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 19 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
19 Aug 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 241 196 178
Rank change year-on-year -45 -18 +3
Contract jobs citing SLA 573 476 552
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.07% 1.45% 1.42%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 6.19% 8.50% 10.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 336 267 266
10th Percentile £181 £199 £157
25th Percentile £250 £220 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £425 £375 £331
Median % change year-on-year +13.33% +13.21% -5.36%
75th Percentile £519 £541 £493
90th Percentile £600 £613 £588
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £313 £282
% change year-on-year +36.00% +10.82% -6.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 63 71 79
10th Percentile £13.45 £16.00 £11.78
25th Percentile £15.23 £17.51 £13.09
Median hourly rate £18.79 £22.14 £17.00
Median % change year-on-year -15.13% +30.24% -2.86%
75th Percentile £22.26 £25.15 £24.18
90th Percentile £27.86 £33.75 £32.26
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.79 £22.03 £14.70
% change year-on-year -14.71% +49.86% -16.00%

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 9,250 5,598 5,208
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.27% 17.06% 13.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,919 3,582 3,217
10th Percentile £325 £285 £294
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year - -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £606 £625
90th Percentile £700 £715 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £480
% change year-on-year +3.58% -1.04% -4.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 573 268 310
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.60 £11.07
25th Percentile £18.27 £17.43 £14.43
Median hourly rate £37.50 £27.91 £25.77
Median % change year-on-year +34.36% +8.33% -26.39%
75th Percentile £70.00 £62.24 £55.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £86.20 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.72 £25.08 £25.68
% change year-on-year +54.42% -2.37% -26.62%

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 19 August 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 19 August 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 19 August 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 -72 472 £425 +13.33% 377
UK excluding London -70 338 £425 +36.00% 267
London -26 200 £425 - 151
Work from Home -22 135 £463 +39.31% 131
North of England -59 87 £444 +77.15% 51
South East -88 77 £463 +85.00% 87
Scotland +40 65 £325 -4.41% 20
North West -24 58 £450 +38.46% 33
Midlands -56 51 £250 -31.03% 51
West Midlands -67 43 £250 -34.64% 29
East of England -20 29 £505 +124.44% 29
South West -54 29 £356 +5.48% 29
Yorkshire -54 26 £450 +79.64% 12
Wales -12 11 £525 +100.00% 5
East Midlands -18 7 £363 +174.62% 22
North East -36 3 £228 - 6
Northern Ireland +6 1 £175 - 5

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 38 (6.63%) SharePoint
2 27 (4.71%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.40%) Confluence
4 7 (1.22%) OpenStack
5 5 (0.87%) IIS
6 4 (0.70%) SAS
7 3 (0.52%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 3 (0.52%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.35%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.35%) Apache
8 2 (0.35%) Exchange Server 2010
8 2 (0.35%) Mule
9 1 (0.17%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.17%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.17%) Exchange Server 2013
9 1 (0.17%) JBoss
9 1 (0.17%) Oracle Workflow
9 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
9 1 (0.17%) Smallworld
Applications
1 56 (9.77%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (4.71%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.05%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.87%) Spreadsheet
5 4 (0.70%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.17%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.17%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.17%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 14 (2.44%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (1.40%) ContrOCC
3 5 (0.87%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.87%) Oracle Applications
4 4 (0.70%) Oracle Assets
4 4 (0.70%) Oracle Payables
4 4 (0.70%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle General Ledger
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle Receivables
5 3 (0.52%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 2 (0.35%) Dynamics GP
