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 18 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
18 Jan 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 220 198 163
Rank change year-on-year -22 -35 +16
Contract jobs citing SLA 471 422 681
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.27% 1.33% 1.57%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 7.34% 9.27% 10.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 248 219 341
10th Percentile £171 £148 £148
25th Percentile £255 £192 £199
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £411 £260 £375
Median % change year-on-year +58.17% -30.67% +25.00%
75th Percentile £538 £500 £514
90th Percentile £625 £588 £634
UK excluding London median daily rate £350 £260 £309
% change year-on-year +34.62% -15.79% +37.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 116 44 71
10th Percentile £16.19 £14.70 £12.84
25th Percentile £17.69 £17.97 £13.31
Median hourly rate £18.50 £24.18 £17.50
Median % change year-on-year -23.49% +38.17% -
75th Percentile £20.35 £25.56 £33.13
90th Percentile £30.16 £35.89 £61.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £24.18 £14.16
% change year-on-year -23.49% +70.76% -16.39%

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 6,413 4,552 6,230
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.27% 14.34% 14.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,148 2,667 4,134
10th Percentile £313 £258 £313
25th Percentile £408 £377 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -
75th Percentile £600 £625 £644
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.58% -5.00% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 316 179 272
10th Percentile £15.60 £15.00 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.96 £21.02 £16.22
Median hourly rate £25.94 £29.00 £30.25
Median % change year-on-year -10.55% -4.13% +27.27%
75th Percentile £63.40 £64.73 £60.00
90th Percentile £70.08 £75.00 £78.36
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.10 £29.00 £30.00
% change year-on-year -16.91% -3.33% +37.93%

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 18 January 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 18 January 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 18 January 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 -23 424 £405 +58.05% 234
UK excluding London -23 331 £350 +34.62% 236
London +5 110 £475 +90.00% 37
Work from Home -22 95 £425 +82.80% 72
East of England +36 93 £473 +110.00% 36
South East -43 64 £418 +67.00% 78
North of England -59 60 £293 -1.68% 39
Midlands -56 47 £195 -13.33% 47
South West +5 44 £283 -48.64% 19
West Midlands -40 35 £198 -4.24% 24
North West -49 31 £300 -29.41% 17
Yorkshire -39 22 £365 +52.08% 16
Scotland +6 17 £360 +71.43% 14
East Midlands -30 12 £134 -61.71% 22
Northern Ireland -6 7 £500 +237.84% 3
North East -9 7 £265 +0.95% 6
Wales 0 3 £183 -16.82% 9

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 20 (4.25%) Microsoft Exchange
1 20 (4.25%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.06%) Confluence
3 4 (0.85%) Oracle Workflow
4 2 (0.42%) IIS
4 2 (0.42%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.21%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.21%) GeoServer
5 1 (0.21%) Oracle Spatial
5 1 (0.21%) WebSphere
5 1 (0.21%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 44 (9.34%) Microsoft Excel
2 39 (8.28%) Spreadsheet
3 32 (6.79%) Microsoft Office
4 5 (1.06%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.85%) Oracle Smart View
6 3 (0.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (0.64%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 15 (3.18%) Oracle EBS
1 15 (3.18%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
2 10 (2.12%) Oracle Payables
3 8 (1.70%) Oracle Assets
3 8 (1.70%) Oracle General Ledger
4 6 (1.27%) Oracle Receivables
5 5 (1.06%) Oracle FAH
6 4 (0.85%) Oracle EBS R12
6 4 (0.85%) Oracle ERP
6 4 (0.85%) Remedy ITSM
7 3 (0.64%) Oracle Financials
7 3 (0.64%) Workday HCM
8 2 (0.42%) Dynamics CRM
8 2 (0.42%) Dynamics GP
8 2 (0.42%) Oracle Cash Management
8 2 (0.42%) Oracle E-Business Tax
