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 21 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 40 53 45
Rank change year-on-year +13 -8 +15
Contract jobs citing QA 114 79 89
As % of all contract jobs in the City of London 4.88% 4.31% 4.30%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 26.03% 21.88% 26.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 80 55 61
10th Percentile £417 £391 £363
25th Percentile £481 £404 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £560
Median % change year-on-year - -1.79% -10.40%
75th Percentile £662 £675 £675
90th Percentile £741 £788 £738
Central London median daily rate £550 £554 £551
% change year-on-year -0.63% +0.45% -10.04%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 0
Median hourly rate - £34.00 -
Central London median hourly rate - £34.00 £42.50
% change year-on-year - -20.00% -

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 438 361 336
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the City of London 18.75% 19.69% 16.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 324 254 218
10th Percentile £385 £338 £363
25th Percentile £465 £418 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £545 £575
Median % change year-on-year +0.92% -5.22% -4.17%
75th Percentile £669 £700 £675
90th Percentile £775 £825 £768
Central London median daily rate £550 £550 £565
% change year-on-year - -2.65% -5.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 5 2
10th Percentile - £23.83 £16.60
25th Percentile £72.25 £26.57 £17.50
Median hourly rate £74.50 £34.00 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +119.12% +70.00% -
75th Percentile £76.75 £56.75 £22.50
90th Percentile - £75.95 £23.40
Central London median hourly rate £57.50 £34.00 £23.80
% change year-on-year +69.12% +42.86% -

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 21 August 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 10 (8.77%) Confluence
2 3 (2.63%) SharePoint
3 2 (1.75%) CMS
3 2 (1.75%) IIS
4 1 (0.88%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.88%) Apache
4 1 (0.88%) MQSeries
4 1 (0.88%) nginx
4 1 (0.88%) WordPress
Applications
1 8 (7.02%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (2.63%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (1.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (1.75%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 3 (2.63%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (1.75%) Aladdin
2 2 (1.75%) Workday HCM
3 1 (0.88%) Advent Moxy
3 1 (0.88%) Advent Portfolio Exchange
3 1 (0.88%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.88%) Magento
3 1 (0.88%) Oracle ERP
3 1 (0.88%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.88%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.88%) SAP HCM
3 1 (0.88%) SAP Payroll
3 1 (0.88%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 26 (22.81%) Azure
2 13 (11.40%) AWS
2 13 (11.40%) GitHub
3 10 (8.77%) Azure DevOps
3 10 (8.77%) Power Platform
4 7 (6.14%) GitHub Actions
4 7 (6.14%) Serverless
5 6 (5.26%) GitHub Copilot
6 4 (3.51%) Amazon CloudWatch
6 4 (3.51%) Azure Cosmos DB
6 4 (3.51%) Azure Functions
6 4 (3.51%) GCP
6 4 (3.51%) Microsoft Copilot
6 4 (3.51%) Power Automate
6 4 (3.51%) PowerApps
6 4 (3.51%) SuccessFactors
