QA Contract Job Trends in London

Quality Assurance (QA)
England > London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in London requiring QA skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 21 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 54 60 57
Rank change year-on-year +6 -3 +16
Contract jobs citing QA 759 509 648
As % of all contract jobs in London 4.35% 4.00% 3.65%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 23.85% 25.48% 26.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 504 335 477
10th Percentile £313 £313 £359
25th Percentile £404 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £495 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.01% -10.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £675
90th Percentile £692 £738 £800
England median daily rate £490 £475 £525
% change year-on-year +3.16% -9.52% +0.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 4 8
10th Percentile £22.12 £24.50 £17.68
25th Percentile - £31.25 £21.88
Median hourly rate £28.00 £35.00 £25.37
Median % change year-on-year -20.00% +37.96% +12.83%
75th Percentile £35.13 £40.00 £47.19
90th Percentile £47.50 £49.00 £65.23
England median hourly rate £30.58 £50.00 £15.57
% change year-on-year -38.84% +221.23% -30.78%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
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 London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 3,182 1,998 2,448
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 18.25% 15.71% 13.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,138 1,326 1,740
10th Percentile £350 £313 £353
25th Percentile £415 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% -3.51%
75th Percentile £625 £663 £688
90th Percentile £750 £764 £788
England median daily rate £504 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.11% -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 25 61
10th Percentile £18.25 £18.88 £12.50
25th Percentile £23.00 £22.27 £17.50
Median hourly rate £27.50 £35.00 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.43% +40.00% -43.00%
75th Percentile £37.50 £65.00 £43.75
90th Percentile £69.36 £89.53 £57.50
England median hourly rate £30.58 £34.50 £21.00
% change year-on-year -11.36% +64.29% -50.59%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in London

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

QA job vacancy trend in London

QA
Daily Rate Trend in London

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing QA

QA
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing QA in London over the 6 months to 21 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for QA in London

QA
Hourly Rate Trend in London

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing QA

QA
Hourly Rate Histogram in London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing QA in London over the 6 months to 21 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for QA in London

QA
Contract Job Locations in 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 London region over the 6 months to 21 April 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
Central London +18 103 £550 - 68
West London -21 17 £500 +25.00% 13
South London -9 13 £513 +27.33% 6
East London +2 9 £445 -10.10% 13
QA
England