8 2 (0.42%) Temenos T24
9 1 (0.21%) iTrent
9 1 (0.21%) SAP Payroll
9 1 (0.21%) Veritas eDiscovery
Cloud Services
1 65 (13.80%) Microsoft 365
2 43 (9.13%) Azure
3 29 (6.16%) AWS
4 13 (2.76%) GCP
5 12 (2.55%) Entra ID
6 8 (1.70%) Power Platform
7 7 (1.49%) GitHub
7 7 (1.49%) OCI
7 7 (1.49%) SaaS
8 6 (1.27%) IaaS
8 6 (1.27%) PaaS
9 5 (1.06%) GitHub Actions
9 5 (1.06%) OpenShift
10 4 (0.85%) Cloud Computing
11 3 (0.64%) AWS CloudFormation
11 3 (0.64%) AWS KMS
11 3 (0.64%) OneDrive
11 3 (0.64%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 2 (0.42%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 2 (0.42%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.73%) Firewall
2 25 (5.31%) WAN
3 19 (4.03%) DNS
4 17 (3.61%) SD-WAN
5 14 (2.97%) VPN
5 14 (2.97%) Wireless
6 13 (2.76%) MPLS
6 13 (2.76%) PABX
7 12 (2.55%) DHCP
7 12 (2.55%) LAN
8 8 (1.70%) BGP
8 8 (1.70%) OSPF
8 8 (1.70%) TCP/IP
9 7 (1.49%) Cisco ASA
10 6 (1.27%) Broadband
10 6 (1.27%) Network Security
10 6 (1.27%) SDH
10 6 (1.27%) VLAN
11 5 (1.06%) IPsec
11 5 (1.06%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.70%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.49%) Oracle Database
2 7 (1.49%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (1.27%) MongoDB
3 6 (1.27%) Power BI
4 5 (1.06%) MySQL
5 3 (0.64%) Amazon RDS
5 3 (0.64%) Relational Database
5 3 (0.64%) SAP HANA
6 2 (0.42%) GIS
6 2 (0.42%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.21%) Amazon Aurora
7 1 (0.21%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.21%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.21%) Metadata
7 1 (0.21%) Oracle Database 12c
7 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 15 (3.18%) Jenkins
2 14 (2.97%) GitLab
2 14 (2.97%) JIRA
3 13 (2.76%) Git
4 5 (1.06%) Visual Studio
5 4 (0.85%) Postman
6 3 (0.64%) CircleCI
7 2 (0.42%) Jaeger
7 2 (0.42%) PVCS
8 1 (0.21%) Metasploit
8 1 (0.21%) Selenium
8 1 (0.21%) TestDirector
General
1 217 (46.07%) Social Skills
2 96 (20.38%) Finance
3 60 (12.74%) Analytical Skills
4 55 (11.68%) Public Sector
5 31 (6.58%) Banking
6 29 (6.16%) Organisational Skills
6 29 (6.16%) Telecoms
7 21 (4.46%) Documentation Skills
7 21 (4.46%) Legal
8 13 (2.76%) Retail
9 9 (1.91%) Financial Institution
10 8 (1.70%) Aerospace
10 8 (1.70%) Law
10 8 (1.70%) Manufacturing
11 7 (1.49%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.49%) Marketing
12 5 (1.06%) General Ledger
12 5 (1.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (1.06%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (1.06%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 76 (16.14%) IT Support
2 63 (13.38%) Analyst
3 48 (10.19%) Lead
4 35 (7.43%) Desktop Support
5 33 (7.01%) Administrator
6 30 (6.37%) Support Engineer
7 25 (5.31%) Support Analyst
7 25 (5.31%) Technical Support
8 24 (5.10%) Service Manager
9 21 (4.46%) Consultant
9 21 (4.46%) Service Analyst
9 21 (4.46%) Team Leader
10 20 (4.25%) Senior
11 17 (3.61%) Desktop Engineer
12 16 (3.40%) IT Administrator
12 16 (3.40%) Service Desk Analyst
13 15 (3.18%) IT Manager
14 14 (2.97%) Developer
15 13 (2.76%) Desktop Support Engineer
16 12 (2.55%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (1.91%) Middleware
1 9 (1.91%) Oracle Fusion
2 7 (1.49%) LDAP
3 5 (1.06%) Kafka
4 4 (0.85%) 802.1X
4 4 (0.85%) REST
5 2 (0.42%) .NET
5 2 (0.42%) CSS
5 2 (0.42%) Elastic Stack
5 2 (0.42%) Node.js
5 2 (0.42%) OAuth
5 2 (0.42%) OAuth2
5 2 (0.42%) OpenID
5 2 (0.42%) RESTful
5 2 (0.42%) SAML
5 2 (0.42%) Universal Windows Platform
5 2 (0.42%) Web Services
6 1 (0.21%) HTML
6 1 (0.21%) RSS
6 1 (0.21%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 31 (6.58%) Management Information System
2 26 (5.52%) Onboarding
3 21 (4.46%) Data Centre
4 20 (4.25%) Self-Motivation
5 16 (3.40%) Driving Licence
6 15 (3.18%) Smartphone
7 13 (2.76%) Product Ownership
8 8 (1.70%) Analytical Mindset
9 7 (1.49%) Public Cloud
10 6 (1.27%) Enterprise Cloud
11 5 (1.06%) Cloud Native
11 5 (1.06%) CMDB
11 5 (1.06%) Data Protection Act
11 5 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (1.06%) Equities
11 5 (1.06%) NHS
12 4 (0.85%) Clustering
12 4 (0.85%) Derivative