6 2 (0.35%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.35%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.17%) Actimize
7 1 (0.17%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.17%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS R12
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Financials
7 1 (0.17%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 115 (20.07%) Microsoft 365
2 104 (18.15%) Azure
3 54 (9.42%) AWS
3 54 (9.42%) Entra ID
4 23 (4.01%) OneDrive
5 20 (3.49%) Power Platform
6 16 (2.79%) Datadog
6 16 (2.79%) SaaS
7 15 (2.62%) Azure DevOps
8 12 (2.09%) IaaS
8 12 (2.09%) PaaS
9 10 (1.75%) Amazon S3
9 10 (1.75%) OCI
10 9 (1.57%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 9 (1.57%) Azure Sentinel
10 9 (1.57%) Snowflake
11 7 (1.22%) AWS CloudFormation
11 7 (1.22%) GCP
12 6 (1.05%) Amazon EC2
12 6 (1.05%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 42 (7.33%) DNS
2 38 (6.63%) VPN
3 33 (5.76%) DHCP
4 29 (5.06%) WAN
5 28 (4.89%) LAN
6 26 (4.54%) Firewall
7 24 (4.19%) Wi-Fi
8 23 (4.01%) TCP/IP
9 19 (3.32%) Network Security
10 17 (2.97%) SAN
11 14 (2.44%) SDH
12 12 (2.09%) VLAN
13 11 (1.92%) MPLS
14 10 (1.75%) Cisco IOS
15 8 (1.40%) Cisco ASA
15 8 (1.40%) Radio Access Network
15 8 (1.40%) Skype
15 8 (1.40%) Wireless
16 7 (1.22%) 5G
16 7 (1.22%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (3.84%) SQL Server
2 15 (2.62%) Power BI
3 8 (1.40%) Tableau
4 7 (1.22%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (0.87%) MySQL
5 5 (0.87%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (0.70%) Pentaho
7 3 (0.52%) Amazon Athena
7 3 (0.52%) Amazon RDS
7 3 (0.52%) Big Data
7 3 (0.52%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.52%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.52%) Relational Database
8 2 (0.35%) Db2
8 2 (0.35%) Oracle Database 10g
8 2 (0.35%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 1 (0.17%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.17%) GIS
9 1 (0.17%) Sybase ASE
Development Applications
1 47 (8.20%) JIRA
2 10 (1.75%) GitLab
3 8 (1.40%) Chocolatey
3 8 (1.40%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.05%) Git
5 3 (0.52%) Maven
5 3 (0.52%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.35%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.35%) Toad
7 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.17%) WiX
General
1 237 (41.36%) Social Skills
2 111 (19.37%) Finance
3 104 (18.15%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (6.63%) Public Sector
5 31 (5.41%) Banking
6 29 (5.06%) Telecoms
7 26 (4.54%) Organisational Skills
8 21 (3.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 20 (3.49%) Documentation Skills
10 17 (2.97%) Legal
11 15 (2.62%) Local Government
11 15 (2.62%) Retail
12 12 (2.09%) Manufacturing
13 8 (1.40%) Financial Institution
13 8 (1.40%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (1.22%) Billing
15 5 (0.87%) Aerospace
16 4 (0.70%) French Language
16 4 (0.70%) Marketing
17 3 (0.52%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 76 (13.26%) Analyst
2 63 (10.99%) Support Engineer
3 48 (8.38%) IT Support
4 44 (7.68%) Senior
5 36 (6.28%) IT Engineer
6 33 (5.76%) Lead
7 31 (5.41%) Service Manager
8 28 (4.89%) Service Analyst
9 26 (4.54%) Consultant
9 26 (4.54%) Network Engineer
10 25 (4.36%) Desktop Support
10 25 (4.36%) Field Engineer
10 25 (4.36%) IT Support Engineer
11 21 (3.66%) Service Desk Analyst
12 20 (3.49%) Delivery Manager
13 18 (3.14%) Administrator
13 18 (3.14%) Applications Support
13 18 (3.14%) Desktop Engineer
14 17 (2.97%) Architect
14 17 (2.97%) Service Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.92%) .NET
2 10 (1.75%) REST
3 8 (1.40%) LDAP
4 7 (1.22%) Oracle Fusion
5 6 (1.05%) XML
6 5 (0.87%) Middleware
6 5 (0.87%) Software Packaging
7 4 (0.70%) Jakarta EE
7 4 (0.70%) Kafka
7 4 (0.70%) Web Services
8 3 (0.52%) .NET Framework
8 3 (0.52%) AngularJS
8 3 (0.52%) Bootstrap
8 3 (0.52%) CSS
8 3 (0.52%) Java RMI
8 3 (0.52%) JSON
8 3 (0.52%) RESTful
8 3 (0.52%) Sass
8 3 (0.52%) SOAP
8 3 (0.52%) Spring MVC
Miscellaneous
1 60 (10.47%) Onboarding
2 28 (4.89%) Data Centre
3 23 (4.01%) CMDB
4 18 (3.14%) Enterprise Software
5 14 (2.44%) PKI
5 14 (2.44%) Smartphone
6 11 (1.92%) Cyber Threat
6 11 (1.92%) Virtual Team
7 10 (1.75%) Product Ownership
7 10 (1.75%) Video Conferencing
8 8 (1.40%) BYOD
8 8 (1.40%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (1.40%) Driving Licence
8 8 (1.40%) iPhone
8 8 (1.40%) Self-Motivation
9 7 (1.22%) Fat Client
9 7 (1.22%) Thin Client
10 6 (1.05%) Fibre Optics
11 5 (0.87%) Analytical Mindset
