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 30 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
30 Sep 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 248 215 201
Rank change year-on-year -33 -14 -20
Contract jobs citing SLA 578 434 471
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.05% 1.32% 1.25%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 5.96% 7.66% 9.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 337 251 222
10th Percentile £181 £183 £158
25th Percentile £250 £231 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £350 £334
Median % change year-on-year +21.43% +4.87% -16.56%
75th Percentile £538 £538 £500
90th Percentile £622 £613 £600
UK excluding London median daily rate £429 £325 £340
% change year-on-year +32.00% -4.41% +6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 79 69 52
10th Percentile £13.45 £15.90 £12.75
25th Percentile £16.01 £17.48 £15.22
Median hourly rate £19.33 £22.14 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year -12.69% -6.97% +36.00%
75th Percentile £25.13 £25.15 £24.18
90th Percentile £72.25 £39.15 £48.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £19.33 £18.73 £18.62
% change year-on-year +3.20% +0.58% +8.65%

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 9,701 5,665 5,044
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.67% 17.25% 13.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,112 3,631 2,938
10th Percentile £325 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.45% - -4.76%
75th Percentile £608 £605 £625
90th Percentile £710 £706 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +2.63% - -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 651 269 242
10th Percentile £13.88 £13.60 £12.75
25th Percentile £16.60 £16.50 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.40 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +7.98% +9.09% -22.82%
75th Percentile £65.00 £60.00 £62.44
90th Percentile £74.32 £80.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.40 £27.02 £27.50
% change year-on-year +19.91% -1.76% -30.56%

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 30 September 2026.

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 30 September 2026.

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 30 September 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
England -58 474 £425 +13.33% 577
UK excluding London -44 358 £429 +32.00% 339
London -37 180 £404 -3.81% 261
Work from Home -38 121 £463 +23.33% 169
North of England -48 92 £450 +68.07% 80
Scotland +38 73 £437 -3.96% 24
South East -63 72 £475 +35.71% 63
North West -10 68 £450 +38.46% 48
Midlands -49 55 £250 -31.03% 70
West Midlands -50 50 £250 -35.90% 45
East of England -3 47 £650 +85.71% 46
South West -49 31 £301 +1.86% 35
Yorkshire -52 21 £463 +93.08% 26
Wales -8 11 £525 +169.23% 13
East Midlands -23 5 £363 +170.52% 25
North East -37 3 £228 - 6
Northern Ireland 0 1 £175 - 11

