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 11 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
11 Jul 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 236 201 154
Rank change year-on-year -35 -47 +39
Contract jobs citing SLA 576 456 683
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.09% 1.41% 1.59%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 6.40% 8.53% 11.56%
Number of daily rates quoted 319 264 321
10th Percentile £200 £181 £156
25th Percentile £285 £214 £200
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £350 £340
Median % change year-on-year +28.57% +2.94% +7.94%
75th Percentile £520 £541 £500
90th Percentile £598 £613 £585
UK excluding London median daily rate £440 £264 £291
% change year-on-year +66.82% -9.21% +5.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 92 57 87
10th Percentile £13.47 £16.04 £11.07
25th Percentile £17.55 £17.80 £12.75
Median hourly rate £18.67 £22.14 £16.19
Median % change year-on-year -15.70% +36.75% -12.49%
75th Percentile £20.92 £25.15 £23.80
90th Percentile £25.77 £37.35 £26.15
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.50 £22.14 £14.41
% change year-on-year -16.44% +53.64% -20.93%

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 8,999 5,348 5,907
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.01% 16.48% 13.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,771 3,432 3,641
10th Percentile £338 £280 £281
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £610 £622
90th Percentile £700 £719 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £471 £475
% change year-on-year +6.15% -0.83% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 551 231 422
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.63 £11.66
25th Percentile £19.33 £18.17 £13.60
Median hourly rate £36.07 £30.00 £24.18
Median % change year-on-year +20.23% +24.07% -38.66%
75th Percentile £68.32 £62.25 £50.00
90th Percentile £81.90 £83.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.72 £27.44 £24.18
% change year-on-year +41.11% +13.48% -33.75%

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 11 July 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 11 July 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 11 July 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 -53 490 £450 +28.57% 221
UK excluding London -70 353 £440 +66.82% 208
London -5 195 £450 +12.50% 59
Work from Home -3 140 £469 +33.93% 71
South East -80 84 £468 +87.00% 89
North of England -52 74 £436 +51.61% 35
Midlands -67 56 £288 -20.69% 17
East of England +9 53 £505 +124.44% 29
Scotland +29 52 £358 +15.95% 17
West Midlands -77 46 £288 -20.69% 12
North West -32 42 £435 +33.85% 21
Yorkshire -49 30 £444 +77.15% 10
South West -45 26 £400 +46.79% 16
Wales -10 12 £525 +100.00% 10
East Midlands -18 9 £363 - 5
Northern Ireland +6 2 £175 - 5
North East -31 2 £280 - 4

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 25 (4.34%) SharePoint
2 12 (2.08%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.56%) Confluence
4 7 (1.22%) OpenStack
5 5 (0.87%) IIS
5 5 (0.87%) SAS
6 4 (0.69%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 3 (0.52%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.35%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.35%) ArcGIS
8 2 (0.35%) Exchange Server 2010
8 2 (0.35%) Mule
8 2 (0.35%) Oracle Workflow
9 1 (0.17%) Apache
9 1 (0.17%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.17%) LiveCycle
9 1 (0.17%) Smallworld
Applications
1 54 (9.38%) Microsoft Office
2 49 (8.51%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (2.26%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.39%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.17%) Autodesk Inventor
7 1 (0.17%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.17%) MicroStation
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 18 (3.13%) Remedy ITSM
2 8 (1.39%) ContrOCC
3 7 (1.22%) Oracle Assets
3 7 (1.22%) Oracle Payables
4 6 (1.04%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 5 (0.87%) Dynamics CRM
5 5 (0.87%) Oracle Applications
5 5 (0.87%) Oracle General Ledger
5 5 (0.87%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 5 (0.87%) Oracle Receivables
6 3 (0.52%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.52%) Oracle EBS
6 3 (0.52%) Oracle ERP
7 2 (0.35%) Dynamics GP
7 2 (0.35%) IntelliMatch
7 2 (0.35%) Oracle EBS R12
7 2 (0.35%) Oracle Financials
7 2 (0.35%) Payment Gateway
8 1 (0.17%) OpenText VIM for SAP