QA
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in 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 36 (4.74%) Confluence
2 17 (2.24%) IIS
3 9 (1.19%) SharePoint
4 8 (1.05%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 7 (0.92%) CMS
6 4 (0.53%) Apache
6 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Exchange
7 3 (0.40%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.40%) Apache Spark
7 3 (0.40%) Moodle
8 2 (0.26%) SAS
9 1 (0.13%) Anypoint
9 1 (0.13%) Apache Solr
9 1 (0.13%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.13%) ColdFusion
9 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.13%) Luigi
9 1 (0.13%) nginx
9 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
Applications
1 35 (4.61%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (1.58%) Microsoft Project
3 10 (1.32%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (1.32%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (1.19%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.26%) AutoCAD
5 2 (0.26%) Autodesk Smoke
5 2 (0.26%) EPLAN
5 2 (0.26%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.13%) Mingle
6 1 (0.13%) Navisworks
6 1 (0.13%) Revit
6 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 11 (1.45%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (1.05%) Shopify
3 7 (0.92%) SAP S/4HANA
4 5 (0.66%) Workday HCM
5 4 (0.53%) Aladdin
6 3 (0.40%) Algo Collateral
6 3 (0.40%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.40%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.40%) Payment Gateway
7 2 (0.26%) Actimize
7 2 (0.26%) NEC Housing
7 2 (0.26%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.26%) Oracle EBS R12
7 2 (0.26%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 2 (0.26%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.26%) SAP Payroll
8 1 (0.13%) Adobe Campaign
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Cash Management
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
Cloud Services
1 170 (22.40%) Azure
2 89 (11.73%) AWS
3 82 (10.80%) Azure DevOps
4 60 (7.91%) GitHub
5 46 (6.06%) Power Platform
6 31 (4.08%) GitHub Actions
7 26 (3.43%) GCP
8 25 (3.29%) Serverless
9 20 (2.64%) AWS Lambda
10 19 (2.50%) Amazon S3
11 17 (2.24%) AWS CloudFormation
11 17 (2.24%) Dynamics 365
12 13 (1.71%) Amazon ECS
13 12 (1.58%) Snowflake
14 11 (1.45%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 9 (1.19%) Azure Synapse Analytics
15 9 (1.19%) Salesforce Service Cloud
16 8 (1.05%) Amazon EKS
16 8 (1.05%) Azure AKS
16 8 (1.05%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 12 (1.58%) Internet
2 9 (1.19%) WAN
3 8 (1.05%) Wi-Fi
4 7 (0.92%) LAN
5 5 (0.66%) Firewall
6 4 (0.53%) 5G
6 4 (0.53%) DNS
6 4 (0.53%) WebEx
7 3 (0.40%) Broadband
7 3 (0.40%) VPN
8 2 (0.26%) DSL
8 2 (0.26%) HTTP
8 2 (0.26%) SD-WAN
8 2 (0.26%) SMS
8 2 (0.26%) Structured Cabling
9 1 (0.13%) 4G
9 1 (0.13%) LTE
9 1 (0.13%) MPLS
9 1 (0.13%) Multicast
9 1 (0.13%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 62 (8.17%) SQL Server
2 40 (5.27%) Power BI
3 27 (3.56%) Oracle Database
4 19 (2.50%) PostgreSQL
5 18 (2.37%) Metadata
6 17 (2.24%) Data Warehouse
6 17 (2.24%) Tableau
7 15 (1.98%) Data Lake
7 15 (1.98%) NoSQL
8 11 (1.45%) Relational Database
8 11 (1.45%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 10 (1.32%) Azure SQL Database
9 10 (1.32%) MySQL
9 10 (1.32%) Redis
10 9 (1.19%) Big Data
11 8 (1.05%) DynamoDB
12 7 (0.92%) Amazon RDS
12 7 (0.92%) Star Schema
13 6 (0.79%) BigQuery
14 5 (0.66%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 126 (16.60%) JIRA
2 71 (9.35%) Selenium
3 58 (7.64%) Jenkins
4 53 (6.98%) Git
5 45 (5.93%) GitLab
6 34 (4.48%) Cypress.io
7 32 (4.22%) Cucumber
8 27 (3.56%) Postman
9 24 (3.16%) REST Assured
10 17 (2.24%) JUnit
11 15 (1.98%) JMeter
12 13 (1.71%) Appium
12 13 (1.71%) Visual Studio
13 11 (1.45%) WebDriver
14 10 (1.32%) Maven
14 10 (1.32%) Zephyr
15 9 (1.19%) Bitbucket
15 9 (1.19%) TestNG
16 8 (1.05%) SpecFlow
17 7 (0.92%) TestRail
General
1 284 (37.42%) Social Skills
2 250 (32.94%) Finance
3 142 (18.71%) Analytical Skills
4 101 (13.31%) Banking
5 67 (8.83%) Public Sector
6 27 (3.56%) Marketing
7 25 (3.29%) Front Office
7 25 (3.29%) Retail
8 22 (2.90%) Documentation Skills
9 17 (2.24%) Investment Banking
10 16 (2.11%) Organisational Skills
11 13 (1.71%) Financial Institution
11 13 (1.71%) Influencing Skills
12 12 (1.58%) Military
13 11 (1.45%) Legal
13 11 (1.45%) Manufacturing
14 10 (1.32%) Back Office
14 10 (1.32%) Telecoms
15 8 (1.05%) Publishing
16 7 (0.92%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 121 (15.94%) Analyst
2 106 (13.97%) Developer
3 100 (13.18%) Senior
4 88 (11.59%) Lead
5 80 (10.54%) Business Analyst
6 63 (8.30%) QA Engineer
7 39 (5.14%) Tester
8 37 (4.87%) Architect
8 37 (4.87%) Test Manager
9 36 (4.74%) C# Developer
10 32 (4.22%) Senior Analyst
11 31 (4.08%) Project Manager
11 31 (4.08%) Test Engineer
12 28 (3.69%) Senior Business Analyst
13 26 (3.43%) Java Developer
14 24 (3.16%) Data Engineer