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 44 (7.61%) SharePoint
2 33 (5.71%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.56%) Confluence
4 6 (1.04%) OpenStack
5 4 (0.69%) IIS
6 3 (0.52%) SAS
7 2 (0.35%) Anypoint
7 2 (0.35%) Apache
7 2 (0.35%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.35%) Mule
8 1 (0.17%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.17%) Appian
8 1 (0.17%) CICS
8 1 (0.17%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.17%) JBoss
8 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 55 (9.52%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (3.98%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.69%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.35%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.17%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 1 (0.17%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 19 (3.29%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (1.38%) ContrOCC
3 5 (0.87%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.69%) Dynamics CRM
4 4 (0.69%) Oracle Applications
4 4 (0.69%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle Assets
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle General Ledger
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (0.35%) Dynamics GP
6 2 (0.35%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.35%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.35%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 1 (0.17%) Actimize
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS R12
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Financials
7 1 (0.17%) SAP HCM
7 1 (0.17%) SAP Oil and Gas
7 1 (0.17%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 123 (21.28%) Microsoft 365
2 108 (18.69%) Azure
3 61 (10.55%) Entra ID
4 45 (7.79%) AWS
5 28 (4.84%) OneDrive
6 22 (3.81%) Power Platform
7 20 (3.46%) SaaS
8 13 (2.25%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (1.56%) Datadog
9 9 (1.56%) GCP
10 8 (1.38%) IaaS
10 8 (1.38%) Serverless
11 7 (1.21%) Amazon S3
11 7 (1.21%) Azure Sentinel
11 7 (1.21%) OCI
11 7 (1.21%) PaaS
12 6 (1.04%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 6 (1.04%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (1.04%) Google Workspace
13 5 (0.87%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 40 (6.92%) DNS
2 38 (6.57%) VPN
3 31 (5.36%) DHCP
4 26 (4.50%) TCP/IP
5 25 (4.33%) LAN
6 24 (4.15%) WAN
7 22 (3.81%) Firewall
8 16 (2.77%) Wi-Fi
9 14 (2.42%) SDH
10 13 (2.25%) MPLS
10 13 (2.25%) SAN
11 11 (1.90%) Skype
11 11 (1.90%) VLAN
12 10 (1.73%) Network Security
13 8 (1.38%) Wireless
14 7 (1.21%) Cisco IOS
14 7 (1.21%) Radio Access Network
15 6 (1.04%) Diameter Protocol
15 6 (1.04%) LTE
15 6 (1.04%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (3.81%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.94%) Power BI
3 8 (1.38%) Tableau
4 5 (0.87%) BigQuery
4 5 (0.87%) Delta Lake
4 5 (0.87%) Looker
4 5 (0.87%) Oracle Reports
4 5 (0.87%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (0.69%) Amazon Athena
5 4 (0.69%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (0.69%) Db2
6 3 (0.52%) Big Data
6 3 (0.52%) Data Lake
6 3 (0.52%) MySQL
6 3 (0.52%) Oracle Database
6 3 (0.52%) Pentaho
6 3 (0.52%) Relational Database
7 2 (0.35%) Flink
7 2 (0.35%) Metadata
7 2 (0.35%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 42 (7.27%) JIRA
2 9 (1.56%) GitLab
3 7 (1.21%) Git
4 6 (1.04%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.87%) RStudio
6 4 (0.69%) Chocolatey
7 2 (0.35%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.35%) Toad
7 2 (0.35%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.17%) Postman
General
1 238 (41.18%) Social Skills
2 110 (19.03%) Analytical Skills
3 95 (16.44%) Finance
4 34 (5.88%) Organisational Skills
4 34 (5.88%) Public Sector
5 28 (4.84%) Banking
6 23 (3.98%) Telecoms
7 21 (3.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 19 (3.29%) Documentation Skills
9 16 (2.77%) Legal
10 15 (2.60%) Billing
11 12 (2.08%) Local Government
12 11 (1.90%) Aerospace
12 11 (1.90%) Manufacturing
13 10 (1.73%) Retail
14 8 (1.38%) Influencing Skills
15 6 (1.04%) Back Office
16 4 (0.69%) Financial Institution
16 4 (0.69%) French Language
17 3 (0.52%) Law
Job Titles
1 74 (12.80%) Analyst
2 62 (10.73%) Support Engineer
3 49 (8.48%) IT Support
4 36 (6.23%) Lead
5 34 (5.88%) Consultant
6 33 (5.71%) IT Engineer
7 32 (5.54%) Senior
8 29 (5.02%) Service Analyst
9 26 (4.50%) Desktop Support
9 26 (4.50%) Field Engineer
9 26 (4.50%) Service Manager
10 24 (4.15%) Architect
10 24 (4.15%) IT Support Engineer
10 24 (4.15%) Network Engineer
11 23 (3.98%) Service Desk Analyst
12 18 (3.11%) Applications Support
13 17 (2.94%) Administrator
13 17 (2.94%) Delivery Manager
13 17 (2.94%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 16 (2.77%) Desktop Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.81%) REST
2 14 (2.42%) Terraform
3 11 (1.90%) .NET
4 8 (1.38%) LDAP
5 7 (1.21%) OAuth
6 6 (1.04%) Middleware
6 6 (1.04%) PySpark
6 6 (1.04%) XML
7 5 (0.87%) Kafka
8 4 (0.69%) Software Packaging
9 3 (0.52%) .NET Framework
9 3 (0.52%) ARM Templates
9 3 (0.52%) Elastic Stack
9 3 (0.52%) Java RMI
9 3 (0.52%) JSON
9 3 (0.52%) SAML
9 3 (0.52%) SOAP
10 2 (0.35%) Oracle Fusion
10 2 (0.35%) RESTful
