QA Contract Job Trends

Quality Assurance (QA)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring QA skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 25 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 60 66 64
Rank change year-on-year +6 -2 +13
Contract jobs citing QA 1,431 1,192 1,528
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 4.00% 3.28% 3.32%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 22.71% 24.13% 23.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 958 698 1,091
10th Percentile £303 £300 £350
25th Percentile £400 £380 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £486 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.37% -9.52% -
75th Percentile £577 £585 £650
90th Percentile £659 £700 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £450 £475
% change year-on-year +6.67% -5.26% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 57 45
10th Percentile £12.28 £12.00 £21.50
25th Percentile £13.50 £13.26 £25.00
Median hourly rate £18.87 £15.00 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +25.80% -70.00% +100.00%
75th Percentile £53.75 £28.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £73.75 £53.52 £77.80
UK excluding London median hourly rate £15.96 £14.98 £50.00
% change year-on-year +6.54% -70.04% +104.08%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 6,302 4,939 6,612
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.60% 13.60% 14.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,047 2,879 4,408
10th Percentile £309 £270 £313
25th Percentile £404 £388 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -
75th Percentile £600 £625 £649
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £491 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.37% -5.00% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 314 227 241
10th Percentile £13.60 £13.42 £15.25
25th Percentile £17.48 £16.15 £20.51
Median hourly rate £25.63 £27.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -5.07% -32.50% +73.91%
75th Percentile £60.00 £54.18 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.96 £70.00 £83.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.14 £26.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -16.45% -40.45% +111.90%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend

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

QA job vacancy trend in the UK

QA
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing QA.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing QA

QA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing QA over the 6 months to 25 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for QA in the UK

QA
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing QA.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing QA

QA
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing QA over the 6 months to 25 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for QA in the UK

QA
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

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 over the 6 months to 25 November 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
England +5 1,214 £492 +3.14% 782
London +11 626 £500 - 250
UK excluding London -4 617 £480 +6.67% 665
Work from Home +9 390 £475 -2.86% 384
North of England 0 167 £429 +4.00% 110
South East +22 134 £500 +11.11% 258
Midlands -20 106 £500 +8.11% 110
North West +1 80 £405 -1.82% 68
West Midlands -24 74 £517 +3.30% 79
South West -13 73 £500 +2.56% 81
East of England +8 66 £500 +33.33% 68
Scotland +8 60 £531 +39.74% 42
Yorkshire -5 56 £450 - 28
North East +17 32 £500 +25.00% 15
East Midlands +5 32 £428 +3.26% 29
Wales -14 16 £419 -20.31% 14
Northern Ireland +2 10 £300 -42.17% 5

