QA Contracts in England

Quality Assurance (QA)
UK > England

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England 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 12 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
12 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 62 78 67
Rank change year-on-year +16 -11 +11
Contract jobs citing QA 1,210 1,507 2,431
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 3.29% 3.06% 3.46%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 23.23% 23.00% 26.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 842 1,116 1,701
10th Percentile £313 £313 £350
25th Percentile £406 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £506 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.70% +1.25% +5.26%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £613
90th Percentile £750 £743 £700
UK median daily rate £509 £500 £505
% change year-on-year +1.70% -0.99% +6.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 61 24 39
10th Percentile £10.82 £18.15 £16.15
25th Percentile £12.24 £21.24 £25.50
Median hourly rate £15.38 £22.49 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -31.60% -52.66% +146.75%
75th Percentile £33.75 £50.31 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.88 £55.00 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £15.38 £22.49 £47.50
% change year-on-year -31.60% -52.66% +137.50%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
England

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 England with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 5,209 6,551 9,213
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 14.17% 13.32% 13.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,343 4,459 6,318
10th Percentile £300 £288 £290
25th Percentile £406 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year - - +10.53%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £625
90th Percentile £750 £750 £725
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £513
% change year-on-year -2.38% +2.44% +7.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 349 214 266
10th Percentile £10.95 £15.21 £12.17
25th Percentile £13.18 £19.07 £17.00
Median hourly rate £22.50 £38.55 £28.81
Median % change year-on-year -41.63% +33.81% +37.19%
75th Percentile £45.00 £63.62 £49.25
90th Percentile £68.75 £79.93 £69.05
UK median hourly rate £21.06 £35.00 £31.00
% change year-on-year -39.84% +12.90% +47.62%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing QA as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for QA in England

QA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing QA in England.

Daily rate trend for QA in England

QA
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing QA in England over the 6 months to 12 May 2024.

Daily rate histogram for QA in England

QA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing QA in England.

Hourly rate trend for QA in England

QA
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing QA in England over the 6 months to 12 May 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for QA in England

QA
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing QA within the England region over the 6 months to 12 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
London +10 646 £539 -2.05% 379
North of England +14 158 £500 +1.01% 250
South East +42 157 £488 +2.63% 211
South West +43 103 £550 +21.55% 139
Midlands -1 83 £450 +7.14% 184
North West +10 82 £500 +12.68% 127
Yorkshire +29 69 £550 +4.76% 93
West Midlands -5 59 £525 +23.53% 108
East Midlands +11 23 £303 -13.57% 76
East of England -20 22 £375 -19.79% 110
North East +1 7 £410 -18.00% 33
QA
UK

