SLA Contract Job Trends

Service Level Agreement (SLA)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring SLA skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
17 Oct 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 206 208 174
Rank change year-on-year +2 -34 +8
Contract jobs citing SLA 456 455 727
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.37% 1.21% 1.51%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 7.77% 9.03% 10.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 257 216 386
10th Percentile £190 £158 £150
25th Percentile £250 £200 £210
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £365 £300 £400
Median % change year-on-year +21.67% -25.00% +23.08%
75th Percentile £538 £500 £513
90th Percentile £607 £600 £613
UK excluding London median daily rate £325 £328 £350
% change year-on-year -0.76% -6.43% +40.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 80 48 54
10th Percentile £15.95 £14.62 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.47 £17.28 £13.50
Median hourly rate £19.96 £23.80 £17.32
Median % change year-on-year -16.16% +37.41% +4.97%
75th Percentile £25.15 £24.18 £33.31
90th Percentile £38.94 £48.75 £63.68
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.73 £22.50 £16.57
% change year-on-year -16.76% +35.79% +6.90%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

SLA 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 5,867 5,039 6,795
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.62% 13.45% 14.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,747 2,930 4,591
10th Percentile £300 £275 £313
25th Percentile £400 £398 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £625 £650
90th Percentile £713 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% +4.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 283 238 254
10th Percentile £13.60 £13.26 £15.00
25th Percentile £16.61 £17.53 £20.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £27.92 £35.82
Median % change year-on-year +7.45% -22.04% +44.94%
75th Percentile £60.63 £63.25 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £70.00 £79.93
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.00 £27.50 £37.50
% change year-on-year -9.09% -26.67% +66.67%

SLA
Job Vacancy Trend

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

SLA job vacancy trend in the UK

SLA
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

SLA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SLA over the 6 months to 17 October 2025.

Daily rate histogram for SLA in the UK

SLA
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

SLA
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing SLA over the 6 months to 17 October 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for SLA in the UK

SLA
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 SLA within the UK over the 6 months to 17 October 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 +15 415 £375 +25.00% 330
UK excluding London -12 312 £325 -0.76% 292
London +20 121 £450 +50.00% 87
Work from Home +1 86 £400 +14.29% 109
South East +3 80 £406 +62.50% 113
Midlands -12 66 £383 +9.29% 50
North of England -43 59 £305 +16.19% 58
West Midlands -6 54 £400 +20.30% 25
South West +45 51 £275 -42.11% 26
East of England +2 34 £350 +5.26% 36
Yorkshire -14 31 £251 +8.91% 22
North West -44 27 £325 -27.78% 29
Scotland 0 13 £360 +5.88% 17
East Midlands -17 12 £134 -71.79% 24
Wales -7 6 £229 +3.98% 5
Northern Ireland -17 5 - - 5
North East -9 1 - - 8

