QA Contract Job Trends in the City of London

Quality Assurance (QA)
Central London > City of London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the City of London requiring QA skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 24 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 46 46 38
Rank change year-on-year 0 -8 +15
Contract jobs citing QA 109 81 104
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 4.87% 4.64% 4.95%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 24.12% 23.68% 30.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 77 57 64
10th Percentile £351 £385 £348
25th Percentile £465 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £557 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.26% +1.27% -5.17%
75th Percentile £660 £675 £675
90th Percentile £730 £899 £735
Central London median daily rate £550 £557 £545
% change year-on-year -1.26% +2.20% -8.79%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 0
Median hourly rate - £34.00 -
Central London median hourly rate - £34.00 -

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
City of London

QA falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the City of London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 452 342 343
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 20.19% 19.58% 16.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 340 236 202
10th Percentile £350 £322 £350
25th Percentile £456 £413 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £554 £556
Median % change year-on-year -0.63% -0.36% -6.64%
75th Percentile £662 £713 £675
90th Percentile £763 £838 £751
Central London median daily rate £550 £550 £550
% change year-on-year - - -6.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 5 2
10th Percentile - £23.83 £16.60
25th Percentile - £26.57 £17.50
Median hourly rate - £34.00 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year - +70.00% -
75th Percentile - £56.75 £22.50
90th Percentile - £75.95 £23.40
Central London median hourly rate £30.41 £34.00 £25.18
% change year-on-year -10.56% +35.03% -

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in the City of London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing QA relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London.

QA job vacancy trend in the City of London

QA
Daily Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing QA.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing QA

QA
Daily Rate Histogram in the City of London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing QA in the City of London over the 6 months to 24 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for QA in the City of London

QA
Hourly Rate Trend in the City of London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing QA.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the City of London citing QA

