QA Contracts in the UK excluding London

Quality Assurance (QA)
UK > UK excluding London

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London with a requirement for QA skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited QA over the 6 months to 8 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
8 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 58 93 79
Rank change year-on-year +35 -14 +11
Contract jobs citing QA 615 638 956
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 3.00% 2.71% 3.12%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 20.22% 18.28% 21.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 410 445 664
10th Percentile £280 £263 £313
25th Percentile £397 £363 £385
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £465 £450
Median % change year-on-year +7.53% +3.33% +5.88%
75th Percentile £583 £550 £538
90th Percentile £694 £613 £613
UK median daily rate £509 £500 £510
% change year-on-year +1.70% -1.96% +7.37%
Number of hourly rates quoted 62 18 21
10th Percentile £10.82 - £16.25
25th Percentile £12.24 £10.92 £21.50
Median hourly rate £13.76 £13.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +5.85% -72.63% +143.59%
75th Percentile £21.35 £23.42 £60.00
90th Percentile £66.95 £50.00 £65.42
UK median hourly rate £15.38 £22.49 £46.00
% change year-on-year -31.60% -51.12% +132.91%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK excluding London

QA is in the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 3,042 3,490 4,457
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 14.82% 14.85% 14.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,782 2,350 3,075
10th Percentile £250 £218 £204
25th Percentile £363 £363 £338
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £485 £479 £450
Median % change year-on-year +1.25% +6.44% +5.88%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £569
90th Percentile £688 £675 £650
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £513
% change year-on-year -2.38% +2.44% +7.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 305 186 193
10th Percentile £10.95 £12.67 £11.39
25th Percentile £12.63 £18.02 £15.00
Median hourly rate £18.00 £32.94 £21.04
Median % change year-on-year -45.36% +56.57% +0.07%
75th Percentile £45.00 £59.82 £44.69
90th Percentile £68.00 £77.50 £64.19
UK median hourly rate £20.61 £35.00 £27.50
% change year-on-year -41.13% +27.27% +30.95%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings citing QA as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London.

Daily rate trend for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 8 May 2024.

Daily rate histogram for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London.

Hourly rate trend for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 8 May 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing QA within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 8 May 2024. 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
South East +32 157 £494 +8.22% 204
North of England +20 157 £500 +2.04% 254
South West +48 104 £550 +21.55% 132
Midlands +1 84 £450 +7.14% 198
North West +11 83 £500 +15.94% 126
Yorkshire +33 66 £550 +4.76% 100
West Midlands -2 59 £525 +23.53% 119
Scotland +29 53 £450 -10.00% 59
Wales +26 25 £545 -4.39% 31
East Midlands +10 24 £350 -6.67% 79
East of England -23 24 £375 -19.79% 105
Northern Ireland +14 12 £325 -12.75% 15
North East +1 8 £415 -18.87% 32
Isle of Man - 2 - -
QA
UK

