QA Contracts in the UK excluding London

Quality Assurance (QA)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London requiring QA skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited QA over the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 68 61 94
Rank change year-on-year -7 +33 -15
Contract jobs citing QA 441 626 658
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 3.45% 3.01% 2.73%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 21.41% 19.92% 18.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 304 414 455
10th Percentile £168 £277 £249
25th Percentile £350 £400 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £500 £455
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% +9.89% +1.11%
75th Percentile £538 £583 £550
90th Percentile £625 £698 £623
UK median daily rate £475 £509 £500
% change year-on-year -6.59% +1.70% -1.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 66 20
10th Percentile £15.15 £10.82 -
25th Percentile £18.53 £12.24 £10.92
Median hourly rate £57.75 £14.00 £13.00
Median % change year-on-year +312.50% +7.69% -73.20%
75th Percentile £75.00 £24.00 £22.75
90th Percentile £78.98 £62.75 £50.00
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £15.57 £22.49
% change year-on-year +173.05% -30.78% -52.41%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK excluding 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 UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 2,060 3,142 3,565
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 16.14% 15.13% 14.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,297 1,830 2,400
10th Percentile £209 £252 £213
25th Percentile £363 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £488 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.56% +2.63% +5.56%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £588
90th Percentile £665 £680 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% +2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 138 309 180
10th Percentile £17.28 £10.95 £12.50
25th Percentile £24.18 £12.63 £18.21
Median hourly rate £40.78 £18.00 £36.25
Median % change year-on-year +126.53% -50.34% +72.21%
75th Percentile £67.03 £43.75 £62.00
90th Percentile £79.92 £67.38 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £34.50 £20.80 £37.50
% change year-on-year +65.85% -44.53% +33.93%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings citing QA as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London.

Daily rate trend for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London.

Hourly rate trend for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing QA in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for QA in the UK excluding London

QA
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding 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 UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 1 May 2025. 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
North of England -12 111 £500 - 633
South East +6 107 £425 -12.82% 720
Midlands +15 82 £420 -6.78% 477
Scotland +20 59 £400 -5.88% 128
North West -9 58 £463 -7.50% 338
West Midlands +7 54 £460 -12.38% 264
South West -7 46 £500 -9.09% 348
Yorkshire -15 38 £511 -5.32% 216
East Midlands +15 28 £410 +35.54% 189
East of England +26 21 £513 +36.67% 370
North East +7 15 £460 +10.84% 85
Northern Ireland -13 8 £479 +47.31% 50
Wales -15 8 £525 -3.67% 80
QA
UK

