QA Tester Contract Job Trends in the Thames Valley

Quality Assurance Tester
South East > Thames Valley

The median Quality Assurance Tester daily rate in the Thames Valley is £405, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 129 - 140
Rank change year-on-year - - +21
Contract jobs requiring a QA Tester 4 0 4
As % of all contract jobs in the Thames Valley 0.19% - 0.17%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.21% - 0.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 4
10th Percentile £379 - -
25th Percentile £384 - £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £405 - £475
Median % change year-on-year - - +15.15%
75th Percentile £421 - £513
90th Percentile £424 - -
South East median daily rate £410 £373 £475
% change year-on-year +10.07% -21.58% +15.15%

All Contract IT Job Roles
Thames Valley

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the Thames Valley. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the Thames Valley with a recognized job title 1,882 1,654 2,242
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.87% 91.43% 94.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,265 981 1,453
10th Percentile £267 £250 £210
25th Percentile £401 £400 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £518 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.38% +3.50% -
75th Percentile £588 £628 £600
90th Percentile £650 £671 £675
South East median daily rate £500 £500 £500
Number of hourly rates quoted 106 44 110
10th Percentile £15.58 £18.50 £17.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £26.00 £24.63
Median hourly rate £25.15 £53.75 £50.53
Median % change year-on-year -53.21% +6.38% +119.68%
75th Percentile £80.00 £62.76 £64.20
90th Percentile £95.00 £65.62 £72.33
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £41.75 £55.00
% change year-on-year -39.76% -24.09% +41.94%

QA Tester
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'QA Tester' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

QA Tester job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

QA Tester
Daily Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for QA Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for QA Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley

QA Tester
Hourly Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for QA Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for QA Tester job vacancies in the Thames Valley

QA Tester
Contract Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing QA Tester within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 9 January 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
Berkshire - 4 £405 -
QA Tester
South East

QA Tester Skill Set
Top 23 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley

For the 6 months to 9 January 2026, QA Tester contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Thames Valley region featuring QA Tester in the job title.

1 4 (100.00%) QA
2 2 (50.00%) Azure
2 2 (50.00%) Azure DevOps
2 2 (50.00%) DevOps
2 2 (50.00%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (50.00%) Test Scripting
3 1 (25.00%) Agile
3 1 (25.00%) API Testing
3 1 (25.00%) Data Validation
3 1 (25.00%) Degree
3 1 (25.00%) End-to-End Testing
3 1 (25.00%) Manual Testing
3 1 (25.00%) Problem-Solving
3 1 (25.00%) Regression Testing
3 1 (25.00%) SDLC
3 1 (25.00%) Stakeholder Management
3 1 (25.00%) System Testing
3 1 (25.00%) TDD
3 1 (25.00%) Test Management
3 1 (25.00%) Test Planning
3 1 (25.00%) Test Strategy
3 1 (25.00%) Validation
3 1 (25.00%) Virgin Media

QA Tester Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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:

Applications
1 2 (50.00%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 2 (50.00%) Azure
1 2 (50.00%) Azure DevOps
General
1 1 (25.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (25.00%) Onboarding
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (50.00%) DevOps
1 2 (50.00%) Test Scripting
2 1 (25.00%) Agile
2 1 (25.00%) API Testing
2 1 (25.00%) Data Validation
2 1 (25.00%) End-to-End Testing
2 1 (25.00%) Manual Testing
2 1 (25.00%) Problem-Solving
2 1 (25.00%) Regression Testing
2 1 (25.00%) SDLC
2 1 (25.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 1 (25.00%) System Testing
2 1 (25.00%) TDD
2 1 (25.00%) Test Management
2 1 (25.00%) Test Planning
2 1 (25.00%) Test Strategy
2 1 (25.00%) Validation
Qualifications
1 1 (25.00%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (100.00%) QA
Vendors
1 1 (25.00%) Virgin Media