QA
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 20 (3.25%) SharePoint
2 18 (2.93%) Confluence
3 8 (1.30%) Apache
4 7 (1.14%) SAS
5 4 (0.65%) Apache Solr
5 4 (0.65%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.65%) nginx
6 3 (0.49%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 3 (0.49%) CMS
6 3 (0.49%) Drupal
7 1 (0.16%) Alfresco
7 1 (0.16%) GeoServer
Applications
1 54 (8.78%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (2.93%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (1.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.81%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.81%) Simulink
5 3 (0.49%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.33%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.16%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.16%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.16%) InVision
7 1 (0.16%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 8 (1.30%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
2 7 (1.14%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (0.98%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.65%) Oracle ERP
4 4 (0.65%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.65%) TrackWise
5 3 (0.49%) Adobe Campaign
5 3 (0.49%) Primavera
6 2 (0.33%) NEC Housing
6 2 (0.33%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.16%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.16%) PeopleSoft HRMS
7 1 (0.16%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.16%) SAP EWM
7 1 (0.16%) SAP Hybris
7 1 (0.16%) SAP Payroll
7 1 (0.16%) SAP WM
7 1 (0.16%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 123 (20.00%) Azure
2 58 (9.43%) AWS
3 41 (6.67%) Power Platform
4 38 (6.18%) GitHub
5 36 (5.85%) Azure DevOps
6 17 (2.76%) GCP
7 16 (2.60%) Amazon EC2
7 16 (2.60%) Amazon S3
7 16 (2.60%) Dynamics 365
7 16 (2.60%) Entra ID
8 15 (2.44%) Azure Data Factory
9 14 (2.28%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 14 (2.28%) GitHub Actions
10 12 (1.95%) Snowflake
11 10 (1.63%) AWS CloudFormation
11 10 (1.63%) SaaS
12 9 (1.46%) Amazon SQS
12 9 (1.46%) Apigee
13 8 (1.30%) Amazon ECR
13 8 (1.30%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 22 (3.58%) TCP/IP
2 18 (2.93%) DNS
2 18 (2.93%) VPN
3 17 (2.76%) Firewall
3 17 (2.76%) WAN
4 13 (2.11%) LAN
5 6 (0.98%) HTTP
5 6 (0.98%) Internet
5 6 (0.98%) MPLS
5 6 (0.98%) SSL
6 5 (0.81%) Ethernet
6 5 (0.81%) IPsec
6 5 (0.81%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (0.65%) ADSL
7 4 (0.65%) DHCP
7 4 (0.65%) HTTPS
7 4 (0.65%) Radio Access Network
7 4 (0.65%) Remote Desktop
8 3 (0.49%) PSTN
9 2 (0.33%) PPP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 44 (7.15%) SQL Server
2 39 (6.34%) Relational Database
3 34 (5.53%) Power BI
4 32 (5.20%) MySQL
5 16 (2.60%) Tableau
6 15 (2.44%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 14 (2.28%) Elasticsearch
7 14 (2.28%) Microsoft Analysis Services
7 14 (2.28%) SQL Server Analysis Services
8 13 (2.11%) NoSQL
9 12 (1.95%) Data Lake
10 8 (1.30%) Data Mining
11 7 (1.14%) Ataccama
11 7 (1.14%) PostgreSQL
11 7 (1.14%) Qlik Sense
11 7 (1.14%) RDBMS
12 4 (0.65%) Couchbase
12 4 (0.65%) EDMS
12 4 (0.65%) Hadoop
12 4 (0.65%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 45 (7.32%) JIRA