QA
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 25 (5.67%) Confluence
2 14 (3.17%) SharePoint
3 6 (1.36%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (1.13%) Apache
4 5 (1.13%) CICS
4 5 (1.13%) WebSphere
5 4 (0.91%) WebLogic
6 3 (0.68%) JBoss
6 3 (0.68%) nginx
6 3 (0.68%) WebLogic Portal
7 1 (0.23%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.23%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.23%) Appian
7 1 (0.23%) CMS
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.23%) SAS
7 1 (0.23%) Tomcat
7 1 (0.23%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.23%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 14 (3.17%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (1.81%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.91%) Chatbot
3 4 (0.91%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.91%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.45%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.23%) Adobe Illustrator
5 1 (0.23%) MadCap Flare
5 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.23%) Photoshop
Business Applications
1 16 (3.63%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.36%) SAP PP
3 3 (0.68%) Exstream
3 3 (0.68%) Workday HCM
4 2 (0.45%) SAP IBP
5 1 (0.23%) Dynamics GP
5 1 (0.23%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.23%) Payment Gateway
5 1 (0.23%) Remedy AR System
5 1 (0.23%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 77 (17.46%) Azure
2 60 (13.61%) AWS
3 28 (6.35%) Azure DevOps
4 22 (4.99%) GCP
4 22 (4.99%) Power Platform
5 20 (4.54%) GitHub
6 13 (2.95%) SaaS
7 11 (2.49%) Microsoft 365
8 8 (1.81%) Serverless
9 7 (1.59%) AWS Lambda
10 6 (1.36%) PowerApps
11 5 (1.13%) Cloud Computing
11 5 (1.13%) Dynamics 365
11 5 (1.13%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (1.13%) SuccessFactors
12 4 (0.91%) Adobe Analytics
12 4 (0.91%) Azure Data Factory
12 4 (0.91%) Azure Machine Learning
13 3 (0.68%) IaaS
13 3 (0.68%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.59%) Firewall
2 6 (1.36%) LAN
2 6 (1.36%) Radio Access Network
2 6 (1.36%) WAN
3 4 (0.91%) Wireless
4 3 (0.68%) 2G
4 3 (0.68%) 4G
4 3 (0.68%) 5G
4 3 (0.68%) DNS
4 3 (0.68%) VPN
4 3 (0.68%) Wireshark
5 2 (0.45%) DHCP
5 2 (0.45%) Internet
5 2 (0.45%) MPLS
5 2 (0.45%) Network Security
5 2 (0.45%) Remote Desktop
5 2 (0.45%) Structured Cabling
6 1 (0.23%) Ethernet
6 1 (0.23%) OSPF
6 1 (0.23%) PPP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (3.85%) Data Warehouse
2 15 (3.40%) Power BI
3 11 (2.49%) PostgreSQL
4 10 (2.27%) SQL Server
5 8 (1.81%) Relational Database
5 8 (1.81%) Tableau
6 6 (1.36%) NoSQL
6 6 (1.36%) Oracle Reports
7 5 (1.13%) MySQL
8 4 (0.91%) Amazon Redshift
8 4 (0.91%) Geospatial Data
8 4 (0.91%) Hadoop
8 4 (0.91%) Metadata
8 4 (0.91%) Qlik Sense
9 3 (0.68%) BigQuery
9 3 (0.68%) Data Mining
9 3 (0.68%) DB2
9 3 (0.68%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (0.68%) Oracle Database
9 3 (0.68%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 67 (15.19%) JIRA
2 54 (12.24%) Selenium
3 39 (8.84%) Git
4 28 (6.35%) Postman
5 21 (4.76%) Cucumber
6 19 (4.31%) Cypress.io
6 19 (4.31%) Jenkins
7 13 (2.95%) JMeter
7 13 (2.95%) JUnit
8 11 (2.49%) Maven
8 11 (2.49%) TestRail
9 10 (2.27%) GitLab
10 9 (2.04%) IntelliJ
11 8 (1.81%) WebDriver
12 7 (1.59%) REST Assured
12 7 (1.59%) SoapUI
13 6 (1.36%) Subversion
14 5 (1.13%) SpecFlow
15 4 (0.91%) Appium
15 4 (0.91%) Gradle
General
1 212 (48.07%) Social Skills
2 128 (29.02%) Analytical Skills
3 78 (17.69%) Finance
4 38 (8.62%) Public Sector
5 27 (6.12%) Telecoms
6 22 (4.99%) Banking
7 19 (4.31%) Manufacturing
8 11 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 10 (2.27%) Legal
9 10 (2.27%) Organisational Skills
10 9 (2.04%) Games
10 9 (2.04%) Marketing
11 8 (1.81%) Aerospace
11 8 (1.81%) Influencing Skills
11 8 (1.81%) Retail
12 6 (1.36%) Documentation Skills
12 6 (1.36%) Electronics
12 6 (1.36%) Presentation Skills
13 5 (1.13%) Military
14 4 (0.91%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 67 (15.19%) Analyst
2 39 (8.84%) Tester
3 35 (7.94%) Developer
3 35 (7.94%) Lead
4 33 (7.48%) Architect
4 33 (7.48%) Senior
5 31 (7.03%) QA Engineer
6 27 (6.12%) Data Analyst
7 24 (5.44%) QA Tester
7 24 (5.44%) Solutions Architect
8 19 (4.31%) Support Engineer
8 19 (4.31%) Test Manager
9 17 (3.85%) Business Analyst
9 17 (3.85%) Project Manager
10 15 (3.40%) Test Leader
11 12 (2.72%) Java Developer
11 12 (2.72%) Test Analyst
12 11 (2.49%) Test Engineer
12 11 (2.49%) Windows Engineer
13 10 (2.27%) Desktop Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (4.76%) .NET
2 13 (2.95%) JSON
3 12 (2.72%) RESTful
4 11 (2.49%) HTML
4 11 (2.49%) Middleware
4 11 (2.49%) React
4 11 (2.49%) REST
5 10 (2.27%) CSS
6 9 (2.04%) AngularJS
6 9 (2.04%) Node.js
7 7 (1.59%) Spring