QA
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 83 (5.80%) Confluence
2 39 (2.73%) SharePoint
3 22 (1.54%) Apache
4 21 (1.47%) CMS
5 15 (1.05%) IIS
6 13 (0.91%) Apache Spark
7 11 (0.77%) SugarCRM
8 10 (0.70%) Anypoint
9 9 (0.63%) Apache Airflow
9 9 (0.63%) WebSphere
10 7 (0.49%) Oracle Workflow
11 6 (0.42%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 6 (0.42%) Mule
12 5 (0.35%) MQSeries
12 5 (0.35%) WebLogic
13 4 (0.28%) Drupal
13 4 (0.28%) Moodle
13 4 (0.28%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
13 4 (0.28%) SAS
14 3 (0.21%) OpenStack
Applications
1 68 (4.75%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (2.03%) Microsoft Office
3 20 (1.40%) Microsoft Project
4 17 (1.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 17 (1.19%) MS Visio
5 6 (0.42%) Spreadsheet
5 6 (0.42%) Trello
6 4 (0.28%) Autodesk Inventor
6 4 (0.28%) Chatbot
6 4 (0.28%) Simulink
6 4 (0.28%) Stateflow
7 3 (0.21%) Revit
8 2 (0.14%) AutoCAD
8 2 (0.14%) MicroStation
8 2 (0.14%) Navisworks
9 1 (0.070%) Adobe XD
9 1 (0.070%) Autodesk Smoke
9 1 (0.070%) Notion
9 1 (0.070%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 29 (2.03%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (0.63%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (0.63%) Oracle EBS
3 7 (0.49%) Payment Gateway
3 7 (0.49%) Temenos T24
4 6 (0.42%) Maximo
4 6 (0.42%) SAP ERP
5 5 (0.35%) OpenText MBPM
5 5 (0.35%) Oracle BPM
6 4 (0.28%) Oracle Cash Management
6 4 (0.28%) Oracle General Ledger
6 4 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
6 4 (0.28%) Oracle Receivables
6 4 (0.28%) Salesforce CRM
6 4 (0.28%) Unit4 Business World
6 4 (0.28%) Workday HCM
7 3 (0.21%) Endur
7 3 (0.21%) Oracle EBS R12
7 3 (0.21%) SAP PM
7 3 (0.21%) SAP QM
Cloud Services
1 308 (21.52%) Azure
2 279 (19.50%) AWS
3 94 (6.57%) Azure DevOps
4 92 (6.43%) GCP
5 87 (6.08%) GitHub
6 78 (5.45%) Power Platform
7 60 (4.19%) GitHub Actions
8 57 (3.98%) Serverless
9 45 (3.14%) AWS Lambda
10 40 (2.80%) Amazon S3
11 33 (2.31%) SaaS
12 25 (1.75%) Dynamics 365
13 24 (1.68%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 24 (1.68%) Amazon EC2
13 24 (1.68%) AWS CloudFormation
13 24 (1.68%) Power Automate
14 23 (1.61%) Amazon ECS
15 18 (1.26%) Snowflake
16 15 (1.05%) Amazon SQS
16 15 (1.05%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 18 (1.26%) Firewall
1 18 (1.26%) HTTP
1 18 (1.26%) Internet
2 6 (0.42%) 5G
2 6 (0.42%) Broadband
3 5 (0.35%) OpenLDAP
3 5 (0.35%) SMS
4 4 (0.28%) Structured Cabling
4 4 (0.28%) WAN
5 3 (0.21%) HTTPS
5 3 (0.21%) Network Security
5 3 (0.21%) SSL
5 3 (0.21%) TCP/IP
5 3 (0.21%) VPN
6 2 (0.14%) DNS
6 2 (0.14%) Remote Desktop
6 2 (0.14%) WebEx
6 2 (0.14%) Wireless
7 1 (0.070%) 3GPP
7 1 (0.070%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 68 (4.75%) SQL Server
2 67 (4.68%) Power BI
3 59 (4.12%) PostgreSQL
4 54 (3.77%) Relational Database
5 45 (3.14%) MySQL
6 42 (2.94%) MongoDB
7 38 (2.66%) Data Warehouse
8 36 (2.52%) NoSQL
9 22 (1.54%) Amazon RDS
9 22 (1.54%) BigQuery
10 21 (1.47%) Metadata
10 21 (1.47%) Tableau
11 20 (1.40%) Oracle Database
12 13 (0.91%) Data Lake
13 12 (0.84%) Redis
14 11 (0.77%) Big Data
15 10 (0.70%) DB2
15 10 (0.70%) DynamoDB
16 9 (0.63%) Azure SQL Database
16 9 (0.63%) Looker
Development Applications