10 2 (0.35%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 68 (11.76%) Onboarding
2 28 (4.84%) CMDB
2 28 (4.84%) Data Centre
3 21 (3.63%) Enterprise Software
4 17 (2.94%) Smartphone
5 16 (2.77%) Video Conferencing
6 15 (2.60%) PKI
6 15 (2.60%) Security Posture
7 13 (2.25%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.73%) Driving Licence
9 9 (1.56%) Security Operations Centre
10 8 (1.38%) Cyber Threat
10 8 (1.38%) Management Information System
11 7 (1.21%) Fat Client
11 7 (1.21%) iPhone
11 7 (1.21%) Replication
11 7 (1.21%) Self-Motivation
11 7 (1.21%) Thin Client
12 6 (1.04%) Analytical Mindset
12 6 (1.04%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 175 (30.28%) Windows
2 62 (10.73%) Windows 10
3 52 (9.00%) Windows Server
4 43 (7.44%) Android
5 31 (5.36%) Linux
6 17 (2.94%) Apple iOS
7 14 (2.42%) Mac OS
8 12 (2.08%) Unix
8 12 (2.08%) Windows 7
9 8 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.69%) CentOS
10 4 (0.69%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.52%) Windows Server 2019
11 3 (0.52%) Windows XP
12 1 (0.17%) OpenVMS
12 1 (0.17%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.17%) VMS
12 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2003
12 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2008
12 1 (0.17%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 241 (41.70%) ITIL
2 149 (25.78%) ITSM
3 145 (25.09%) Service Management
4 135 (23.36%) Customer Service
5 131 (22.66%) Problem-Solving
6 128 (22.15%) Continuous Improvement
7 111 (19.20%) Stakeholder Management
8 93 (16.09%) Service Delivery
9 84 (14.53%) Incident Management
10 80 (13.84%) Change Management
11 72 (12.46%) Root Cause Analysis
12 56 (9.69%) Problem Management
13 54 (9.34%) Validation
14 50 (8.65%) Agile
15 43 (7.44%) Incident Response
16 42 (7.27%) Runbook
17 40 (6.92%) Asset Management
18 38 (6.57%) Cybersecurity
19 37 (6.40%) Configuration Management
19 37 (6.40%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 53 (9.17%) SQL
2 44 (7.61%) Python
3 43 (7.44%) PowerShell
4 15 (2.60%) JavaScript
5 11 (1.90%) Bash
6 7 (1.21%) Java
6 7 (1.21%) Shell Script
7 6 (1.04%) PL/SQL
8 5 (0.87%) C#
8 5 (0.87%) R
9 4 (0.69%) Bicep
9 4 (0.69%) Google Apps Script
9 4 (0.69%) MATLAB
10 2 (0.35%) COBOL
10 2 (0.35%) DataWeave
10 2 (0.35%) Perl
10 2 (0.35%) RPG
10 2 (0.35%) X++
11 1 (0.17%) ActionScript
11 1 (0.17%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 191 (33.04%) Security Cleared
2 146 (25.26%) SC Cleared
3 40 (6.92%) Degree
4 36 (6.23%) DV Cleared
5 22 (3.81%) ITIL Certification
5 22 (3.81%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (3.46%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 16 (2.77%) BPSS Clearance
8 15 (2.60%) DBS Check
9 14 (2.42%) Cisco Certification
10 11 (1.90%) A+ Certification
10 11 (1.90%) PMI Certification
11 9 (1.56%) Azure Certification
12 8 (1.38%) CCNA
13 7 (1.21%) CCNP
13 7 (1.21%) Computer Science Degree
13 7 (1.21%) MCSE
14 6 (1.04%) PMP
15 3 (0.52%) CISSP
15 3 (0.52%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (4.50%) Data Quality
2 12 (2.08%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 11 (1.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.73%) NIST
5 9 (1.56%) QA
6 6 (1.04%) NCSC
7 5 (0.87%) COBIT
7 5 (0.87%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (0.87%) GDPR
7 5 (0.87%) ISO 9001
7 5 (0.87%) PMO
8 4 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 4 (0.69%) GRC
9 3 (0.52%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.35%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.17%) DICOM
11 1 (0.17%) GxP
11 1 (0.17%) HL7
11 1 (0.17%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 138 (23.88%) Active Directory
2 25 (4.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 17 (2.94%) Virtual Desktop
4 12 (2.08%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.56%) VMware ESXi
6 7 (1.21%) Docker
6 7 (1.21%) Firmware
7 4 (0.69%) RACF
7 4 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.52%) ACF2
8 3 (0.52%) vSphere
9 2 (0.35%) Apache ZooKeeper
9 2 (0.35%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.17%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.17%) Job Entry Subsystem
10 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.17%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.17%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 51 (8.82%) Microsoft Intune
2 30 (5.19%) SCCM
3 23 (3.98%) Kubernetes
4 16 (2.77%) Single Sign-On
5 11 (1.90%) Ansible
6 10 (1.73%) Grafana
7 8 (1.38%) Jamf Pro
8 6 (1.04%) SCOM
8 6 (1.04%) vCenter Server
9 5 (0.87%) Prometheus
10 4 (0.69%) Check_MK
10 4 (0.69%) Podman
10 4 (0.69%) Red Hat Satellite
10 4 (0.69%) SCOrch
11 3 (0.52%) Oracle Identity Management
11 3 (0.52%) Oracle Identity Manager
12 2 (0.35%) Data Guard
12 2 (0.35%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.35%) Oracle RMAN
12 2 (0.35%) WSUS
Vendors
1 221 (38.24%) Microsoft
2 115 (19.90%) ServiceNow
3 40 (6.92%) Cisco
3 40 (6.92%) VMware
4 26 (4.50%) Oracle
5 23 (3.98%) Remedy
6 20 (3.46%) Apple
7 15 (2.60%) HP
8 13 (2.25%) SAP
9 10 (1.73%) Google
9 10 (1.73%) Nokia
9 10 (1.73%) Salesforce
9 10 (1.73%) Zscaler
10 9 (1.56%) Citrix
10 9 (1.56%) Databricks
10 9 (1.56%) Okta
11 8 (1.38%) BT
11 8 (1.38%) Fortinet
11 8 (1.38%) Liquidlogic
12 7 (1.21%) Huawei
679 SLA jobs Nationwide