SLA
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 15 (3.29%) Microsoft Exchange
2 14 (3.07%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.54%) Oracle Self-Service HR
3 7 (1.54%) Oracle Workflow
4 5 (1.10%) IIS
5 4 (0.88%) Confluence
6 3 (0.66%) Anypoint
6 3 (0.66%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.44%) Mule
8 1 (0.22%) Apache
8 1 (0.22%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.22%) ArcGIS
8 1 (0.22%) GeoServer
8 1 (0.22%) MQSeries
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle Spatial
8 1 (0.22%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 36 (7.89%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (7.02%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.32%) MS Visio
3 6 (1.32%) Spreadsheet
4 4 (0.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.88%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.88%) Oracle Smart View
5 1 (0.22%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 12 (2.63%) Oracle Assets
1 12 (2.63%) Oracle EBS R12
2 9 (1.97%) Oracle ERP
2 9 (1.97%) Oracle General Ledger
3 8 (1.75%) Oracle EBS
4 7 (1.54%) Oracle HRMS
4 7 (1.54%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 7 (1.54%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (1.10%) Oracle Payables
5 5 (1.10%) Oracle Receivables
5 5 (1.10%) SAP SD
6 4 (0.88%) Oracle FAH
6 4 (0.88%) Remedy ITSM
6 4 (0.88%) Workday HCM
7 3 (0.66%) iTrent
8 2 (0.44%) Dynamics CRM
8 2 (0.44%) Dynamics GP
8 2 (0.44%) Oracle Cash Management
8 2 (0.44%) Oracle Financials
8 2 (0.44%) Oracle iProcurement
Cloud Services
1 79 (17.32%) Microsoft 365
2 44 (9.65%) Azure
3 26 (5.70%) AWS
4 18 (3.95%) SaaS
5 13 (2.85%) Entra ID
6 8 (1.75%) Power Platform
7 6 (1.32%) GCP
7 6 (1.32%) IaaS
7 6 (1.32%) PaaS
8 5 (1.10%) Cloud Computing
9 4 (0.88%) GitHub
9 4 (0.88%) GitHub Actions
9 4 (0.88%) Google Workspace
9 4 (0.88%) OCI
9 4 (0.88%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 3 (0.66%) Azure AKS
10 3 (0.66%) Azure Key Vault
10 3 (0.66%) OneDrive
10 3 (0.66%) WhatsApp
11 2 (0.44%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 24 (5.26%) Firewall
1 24 (5.26%) Wireless
2 21 (4.61%) DNS
3 19 (4.17%) LAN
4 15 (3.29%) DHCP
4 15 (3.29%) VoIP
4 15 (3.29%) WAN
5 13 (2.85%) PABX
6 9 (1.97%) VPN
7 7 (1.54%) SD-WAN
8 6 (1.32%) Network Security
8 6 (1.32%) Wi-Fi
9 5 (1.10%) 5G
9 5 (1.10%) Cisco IOS
9 5 (1.10%) MPLS
9 5 (1.10%) Structured Cabling
10 4 (0.88%) BGP
10 4 (0.88%) Internet
10 4 (0.88%) OSPF
10 4 (0.88%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.85%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.54%) Power BI
3 6 (1.32%) Oracle Database
3 6 (1.32%) SAP HANA
4 5 (1.10%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.88%) MySQL
5 4 (0.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 3 (0.66%) Amazon RDS
6 3 (0.66%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (0.66%) OLTP
7 2 (0.44%) GIS
7 2 (0.44%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.44%) RDBMS
7 2 (0.44%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.22%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.22%) Geospatial Data
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle Database 12c
8 1 (0.22%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.22%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 11 (2.41%) JIRA
2 6 (1.32%) Postman
3 5 (1.10%) LSMW
4 4 (0.88%) GitLab