7 3 (2.63%) Amazon Kinesis
7 3 (2.63%) Amazon S3
7 3 (2.63%) AWS Lambda
7 3 (2.63%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 3 (2.63%) Internet
2 2 (1.75%) Firewall
2 2 (1.75%) Intranet
3 1 (0.88%) DHCP
3 1 (0.88%) DNS
3 1 (0.88%) LAN
3 1 (0.88%) Multicast
3 1 (0.88%) Reverse Proxy
3 1 (0.88%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.88%) VPN
3 1 (0.88%) WAN
3 1 (0.88%) Wi-Fi
3 1 (0.88%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (13.16%) SQL Server
2 9 (7.89%) Power BI
3 7 (6.14%) NoSQL
3 7 (6.14%) Oracle Database
4 4 (3.51%) Amazon Athena
4 4 (3.51%) DynamoDB
4 4 (3.51%) MongoDB
4 4 (3.51%) PostgreSQL
5 3 (2.63%) Apache Cassandra
5 3 (2.63%) Metadata
5 3 (2.63%) Relational Database
5 3 (2.63%) SQL Server Analysis Services
5 3 (2.63%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 3 (2.63%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 2 (1.75%) Elasticsearch
6 2 (1.75%) MySQL
6 2 (1.75%) RDBMS
6 2 (1.75%) SQLPlus
7 1 (0.88%) Amazon Redshift
7 1 (0.88%) GIS
Development Applications
1 16 (14.04%) JIRA
2 10 (8.77%) Git
3 9 (7.89%) Selenium
4 8 (7.02%) Jenkins
5 6 (5.26%) GitLab
6 5 (4.39%) Cypress.io
6 5 (4.39%) JMeter
7 4 (3.51%) Appium
7 4 (3.51%) Gatling
7 4 (3.51%) Maven
7 4 (3.51%) TeamCity
8 3 (2.63%) Artifactory
8 3 (2.63%) Cucumber
8 3 (2.63%) Gradle
8 3 (2.63%) LoadRunner
8 3 (2.63%) NeoLoad
8 3 (2.63%) Zephyr
9 2 (1.75%) Bitbucket
9 2 (1.75%) JUnit
9 2 (1.75%) WebDriver
General
1 40 (35.09%) Social Skills
2 35 (30.70%) Finance
3 25 (21.93%) Banking
4 21 (18.42%) Analytical Skills
5 11 (9.65%) Public Sector
6 4 (3.51%) Front Office
6 4 (3.51%) Influencing Skills
6 4 (3.51%) Military
6 4 (3.51%) Retail
7 3 (2.63%) Investment Banking
7 3 (2.63%) Manufacturing
7 3 (2.63%) Organisational Skills
7 3 (2.63%) Retail Banking
8 2 (1.75%) Back Office
8 2 (1.75%) Corporate Banking
8 2 (1.75%) Law
8 2 (1.75%) Legal
8 2 (1.75%) Marketing
8 2 (1.75%) Pharmaceutical
8 2 (1.75%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 28 (24.56%) Developer
2 19 (16.67%) Analyst
3 15 (13.16%) Lead
4 13 (11.40%) Senior
5 9 (7.89%) QA Engineer
6 7 (6.14%) Business Analyst
6 7 (6.14%) C# Developer
6 7 (6.14%) Full-Stack Developer
6 7 (6.14%) Java Developer
7 6 (5.26%) Test Engineer
8 5 (4.39%) Automation Engineer
8 5 (4.39%) Consultant
8 5 (4.39%) Data Analyst
8 5 (4.39%) Lead Developer
8 5 (4.39%) Lead Full-Stack Developer
8 5 (4.39%) Senior Developer
8 5 (4.39%) Senior Java Developer
8 5 (4.39%) Test Manager
9 4 (3.51%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
9 4 (3.51%) Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (10.53%) .NET
2 8 (7.02%) Playwright
2 8 (7.02%) REST
3 7 (6.14%) .NET Framework
4 6 (5.26%) Kafka
4 6 (5.26%) Spring
4 6 (5.26%) Spring Boot
5 5 (4.39%) GraphQL
5 5 (4.39%) RESTful
5 5 (4.39%) Terraform
6 4 (3.51%) AngularJS
6 4 (3.51%) Gherkin
6 4 (3.51%) HTML
6 4 (3.51%) Node.js
6 4 (3.51%) React
7 3 (2.63%) ASP.NET
7 3 (2.63%) CSS
7 3 (2.63%) SOAP
7 3 (2.63%) Web Services
7 3 (2.63%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 10 (8.77%) Product Ownership
2 9 (7.89%) Cloud Native
3 6 (5.26%) Distributed Systems
4 5 (4.39%) Data Centre
5 4 (3.51%) AI Agents
5 4 (3.51%) Data Structures
6 3 (2.63%) Clustering
7 2 (1.75%) Analytical Mindset