2 33 (5.37%) GitLab
3 28 (4.55%) Git
3 28 (4.55%) Jenkins
4 24 (3.90%) Selenium
5 20 (3.25%) Postman
6 19 (3.09%) Cypress.io
7 15 (2.44%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 12 (1.95%) Visual Studio
9 11 (1.79%) Cucumber
10 8 (1.30%) JUnit
10 8 (1.30%) Maven
10 8 (1.30%) webpack
11 7 (1.14%) Artifactory
11 7 (1.14%) CircleCI
11 7 (1.14%) SonarQube
12 6 (0.98%) Atlassian Bamboo
12 6 (0.98%) JMeter
12 6 (0.98%) REST Assured
12 6 (0.98%) Travis CI
General
1 240 (39.02%) Social Skills
2 81 (13.17%) Finance
3 75 (12.20%) Analytical Skills
4 36 (5.85%) Public Sector
5 35 (5.69%) Telecoms
6 27 (4.39%) Banking
7 23 (3.74%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (3.74%) Pharmaceutical
8 15 (2.44%) Legal
8 15 (2.44%) Manufacturing
9 13 (2.11%) Influencing Skills
9 13 (2.11%) Presentation Skills
10 12 (1.95%) Marketing
11 11 (1.79%) Retail
12 9 (1.46%) Aerospace
12 9 (1.46%) Automotive
13 8 (1.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 6 (0.98%) Games
15 5 (0.81%) Documentation Skills
15 5 (0.81%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 80 (13.01%) Analyst
2 66 (10.73%) Developer
3 46 (7.48%) Architect
4 43 (6.99%) Lead
5 34 (5.53%) Project Manager
6 32 (5.20%) Senior
7 27 (4.39%) QA Analyst
8 25 (4.07%) Administrator
9 23 (3.74%) Full Stack Developer
10 22 (3.58%) QA Engineer
10 22 (3.58%) Test Analyst
11 21 (3.41%) Build Engineer
12 20 (3.25%) Data Analyst
12 20 (3.25%) Test Engineer
12 20 (3.25%) Tester
12 20 (3.25%) Windows Build Engineer
12 20 (3.25%) Windows Engineer
13 19 (3.09%) DevOps Engineer
14 18 (2.93%) Data Engineer
14 18 (2.93%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (6.18%) React
2 25 (4.07%) .NET
3 23 (3.74%) AngularJS
4 20 (3.25%) Node.js
5 19 (3.09%) HTML
6 18 (2.93%) REST
7 16 (2.60%) Elastic Stack
7 16 (2.60%) JSON
7 16 (2.60%) SailPoint
8 15 (2.44%) XML
9 14 (2.28%) CSS
9 14 (2.28%) Playwright
9 14 (2.28%) RESTful
10 13 (2.11%) Spring
11 12 (1.95%) Redux
12 11 (1.79%) Vue
13 10 (1.63%) Gherkin
13 10 (1.63%) Laravel
13 10 (1.63%) SOAP
13 10 (1.63%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 52 (8.46%) Product Ownership
2 23 (3.74%) Public Cloud
3 20 (3.25%) Management Information System
4 17 (2.76%) Mobile App
5 16 (2.60%) Onboarding
6 12 (1.95%) Data Structures
7 11 (1.79%) Legacy Systems
7 11 (1.79%) Life Science
8 9 (1.46%) Data Protection Act
8 9 (1.46%) NHS
9 8 (1.30%) Cloud Native
9 8 (1.30%) Self-Motivation
10 7 (1.14%) Analytical Mindset
10 7 (1.14%) Enterprise Software
10 7 (1.14%) Team-Oriented Environment
11 6 (0.98%) CMDB
11 6 (0.98%) Data Centre
11 6 (0.98%) Digital Media
11 6 (0.98%) Driving Licence
11 6 (0.98%) Freedom of Information
Operating Systems
1 63 (10.24%) Windows
2 41 (6.67%) Linux
3 26 (4.23%) Windows 10
4 25 (4.07%) Windows Server
5 21 (3.41%) Windows Server 2016
6 20 (3.25%) Windows NT
6 20 (3.25%) Windows Server 2012
6 20 (3.25%) Windows Server 2019
7 10 (1.63%) Android
8 8 (1.30%) Apple iOS
9 4 (0.65%) CentOS
9 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.65%) Unix
9 4 (0.65%) Windows 7
10 1 (0.16%) Solaris
10 1 (0.16%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 184 (29.92%) Agile
2 120 (19.51%) Problem-Solving
3 115 (18.70%) Test Automation
4 109 (17.72%) DevOps
5 107 (17.40%) Project Management