4 4 (0.88%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.66%) Git
5 3 (0.66%) Selenium
6 2 (0.44%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.44%) Jaeger
6 2 (0.44%) Oracle APEX
6 2 (0.44%) PVCS
6 2 (0.44%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.44%) Visual Studio Code
6 2 (0.44%) Zephyr
7 1 (0.22%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.22%) TestDirector
General
1 203 (44.52%) Social Skills
2 86 (18.86%) Finance
3 74 (16.23%) Analytical Skills
4 51 (11.18%) Public Sector
5 38 (8.33%) Telecoms
6 27 (5.92%) Banking
7 23 (5.04%) Legal
8 18 (3.95%) Documentation Skills
9 17 (3.73%) Organisational Skills
10 11 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 10 (2.19%) Marketing
12 9 (1.97%) Manufacturing
12 9 (1.97%) Police
13 6 (1.32%) Military
14 5 (1.10%) Automotive
14 5 (1.10%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (1.10%) Local Government
15 4 (0.88%) General Ledger
15 4 (0.88%) Presentation Skills
15 4 (0.88%) Retail
Job Titles
1 78 (17.11%) Analyst
2 42 (9.21%) Support Engineer
3 40 (8.77%) IT Support
4 36 (7.89%) Lead
5 34 (7.46%) Support Analyst
6 25 (5.48%) Desktop Support
7 21 (4.61%) Consultant
7 21 (4.61%) Service Analyst
7 21 (4.61%) Service Manager
8 19 (4.17%) Delivery Manager
8 19 (4.17%) IT Manager
9 17 (3.73%) Technical Support
10 16 (3.51%) Communications Engineer
10 16 (3.51%) Desktop Engineer
10 16 (3.51%) IT Engineer
10 16 (3.51%) Senior
11 15 (3.29%) Developer
11 15 (3.29%) Service Delivery Manager
12 13 (2.85%) Service Desk Analyst
12 13 (2.85%) Team Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.10%) BAPI
1 5 (1.10%) EDI
1 5 (1.10%) IDoc
1 5 (1.10%) SAP ALE
1 5 (1.10%) SAP Fiori
2 4 (0.88%) CSS
2 4 (0.88%) Elastic Stack
2 4 (0.88%) RESTful
3 3 (0.66%) HTML
3 3 (0.66%) Kafka
3 3 (0.66%) Lightning Web Components
3 3 (0.66%) Node.js
3 3 (0.66%) Oracle Fusion
3 3 (0.66%) RAML
3 3 (0.66%) XML
4 2 (0.44%) FastAPI
4 2 (0.44%) Gherkin
4 2 (0.44%) OAuth2
4 2 (0.44%) REST
4 2 (0.44%) Universal Windows Platform
Miscellaneous
1 19 (4.17%) Data Centre
1 19 (4.17%) Driving Licence
1 19 (4.17%) Onboarding
2 18 (3.95%) Management Information System
3 14 (3.07%) Self-Motivation
4 13 (2.85%) Smartphone
5 10 (2.19%) Enterprise Software
6 7 (1.54%) Security Posture
7 6 (1.32%) Analytical Mindset
8 5 (1.10%) Data Protection Act
8 5 (1.10%) Product Ownership
8 5 (1.10%) Replication
8 5 (1.10%) Video Conferencing
9 4 (0.88%) Derivative
9 4 (0.88%) Mobile App
9 4 (0.88%) NHS
9 4 (0.88%) Public Cloud
10 3 (0.66%) Cyber Threat
10 3 (0.66%) Enterprise Cloud
10 3 (0.66%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 106 (23.25%) Windows
2 48 (10.53%) Windows 10
3 24 (5.26%) Android
4 22 (4.82%) Mac OS
5 17 (3.73%) Windows Server
6 16 (3.51%) Linux
7 13 (2.85%) Apple iOS
8 8 (1.75%) Unix
9 4 (0.88%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.66%) Windows 7
11 2 (0.44%) Mac OS X
11 2 (0.44%) Windows 8
12 1 (0.22%) VMS
12 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.22%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 144 (31.58%) ITIL
2 99 (21.71%) Customer Service
3 88 (19.30%) Problem-Solving
4 81 (17.76%) Service Delivery
5 66 (14.47%) Service Management
6 58 (12.72%) Continuous Improvement
7 57 (12.50%) ITSM
8 39 (8.55%) Agile
8 39 (8.55%) Stakeholder Management
9 33 (7.24%) Change Management
10 32 (7.02%) Root Cause Analysis
11 29 (6.36%) Incident Management
12 25 (5.48%) Process Improvement