1 245 (17.12%) JIRA
2 135 (9.43%) Git
3 112 (7.83%) GitLab
4 110 (7.69%) Jenkins
5 103 (7.20%) Selenium
6 78 (5.45%) Cucumber
7 64 (4.47%) Postman
8 63 (4.40%) Cypress.io
9 43 (3.00%) JUnit
10 32 (2.24%) JMeter
10 32 (2.24%) REST Assured
11 19 (1.33%) Appium
12 16 (1.12%) SonarQube
13 15 (1.05%) Bitbucket
14 14 (0.98%) Gatling
14 14 (0.98%) WebDriver
15 13 (0.91%) TestNG
16 12 (0.84%) Zephyr
17 10 (0.70%) SpecFlow
17 10 (0.70%) webpack
General
1 573 (40.04%) Social Skills
2 369 (25.79%) Finance
3 256 (17.89%) Analytical Skills
4 152 (10.62%) Public Sector
5 143 (9.99%) Banking
6 61 (4.26%) Documentation Skills
7 42 (2.94%) Marketing
8 38 (2.66%) Legal
9 35 (2.45%) Telecoms
10 31 (2.17%) Manufacturing
10 31 (2.17%) Organisational Skills
11 30 (2.10%) Investment Banking
12 28 (1.96%) Presentation Skills
13 27 (1.89%) Front Office
14 25 (1.75%) Back Office
15 24 (1.68%) Retail
16 19 (1.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 19 (1.33%) Pharmaceutical
17 18 (1.26%) Law
18 17 (1.19%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 207 (14.47%) Developer
2 182 (12.72%) Analyst
3 168 (11.74%) Senior
4 150 (10.48%) Lead
5 90 (6.29%) QA Engineer
6 86 (6.01%) Business Analyst
7 84 (5.87%) Tester
8 63 (4.40%) Test Engineer
9 60 (4.19%) Consultant
10 58 (4.05%) Project Manager
11 54 (3.77%) Java Developer
12 53 (3.70%) Test Manager
13 47 (3.28%) Architect
14 39 (2.73%) QA Tester
15 38 (2.66%) QA Leader
16 37 (2.59%) DevOps Engineer
17 36 (2.52%) Test Analyst
18 33 (2.31%) Test Leader
19 32 (2.24%) Java Engineer
20 29 (2.03%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 141 (9.85%) REST
2 86 (6.01%) .NET
3 81 (5.66%) RESTful
4 77 (5.38%) Playwright
4 77 (5.38%) React
5 75 (5.24%) Spring
6 74 (5.17%) Spring Boot
7 53 (3.70%) HTML
8 50 (3.49%) SOAP
9 47 (3.28%) CSS
10 46 (3.21%) Node.js
11 43 (3.00%) AngularJS
12 38 (2.66%) Kafka
13 31 (2.17%) XML
14 29 (2.03%) Web Services
15 27 (1.89%) JSON
16 26 (1.82%) .NET Framework
16 26 (1.82%) JMS
17 22 (1.54%) Jest
18 19 (1.33%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 137 (9.57%) Product Ownership
2 60 (4.19%) Onboarding
3 57 (3.98%) Cloud Native
4 47 (3.28%) Mobile App
5 35 (2.45%) Data Protection Act
6 28 (1.96%) Legacy Systems
7 27 (1.89%) Distributed Systems
7 27 (1.89%) Management Information System
8 26 (1.82%) Enterprise Software
9 24 (1.68%) Analytical Mindset
10 23 (1.61%) SWIFT Messaging Network
11 22 (1.54%) Data Structures
12 19 (1.33%) Algorithms
12 19 (1.33%) PMI
12 19 (1.33%) Self-Motivation
12 19 (1.33%) Virtual Team
13 13 (0.91%) Data Centre
13 13 (0.91%) Derivative
13 13 (0.91%) Greenfield Project
13 13 (0.91%) Reinsurance
Operating Systems
1 77 (5.38%) Windows
2 45 (3.14%) Linux
3 21 (1.47%) Android
3 21 (1.47%) Unix
4 20 (1.40%) Apple iOS
5 15 (1.05%) Windows Server
6 8 (0.56%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 6 (0.42%) Ubuntu
8 4 (0.28%) CentOS
9 3 (0.21%) Debian
9 3 (0.21%) VMS
9 3 (0.21%) Windows 10
10 2 (0.14%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.14%) Solaris
11 1 (0.070%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.070%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 634 (44.30%) Agile
2 402 (28.09%) CI/CD
3 390 (27.25%) Problem-Solving
4 386 (26.97%) DevOps
5 378 (26.42%) Test Automation