QA
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England 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 55 (4.55%) Confluence
2 43 (3.55%) SharePoint
3 26 (2.15%) CMS
4 14 (1.16%) IIS
5 11 (0.91%) Apache
6 8 (0.66%) Drupal
7 7 (0.58%) SAS
8 6 (0.50%) Microsoft Exchange
9 5 (0.41%) Oracle Workflow
10 4 (0.33%) Adobe Experience Manager
10 4 (0.33%) Apache Solr
10 4 (0.33%) ArcGIS
10 4 (0.33%) nginx
10 4 (0.33%) WordPress
11 3 (0.25%) Alfresco
11 3 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
11 3 (0.25%) Apache Spark
12 2 (0.17%) MQSeries
13 1 (0.083%) Sitecore CMS
13 1 (0.083%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 93 (7.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 37 (3.06%) Microsoft Office
3 32 (2.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 22 (1.82%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.41%) Simulink
6 4 (0.33%) Microsoft Project
7 3 (0.25%) Acrobat
8 2 (0.17%) Mingle
8 2 (0.17%) Spreadsheet
9 1 (0.083%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 1 (0.083%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.083%) Autodesk Inventor
9 1 (0.083%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.083%) InVision
9 1 (0.083%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.083%) SPSS
9 1 (0.083%) Trello
Business Applications
1 15 (1.24%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.83%) Dynamics CRM
3 8 (0.66%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 7 (0.58%) Endur
5 6 (0.50%) ION MarketView
5 6 (0.50%) Oracle EBS
5 6 (0.50%) SAP ERP
6 4 (0.33%) Adobe Campaign
6 4 (0.33%) IntelliMatch
6 4 (0.33%) SAP QM
6 4 (0.33%) TrackWise
7 3 (0.25%) ION Anvil
7 3 (0.25%) NEC Housing
7 3 (0.25%) Primavera
7 3 (0.25%) SAP Payroll
8 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
8 2 (0.17%) SAP CRM
8 2 (0.17%) SAP SD
8 2 (0.17%) WebTrends
8 2 (0.17%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 221 (18.26%) Azure
2 144 (11.90%) AWS
3 77 (6.36%) Power Platform
4 66 (5.45%) GCP
5 63 (5.21%) Azure DevOps
6 55 (4.55%) GitHub
7 50 (4.13%) Dynamics 365
8 32 (2.64%) SaaS
9 25 (2.07%) Serverless
10 21 (1.74%) Azure Data Factory
11 19 (1.57%) AWS Lambda
12 18 (1.49%) Entra ID
13 17 (1.40%) Azure Logic Apps
13 17 (1.40%) Microsoft 365
14 16 (1.32%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 16 (1.32%) Amazon EC2
14 16 (1.32%) Amazon S3
14 16 (1.32%) AWS CloudFormation
14 16 (1.32%) Azure API Management
14 16 (1.32%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 22 (1.82%) DNS
1 22 (1.82%) Firewall
1 22 (1.82%) Internet
2 21 (1.74%) TCP/IP
2 21 (1.74%) VPN
3 20 (1.65%) WAN
4 14 (1.16%) LAN
5 13 (1.07%) HTTP
6 12 (0.99%) Wi-Fi
7 11 (0.91%) FIX Connectivity
8 9 (0.74%) SSL
9 8 (0.66%) 5G
9 8 (0.66%) MPLS
10 7 (0.58%) SSH
11 6 (0.50%) Ethernet
11 6 (0.50%) IPsec
12 5 (0.41%) HTTPS
13 4 (0.33%) ADSL
13 4 (0.33%) DHCP
13 4 (0.33%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 99 (8.18%) SQL Server
2 64 (5.29%) Power BI
3 44 (3.64%) Relational Database
4 30 (2.48%) Oracle Database
5 26 (2.15%) MySQL
5 26 (2.15%) Tableau
6 21 (1.74%) NoSQL
7 17 (1.40%) Data Lake
7 17 (1.40%) Elasticsearch
7 17 (1.40%) PostgreSQL
8 16 (1.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 15 (1.24%) SQL Server Analysis Services
10 14 (1.16%) Microsoft Analysis Services
10 14 (1.16%) RDBMS
11 8 (0.66%) Big Data
11 8 (0.66%) BigQuery
12 7 (0.58%) Ataccama
12 7 (0.58%) Qlik Sense
13 6 (0.50%) Amazon QuickSight