12 25 (5.48%) Time Management
13 24 (5.26%) DevOps
14 23 (5.04%) User Experience
15 22 (4.82%) Cybersecurity
15 22 (4.82%) Mentoring
16 21 (4.61%) Migration
17 20 (4.39%) Incident Response
Programming Languages
1 46 (10.09%) SQL
2 27 (5.92%) Python
3 18 (3.95%) PowerShell
4 12 (2.63%) Java
5 6 (1.32%) Bash
5 6 (1.32%) PL/SQL
6 5 (1.10%) ABAP
6 5 (1.10%) JavaScript
6 5 (1.10%) Shell Script
7 4 (0.88%) Kusto Query Language
8 3 (0.66%) Apex Code
8 3 (0.66%) Bicep
8 3 (0.66%) C#
8 3 (0.66%) VB
9 2 (0.44%) Go
9 2 (0.44%) Ruby
9 2 (0.44%) VBScript
10 1 (0.22%) SOQL
10 1 (0.22%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.22%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 139 (30.48%) Security Cleared
2 101 (22.15%) SC Cleared
3 36 (7.89%) Degree
4 28 (6.14%) DV Cleared
5 18 (3.95%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 13 (2.85%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (2.41%) Cisco Certification
7 11 (2.41%) ITIL Certification
8 9 (1.97%) Computer Science Degree
9 8 (1.75%) CCNP
9 8 (1.75%) MOS
9 8 (1.75%) PMI Certification
9 8 (1.75%) PMP
10 7 (1.54%) DBS Check
11 5 (1.10%) CEH
11 5 (1.10%) CISSP
12 4 (0.88%) Azure Certification
12 4 (0.88%) BPSS Clearance
13 3 (0.66%) CCIE
13 3 (0.66%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (4.17%) GDPR
2 12 (2.63%) Sarbanes-Oxley
3 11 (2.41%) QA
4 10 (2.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (1.75%) NIST
6 5 (1.10%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.88%) Data Quality
7 4 (0.88%) PMO
8 3 (0.66%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (0.66%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.44%) COBIT
9 2 (0.44%) GRC
9 2 (0.44%) ISO 9001
9 2 (0.44%) NEBOSH
9 2 (0.44%) PSD2
10 1 (0.22%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.22%) HL7
10 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 1 (0.22%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 1 (0.22%) NCSC
System Software
1 53 (11.62%) Active Directory
2 11 (2.41%) VMware Infrastructure
3 7 (1.54%) Virtual Machines
4 5 (1.10%) Docker
4 5 (1.10%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (1.10%) vSphere
5 4 (0.88%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.66%) DFS Replication
6 3 (0.66%) Firmware
6 3 (0.66%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.44%) BitLocker
7 2 (0.44%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.22%) KVM
8 1 (0.22%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 27 (5.92%) SCCM
2 20 (4.39%) Microsoft Intune
3 10 (2.19%) Terraform
4 8 (1.75%) Ansible
4 8 (1.75%) Kubernetes
5 6 (1.32%) Grafana
6 5 (1.10%) Prometheus
7 4 (0.88%) SCOM
7 4 (0.88%) Single Sign-On
7 4 (0.88%) SmoothWall
7 4 (0.88%) WSUS
8 3 (0.66%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.66%) Microsoft Clustering
8 3 (0.66%) NetApp OnCommand
8 3 (0.66%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.66%) vMotion
9 2 (0.44%) Argo
9 2 (0.44%) Data Guard
9 2 (0.44%) OpenView
10 1 (0.22%) TeamSite
Vendors
1 96 (21.05%) Microsoft
2 48 (10.53%) ServiceNow
3 43 (9.43%) Oracle
4 39 (8.55%) Cisco
5 22 (4.82%) Google
6 20 (4.39%) Dell
6 20 (4.39%) HP
7 19 (4.17%) Apple
7 19 (4.17%) SAP
8 15 (3.29%) VMware
9 13 (2.85%) Juniper
10 10 (2.19%) Remedy
11 8 (1.75%) Citrix
12 7 (1.54%) F5
12 7 (1.54%) Nokia
12 7 (1.54%) Splunk
12 7 (1.54%) Workday
13 6 (1.32%) Tenable
14 4 (0.88%) Fortinet
14 4 (0.88%) MuleSoft
364 SLA jobs Nationwide