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

6 months to
8 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 77 60 70
Rank change year-on-year -17 +10 -9
Contract jobs citing User Experience 1,459 1,090 1,230
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 3.07% 3.75% 2.85%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 3.64% 4.12% 3.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 982 734 822
10th Percentile £313 £304 £307
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.56% -4.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £592
90th Percentile £687 £710 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £425 £475
% change year-on-year +11.76% -10.53% +2.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 51 25 47
10th Percentile £16.73 £31.35 £16.25
25th Percentile £22.17 £45.50 £23.75
Median hourly rate £44.50 £53.50 £31.71
Median % change year-on-year -16.82% +68.72% +7.15%
75th Percentile £62.38 £72.50 £61.50
90th Percentile £82.00 £91.50 £73.51
UK excluding London median hourly rate £34.00 £61.75 £25.00
% change year-on-year -44.94% +147.00% +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 40,077 26,470 37,223
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.45% 90.96% 86.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,204 17,026 23,967
10th Percentile £321 £306 £300
25th Percentile £413 £411 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £745 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £479 £500
% change year-on-year +1.77% -4.20% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,387 1,075 2,431
10th Percentile £14.96 £14.50 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.91 £18.50 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.00 £28.75 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +46.09% -21.23% +1.39%
75th Percentile £67.25 £60.38 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.00 £27.35 £37.50
% change year-on-year +60.88% -27.07% +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 8 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 8 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 8 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 -9 1,265 £488 -2.30% 749
London -17 652 £513 -0.24% 319
UK excluding London +2 640 £475 +11.76% 516
Work from Home -21 389 £475 -1.04% 375
North of England +4 198 £450 +0.67% 147
Midlands -2 151 £475 +18.75% 88
North West +4 124 £413 -8.33% 90
South East -32 114 £475 +5.56% 126
West Midlands -13 100 £475 +2.70% 64
South West -19 68 £475 +26.67% 54
Scotland -7 61 £481 +10.00% 32
Yorkshire -15 53 £513 +28.04% 31
East Midlands +7 51 £550 +54.06% 24
East of England -17 31 £410 -13.68% 64
North East -9 19 £440 -2.76% 27
Wales -5 15 £375 +22.55% 10
Northern Ireland -2 3 - - 9

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 51 (3.50%) Confluence
2 50 (3.43%) SharePoint
3 40 (2.74%) CMS
4 18 (1.23%) Microsoft Exchange
5 15 (1.03%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 7 (0.48%) Apache
6 7 (0.48%) WordPress
7 6 (0.41%) Mendix
8 5 (0.34%) Camunda
8 5 (0.34%) Drupal
9 4 (0.27%) Ethereum
9 4 (0.27%) Headless CMS
9 4 (0.27%) Hyperledger
10 3 (0.21%) Anypoint
10 3 (0.21%) Kentico
10 3 (0.21%) nginx
10 3 (0.21%) Umbraco
11 2 (0.14%) HCL Notes
11 2 (0.14%) IIS