7 7 (1.59%) Web Services
8 6 (1.36%) Gherkin
8 6 (1.36%) Oracle Fusion
8 6 (1.36%) Spring Boot
8 6 (1.36%) XML
9 5 (1.13%) Playwright
9 5 (1.13%) SOAP
10 4 (0.91%) Kafka
11 3 (0.68%) Unity (Game Engine)
Miscellaneous
1 25 (5.67%) Data Centre
2 22 (4.99%) Product Ownership
3 14 (3.17%) Algorithms
4 10 (2.27%) Virtual Team
5 9 (2.04%) Onboarding
6 8 (1.81%) CMDB
6 8 (1.81%) Data Protection Act
7 7 (1.59%) Cloud Native
7 7 (1.59%) Data Structures
7 7 (1.59%) Legacy Systems
7 7 (1.59%) Mainframe
7 7 (1.59%) Management Information System
7 7 (1.59%) Public Cloud
8 5 (1.13%) Analytical Mindset
8 5 (1.13%) Life Science
9 4 (0.91%) Derivative
9 4 (0.91%) Device Driver
9 4 (0.91%) e-Learning
9 4 (0.91%) NHS
9 4 (0.91%) VSAM
Operating Systems
1 33 (7.48%) Windows
2 15 (3.40%) Linux
3 10 (2.27%) Windows 10
4 9 (2.04%) Unix
5 5 (1.13%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.91%) Windows Server 2016
6 4 (0.91%) zOS
7 3 (0.68%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.68%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (0.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.45%) Solaris
9 1 (0.23%) Android
9 1 (0.23%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 155 (35.15%) Agile
2 144 (32.65%) Problem-Solving
3 116 (26.30%) Test Automation
4 78 (17.69%) DevOps
5 70 (15.87%) CI/CD
6 69 (15.65%) Test Strategy
7 68 (15.42%) Stakeholder Management
8 66 (14.97%) Continuous Improvement
9 57 (12.93%) Project Management
10 48 (10.88%) Migration
10 48 (10.88%) Validation
11 47 (10.66%) Scrum
12 42 (9.52%) User Acceptance Testing
13 39 (8.84%) Software Engineering
14 37 (8.39%) User Experience
15 36 (8.16%) Analytics
15 36 (8.16%) Time Management
16 32 (7.26%) SDLC
16 32 (7.26%) Test Scripting
17 31 (7.03%) API Testing
Programming Languages
1 60 (13.61%) Java
2 57 (12.93%) SQL
3 53 (12.02%) Python
4 28 (6.35%) JavaScript
5 21 (4.76%) C#
6 13 (2.95%) TypeScript
7 12 (2.72%) PowerShell
8 8 (1.81%) Bash
9 7 (1.59%) COBOL
10 6 (1.36%) JCL
10 6 (1.36%) Shell Script
11 5 (1.13%) C++
12 3 (0.68%) Kotlin
12 3 (0.68%) REXX
12 3 (0.68%) Scala
12 3 (0.68%) VBA
12 3 (0.68%) VBScript
13 2 (0.45%) C
13 2 (0.45%) Perl
13 2 (0.45%) VB
Qualifications
1 84 (19.05%) Security Cleared
2 66 (14.97%) SC Cleared
3 61 (13.83%) Degree
4 22 (4.99%) Computer Science Degree
5 18 (4.08%) ISTQB
6 16 (3.63%) AWS Certification
7 11 (2.49%) BPSS Clearance
7 11 (2.49%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (2.49%) PMP
8 10 (2.27%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
8 10 (2.27%) Azure Certification
8 10 (2.27%) DV Cleared
8 10 (2.27%) Master's Degree
8 10 (2.27%) PMI Certification
9 7 (1.59%) ISEB
9 7 (1.59%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 5 (1.13%) CISSP
11 4 (0.91%) CompTIA Security+
11 4 (0.91%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
12 3 (0.68%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (4.76%) Data Quality
2 12 (2.72%) Accessibility
2 12 (2.72%) PMO
2 12 (2.72%) Software Quality Assurance
3 10 (2.27%) SLA
4 5 (1.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 4 (0.91%) Disclosure Scotland
5 4 (0.91%) GDPR
6 2 (0.45%) ISO 9001
6 2 (0.45%) MISRA
6 2 (0.45%) MISRA C
7 1 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (0.23%) GLP
7 1 (0.23%) GxP
7 1 (0.23%) HIPAA
7 1 (0.23%) ISO 14001
7 1 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.23%) MiFID
7 1 (0.23%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.23%) WCAG
System Software
1 28 (6.35%) Docker
2 4 (0.91%) Active Directory
3 3 (0.68%) LXC
4 2 (0.45%) BitLocker
4 2 (0.45%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.45%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.45%) vSphere
5 1 (0.23%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.23%) Microsoft App-V
5 1 (0.23%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 21 (4.76%) Kubernetes
2 11 (2.49%) Ansible
3 9 (2.04%) SCCM
3 9 (2.04%) Terraform
4 6 (1.36%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.68%) Kibana
5 3 (0.68%) Packer
6 2 (0.45%) Amdocs OSS
6 2 (0.45%) Jamf Pro
6 2 (0.45%) Red Hat Satellite
6 2 (0.45%) SELinux
7 1 (0.23%) Argo
7 1 (0.23%) CA Endevor
7 1 (0.23%) Control-M
7 1 (0.23%) Grafana
7 1 (0.23%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.23%) Nagios
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Identity Management
7 1 (0.23%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 50 (11.34%) Microsoft
2 25 (5.67%) Oracle
2 25 (5.67%) SAP
3 13 (2.95%) Google
4 12 (2.72%) ServiceNow
5 10 (2.27%) Cisco
5 10 (2.27%) Databricks
5 10 (2.27%) IBM
6 9 (2.04%) Citrix
6 9 (2.04%) HP
7 8 (1.81%) Dell
8 6 (1.36%) Adobe
8 6 (1.36%) Red Hat
8 6 (1.36%) Workday
9 5 (1.13%) Informatica
10 4 (0.91%) Apple
10 4 (0.91%) Dynatrace
10 4 (0.91%) Nokia
10 4 (0.91%) Splunk
11 3 (0.68%) Talend