QA Job Trends in the North of England

Quality Assurance (QA)
England > North of England

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North of England requiring QA skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 24 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 51 100 54
Rank change year-on-year +49 -46 +29
Permanent jobs citing QA 601 308 530
As % of all permanent jobs in the North of England 2.66% 3.22% 3.47%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 31.82% 25.27% 27.18%
Number of salaries quoted 390 132 273
10th Percentile £29,513 £35,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £32,125 £45,000 £30,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £55,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% +22.22% -18.18%
75th Percentile £58,438 £71,250 £60,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £86,125 £68,750
England median annual salary £52,500 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -8.70% +9.52% -12.50%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
North of England

QA falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the North of England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 1,889 1,219 1,950
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North of England 8.35% 12.72% 12.77%
Number of salaries quoted 1,374 580 1,139
10th Percentile £30,000 £25,725 £25,250
25th Percentile £38,825 £32,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -5.00%
75th Percentile £67,500 £63,750 £60,745
90th Percentile £85,000 £75,000 £76,500
England median annual salary £57,500 £55,043 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.46% +0.08% -8.33%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing QA relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North of England.

QA job vacancy trend in the North of England

QA
Salary Trend in the North of England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing QA.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North of England citing QA

QA
Salary Histogram in the North of England

Salary distribution for jobs citing QA in the North of England over the 6 months to 24 August 2026.

Salary histogram for QA in the North of England

QA
Job Locations in the North of England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing QA within the North of England region over the 6 months to 24 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
North West +32 360 £45,000 -18.18% 85
Yorkshire +29 124 £40,000 -27.43% 48
North East +16 117 £53,750 +13.16% 34
QA
England