11 2 (0.14%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 42 (2.88%) Sketch
2 29 (1.99%) Adobe XD
3 24 (1.64%) Microsoft Excel
4 19 (1.30%) Chatbot
5 17 (1.17%) MS Visio
5 17 (1.17%) Photoshop
6 14 (0.96%) Microsoft Office
7 12 (0.82%) Adobe Illustrator
8 11 (0.75%) Adobe After Effects
8 11 (0.75%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 11 (0.75%) InVision
9 6 (0.41%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 5 (0.34%) Trello
11 3 (0.21%) Adobe Captivate
11 3 (0.21%) Microsoft Project
11 3 (0.21%) Spreadsheet
11 3 (0.21%) UserZoom
11 3 (0.21%) UXPin
12 2 (0.14%) Autodesk Smoke
12 2 (0.14%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 13 (0.89%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.69%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.62%) Shopify
4 8 (0.55%) Workday HCM
5 6 (0.41%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.14%) NEC Housing
7 2 (0.14%) NetSuite
7 2 (0.14%) Oracle iProcurement
7 2 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.14%) Payment Gateway
7 2 (0.14%) ResourceLink
7 2 (0.14%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.069%) Adobe Campaign
8 1 (0.069%) Elite 3E
8 1 (0.069%) Eloqua
8 1 (0.069%) Integrated Workplace Management System
8 1 (0.069%) iTrent
8 1 (0.069%) Sprinklr
Cloud Services
1 224 (15.35%) Azure
2 209 (14.32%) Figma
3 120 (8.22%) AWS
4 111 (7.61%) Power Platform
5 97 (6.65%) Microsoft 365
6 55 (3.77%) Entra ID
7 54 (3.70%) Azure DevOps
8 48 (3.29%) GCP
9 46 (3.15%) GitHub
10 41 (2.81%) SaaS
11 38 (2.60%) Power Automate
12 37 (2.54%) Microsoft Copilot
12 37 (2.54%) PowerApps
13 32 (2.19%) Serverless
14 26 (1.78%) GitHub Actions
15 24 (1.64%) Google Workspace
16 23 (1.58%) Copilot Studio
17 21 (1.44%) Google Sheets
18 20 (1.37%) Miro
18 20 (1.37%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 15 (1.03%) DNS
2 14 (0.96%) Wi-Fi
3 12 (0.82%) Internet
3 12 (0.82%) Intranet
3 12 (0.82%) LAN
4 11 (0.75%) SD-WAN
5 10 (0.69%) DHCP
5 10 (0.69%) HTTP
5 10 (0.69%) VPN
6 9 (0.62%) Wireless
7 8 (0.55%) WAN
8 7 (0.48%) TCP/IP
9 6 (0.41%) 5G
9 6 (0.41%) Firewall
9 6 (0.41%) Network Security
9 6 (0.41%) SNMP
9 6 (0.41%) WLAN
10 5 (0.34%) Cisco Wireless
10 5 (0.34%) SMS
10 5 (0.34%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 77 (5.28%) Power BI
2 27 (1.85%) Relational Database
3 26 (1.78%) NoSQL
4 23 (1.58%) PostgreSQL
5 21 (1.44%) SQL Server
6 19 (1.30%) Data Warehouse
6 19 (1.30%) Metadata
7 16 (1.10%) MongoDB
8 15 (1.03%) MySQL
9 12 (0.82%) Power Query
9 12 (0.82%) Tableau
10 10 (0.69%) Big Data
10 10 (0.69%) BigQuery
11 7 (0.48%) Looker
11 7 (0.48%) Oracle BI Publisher
11 7 (0.48%) Pinecone
12 6 (0.41%) DynamoDB
12 6 (0.41%) Oracle Database
12 6 (0.41%) Redis
12 6 (0.41%) ZAP BI
Development Applications
1 108 (7.40%) JIRA
2 85 (5.83%) Git
3 34 (2.33%) GitLab
4 29 (1.99%) Cypress.io
5 18 (1.23%) Jenkins
5 18 (1.23%) JUnit
6 17 (1.17%) Axure RP
7 13 (0.89%) Gradle
8 12 (0.82%) Browser DevTools
8 12 (0.82%) Vite
9 11 (0.75%) CircleCI
10 10 (0.69%) Android Studio
10 10 (0.69%) Selenium
11 9 (0.62%) Xcode
12 7 (0.48%) Postman
12 7 (0.48%) Visual Studio
13 6 (0.41%) Eclipse
13 6 (0.41%) Mocha
13 6 (0.41%) Mockito
14 5 (0.34%) Jasmine
General
1 445 (30.50%) Social Skills
2 263 (18.03%) Finance
