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 2 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 2 Jan 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 214 | 199 | 166 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -15 | -33 | +11 |
| Contract jobs citing SLA | 470 | 431 | 672 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 1.27% | 1.31% | 1.55% |
| As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category | 7.32% | 9.22% | 10.69% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 251 | 218 | 338 |
| 10th Percentile | £171 | £148 | £148 |
| 25th Percentile | £250 | £192 | £200 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £400 | £261 | £400 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +53.55% | -34.88% | +25.98% |
| 75th Percentile | £538 | £500 | £533 |
| 90th Percentile | £626 | £579 | £634 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £350 | £260 | £300 |
| % change year-on-year | +34.62% | -13.33% | +30.43% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 112 | 46 | 66 |
| 10th Percentile | £16.13 | £14.70 | £12.83 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.69 | £18.05 | £13.50 |
| Median hourly rate | £18.62 | £24.18 | £17.61 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -23.01% | +37.31% | +1.50% |
| 75th Percentile | £20.44 | £26.69 | £32.50 |
| 90th Percentile | £38.42 | £35.28 | £61.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £18.50 | £24.18 | £16.36 |
| % change year-on-year | -23.49% | +47.84% | -3.18% |
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 | 6,421 | 4,677 | 6,286 |
| As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK | 17.31% | 14.24% | 14.54% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 4,166 | 2,730 | 4,189 |
| 10th Percentile | £313 | £255 | £313 |
| 25th Percentile | £406 | £375 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £619 | £645 |
| 90th Percentile | £700 | £720 | £750 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £490 | £475 | £500 |
| % change year-on-year | +3.16% | -5.00% | +5.26% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 309 | 184 | 237 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.32 | £15.00 | £13.57 |
| 25th Percentile | £17.69 | £21.00 | £17.72 |
| Median hourly rate | £25.15 | £29.00 | £33.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -13.28% | -12.12% | +46.07% |
| 75th Percentile | £62.50 | £63.75 | £60.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £73.75 | £75.00 | £79.87 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £20.69 | £29.00 | £33.00 |
| % change year-on-year | -28.66% | -12.12% | +57.14% |
SLA
Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing SLA relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
SLA
Daily Rate Trend
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 2 January 2026.
SLA
Hourly Rate Trend
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 2 January 2026.
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 2 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 | 427 | £405 | +55.47% | 186 |
| UK excluding London | -31 | 335 | £350 | +34.62% | 182 |
| London | -7 | 108 | £510 | +96.15% | 53 |
| Work from Home | -13 | 93 | £470 | +108.89% | 63 |
| East of England | +29 | 84 | £350 | +29.63% | 17 |
| South East | -34 | 70 | £418 | +67.17% | 72 |
| North of England | -45 | 64 | £285 | +7.04% | 33 |
| Midlands | -46 | 50 | £198 | -31.30% | 26 |
| South West | +3 | 46 | £290 | -47.27% | 11 |
| West Midlands | -36 | 39 | £225 | +2.86% | 15 |
| North West | -56 | 32 | £293 | -26.88% | 12 |
| Yorkshire | -36 | 25 | £365 | +52.08% | 12 |
| Scotland | +7 | 15 | £355 | +77.50% | 20 |
| East Midlands | -33 | 11 | £134 | -68.47% | 11 |
| North East | -3 | 7 | £265 | +0.95% | 9 |
| Northern Ireland | -10 | 7 | £500 | +237.84% | 3 |
| Wales | -1 | 3 | £183 | -16.82% | 6 |
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:
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