QA
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the City of London 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 11 (10.09%) Confluence
2 4 (3.67%) SharePoint
3 3 (2.75%) CMS
4 2 (1.83%) IIS
5 1 (0.92%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.92%) Apache
5 1 (0.92%) MQSeries
5 1 (0.92%) nginx
5 1 (0.92%) WordPress
Applications
1 9 (8.26%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (2.75%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (1.83%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (1.83%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.92%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 3 (2.75%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (1.83%) Aladdin
3 1 (0.92%) Advent Moxy
3 1 (0.92%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
3 1 (0.92%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.92%) Magento
3 1 (0.92%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.92%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.92%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.92%) SAP HCM
3 1 (0.92%) SAP Payroll
3 1 (0.92%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.92%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 26 (23.85%) Azure
2 13 (11.93%) GitHub
3 12 (11.01%) Azure DevOps
4 11 (10.09%) AWS
4 11 (10.09%) Power Platform
5 8 (7.34%) GitHub Actions
6 6 (5.50%) Serverless
7 5 (4.59%) GitHub Copilot
8 4 (3.67%) Azure Functions
8 4 (3.67%) Microsoft Copilot
8 4 (3.67%) Power Automate
8 4 (3.67%) PowerApps
8 4 (3.67%) SuccessFactors
9 3 (2.75%) Azure Cosmos DB
9 3 (2.75%) Azure Logic Apps
9 3 (2.75%) GCP
9 3 (2.75%) Microsoft 365
9 3 (2.75%) OneDrive
10 2 (1.83%) Azure Monitor
10 2 (1.83%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 3 (2.75%) Internet
2 2 (1.83%) DHCP
2 2 (1.83%) DNS
2 2 (1.83%) Firewall
2 2 (1.83%) Intranet
3 1 (0.92%) INAP
3 1 (0.92%) Intelligent Network
3 1 (0.92%) LAN
3 1 (0.92%) Reverse Proxy
3 1 (0.92%) RTP
3 1 (0.92%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.92%) tcpdump
3 1 (0.92%) VoIP
3 1 (0.92%) VPN
3 1 (0.92%) WAN
3 1 (0.92%) Wi-Fi
3 1 (0.92%) Wireless
3 1 (0.92%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (11.01%) SQL Server
2 10 (9.17%) Power BI
3 6 (5.50%) NoSQL
3 6 (5.50%) Oracle Database
4 5 (4.59%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (3.67%) Amazon Athena
5 4 (3.67%) Relational Database
6 3 (2.75%) Metadata
6 3 (2.75%) MongoDB
6 3 (2.75%) SQL Server Analysis Services
6 3 (2.75%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 3 (2.75%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 2 (1.83%) Apache Cassandra
7 2 (1.83%) DynamoDB
7 2 (1.83%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (1.83%) MySQL
7 2 (1.83%) RDBMS
7 2 (1.83%) SQLPlus
8 1 (0.92%) Redis
8 1 (0.92%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 19 (17.43%) JIRA
2 11 (10.09%) Git
3 8 (7.34%) Jenkins
3 8 (7.34%) Selenium
4 6 (5.50%) GitLab
4 6 (5.50%) JMeter
5 5 (4.59%) Cypress.io
6 4 (3.67%) Appium
6 4 (3.67%) Gatling
6 4 (3.67%) Gradle
6 4 (3.67%) Maven
7 3 (2.75%) Artifactory
7 3 (2.75%) LoadRunner
7 3 (2.75%) NeoLoad
7 3 (2.75%) TeamCity
7 3 (2.75%) Zephyr
8 2 (1.83%) Bitbucket
8 2 (1.83%) Cucumber
8 2 (1.83%) WebDriver
8 2 (1.83%) webpack
General
1 39 (35.78%) Social Skills
2 37 (33.94%) Finance
3 24 (22.02%) Banking
4 22 (20.18%) Analytical Skills
5 12 (11.01%) Public Sector
6 5 (4.59%) Military
7 4 (3.67%) Influencing Skills
7 4 (3.67%) Marketing
7 4 (3.67%) Retail
8 3 (2.75%) Front Office
8 3 (2.75%) Investment Banking
8 3 (2.75%) Manufacturing
8 3 (2.75%) Organisational Skills
8 3 (2.75%) Retail Banking
9 2 (1.83%) Back Office
9 2 (1.83%) Financial Institution
9 2 (1.83%) Law
9 2 (1.83%) Legal
9 2 (1.83%) Pharmaceutical
9 2 (1.83%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 24 (22.02%) Developer
2 17 (15.60%) Lead
3 16 (14.68%) Analyst
4 13 (11.93%) Senior
5 9 (8.26%) QA Engineer
6 6 (5.50%) Automation Engineer
6 6 (5.50%) Business Analyst
6 6 (5.50%) C# Developer
6 6 (5.50%) Full-Stack Developer
6 6 (5.50%) Test Manager
7 5 (4.59%) Data Analyst
7 5 (4.59%) Test Engineer
8 4 (3.67%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
8 4 (3.67%) Consultant
8 4 (3.67%) Data Engineer
8 4 (3.67%) Java Developer
8 4 (3.67%) Lead Developer