3 202 (13.85%) Public Sector
4 154 (10.56%) Analytical Skills
5 114 (7.81%) Banking
6 60 (4.11%) Marketing
7 55 (3.77%) Retail
8 36 (2.47%) Legal
9 32 (2.19%) Presentation Skills
10 30 (2.06%) Influencing Skills
11 25 (1.71%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 21 (1.44%) Manufacturing
13 19 (1.30%) Publishing
14 18 (1.23%) Automotive
14 18 (1.23%) Organisational Skills
14 18 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
15 17 (1.17%) Documentation Skills
15 17 (1.17%) Games
16 14 (0.96%) Investment Banking
17 12 (0.82%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 306 (20.97%) Designer
2 223 (15.28%) Senior
3 192 (13.16%) Developer
4 142 (9.73%) UX Designer
5 130 (8.91%) Analyst
6 78 (5.35%) Consultant
6 78 (5.35%) Lead
7 66 (4.52%) Business Analyst
8 65 (4.46%) Product Designer
9 62 (4.25%) Architect
10 59 (4.04%) Senior Designer
11 58 (3.98%) UI Designer
12 50 (3.43%) User Researcher
13 47 (3.22%) Content Designer
14 44 (3.02%) Service Designer
14 44 (3.02%) User Experience Researcher
15 41 (2.81%) UI/UX Designer
16 36 (2.47%) IT Support
17 35 (2.40%) Product Manager
17 35 (2.40%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 155 (10.62%) React
2 136 (9.32%) CSS
3 123 (8.43%) HTML
4 103 (7.06%) REST
5 70 (4.80%) AngularJS
6 68 (4.66%) RESTful
7 55 (3.77%) Spring
8 54 (3.70%) Spring Boot
9 50 (3.43%) .NET
10 37 (2.54%) GraphQL
10 37 (2.54%) Node.js
11 34 (2.33%) HTML5
11 34 (2.33%) Redux
12 33 (2.26%) JSON
13 31 (2.12%) CSS3
14 29 (1.99%) Jest
15 28 (1.92%) Next.js
16 25 (1.71%) Kafka
17 22 (1.51%) OAuth
17 22 (1.51%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 142 (9.73%) Product Ownership
2 70 (4.80%) Mobile App
3 56 (3.84%) Onboarding
4 37 (2.54%) AI Agents
5 32 (2.19%) Data Structures
6 30 (2.06%) Enterprise Software
7 26 (1.78%) Cloud Native
8 20 (1.37%) Analytical Mindset
9 18 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
10 17 (1.17%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 16 (1.10%) Distributed Systems
11 16 (1.10%) Virtual Reality
12 15 (1.03%) Legacy Systems
13 14 (0.96%) Augmented Reality
13 14 (0.96%) NHS
14 13 (0.89%) Low-Code
14 13 (0.89%) Management Information System
14 13 (0.89%) Self-Motivation
15 12 (0.82%) Social Media
15 12 (0.82%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 100 (6.85%) Windows
2 45 (3.08%) Android
3 38 (2.60%) Apple iOS
4 35 (2.40%) Windows 10
5 21 (1.44%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.10%) Linux
7 9 (0.62%) Windows Server
8 6 (0.41%) Unix
9 5 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.21%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.14%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.069%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 480 (32.90%) UX Design
2 457 (31.32%) Agile
3 226 (15.49%) AI
4 218 (14.94%) Problem-Solving
5 213 (14.60%) User Research
6 206 (14.12%) Analytics
7 181 (12.41%) Continuous Improvement
8 173 (11.86%) Stakeholder Management
9 169 (11.58%) CI/CD
10 164 (11.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 159 (10.90%) Roadmaps
12 151 (10.35%) DevOps
13 147 (10.08%) Prototyping
14 133 (9.12%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
15 131 (8.98%) UX Research
16 130 (8.91%) Wireframes
17 125 (8.57%) Service Design