12 4 (0.85%) Equity Derivative
12 4 (0.85%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 94 (19.96%) Windows
2 31 (6.58%) Windows 10
3 30 (6.37%) Linux
4 19 (4.03%) Unix
5 16 (3.40%) Android
5 16 (3.40%) Windows Server
6 12 (2.55%) Apple iOS
7 10 (2.12%) Mac OS
8 7 (1.49%) CentOS
8 7 (1.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.64%) Windows 7
10 2 (0.42%) Windows 8
10 2 (0.42%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.21%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.21%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (29.72%) ITIL
2 116 (24.63%) Customer Service
3 90 (19.11%) Service Delivery
4 71 (15.07%) Time Management
5 61 (12.95%) Continuous Improvement
6 51 (10.83%) ITSM
6 51 (10.83%) Problem-Solving
7 47 (9.98%) Service Management
8 45 (9.55%) Stakeholder Management
9 43 (9.13%) Change Management
10 40 (8.49%) Incident Management
11 36 (7.64%) Agile
12 34 (7.22%) Root Cause Analysis
13 32 (6.79%) Asset Management
14 29 (6.16%) Roadmaps
15 26 (5.52%) Customer Experience
16 24 (5.10%) Problem Management
17 23 (4.88%) DevOps
17 23 (4.88%) Disaster Recovery
18 22 (4.67%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 25 (5.31%) SQL
2 23 (4.88%) Python
3 21 (4.46%) Shell Script
4 14 (2.97%) PowerShell
5 10 (2.12%) Java
6 7 (1.49%) MATLAB
7 5 (1.06%) Bash
8 4 (0.85%) C++
8 4 (0.85%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.64%) Go
9 3 (0.64%) JavaScript
10 2 (0.42%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.21%) Bicep
11 1 (0.21%) C#
11 1 (0.21%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 135 (28.66%) Security Cleared
2 109 (23.14%) SC Cleared
3 33 (7.01%) Degree
4 20 (4.25%) DV Cleared
5 13 (2.76%) ITIL Certification
6 12 (2.55%) BPSS Clearance
7 11 (2.34%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 11 (2.34%) MOS
8 7 (1.49%) Microsoft Certification
8 7 (1.49%) PMI Certification
9 5 (1.06%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (0.85%) CCNP
10 4 (0.85%) DBS Check
10 4 (0.85%) PMP
11 3 (0.64%) CCA
11 3 (0.64%) Numerate Degree
12 2 (0.42%) CCIE
12 2 (0.42%) CISSP
12 2 (0.42%) HNC
12 2 (0.42%) MCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (3.82%) GDPR
2 16 (3.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 8 (1.70%) Data Quality
4 7 (1.49%) QA
4 7 (1.49%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 5 (1.06%) NIST
5 5 (1.06%) PMO
6 4 (0.85%) PCI DSS
7 3 (0.64%) COBIT
7 3 (0.64%) GRC
8 2 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 2 (0.42%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.42%) PSD2
9 1 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.21%) ISO 9001
9 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 48 (10.19%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.91%) Docker
2 9 (1.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (1.27%) vSphere
4 4 (0.85%) Firmware
4 4 (0.85%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.64%) DFS Replication
5 3 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.42%) BitLocker
6 2 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.21%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 15 (3.18%) Ansible
1 15 (3.18%) SCCM
2 14 (2.97%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (2.55%) Kubernetes
4 9 (1.91%) Grafana
5 8 (1.70%) Terraform
6 7 (1.49%) Check_MK
6 7 (1.49%) Podman
6 7 (1.49%) Red Hat Satellite
7 6 (1.27%) SCOM
7 6 (1.27%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (1.06%) ServiceCenter
9 4 (0.85%) Prometheus
9 4 (0.85%) TeamSite
10 3 (0.64%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.64%) RSA Archer
10 3 (0.64%) WSUS
11 2 (0.42%) Microsoft Clustering
11 2 (0.42%) NetApp OnCommand
11 2 (0.42%) Puppet
Vendors
1 135 (28.66%) Microsoft
2 57 (12.10%) ServiceNow
3 42 (8.92%) Oracle
4 36 (7.64%) Cisco
5 26 (5.52%) HP
6 24 (5.10%) Dell
6 24 (5.10%) SAP
7 21 (4.46%) VMware
8 18 (3.82%) Apple
9 9 (1.91%) Remedy
9 9 (1.91%) Splunk
10 8 (1.70%) Fortinet
10 8 (1.70%) Workday
11 7 (1.49%) IBM
11 7 (1.49%) Juniper
11 7 (1.49%) Red Hat
12 5 (1.06%) Nokia
12 5 (1.06%) Trend Micro
13 4 (0.85%) BMC
13 4 (0.85%) Zscaler
264 SLA jobs Nationwide