8 1 (0.17%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 100 (17.36%) Azure
2 79 (13.72%) Microsoft 365
3 54 (9.38%) AWS
4 34 (5.90%) Entra ID
5 26 (4.51%) Power Platform
6 18 (3.13%) SaaS
7 17 (2.95%) Azure DevOps
8 16 (2.78%) Datadog
8 16 (2.78%) OneDrive
9 14 (2.43%) Amazon S3
9 14 (2.43%) IaaS
9 14 (2.43%) PaaS
10 13 (2.26%) OCI
11 11 (1.91%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (1.91%) Snowflake
11 11 (1.91%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 10 (1.74%) GCP
13 9 (1.56%) Azure Sentinel
14 8 (1.39%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 8 (1.39%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 32 (5.56%) DNS
2 29 (5.03%) VPN
3 27 (4.69%) DHCP
4 21 (3.65%) Firewall
4 21 (3.65%) WAN
5 18 (3.13%) LAN
5 18 (3.13%) Wi-Fi
6 15 (2.60%) SAN
7 14 (2.43%) Network Security
8 11 (1.91%) TCP/IP
9 10 (1.74%) Cisco IOS
9 10 (1.74%) MPLS
10 9 (1.56%) Cisco ASA
10 9 (1.56%) SDH
10 9 (1.56%) VLAN
11 8 (1.39%) Radio Access Network
12 7 (1.22%) 5G
12 7 (1.22%) LTE
12 7 (1.22%) SD-WAN
12 7 (1.22%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (3.82%) Power BI
2 19 (3.30%) SQL Server
3 9 (1.56%) Tableau
4 8 (1.39%) Oracle Reports
5 7 (1.22%) Oracle Database
6 6 (1.04%) Relational Database
7 5 (0.87%) Pentaho
8 4 (0.69%) Amazon RDS
8 4 (0.69%) MySQL
8 4 (0.69%) PostgreSQL
9 3 (0.52%) Amazon Athena
9 3 (0.52%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 2 (0.35%) Big Data
10 2 (0.35%) Data Lake
10 2 (0.35%) Db2
10 2 (0.35%) GIS
10 2 (0.35%) Oracle Database 10g
10 2 (0.35%) Oracle Database 11g
10 2 (0.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 1 (0.17%) Data Warehouse
Development Applications
1 45 (7.81%) JIRA
2 12 (2.08%) GitLab
3 10 (1.74%) Git
3 10 (1.74%) Jenkins
4 8 (1.39%) Chocolatey
5 4 (0.69%) Maven
6 3 (0.52%) Visual Studio
7 2 (0.35%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.35%) JMeter
7 2 (0.35%) Toad
8 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.17%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.17%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.17%) WiX
General
1 255 (44.27%) Social Skills
2 113 (19.62%) Finance
3 101 (17.53%) Analytical Skills
4 40 (6.94%) Public Sector
5 37 (6.42%) Banking
6 30 (5.21%) Organisational Skills
7 28 (4.86%) Telecoms
8 25 (4.34%) Documentation Skills
9 23 (3.99%) Legal
10 14 (2.43%) Billing
10 14 (2.43%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 14 (2.43%) Retail
11 13 (2.26%) Local Government
12 9 (1.56%) Financial Institution
12 9 (1.56%) Manufacturing
13 8 (1.39%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (1.22%) Investment Banking
15 6 (1.04%) Aerospace
15 6 (1.04%) Marketing
16 4 (0.69%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 75 (13.02%) Analyst
2 50 (8.68%) IT Support
3 42 (7.29%) Support Engineer
4 35 (6.08%) Lead
4 35 (6.08%) Senior
5 34 (5.90%) Service Manager
6 29 (5.03%) Administrator
7 27 (4.69%) IT Engineer
8 26 (4.51%) Service Analyst
9 22 (3.82%) Consultant
9 22 (3.82%) Delivery Manager
10 20 (3.47%) Technical Support
11 19 (3.30%) Service Delivery Manager
12 18 (3.13%) Azure Engineer
12 18 (3.13%) Desktop Support
13 17 (2.95%) Applications Support
13 17 (2.95%) Desktop Engineer
13 17 (2.95%) Network Engineer
14 16 (2.78%) IT Support Engineer
15 15 (2.60%) Service Desk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (2.08%) REST
2 11 (1.91%) Oracle Fusion
3 9 (1.56%) .NET
3 9 (1.56%) Middleware
4 8 (1.39%) Web Services
5 6 (1.04%) LDAP
6 5 (0.87%) ARM Templates
6 5 (0.87%) AWS CDK
6 5 (0.87%) Software Packaging
6 5 (0.87%) Spring
7 4 (0.69%) AngularJS
7 4 (0.69%) Bootstrap
7 4 (0.69%) CSS
7 4 (0.69%) jQuery
7 4 (0.69%) JSON
7 4 (0.69%) RESTful
7 4 (0.69%) Sass
7 4 (0.69%) SOAP
7 4 (0.69%) Spring MVC
7 4 (0.69%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 55 (9.55%) Onboarding
2 33 (5.73%) Data Centre
3 19 (3.30%) CMDB
4 14 (2.43%) Enterprise Software
5 11 (1.91%) Product Ownership
5 11 (1.91%) Smartphone
6 10 (1.74%) Cyber Threat
7 9 (1.56%) Cloud Native
7 9 (1.56%) Driving Licence
7 9 (1.56%) Virtual Team
8 8 (1.39%) BYOD
8 8 (1.39%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (1.39%) Management Information System
8 8 (1.39%) PKI
8 8 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
9 7 (1.22%) Analytical Mindset
10 6 (1.04%) Fibre Optics
10 6 (1.04%) iPhone
11 5 (0.87%) Enterprise Cloud
11 5 (0.87%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 131 (22.74%) Windows
2 46 (7.99%) Windows 10
3 41 (7.12%) Linux