18 122 (8.36%) Decision-Making
19 110 (7.54%) Workshop Facilitation
20 109 (7.47%) Usability Testing
Programming Languages
1 162 (11.10%) JavaScript
2 127 (8.70%) SQL
3 123 (8.43%) Python
4 117 (8.02%) Java
5 112 (7.68%) TypeScript
6 53 (3.63%) C#
7 45 (3.08%) PowerShell
8 28 (1.92%) Kotlin
9 20 (1.37%) Bash
10 18 (1.23%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 11 (0.75%) C++
12 10 (0.69%) Swift
13 9 (0.62%) Lua
14 7 (0.48%) Korn
15 6 (0.41%) Perl
15 6 (0.41%) VBA
16 5 (0.34%) Go
16 5 (0.34%) PL/SQL
16 5 (0.34%) R
16 5 (0.34%) Scala
Qualifications
1 197 (13.50%) Security Cleared
2 146 (10.01%) SC Cleared
3 126 (8.64%) Degree
4 32 (2.19%) BPSS Clearance
5 30 (2.06%) Computer Science Degree
6 25 (1.71%) DV Cleared
7 22 (1.51%) Microsoft Certification
8 14 (0.96%) Master's Degree
9 13 (0.89%) Azure Certification
10 11 (0.75%) Cisco Certification
11 8 (0.55%) CCNP
11 8 (0.55%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.48%) CCA
13 6 (0.41%) CCIE
13 6 (0.41%) Citrix Certification
13 6 (0.41%) ITIL Certification
14 5 (0.34%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 4 (0.27%) ISTQB
15 4 (0.27%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 4 (0.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 260 (17.82%) Accessibility
2 122 (8.36%) QA
3 82 (5.62%) WCAG
4 47 (3.22%) Data Quality
5 38 (2.60%) GDPR
6 20 (1.37%) Actionable Recommendations
7 18 (1.23%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 9 (0.62%) SLA
9 7 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (0.41%) GMP
10 6 (0.41%) GxP
10 6 (0.41%) PMO
11 4 (0.27%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 4 (0.27%) GRC
11 4 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 3 (0.21%) Disclosure Scotland
12 3 (0.21%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 3 (0.21%) NCSC
12 3 (0.21%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 70 (4.80%) Active Directory
2 54 (3.70%) Docker
3 21 (1.44%) Virtual Desktop
4 19 (1.30%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.41%) Firmware
6 4 (0.27%) Hyper-V
6 4 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
7 3 (0.21%) XenApp
7 3 (0.21%) XenDesktop
8 2 (0.14%) BitLocker
8 2 (0.14%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.069%) ISA Server
9 1 (0.069%) Varnish
9 1 (0.069%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 57 (3.91%) Kubernetes
2 48 (3.29%) Terraform
3 35 (2.40%) Grafana
4 31 (2.12%) Microsoft Intune
4 31 (2.12%) SCCM
5 18 (1.23%) Ansible
5 18 (1.23%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (0.75%) Prometheus
7 4 (0.27%) Jamf Pro
7 4 (0.27%) Podman
7 4 (0.27%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
8 3 (0.21%) HP ALM
9 2 (0.14%) Argo
9 2 (0.14%) Failover Clustering
9 2 (0.14%) Nagios
9 2 (0.14%) Packer
9 2 (0.14%) Rancher
9 2 (0.14%) SysTrack
9 2 (0.14%) WSUS
10 1 (0.069%) WMI
Vendors
1 212 (14.53%) Microsoft
2 90 (6.17%) Adobe
3 69 (4.73%) Google
4 53 (3.63%) ServiceNow
5 48 (3.29%) Oracle
6 45 (3.08%) SAP
7 42 (2.88%) Salesforce
8 23 (1.58%) Citrix
9 20 (1.37%) Splunk
10 19 (1.30%) VMware
11 17 (1.17%) Workday
12 15 (1.03%) Cisco
12 15 (1.03%) Databricks
13 13 (0.89%) Apple
14 11 (0.75%) Dynatrace
15 10 (0.69%) Aruba
16 9 (0.62%) Foundry
16 9 (0.62%) MuleSoft
16 9 (0.62%) OpenAI
16 9 (0.62%) Zscaler