11 5 (0.87%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 162 (28.27%) Windows
2 61 (10.65%) Windows 10
3 37 (6.46%) Windows Server
4 32 (5.58%) Android
5 31 (5.41%) Linux
6 14 (2.44%) Unix
7 12 (2.09%) Windows 7
8 10 (1.75%) Mac OS
9 9 (1.57%) Apple iOS
9 9 (1.57%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.70%) CentOS
12 3 (0.52%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.52%) Windows XP
13 1 (0.17%) OpenVMS
13 1 (0.17%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.17%) VMS
13 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2003
13 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 225 (39.27%) ITIL
2 133 (23.21%) ITSM
3 123 (21.47%) Customer Service
3 123 (21.47%) Problem-Solving
4 120 (20.94%) Continuous Improvement
5 116 (20.24%) Service Management
6 103 (17.98%) Stakeholder Management
7 97 (16.93%) Change Management
7 97 (16.93%) Service Delivery
8 66 (11.52%) Root Cause Analysis
9 64 (11.17%) Agile
10 61 (10.65%) Problem Management
11 57 (9.95%) Incident Management
12 45 (7.85%) Validation
13 44 (7.68%) Migration
14 42 (7.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 41 (7.16%) DevOps
16 39 (6.81%) Asset Management
17 36 (6.28%) Roadmaps
18 35 (6.11%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 41 (7.16%) PowerShell
1 41 (7.16%) SQL
2 35 (6.11%) Python
3 12 (2.09%) Bash
3 12 (2.09%) JavaScript
4 10 (1.75%) Java
5 7 (1.22%) Shell Script
6 6 (1.05%) PL/SQL
7 5 (0.87%) C#
8 4 (0.70%) Bicep
8 4 (0.70%) MATLAB
9 2 (0.35%) DataWeave
9 2 (0.35%) Korn
9 2 (0.35%) X++
10 1 (0.17%) ActionScript 2.0
10 1 (0.17%) COBOL
10 1 (0.17%) Go
10 1 (0.17%) Perl
10 1 (0.17%) RPG
10 1 (0.17%) Scala
Qualifications
1 147 (25.65%) Security Cleared
2 117 (20.42%) SC Cleared
3 49 (8.55%) Degree
4 26 (4.54%) DV Cleared
5 19 (3.32%) ITIL Certification
5 19 (3.32%) Microsoft Certification
6 17 (2.97%) BPSS Clearance
6 17 (2.97%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 16 (2.79%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (1.92%) Azure Certification
9 10 (1.75%) CCNP
10 9 (1.57%) A+ Certification
10 9 (1.57%) PMI Certification
11 8 (1.40%) Computer Science Degree
11 8 (1.40%) MCSE
12 7 (1.22%) CCNA
12 7 (1.22%) DBS Check
13 6 (1.05%) CCSE
14 5 (0.87%) CCSM
14 5 (0.87%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (2.44%) Data Quality
2 11 (1.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (1.75%) NIST
3 10 (1.75%) QA
4 9 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 20000
4 9 (1.57%) PMO
5 6 (1.05%) GDPR
6 5 (0.87%) COBIT
6 5 (0.87%) Cyber Essentials
6 5 (0.87%) GRC
6 5 (0.87%) ISO 9001
7 4 (0.70%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 3 (0.52%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.35%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.17%) DICOM
10 1 (0.17%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.17%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.17%) HL7
10 1 (0.17%) ISO 20022
System Software
1 120 (20.94%) Active Directory
2 27 (4.71%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (3.32%) Virtual Desktop
4 15 (2.62%) VMware ESXi
5 10 (1.75%) Docker
6 8 (1.40%) Hyper-V
7 7 (1.22%) vSphere
8 5 (0.87%) Firmware
9 4 (0.70%) Virtual Machines
10 2 (0.35%) ACF2
10 2 (0.35%) Oracle RAC
10 2 (0.35%) RACF
10 2 (0.35%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.17%) Apache ZooKeeper
11 1 (0.17%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.17%) Ceph
11 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.17%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.17%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 55 (9.60%) Microsoft Intune
2 32 (5.58%) SCCM
3 21 (3.66%) Kubernetes
4 18 (3.14%) Terraform
5 12 (2.09%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (1.75%) Ansible
6 10 (1.75%) Grafana
6 10 (1.75%) vCenter Server
7 6 (1.05%) Prometheus
8 5 (0.87%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.70%) Check_MK
9 4 (0.70%) Podman
9 4 (0.70%) Red Hat Satellite
10 3 (0.52%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.52%) Oracle Identity Management
10 3 (0.52%) Oracle Identity Manager
10 3 (0.52%) vMotion
11 2 (0.35%) Data Guard
11 2 (0.35%) SCOM
11 2 (0.35%) WSUS
Vendors
1 204 (35.60%) Microsoft
2 113 (19.72%) ServiceNow
3 47 (8.20%) Cisco
3 47 (8.20%) VMware
4 33 (5.76%) Oracle
5 20 (3.49%) Apple
6 18 (3.14%) HP
6 18 (3.14%) Remedy
7 13 (2.27%) Zscaler
8 11 (1.92%) Nokia
8 11 (1.92%) Tenable
9 10 (1.75%) Citrix
9 10 (1.75%) Dynatrace
9 10 (1.75%) Fortinet
10 9 (1.57%) Okta
10 9 (1.57%) Salesforce
10 9 (1.57%) Splunk
11 8 (1.40%) CheckPoint
11 8 (1.40%) Ericsson
11 8 (1.40%) Liquidlogic
428 SLA jobs Nationwide