13 6 (0.50%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 144 (11.90%) JIRA
2 71 (5.87%) Jenkins
3 67 (5.54%) Git
4 66 (5.45%) Selenium
5 52 (4.30%) Cucumber
6 44 (3.64%) GitLab
7 43 (3.55%) Postman
8 32 (2.64%) JMeter
9 28 (2.31%) Cypress.io
10 25 (2.07%) JUnit
11 23 (1.90%) Appium
12 22 (1.82%) SpecFlow
13 19 (1.57%) TeamCity
14 18 (1.49%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
15 13 (1.07%) REST Assured
15 13 (1.07%) TestRail
15 13 (1.07%) Visual Studio
16 11 (0.91%) CircleCI
16 11 (0.91%) Maven
16 11 (0.91%) webpack
General
1 406 (33.55%) Social Skills
2 278 (22.98%) Finance
3 154 (12.73%) Analytical Skills
4 99 (8.18%) Banking
5 80 (6.61%) Public Sector
6 48 (3.97%) Front Office
7 40 (3.31%) Telecoms
8 37 (3.06%) Marketing
9 33 (2.73%) Investment Banking
10 32 (2.64%) Presentation Skills
11 30 (2.48%) Pharmaceutical
12 28 (2.31%) Retail
13 26 (2.15%) Legal
14 23 (1.90%) Influencing Skills
15 20 (1.65%) Manufacturing
16 18 (1.49%) Back Office
17 16 (1.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
18 15 (1.24%) Documentation Skills
18 15 (1.24%) Organisational Skills
19 13 (1.07%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 173 (14.30%) Analyst
2 150 (12.40%) Developer
3 132 (10.91%) Lead
4 84 (6.94%) Architect
5 77 (6.36%) Business Analyst
6 74 (6.12%) QA Engineer
7 71 (5.87%) Senior
8 60 (4.96%) Tester
9 56 (4.63%) Project Manager
10 43 (3.55%) QA Analyst
11 42 (3.47%) Consultant
12 40 (3.31%) Test Manager
13 39 (3.22%) .NET Developer
14 35 (2.89%) QA Tester
15 34 (2.81%) Test Analyst
16 31 (2.56%) Software Engineer
16 31 (2.56%) Test Leader
17 30 (2.48%) QA Leader
18 29 (2.40%) Data Analyst
18 29 (2.40%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 93 (7.69%) .NET
2 77 (6.36%) React
3 67 (5.54%) XML
4 53 (4.38%) REST
5 46 (3.80%) JSON
6 43 (3.55%) AngularJS
7 42 (3.47%) HTML
8 39 (3.22%) Node.js
9 38 (3.14%) Redux
10 37 (3.06%) CSS
11 35 (2.89%) Web Services
12 30 (2.48%) Spring
13 29 (2.40%) .NET Framework
14 22 (1.82%) SailPoint
15 21 (1.74%) .NET Core
15 21 (1.74%) Middleware
16 20 (1.65%) Elastic Stack
16 20 (1.65%) Gherkin
17 18 (1.49%) ASP.NET
17 18 (1.49%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 80 (6.61%) Product Ownership
2 50 (4.13%) Derivative
3 41 (3.39%) Equities
4 40 (3.31%) Fixed Income
5 36 (2.98%) Management Information System
6 34 (2.81%) Data Protection Act
6 34 (2.81%) Hedge funds
7 31 (2.56%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 29 (2.40%) Onboarding
9 28 (2.31%) Mobile App
10 19 (1.57%) Public Cloud
11 17 (1.40%) Enterprise Software
12 16 (1.32%) Data Structures
12 16 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
13 15 (1.24%) Algorithms
14 13 (1.07%) Life Science
15 12 (0.99%) Linux Command Line
16 10 (0.83%) Cloud Native
16 10 (0.83%) Data Centre
17 9 (0.74%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 100 (8.26%) Windows
2 59 (4.88%) Linux
3 40 (3.31%) Unix
4 36 (2.98%) Windows Server
5 28 (2.31%) Windows 10
6 22 (1.82%) Android
6 22 (1.82%) Apple iOS
7 21 (1.74%) Windows Server 2016
8 20 (1.65%) Windows NT
8 20 (1.65%) Windows Server 2012
8 20 (1.65%) Windows Server 2019
9 8 (0.66%) VMS
10 6 (0.50%) Mac OS
11 4 (0.33%) CentOS
11 4 (0.33%) Windows 7
12 3 (0.25%) OpenVMS
12 3 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 1 (0.083%) Solaris
13 1 (0.083%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 359 (29.67%) Agile
2 232 (19.17%) Test Automation
3 215 (17.77%) Problem-Solving
4 209 (17.27%) DevOps