7 2 (1.75%) Credit Risk
7 2 (1.75%) Legacy Systems
7 2 (1.75%) Life Science
7 2 (1.75%) Low-Code
7 2 (1.75%) Management Information System
7 2 (1.75%) Onboarding
7 2 (1.75%) Operational Technology
7 2 (1.75%) Replication
7 2 (1.75%) Virtual Team
8 1 (0.88%) Distributed Architecture
8 1 (0.88%) Marketing Technology
8 1 (0.88%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 9 (7.89%) Windows
2 8 (7.02%) Linux
3 7 (6.14%) Unix
3 7 (6.14%) Windows Server
4 3 (2.63%) Android
4 3 (2.63%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.88%) VMS
5 1 (0.88%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 36 (31.58%) Agile
2 31 (27.19%) Test Automation
3 30 (26.32%) Stakeholder Management
4 29 (25.44%) CI/CD
5 28 (24.56%) DevOps
6 20 (17.54%) AI
7 19 (16.67%) Validation
8 17 (14.91%) Continuous Improvement
8 17 (14.91%) Test Strategy
9 16 (14.04%) Data Analysis
10 15 (13.16%) Problem-Solving
11 14 (12.28%) Analytics
11 14 (12.28%) Scrum
12 13 (11.40%) Roadmaps
12 13 (11.40%) User Acceptance Testing
13 12 (10.53%) Microservices
13 12 (10.53%) SDLC
13 12 (10.53%) Software Testing
14 11 (9.65%) Data Modelling
14 11 (9.65%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 37 (32.46%) SQL
2 20 (17.54%) Python
3 16 (14.04%) Java
4 13 (11.40%) C#
5 10 (8.77%) PL/SQL
6 9 (7.89%) JavaScript
7 7 (6.14%) TypeScript
8 5 (4.39%) Korn
8 5 (4.39%) T-SQL
9 3 (2.63%) PowerShell
10 2 (1.75%) Bash
10 2 (1.75%) C
10 2 (1.75%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (1.75%) Kotlin
10 2 (1.75%) ProC
10 2 (1.75%) R
10 2 (1.75%) Scala
11 1 (0.88%) PHP
11 1 (0.88%) RPG
11 1 (0.88%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 24 (21.05%) Security Cleared
2 19 (16.67%) SC Cleared
3 11 (9.65%) Degree
4 3 (2.63%) CSPO
5 2 (1.75%) Computer Science Degree
5 2 (1.75%) DV Cleared
5 2 (1.75%) ISTQB
6 1 (0.88%) CBAP
6 1 (0.88%) CCIE
6 1 (0.88%) CCNP
6 1 (0.88%) Cisco Certification
6 1 (0.88%) IIBA
6 1 (0.88%) ISEB
6 1 (0.88%) Master's Degree
6 1 (0.88%) Microsoft Certification
6 1 (0.88%) PMI Certification
6 1 (0.88%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (11.40%) Data Quality
2 9 (7.89%) Accessibility
3 2 (1.75%) 21 CFR Part 11
3 2 (1.75%) Basel III
3 2 (1.75%) GDPR
3 2 (1.75%) GxP
3 2 (1.75%) WCAG
4 1 (0.88%) Actionable Recommendations
4 1 (0.88%) Government Security Classifications
4 1 (0.88%) GRC
4 1 (0.88%) IFRS
4 1 (0.88%) IFRS 9
4 1 (0.88%) PERC
4 1 (0.88%) Software Quality Assurance
4 1 (0.88%) Solvency II
System Software
1 13 (11.40%) Docker
2 5 (4.39%) Active Directory
3 4 (3.51%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.88%) GridGain
4 1 (0.88%) Varnish
4 1 (0.88%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 12 (10.53%) Kubernetes
2 6 (5.26%) Grafana
2 6 (5.26%) Prometheus
3 3 (2.63%) Microsoft Clustering
3 3 (2.63%) SCOM
4 2 (1.75%) Ansible
5 1 (0.88%) Puppet
5 1 (0.88%) Salt
Vendors
1 21 (18.42%) Microsoft
2 14 (12.28%) Oracle
3 5 (4.39%) Citrix
3 5 (4.39%) Databricks
4 4 (3.51%) Google
4 4 (3.51%) SAP
4 4 (3.51%) Sitecore
4 4 (3.51%) VMware
5 3 (2.63%) BMC
5 3 (2.63%) Commvault
5 3 (2.63%) Remedy
5 3 (2.63%) Workday
6 2 (1.75%) Adobe
6 2 (1.75%) Cisco
6 2 (1.75%) Fortinet
6 2 (1.75%) Salesforce
6 2 (1.75%) ServiceNow
7 1 (0.88%) Advent
7 1 (0.88%) Atlassian
7 1 (0.88%) Avaloq