6 201 (14.05%) Stakeholder Management
7 191 (13.35%) Scrum
8 186 (13.00%) Continuous Improvement
9 174 (12.16%) User Acceptance Testing
10 170 (11.88%) Validation
11 165 (11.53%) Test Strategy
12 159 (11.11%) Migration
13 156 (10.90%) Microservices
14 140 (9.78%) SDLC
15 138 (9.64%) Test Scripting
16 125 (8.74%) Stakeholder Engagement
17 120 (8.39%) User Experience
18 110 (7.69%) Project Management
19 106 (7.41%) Software Engineering
19 106 (7.41%) Sprint Planning
Programming Languages
1 254 (17.75%) SQL
2 207 (14.47%) Java
3 186 (13.00%) Python
4 123 (8.60%) JavaScript
5 104 (7.27%) C#
6 83 (5.80%) TypeScript
7 35 (2.45%) PL/SQL
8 24 (1.68%) PHP
9 23 (1.61%) PowerShell
10 21 (1.47%) T-SQL
11 20 (1.40%) Go
12 17 (1.19%) C++
13 16 (1.12%) Bash
14 15 (1.05%) Kotlin
15 13 (0.91%) C
16 12 (0.84%) VBA
17 10 (0.70%) Perl
17 10 (0.70%) Ruby
17 10 (0.70%) VB
18 9 (0.63%) R
Qualifications
1 230 (16.07%) Security Cleared
2 192 (13.42%) SC Cleared
3 140 (9.78%) Degree
4 51 (3.56%) PMI Certification
5 46 (3.21%) Computer Science Degree
6 41 (2.87%) BPSS Clearance
6 41 (2.87%) PMP
7 37 (2.59%) ISTQB
8 34 (2.38%) Master's Degree
9 19 (1.33%) AWS Certification
9 19 (1.33%) CISSP
9 19 (1.33%) DV Cleared
10 15 (1.05%) Oracle Certification
11 12 (0.84%) Azure Certification
12 11 (0.77%) CBAP
12 11 (0.77%) CISM
13 10 (0.70%) OCA
14 8 (0.56%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 7 (0.49%) CEH
16 6 (0.42%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 109 (7.62%) Accessibility
2 65 (4.54%) Data Quality
3 34 (2.38%) GDPR
4 26 (1.82%) PMO
5 22 (1.54%) WCAG
6 18 (1.26%) PSD2
7 15 (1.05%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 15 (1.05%) NIST
7 15 (1.05%) SEPA
8 13 (0.91%) Software Quality Assurance
9 12 (0.84%) ISO 20022
9 12 (0.84%) SLA
10 10 (0.70%) PCI DSS
11 8 (0.56%) COBIT
11 8 (0.56%) GxP
12 7 (0.49%) IFRS
12 7 (0.49%) ISO 9001
13 6 (0.42%) ISO 8583
14 5 (0.35%) GRC
14 5 (0.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 110 (7.69%) Docker
2 11 (0.77%) VMware Infrastructure
3 7 (0.49%) Active Directory
4 4 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
4 4 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.14%) Microsoft App-V
5 2 (0.14%) Oracle RAC
5 2 (0.14%) VirtualBox
6 1 (0.070%) Firmware
6 1 (0.070%) GridGain
6 1 (0.070%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.070%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 113 (7.90%) Kubernetes
2 63 (4.40%) Terraform
3 39 (2.73%) Ansible
4 29 (2.03%) Grafana
5 13 (0.91%) Prometheus
6 11 (0.77%) HP ALM
7 9 (0.63%) Argo
8 6 (0.42%) Progress Chef
8 6 (0.42%) Puppet
9 5 (0.35%) CloudHub
9 5 (0.35%) Control-M
10 4 (0.28%) Consul
10 4 (0.28%) HP Quality Center
10 4 (0.28%) Rsyslog
10 4 (0.28%) SCOM
11 3 (0.21%) Istio
11 3 (0.21%) PingFederate
11 3 (0.21%) RSA Archer
11 3 (0.21%) Salt
11 3 (0.21%) SCCM
Vendors
1 162 (11.32%) Microsoft
2 114 (7.97%) Oracle
3 70 (4.89%) SAP
4 54 (3.77%) ServiceNow
5 53 (3.70%) Salesforce
6 32 (2.24%) Google
7 20 (1.40%) Citrix
7 20 (1.40%) Databricks
8 18 (1.26%) HP
8 18 (1.26%) Splunk
9 17 (1.19%) MuleSoft
10 15 (1.05%) IBM
11 14 (0.98%) Red Hat
12 13 (0.91%) UiPath
12 13 (0.91%) Workday
13 12 (0.84%) VMware
14 9 (0.63%) Adobe
14 9 (0.63%) Blue Prism
15 8 (0.56%) Pega
16 7 (0.49%) Dynatrace