4 25 (4.34%) Windows Server
5 21 (3.65%) Android
6 18 (3.13%) Unix
7 10 (1.74%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 6 (1.04%) CentOS
8 6 (1.04%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.69%) Apple iOS
9 4 (0.69%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.69%) Windows Server 2012
10 3 (0.52%) Windows XP
11 2 (0.35%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.17%) Solaris
12 1 (0.17%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2003
12 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 198 (34.38%) ITIL
2 125 (21.70%) ITSM
3 120 (20.83%) Problem-Solving
4 113 (19.62%) Continuous Improvement
5 109 (18.92%) Customer Service
6 101 (17.53%) Stakeholder Management
7 93 (16.15%) Service Delivery
8 92 (15.97%) Change Management
9 91 (15.80%) Service Management
10 79 (13.72%) Agile
11 67 (11.63%) Root Cause Analysis
12 59 (10.24%) Incident Management
13 49 (8.51%) Problem Management
14 47 (8.16%) Migration
15 45 (7.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 43 (7.47%) Time Management
17 41 (7.12%) Asset Management
18 40 (6.94%) Project Management
18 40 (6.94%) Roadmaps
19 39 (6.77%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 50 (8.68%) SQL
2 35 (6.08%) Python
3 30 (5.21%) PowerShell
4 17 (2.95%) Bash
5 9 (1.56%) Java
5 9 (1.56%) Shell Script
6 8 (1.39%) PL/SQL
7 7 (1.22%) JavaScript
8 6 (1.04%) MATLAB
9 4 (0.69%) Bicep
10 2 (0.35%) C#
10 2 (0.35%) DataWeave
10 2 (0.35%) Korn
10 2 (0.35%) Scala
10 2 (0.35%) VB
10 2 (0.35%) X++
11 1 (0.17%) Apex Code
11 1 (0.17%) COBOL
11 1 (0.17%) RPG
11 1 (0.17%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 125 (21.70%) Security Cleared
2 99 (17.19%) SC Cleared
3 52 (9.03%) Degree
4 22 (3.82%) DV Cleared
5 19 (3.30%) ITIL Certification
6 18 (3.13%) BPSS Clearance
7 17 (2.95%) Cisco Certification
7 17 (2.95%) Microsoft Certification
8 12 (2.08%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 11 (1.91%) CCNP
10 9 (1.56%) PMI Certification
11 8 (1.39%) MCSE
12 7 (1.22%) Azure Certification
12 7 (1.22%) CCNA
13 6 (1.04%) CCSE
13 6 (1.04%) Master's Degree
14 5 (0.87%) A+ Certification
14 5 (0.87%) CCSM
14 5 (0.87%) PMP
15 4 (0.69%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (3.13%) Data Quality
2 15 (2.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 15 (2.60%) PMO
2 15 (2.60%) QA
3 11 (1.91%) NIST
4 9 (1.56%) GDPR
4 9 (1.56%) GRC
5 8 (1.39%) COBIT
6 6 (1.04%) PCI DSS
7 5 (0.87%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (0.87%) ISO 9001
7 5 (0.87%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 3 (0.52%) ISO 20022
8 3 (0.52%) JSP 440
9 2 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.35%) ISO 31000
9 2 (0.35%) ISO 8583
9 2 (0.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.35%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.17%) NCSC
System Software
1 83 (14.41%) Active Directory
2 24 (4.17%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (2.60%) VMware ESXi
4 10 (1.74%) Virtual Desktop
5 8 (1.39%) Hyper-V
6 7 (1.22%) Docker
7 6 (1.04%) vSphere
8 4 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.52%) Oracle RAC
10 2 (0.35%) Firmware
11 1 (0.17%) ACF2
11 1 (0.17%) BitLocker
11 1 (0.17%) Ceph
11 1 (0.17%) RACF
11 1 (0.17%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.17%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.17%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 38 (6.60%) Microsoft Intune
2 34 (5.90%) SCCM
3 20 (3.47%) Terraform
4 16 (2.78%) Ansible
4 16 (2.78%) Kubernetes
5 11 (1.91%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (1.74%) vCenter Server
7 9 (1.56%) Grafana
8 8 (1.39%) ServiceCenter
9 6 (1.04%) Check_MK
9 6 (1.04%) Podman
9 6 (1.04%) Red Hat Satellite
10 5 (0.87%) Jamf Pro
10 5 (0.87%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.52%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.52%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.52%) Oracle Identity Management
11 3 (0.52%) Oracle Identity Manager
11 3 (0.52%) TeamSite
11 3 (0.52%) vMotion
Vendors
1 182 (31.60%) Microsoft
2 99 (17.19%) ServiceNow
3 48 (8.33%) Oracle
4 43 (7.47%) Cisco
5 42 (7.29%) VMware
6 27 (4.69%) HP
7 25 (4.34%) Apple
7 25 (4.34%) Remedy
8 18 (3.13%) Dell
9 17 (2.95%) SAP
10 12 (2.08%) Tenable
11 10 (1.74%) IBM
11 10 (1.74%) Nokia
11 10 (1.74%) Zscaler
12 9 (1.56%) CheckPoint
12 9 (1.56%) Fortinet
12 9 (1.56%) Palo Alto
12 9 (1.56%) Salesforce
12 9 (1.56%) Splunk
13 8 (1.39%) Dynatrace
265 SLA jobs Nationwide