 4 (0.27%) Kentico
9 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.20%) nginx
9 3 (0.20%) Umbraco
10 2 (0.13%) Appian
10 2 (0.13%) IIS
Applications
1 43 (2.88%) Sketch
2 26 (1.74%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.61%) Microsoft Excel
4 23 (1.54%) Photoshop
5 19 (1.27%) Chatbot
6 18 (1.20%) Adobe Illustrator
7 17 (1.14%) Adobe After Effects
8 15 (1.00%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 15 (1.00%) Microsoft Office
8 15 (1.00%) MS Visio
9 10 (0.67%) InVision
10 7 (0.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
11 4 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
11 4 (0.27%) Trello
12 3 (0.20%) Spreadsheet
12 3 (0.20%) UXPin
13 2 (0.13%) Final Cut Pro
13 2 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
13 2 (0.13%) Oracle Smart View
13 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 (0.33%) 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
1 228 (15.26%) Azure
2 215 (14.39%) Figma
3 128 (8.57%) AWS
4 110 (7.36%) Power Platform
5 105 (7.03%) Microsoft 365
6 57 (3.82%) Entra ID
7 53 (3.55%) Azure DevOps
8 49 (3.28%) GitHub
9 48 (3.21%) GCP
9 48 (3.21%) SaaS
10 41 (2.74%) Microsoft Copilot
11 34 (2.28%) Power Automate
12 33 (2.21%) PowerApps
13 32 (2.14%) Serverless
14 31 (2.07%) GitHub Actions
15 26 (1.74%) OneDrive
16 24 (1.61%) Copilot Studio
16 24 (1.61%) Google Workspace
17 21 (1.41%) Google Sheets
18 19 (1.27%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 18 (1.20%) DNS
2 17 (1.14%) Wi-Fi
3 15 (1.00%) 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 (0.33%) Network Security
11 5 (0.33%) SMS
12 4 (0.27%) Firewall
Database & Business Intelligence
1 75 (5.02%) Power BI
2 27 (1.81%) NoSQL
2 27 (1.81%) Relational Database
3 25 (1.67%) PostgreSQL
4 21 (1.41%) SQL Server
5 20 (1.34%) 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 (0.74%) Big Data
10 8 (0.54%) BigQuery
11 7 (0.47%) DynamoDB
12 6 (0.40%) Oracle BI Publisher
12 6 (0.40%) Oracle Database
12 6 (0.40%) Pinecone
12 6 (0.40%) Redis
12 6 (0.40%) ZAP BI
13 5 (0.33%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 100 (6.69%) JIRA
2 92 (6.16%) Git
3 32 (2.14%) GitLab
4 27 (1.81%) Cypress.io
5 23 (1.54%) Jenkins
6 17 (1.14%) JUnit
7 15 (1.00%) Gradle
7 15 (1.00%) Vite
8 14 (0.94%) Axure RP
9 12 (0.80%) Android Studio
9 12 (0.80%) Browser DevTools
10 11 (0.74%) Xcode
11 10 (0.67%) CircleCI
12 9 (0.60%) Selenium
13 8 (0.54%) fastlane
13 8 (0.54%) Visual Studio
14 7 (0.47%) Postman
15 6 (0.40%) Eclipse
15 6 (0.40%) Mocha
15 6 (0.40%) Mockito
General
1 442 (29.59%) Social Skills
2 256 (17.14%) Finance
3 195 (13.05%) Public Sector
4 145 (9.71%) Analytical Skills
5 112 (7.50%) Banking
6 64 (4.28%) Marketing
7 63 (4.22%) Retail
8 36 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 35 (2.34%) Legal
10 33 (2.21%) Influencing Skills
11 31 (2.07%) Presentation Skills
12 28 (1.87%) Manufacturing
13 26 (1.74%) Automotive
14 19 (1.27%) Publishing
15 17 (1.14%) Organisational Skills
15 17 (1.14%) Pharmaceutical
16 16 (1.07%) Documentation Skills
16 16 (1.07%) Games
16 16 (1.07%) Investment Banking
17 13 (0.87%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 321 (21.49%) Designer
2 227 (15.19%) Senior
3 198 (13.25%) Developer
4 146 (9.77%) UX Designer
5 122 (8.17%) Analyst
6 90 (6.02%) Lead
7 72 (4.82%) Consultant
7 72 (4.82%) UI Designer
8 67 (4.48%) Senior Designer
9 65 (4.35%) Architect
10 63 (4.22%) Product Designer
11 62 (4.15%) Business Analyst
12 49 (3.28%) Content Designer
13 46 (3.08%) User Researcher
14 45 (3.01%) UI/UX Designer
14 45 (3.01%) User Experience Researcher
15 41 (2.74%) IT Support
15 41 (2.74%) Service Designer
16 40 (2.68%) Product Manager
17 35 (2.34%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 162 (10.84%) React