6 67 (10.89%) Continuous Improvement
7 66 (10.73%) CI/CD
8 63 (10.24%) Scrum
9 57 (9.27%) User Acceptance Testing
10 56 (9.11%) Stakeholder Management
11 53 (8.62%) ITIL
12 44 (7.15%) Test Strategy
13 43 (6.99%) Change Management
14 39 (6.34%) Continuous Integration
14 39 (6.34%) Risk Management
14 39 (6.34%) SDLC
15 37 (6.02%) Migration
15 37 (6.02%) Software Testing
16 36 (5.85%) Analytics
16 36 (5.85%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 73 (11.87%) SQL
2 58 (9.43%) Python
3 51 (8.29%) Java
4 40 (6.50%) JavaScript
5 35 (5.69%) C#
6 26 (4.23%) PowerShell
7 17 (2.76%) TypeScript
8 15 (2.44%) PHP
9 14 (2.28%) Bash
10 13 (2.11%) C
11 12 (1.95%) T-SQL
12 5 (0.81%) Bicep
12 5 (0.81%) MATLAB
12 5 (0.81%) VB
13 4 (0.65%) F#
13 4 (0.65%) Kotlin
13 4 (0.65%) VB6
14 3 (0.49%) Shell Script
15 2 (0.33%) Go
15 2 (0.33%) Swift
Qualifications
1 116 (18.86%) Security Cleared
2 72 (11.71%) Degree
3 64 (10.41%) SC Cleared
4 47 (7.64%) DV Cleared
5 25 (4.07%) ISTQB
6 19 (3.09%) Computer Science Degree
7 14 (2.28%) BPSS Clearance
7 14 (2.28%) HNC
8 11 (1.79%) NVQ Level 3
9 10 (1.63%) HND
10 9 (1.46%) Cisco Certification
10 9 (1.46%) PMP
11 8 (1.30%) CCNA
12 7 (1.14%) PMI Certification
13 5 (0.81%) A+ Certification
13 5 (0.81%) BC Cleared
13 5 (0.81%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 5 (0.81%) Master's Degree
13 5 (0.81%) Network+ Certification
13 5 (0.81%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (5.85%) Data Quality
2 15 (2.44%) SLA
3 12 (1.95%) Accessibility
4 8 (1.30%) GDPR
4 8 (1.30%) ISO 9001
5 7 (1.14%) Disclosure Scotland
5 7 (1.14%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 7 (1.14%) PMO
6 5 (0.81%) GMP
6 5 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 17025
6 5 (0.81%) ISO17020
7 4 (0.65%) HIPAA
7 4 (0.65%) NIST
8 3 (0.49%) Software Quality Assurance
8 3 (0.49%) WCAG
9 2 (0.33%) ISO 14001
9 2 (0.33%) ISO 22301
10 1 (0.16%) COREP
10 1 (0.16%) FINREP
10 1 (0.16%) NCSC
System Software
1 41 (6.67%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.74%) Firmware
3 18 (2.93%) Docker
4 7 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (0.81%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.81%) VMware Infrastructure
6 4 (0.65%) KVM
6 4 (0.65%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (0.65%) VMware Workstation
7 1 (0.16%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 35 (5.69%) Ansible
1 35 (5.69%) Kubernetes
2 28 (4.55%) Terraform
3 22 (3.58%) SCCM
4 20 (3.25%) Sysprep
4 20 (3.25%) WSUS
5 19 (3.09%) Grafana
6 16 (2.60%) Prometheus
7 11 (1.79%) Progress Chef
7 11 (1.79%) Puppet
8 10 (1.63%) Graylog
9 9 (1.46%) Kibana
10 8 (1.30%) Nagios
11 7 (1.14%) HP Fortify
12 6 (0.98%) Docker Swarm
12 6 (0.98%) logstash
13 5 (0.81%) Nessus
13 5 (0.81%) WebInspect
14 4 (0.65%) vCenter Server
15 3 (0.49%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 95 (15.45%) Microsoft
2 31 (5.04%) Oracle
3 26 (4.23%) SAP
4 19 (3.09%) Salesforce
4 19 (3.09%) Splunk
5 16 (2.60%) CyberArk
5 16 (2.60%) ServiceNow
6 15 (2.44%) Adobe
7 9 (1.46%) Google
8 8 (1.30%) Cisco
9 7 (1.14%) Alteryx
9 7 (1.14%) BT
9 7 (1.14%) Dataiku
9 7 (1.14%) Red Hat
9 7 (1.14%) Trillium
10 6 (0.98%) Databricks
11 5 (0.81%) Checkmarx
11 5 (0.81%) Pega
11 5 (0.81%) Veracode
11 5 (0.81%) VMware