QA
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North of England 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 11 (1.83%) Apache Airflow
2 8 (1.33%) CMS
2 8 (1.33%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.16%) Apache
3 7 (1.16%) Apache Spark
3 7 (1.16%) Jupyter
3 7 (1.16%) WordPress
4 3 (0.50%) IIS
5 2 (0.33%) Confluence
5 2 (0.33%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.17%) Apache Superset
6 1 (0.17%) Headless CMS
Applications
1 30 (4.99%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (4.83%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.50%) MS Visio
4 7 (1.16%) Revit
5 6 (1.00%) AutoCAD
5 6 (1.00%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.83%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 5 (0.83%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.33%) Navisworks
Business Applications
1 5 (0.83%) SAP PM
2 4 (0.67%) Sage 200
2 4 (0.67%) SAP Business One
2 4 (0.67%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.50%) Shopify
3 3 (0.50%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 66 (10.98%) AWS
2 62 (10.32%) Azure
3 36 (5.99%) Power Platform
4 33 (5.49%) Microsoft 365
5 27 (4.49%) Azure DevOps
6 16 (2.66%) SaaS
6 16 (2.66%) Serverless
7 15 (2.50%) GCP
8 14 (2.33%) Amazon S3
9 12 (2.00%) Amazon EC2
10 11 (1.83%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 10 (1.66%) AWS Lambda
11 10 (1.66%) GitHub
12 9 (1.50%) Power Automate
13 7 (1.16%) Amazon ECR
13 7 (1.16%) Amazon EKS
13 7 (1.16%) dbt
14 6 (1.00%) Amazon EMR
14 6 (1.00%) GitHub Actions
15 5 (0.83%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.67%) Remote Desktop
2 3 (0.50%) DNS
2 3 (0.50%) HTTP
2 3 (0.50%) HTTPS
2 3 (0.50%) Structured Cabling
3 2 (0.33%) Broadband
3 2 (0.33%) SSL
3 2 (0.33%) VoIP
4 1 (0.17%) ADSL
4 1 (0.17%) Firewall
4 1 (0.17%) Internet
4 1 (0.17%) Intranet
4 1 (0.17%) ISDN
4 1 (0.17%) LAN
4 1 (0.17%) Network Security
4 1 (0.17%) RIP
4 1 (0.17%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.17%) VDSL
4 1 (0.17%) VPN
4 1 (0.17%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (4.99%) Power BI
2 16 (2.66%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.33%) MySQL
4 7 (1.16%) DynamoDB
5 6 (1.00%) Amazon Athena
5 6 (1.00%) BigQuery
5 6 (1.00%) Relational Database
6 4 (0.67%) Azure SQL Database
6 4 (0.67%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.67%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (0.67%) MongoDB
6 4 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
7 3 (0.50%) Big Data
7 3 (0.50%) DocumentDB
7 3 (0.50%) Redis
7 3 (0.50%) Tableau
8 2 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.33%) Data Mining
8 2 (0.33%) EDRMS
8 2 (0.33%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 36 (5.99%) Git
2 24 (3.99%) JIRA
3 20 (3.33%) GitLab
4 9 (1.50%) Cypress.io
5 8 (1.33%) Jenkins
6 5 (0.83%) Cucumber
6 5 (0.83%) Postman
7 4 (0.67%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.50%) Artifactory
8 3 (0.50%) JUnit
8 3 (0.50%) NUnit
8 3 (0.50%) Selenium
9 2 (0.33%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.33%) Claude Code
9 2 (0.33%) JMeter
9 2 (0.33%) RStudio
9 2 (0.33%) SpecFlow
9 2 (0.33%) TestRail
10 1 (0.17%) Locust
10 1 (0.17%) REST Assured
General
1 176 (29.28%) Social Skills
2 111 (18.47%) Manufacturing
3 87 (14.48%) Analytical Skills
4 65 (10.82%) Pharmaceutical
5 64 (10.65%) Finance
6 42 (6.99%) Public Sector
7 29 (4.83%) Legal
8 23 (3.83%) Organisational Skills
9 22 (3.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 20 (3.33%) Law
10 20 (3.33%) Marketing
11 15 (2.50%) Aerospace
12 13 (2.16%) Retail
13 12 (2.00%) Swedish Language
14 10 (1.66%) Local Government
15 9 (1.50%) Automotive
15 9 (1.50%) Banking
16 8 (1.33%) Games
16 8 (1.33%) Telecoms
17 6 (1.00%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 64 (10.65%) Analyst
1 64 (10.65%) Senior
2 59 (9.82%) QA Engineer
3 56 (9.32%) QA Officer
4 53 (8.82%) QA Manager
5 48 (7.99%) Quality Engineer
6 46 (7.65%) Developer
7 44 (7.32%) Lead
8 41 (6.82%) Quality Manager
9 23 (3.83%) Head of QA
10 19 (3.16%) Business Analyst
11 18 (3.00%) Service Analyst
11 18 (3.00%) Service Desk Analyst
11 18 (3.00%) Software Engineer
11 18 (3.00%) Test Engineer
12 17 (2.83%) Tester
13 14 (2.33%) QA Leader