2 133 (8.90%) CSS
3 121 (8.10%) HTML
4 105 (7.03%) REST
5 76 (5.09%) RESTful
6 72 (4.82%) AngularJS
7 54 (3.61%) Spring
8 53 (3.55%) Spring Boot
9 51 (3.41%) .NET
10 42 (2.81%) GraphQL
11 39 (2.61%) Node.js
12 34 (2.28%) HTML5
13 33 (2.21%) Redux
14 32 (2.14%) CSS3
14 32 (2.14%) JSON
15 30 (2.01%) Jest
16 27 (1.81%) Kafka
17 25 (1.67%) Next.js
18 23 (1.54%) OAuth
18 23 (1.54%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 147 (9.84%) Product Ownership
2 70 (4.69%) Mobile App
3 57 (3.82%) Onboarding
4 35 (2.34%) AI Agents
5 32 (2.14%) Data Structures
6 28 (1.87%) Cloud Native
6 28 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
7 20 (1.34%) Data Protection Act
8 19 (1.27%) Animation
8 19 (1.27%) Legacy Systems
9 18 (1.20%) Analytical Mindset
10 17 (1.14%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 15 (1.00%) Self-Motivation
11 15 (1.00%) Social Media
11 15 (1.00%) Virtual Reality
12 14 (0.94%) NHS
13 13 (0.87%) Algorithms
13 13 (0.87%) Augmented Reality
13 13 (0.87%) Distributed Systems
14 12 (0.80%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 107 (7.16%) Windows
2 47 (3.15%) Android
3 43 (2.88%) Apple iOS
4 36 (2.41%) Windows 10
5 26 (1.74%) 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 (0.33%) 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
1 499 (33.40%) UX Design
2 454 (30.39%) Agile
3 239 (16.00%) AI
4 216 (14.46%) Problem-Solving
5 202 (13.52%) Analytics
5 202 (13.52%) User Research
6 188 (12.58%) Continuous Improvement
7 179 (11.98%) Stakeholder Management
8 171 (11.45%) CI/CD
9 164 (10.98%) Roadmaps
10 159 (10.64%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 145 (9.71%) Prototyping
12 144 (9.64%) DevOps
13 138 (9.24%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
14 126 (8.43%) Decision-Making
14 126 (8.43%) UX Research
14 126 (8.43%) Wireframes
15 123 (8.23%) Service Design
16 109 (7.30%) Workshop Facilitation
17 100 (6.69%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 159 (10.64%) JavaScript
2 128 (8.57%) Python
3 123 (8.23%) SQL
4 115 (7.70%) Java
5 111 (7.43%) TypeScript
6 52 (3.48%) C#
7 49 (3.28%) PowerShell
8 33 (2.21%) Kotlin
9 21 (1.41%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 19 (1.27%) Bash
11 14 (0.94%) Swift
12 11 (0.74%) C++
13 9 (0.60%) Lua
14 8 (0.54%) 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
1 198 (13.25%) Security Cleared
2 146 (9.77%) SC Cleared
3 137 (9.17%) Degree
4 29 (1.94%) BPSS Clearance
4 29 (1.94%) Computer Science Degree
5 25 (1.67%) DV Cleared
6 20 (1.34%) Microsoft Certification
7 13 (0.87%) Azure Certification
7 13 (0.87%) Master's Degree
8 10 (0.67%) Cisco Certification
9 7 (0.47%) CCNP
9 7 (0.47%) ITIL Certification
10 6 (0.40%) CCA
10 6 (0.40%) CCIE
10 6 (0.40%) DBS Check
11 5 (0.33%) Citrix Certification
11 5 (0.33%) PMI Certification
11 5 (0.33%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 4 (0.27%) ISTQB
12 4 (0.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 262 (17.54%) Accessibility
2 108 (7.23%) QA
3 90 (6.02%) WCAG
4 48 (3.21%) 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%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.13%) HIPAA
12 2 (0.13%) NCSC
System Software
1 69 (4.62%) 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 (0.33%) 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 56 (3.75%) Kubernetes
2 48 (3.21%) Terraform
3 39 (2.61%) Microsoft Intune
4 35 (2.34%) 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%) SysTrack
11 2 (0.13%) WSUS
12 1 (0.067%) AirWatch
12 1 (0.067%) Argo
12 1 (0.067%) Rancher
Vendors
1 221 (14.79%) Microsoft
2 96 (6.43%) Adobe
3 66 (4.42%) Google
4 64 (4.28%) ServiceNow
5 42 (2.81%) Salesforce
6 41 (2.74%) Oracle
7 38 (2.54%) 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