5 163 (13.47%) Project Management
6 134 (11.07%) User Acceptance Testing
7 131 (10.83%) Scrum
8 127 (10.50%) CI/CD
9 120 (9.92%) Test Strategy
10 111 (9.17%) Continuous Improvement
10 111 (9.17%) Stakeholder Management
11 109 (9.01%) Migration
12 85 (7.02%) Computer Science
12 85 (7.02%) Software Engineering
13 81 (6.69%) SDLC
13 81 (6.69%) Validation
14 80 (6.61%) Analytics
14 80 (6.61%) Continuous Integration
15 74 (6.12%) Software Testing
16 73 (6.03%) User Stories
Programming Languages
1 203 (16.78%) SQL
2 149 (12.31%) Python
3 135 (11.16%) C#
4 125 (10.33%) Java
5 122 (10.08%) JavaScript
6 58 (4.79%) TypeScript
7 42 (3.47%) PowerShell
8 38 (3.14%) T-SQL
9 27 (2.23%) Bash
10 22 (1.82%) PL/SQL
11 20 (1.65%) VBA
12 18 (1.49%) C
12 18 (1.49%) VB
13 15 (1.24%) Swift
14 14 (1.16%) Perl
15 12 (0.99%) Kotlin
15 12 (0.99%) PHP
16 10 (0.83%) F#
17 9 (0.74%) C++
18 8 (0.66%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 179 (14.79%) Security Cleared
2 167 (13.80%) Degree
3 118 (9.75%) SC Cleared
4 60 (4.96%) DV Cleared
5 51 (4.21%) Computer Science Degree
6 45 (3.72%) ISTQB
7 23 (1.90%) BPSS Clearance
8 15 (1.24%) PMP
9 14 (1.16%) Master's Degree
10 13 (1.07%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 12 (0.99%) ISEB
12 11 (0.91%) PMI Certification
13 10 (0.83%) Cisco Certification
13 10 (0.83%) HND
14 9 (0.74%) CCNA
14 9 (0.74%) CISSP
14 9 (0.74%) HNC
15 6 (0.50%) BC Cleared
15 6 (0.50%) CISM
15 6 (0.50%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (4.55%) Data Quality
2 32 (2.64%) Accessibility
3 17 (1.40%) SLA
4 14 (1.16%) GDPR
5 10 (0.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 10 (0.83%) Software Quality Assurance
6 9 (0.74%) PMO
7 8 (0.66%) ISO 9001
7 8 (0.66%) MiFID
8 7 (0.58%) Dodd-Frank
8 7 (0.58%) EMIR
9 6 (0.50%) NIST
10 5 (0.41%) GMP
10 5 (0.41%) HL7
10 5 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 17025
10 5 (0.41%) ISO17020
11 4 (0.33%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.33%) IFRS
11 4 (0.33%) WCAG
12 2 (0.17%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 52 (4.30%) Active Directory
2 34 (2.81%) Docker
3 23 (1.90%) Firmware
4 9 (0.74%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (0.41%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.41%) Virtual Desktop
5 5 (0.41%) VMware Infrastructure
6 4 (0.33%) KVM
6 4 (0.33%) Veritas Cluster Server
6 4 (0.33%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (0.33%) VMware Workstation
7 1 (0.083%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.083%) Microsoft App-V
Systems Management
1 54 (4.46%) Kubernetes
2 38 (3.14%) Ansible
3 36 (2.98%) Terraform
4 24 (1.98%) SCCM
5 20 (1.65%) Grafana
5 20 (1.65%) Sysprep
5 20 (1.65%) WSUS
6 18 (1.49%) Prometheus
7 15 (1.24%) Progress Chef
7 15 (1.24%) Puppet
8 12 (0.99%) Kibana
9 9 (0.74%) Graylog
9 9 (0.74%) logstash
10 8 (0.66%) Docker Swarm
11 7 (0.58%) HP Fortify
12 6 (0.50%) Single Sign-On
13 5 (0.41%) Nagios
13 5 (0.41%) Nessus
13 5 (0.41%) WebInspect
14 4 (0.33%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 165 (13.64%) Microsoft
2 90 (7.44%) Oracle
3 71 (5.87%) SAP
4 34 (2.81%) Adobe
5 32 (2.64%) Google
6 30 (2.48%) Splunk
7 29 (2.40%) Salesforce
7 29 (2.40%) ServiceNow
8 27 (2.23%) Citrix
9 20 (1.65%) Bloomberg
10 17 (1.40%) CyberArk
11 14 (1.16%) ION Trading
12 13 (1.07%) Cisco
12 13 (1.07%) Red Hat
13 12 (0.99%) CA Agile Central
14 11 (0.91%) MarketAxess
14 11 (0.91%) Optimizely
14 11 (0.91%) Tradeweb
15 10 (0.83%) Workday
16 9 (0.74%) Databricks