14 24 (3.16%) QA Automation Engineer
15 23 (3.03%) Automation Engineer
16 19 (2.50%) Implementation Analyst
16 19 (2.50%) Project Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 66 (8.70%) .NET
2 56 (7.38%) REST
3 53 (6.98%) Playwright
4 47 (6.19%) RESTful
5 40 (5.27%) .NET Framework
6 35 (4.61%) Spring Boot
7 34 (4.48%) Spring
8 31 (4.08%) Kafka
9 24 (3.16%) HTML
10 22 (2.90%) CSS
10 22 (2.90%) Node.js
10 22 (2.90%) React
11 16 (2.11%) WinForms
12 14 (1.84%) Gherkin
13 13 (1.71%) JSON
13 13 (1.71%) WPF
14 10 (1.32%) AngularJS
14 10 (1.32%) Middleware
14 10 (1.32%) OpenTelemetry
15 9 (1.19%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 63 (8.30%) Product Ownership
2 31 (4.08%) Cloud Native
3 22 (2.90%) Distributed Systems
3 22 (2.90%) Mobile App
4 21 (2.77%) Legacy Systems
4 21 (2.77%) Onboarding
5 20 (2.64%) Data Protection Act
6 16 (2.11%) Data Structures
6 16 (2.11%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
6 16 (2.11%) Virtual Team
7 15 (1.98%) Analytical Mindset
7 15 (1.98%) Derivative
8 13 (1.71%) Fixed Income
9 12 (1.58%) Management Information System
10 11 (1.45%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (1.45%) PMI
10 11 (1.45%) SWIFT Messaging Network
11 10 (1.32%) Algorithms
11 10 (1.32%) Data Centre
11 10 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 49 (6.46%) Windows
2 23 (3.03%) Windows Server
3 16 (2.11%) Linux
4 10 (1.32%) Android
4 10 (1.32%) Apple iOS
5 8 (1.05%) Unix
6 1 (0.13%) Debian
6 1 (0.13%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 291 (38.34%) Agile
2 203 (26.75%) DevOps
3 202 (26.61%) Test Automation
4 182 (23.98%) CI/CD
5 165 (21.74%) Stakeholder Management
6 146 (19.24%) Problem-Solving
7 129 (17.00%) Continuous Improvement
8 115 (15.15%) Validation
9 103 (13.57%) Scrum
10 96 (12.65%) User Acceptance Testing
11 86 (11.33%) Test Strategy
12 81 (10.67%) Regression Testing
13 79 (10.41%) Migration
13 79 (10.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 74 (9.75%) User Stories
15 73 (9.62%) AI
16 72 (9.49%) Business Intelligence
17 71 (9.35%) Analytics
18 70 (9.22%) Data Analysis
19 68 (8.96%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 187 (24.64%) SQL
2 106 (13.97%) Python
3 102 (13.44%) Java
4 91 (11.99%) C#
5 70 (9.22%) JavaScript
6 60 (7.91%) TypeScript
7 41 (5.40%) T-SQL
8 38 (5.01%) PL/SQL
9 15 (1.98%) VBA
10 12 (1.58%) Kotlin
10 12 (1.58%) VB
11 9 (1.19%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 9 (1.19%) Ruby
12 8 (1.05%) PowerShell
13 7 (0.92%) Bicep
14 6 (0.79%) C++
14 6 (0.79%) R
15 5 (0.66%) Bash
15 5 (0.66%) Rust
16 4 (0.53%) Swift
Qualifications
1 113 (14.89%) Security Cleared
2 89 (11.73%) SC Cleared
3 80 (10.54%) Degree
4 32 (4.22%) ISTQB
5 28 (3.69%) PMI Certification
6 23 (3.03%) PMP
7 21 (2.77%) Computer Science Degree
8 13 (1.71%) BPSS Clearance
8 13 (1.71%) Master's Degree
9 9 (1.19%) CBAP
10 8 (1.05%) AWS Certification
11 7 (0.92%) APMP
12 5 (0.66%) CFA
13 4 (0.53%) Azure Certification
13 4 (0.53%) DV Cleared
13 4 (0.53%) ISEB
13 4 (0.53%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
14 3 (0.40%) APMG
14 3 (0.40%) CSPO
14 3 (0.40%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 56 (7.38%) Data Quality
2 30 (3.95%) Accessibility
3 23 (3.03%) PMO
4 20 (2.64%) GDPR
5 9 (1.19%) NIST
5 9 (1.19%) PCI DSS
5 9 (1.19%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 9 (1.19%) WCAG
6 8 (1.05%) IFRS
6 8 (1.05%) IFRS 17
7 5 (0.66%) SEPA
8 4 (0.53%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.53%) ISO 20022
8 4 (0.53%) ISO 8583
8 4 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 4 (0.53%) MiFID
8 4 (0.53%) PSD2
8 4 (0.53%) SLA
8 4 (0.53%) Software Quality Assurance
9 3 (0.40%) California Consumer Privacy Act
System Software
1 44 (5.80%) Docker
2 6 (0.79%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (0.66%) Active Directory
4 2 (0.26%) GridGain
5 1 (0.13%) KVM
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
5 1 (0.13%) QEMU
5 1 (0.13%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
5 1 (0.13%) Varnish
5 1 (0.13%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.13%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 51 (6.72%) Kubernetes
2 32 (4.22%) Terraform
3 21 (2.77%) Grafana
4 16 (2.11%) Prometheus
5 9 (1.19%) Ansible
6 8 (1.05%) HP ALM
7 3 (0.40%) Puppet
8 2 (0.26%) Argo
8 2 (0.26%) Kibana
8 2 (0.26%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.13%) CloudHub
9 1 (0.13%) Dell DRAC
9 1 (0.13%) Salt
9 1 (0.13%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 95 (12.52%) Microsoft
2 79 (10.41%) Oracle
3 59 (7.77%) Salesforce
4 47 (6.19%) Citrix
4 47 (6.19%) SAP
5 21 (2.77%) ServiceNow
6 19 (2.50%) Google
7 17 (2.24%) Adobe
8 13 (1.71%) Informatica
9 10 (1.32%) Databricks
9 10 (1.32%) Workday
10 9 (1.19%) HP
11 8 (1.05%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
11 8 (1.05%) Splunk
12 7 (0.92%) Bloomberg
12 7 (0.92%) IBM
13 6 (0.79%) Braze
14 5 (0.66%) Avaloq
14 5 (0.66%) MuleSoft
14 5 (0.66%) Optimizely