8 4 (3.67%) Lead Full-Stack Developer
8 4 (3.67%) QA Automation Engineer
8 4 (3.67%) QA Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (10.09%) .NET
2 10 (9.17%) REST
3 7 (6.42%) Playwright
3 7 (6.42%) Spring
3 7 (6.42%) Spring Boot
4 6 (5.50%) .NET Framework
5 5 (4.59%) GraphQL
5 5 (4.59%) Kafka
6 4 (3.67%) AngularJS
6 4 (3.67%) HTML
6 4 (3.67%) React
6 4 (3.67%) RESTful
6 4 (3.67%) Terraform
7 3 (2.75%) ASP.NET
7 3 (2.75%) ASP.NET Web Forms
7 3 (2.75%) CSS
7 3 (2.75%) Middleware
7 3 (2.75%) SOAP
7 3 (2.75%) Web Services
7 3 (2.75%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 12 (11.01%) Product Ownership
2 7 (6.42%) Distributed Systems
3 6 (5.50%) Cloud Native
4 5 (4.59%) Data Centre
4 5 (4.59%) Data Structures
5 4 (3.67%) AI Agents
6 3 (2.75%) Clustering
7 2 (1.83%) Analytical Mindset
7 2 (1.83%) Client/Server
7 2 (1.83%) Credit Risk
7 2 (1.83%) Enterprise Software
7 2 (1.83%) Legacy Systems
7 2 (1.83%) Life Science
7 2 (1.83%) Low-Code
7 2 (1.83%) Management Information System
7 2 (1.83%) Marketing Technology
7 2 (1.83%) Onboarding
7 2 (1.83%) Replication
8 1 (0.92%) Operational Technology
8 1 (0.92%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 10 (9.17%) Linux
2 9 (8.26%) Windows
3 8 (7.34%) Unix
4 7 (6.42%) Windows Server
5 3 (2.75%) Android
5 3 (2.75%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.92%) CentOS
6 1 (0.92%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.92%) VMS
6 1 (0.92%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 36 (33.03%) Agile
2 31 (28.44%) Stakeholder Management
3 30 (27.52%) CI/CD
4 29 (26.61%) DevOps
4 29 (26.61%) Test Automation
5 21 (19.27%) Validation
6 20 (18.35%) Test Strategy
7 19 (17.43%) AI
8 16 (14.68%) User Acceptance Testing
9 15 (13.76%) Continuous Improvement
9 15 (13.76%) Data Analysis
9 15 (13.76%) Problem-Solving
10 13 (11.93%) Scrum
10 13 (11.93%) SDLC
11 12 (11.01%) Acceptance Criteria
11 12 (11.01%) Analytics
11 12 (11.01%) End-to-End Testing
11 12 (11.01%) Risk Management
12 11 (10.09%) Decision-Making
12 11 (10.09%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 36 (33.03%) SQL
2 21 (19.27%) Python
3 14 (12.84%) Java
4 12 (11.01%) C#
5 9 (8.26%) PL/SQL
6 8 (7.34%) JavaScript
7 5 (4.59%) Korn
7 5 (4.59%) TypeScript
8 4 (3.67%) T-SQL
9 3 (2.75%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 3 (2.75%) PowerShell
9 3 (2.75%) R
10 2 (1.83%) Bash
10 2 (1.83%) C
10 2 (1.83%) ProC
11 1 (0.92%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.92%) PHP
11 1 (0.92%) RPG
11 1 (0.92%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 25 (22.94%) Security Cleared
2 18 (16.51%) SC Cleared
3 13 (11.93%) Degree
4 4 (3.67%) ISTQB
5 3 (2.75%) CSPO
6 2 (1.83%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (1.83%) PMI Certification
7 1 (0.92%) CBAP
7 1 (0.92%) CCIE
7 1 (0.92%) CCNP
7 1 (0.92%) Cisco Certification
7 1 (0.92%) DV Cleared
7 1 (0.92%) IIBA
7 1 (0.92%) ISEB
7 1 (0.92%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 1 (0.92%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.92%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (0.92%) MOS
7 1 (0.92%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 10 (9.17%) Data Quality
2 8 (7.34%) Accessibility
3 2 (1.83%) 21 CFR Part 11
3 2 (1.83%) Basel III
3 2 (1.83%) GDPR
3 2 (1.83%) GxP
4 1 (0.92%) Actionable Recommendations
4 1 (0.92%) Government Security Classifications
4 1 (0.92%) GRC
4 1 (0.92%) IFRS
4 1 (0.92%) IFRS 9
4 1 (0.92%) PERC
4 1 (0.92%) PMO
4 1 (0.92%) Software Quality Assurance
4 1 (0.92%) WCAG
System Software
1 13 (11.93%) Docker
2 5 (4.59%) Active Directory
3 4 (3.67%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.92%) Varnish
4 1 (0.92%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 10 (9.17%) Kubernetes
2 5 (4.59%) Grafana
2 5 (4.59%) Prometheus
3 3 (2.75%) Microsoft Clustering
3 3 (2.75%) SCOM
4 2 (1.83%) Ansible
5 1 (0.92%) Puppet
5 1 (0.92%) Salt
Vendors
1 21 (19.27%) Microsoft
2 12 (11.01%) Oracle
3 5 (4.59%) Databricks
4 4 (3.67%) Citrix
4 4 (3.67%) SAP
4 4 (3.67%) Sitecore
4 4 (3.67%) VMware
5 3 (2.75%) BMC
5 3 (2.75%) Commvault
5 3 (2.75%) Google
5 3 (2.75%) Remedy
5 3 (2.75%) Salesforce
5 3 (2.75%) Workday
6 2 (1.83%) Adobe
6 2 (1.83%) Cisco
6 2 (1.83%) Fortinet
6 2 (1.83%) ServiceNow
7 1 (0.92%) Advent
7 1 (0.92%) Atlassian
7 1 (0.92%) Avaloq