14 13 (2.16%) Administrator
14 13 (2.16%) Senior Developer
15 12 (2.00%) Software Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (7.32%) .NET
2 32 (5.32%) HTML
3 29 (4.83%) CSS
4 19 (3.16%) Playwright
4 19 (3.16%) REST
5 17 (2.83%) Terraform
6 16 (2.66%) Node.js
7 12 (2.00%) RESTful
8 10 (1.66%) .NET Framework
8 10 (1.66%) React
9 9 (1.50%) ASP.NET Web API
9 9 (1.50%) OAuth
10 8 (1.33%) AngularJS
10 8 (1.33%) ASP.NET
10 8 (1.33%) Entity Framework
11 7 (1.16%) .NET Core
11 7 (1.16%) JSON
11 7 (1.16%) OAuth2
11 7 (1.16%) Vue
12 6 (1.00%) MIDP
Miscellaneous
1 23 (3.83%) Analytical Mindset
1 23 (3.83%) Product Ownership
2 18 (3.00%) Life Science
3 14 (2.33%) Cloud Native
4 13 (2.16%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (1.83%) Management Information System
5 11 (1.83%) Onboarding
6 7 (1.16%) Driving Licence
7 6 (1.00%) AI Agents
7 6 (1.00%) Data Centre
7 6 (1.00%) Mobile App
8 5 (0.83%) Enterprise Software
8 5 (0.83%) PMI
8 5 (0.83%) Self-Motivation
9 4 (0.67%) Animation
9 4 (0.67%) Online Games
10 3 (0.50%) FMCG
10 3 (0.50%) Legacy Systems
10 3 (0.50%) Photography
10 3 (0.50%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 16 (2.66%) Windows
2 9 (1.50%) Linux
3 5 (0.83%) Android
3 5 (0.83%) Apple iOS
3 5 (0.83%) Windows 10
4 4 (0.67%) Mac OS
4 4 (0.67%) Unix
5 3 (0.50%) VME
6 2 (0.33%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 135 (22.46%) Continuous Improvement
2 130 (21.63%) Agile
3 98 (16.31%) CI/CD
4 87 (14.48%) Problem-Solving
5 81 (13.48%) Test Automation
6 69 (11.48%) DevOps
6 69 (11.48%) Mentoring
7 55 (9.15%) Validation
8 50 (8.32%) Software Engineering
9 49 (8.15%) Decision-Making
10 48 (7.99%) Analytics
11 47 (7.82%) Stakeholder Management
12 46 (7.65%) Software Testing
13 42 (6.99%) AI
14 41 (6.82%) Quality Management
15 38 (6.32%) Coaching
15 38 (6.32%) Customer Service
16 36 (5.99%) Root Cause Analysis
17 34 (5.66%) Change Management
17 34 (5.66%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 65 (10.82%) SQL
2 51 (8.49%) C#
3 50 (8.32%) JavaScript
4 43 (7.15%) Python
5 29 (4.83%) Java
6 26 (4.33%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.50%) Bash
8 6 (1.00%) Go
8 6 (1.00%) PHP
9 4 (0.67%) PowerShell
9 4 (0.67%) R
10 3 (0.50%) C++
10 3 (0.50%) COBOL
10 3 (0.50%) Groovy
11 2 (0.33%) Bicep
11 2 (0.33%) Kotlin
11 2 (0.33%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.17%) Objective-C
12 1 (0.17%) Perl
12 1 (0.17%) Swift
Qualifications
1 75 (12.48%) Degree
2 38 (6.32%) Security Cleared
3 34 (5.66%) SC Cleared
4 21 (3.49%) IRCA
5 19 (3.16%) BPSS Clearance
5 19 (3.16%) Microsoft Certification
6 16 (2.66%) AWS Certification
6 16 (2.66%) MCSE
7 9 (1.50%) RIBA
8 8 (1.33%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.33%) Postgraduate
9 7 (1.16%) DBS Check
10 6 (1.00%) PMI Certification
11 5 (0.83%) PMP
12 4 (0.67%) HNC
12 4 (0.67%) ISTQB
13 3 (0.50%) CREST Certified
13 3 (0.50%) HND
13 3 (0.50%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
14 2 (0.33%) CHECK Team Member
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (6.16%) ISO 9001
2 30 (4.99%) GDPR
3 23 (3.83%) Accessibility
4 14 (2.33%) Data Quality
5 13 (2.16%) GMP
6 7 (1.16%) PMO
7 4 (0.67%) Software Quality Assurance
8 3 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 3 (0.50%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.50%) WCAG
9 2 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.33%) ISO 14001
9 2 (0.33%) ISO 19650
10 1 (0.17%) AQAP
10 1 (0.17%) GRC
10 1 (0.17%) NCSC
10 1 (0.17%) NEBOSH
10 1 (0.17%) NIST
10 1 (0.17%) SLA
System Software
1 29 (4.83%) Docker
2 4 (0.67%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 15 (2.50%) Kubernetes
2 5 (0.83%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (0.50%) Ansible
3 3 (0.50%) Packer
4 2 (0.33%) Grafana
5 1 (0.17%) Cisco CUCM
5 1 (0.17%) Fluentd
5 1 (0.17%) Kibana
Vendors
1 71 (11.81%) Microsoft
2 22 (3.66%) ServiceNow
3 20 (3.33%) SAP
4 11 (1.83%) Google
5 8 (1.33%) Aderant
5 8 (1.33%) iManage
5 8 (1.33%) Intapp
6 7 (1.16%) Autodesk
7 5 (0.83%) Databricks
7 5 (0.83%) Sage
8 4 (0.67%) Dynatrace
9 3 (0.50%) Adobe
9 3 (0.50%) AppDynamics
9 3 (0.50%) Confluent
9 3 (0.50%) IBM
9 3 (0.50%) Planon
9 3 (0.50%) Salesforce
9 3 (0.50%) Splunk
10 2 (0.33%) Citrix
10 2 (0.33%) YouTube