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

6 months to
20 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 51 99 55
Rank change year-on-year +48 -44 +32
Permanent jobs citing QA 597 304 518
As % of all permanent jobs in the North of England 2.66% 3.17% 3.42%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 31.54% 24.90% 27.15%
Number of salaries quoted 382 130 277
10th Percentile £30,000 £35,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £32,563 £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 £86,250 £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 1,893 1,221 1,908
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North of England 8.45% 12.74% 12.59%
Number of salaries quoted 1,372 581 1,152
10th Percentile £30,000 £25,750 £25,275
25th Percentile £38,984 £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 £60,991
90th Percentile £84,875 £75,000 £77,375
England median annual salary £57,500 £55,298 £55,000
% change year-on-year +3.98% +0.54% -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 20 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 20 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 +33 355 £45,000 -18.18% 99
Yorkshire +30 122 £40,000 -30.43% 52
North East +15 120 £53,750 +13.16% 33
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 (1.84%) Apache Airflow
2 8 (1.34%) CMS
2 8 (1.34%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.17%) Apache
3 7 (1.17%) Apache Spark
3 7 (1.17%) Jupyter
3 7 (1.17%) WordPress
4 3 (0.50%) IIS
5 2 (0.34%) Confluence
5 2 (0.34%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.17%) Apache Superset
6 1 (0.17%) Headless CMS
Applications
1 29 (4.86%) Microsoft Excel
1 29 (4.86%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (1.51%) MS Visio
3 6 (1.01%) Revit
3 6 (1.01%) Spreadsheet
4 5 (0.84%) AutoCAD
4 5 (0.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.84%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.34%) Navisworks
Business Applications
1 5 (0.84%) 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 (11.06%) AWS
2 60 (10.05%) Azure
3 36 (6.03%) Power Platform
4 33 (5.53%) Microsoft 365
5 26 (4.36%) Azure DevOps
6 16 (2.68%) SaaS
6 16 (2.68%) Serverless
7 15 (2.51%) GCP
8 14 (2.35%) Amazon S3
9 12 (2.01%) Amazon EC2
10 11 (1.84%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 10 (1.68%) AWS Lambda
11 10 (1.68%) GitHub
12 9 (1.51%) Power Automate
13 7 (1.17%) Amazon ECR
13 7 (1.17%) Amazon EKS
13 7 (1.17%) dbt
14 6 (1.01%) Amazon EMR
14 6 (1.01%) GitHub Actions
15 5 (0.84%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.67%) HTTP
2 3 (0.50%) DNS
2 3 (0.50%) HTTPS
2 3 (0.50%) Structured Cabling
3 2 (0.34%) Broadband
3 2 (0.34%) Remote Desktop
3 2 (0.34%) SSL
3 2 (0.34%) 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%) RIP
4 1 (0.17%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.17%) VDSL
4 1 (0.17%) VPN
4 1 (0.17%) WAN
4 1 (0.17%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (5.03%) Power BI
2 16 (2.68%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.34%) MySQL
4 7 (1.17%) DynamoDB
5 6 (1.01%) Amazon Athena
5 6 (1.01%) BigQuery
5 6 (1.01%) 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 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.34%) Data Mining
8 2 (0.34%) EDRMS
8 2 (0.34%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 36 (6.03%) Git
2 24 (4.02%) JIRA
3 21 (3.52%) GitLab
4 9 (1.51%) Jenkins
5 8 (1.34%) Cypress.io
6 6 (1.01%) Postman
7 5 (0.84%) Cucumber
8 4 (0.67%) JUnit
8 4 (0.67%) SonarQube
9 3 (0.50%) Artifactory
9 3 (0.50%) NUnit
9 3 (0.50%) Selenium
10 2 (0.34%) Claude Code
10 2 (0.34%) JMeter
10 2 (0.34%) RStudio
10 2 (0.34%) SpecFlow
10 2 (0.34%) TestRail
11 1 (0.17%) Gatling
11 1 (0.17%) Locust
11 1 (0.17%) REST Assured
General
1 178 (29.82%) Social Skills
2 111 (18.59%) Manufacturing
3 92 (15.41%) Analytical Skills
4 65 (10.89%) Finance
4 65 (10.89%) Pharmaceutical
5 42 (7.04%) Public Sector
6 29 (4.86%) Legal
7 23 (3.85%) Organisational Skills
8 20 (3.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 20 (3.35%) Law
9 19 (3.18%) Marketing
10 15 (2.51%) Aerospace
11 12 (2.01%) Retail
11 12 (2.01%) Swedish Language
12 9 (1.51%) Automotive
12 9 (1.51%) Local Government
13 8 (1.34%) Banking
13 8 (1.34%) Games
13 8 (1.34%) Telecoms
14 5 (0.84%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 62 (10.39%) Analyst
2 61 (10.22%) Senior
3 58 (9.72%) QA Engineer
4 55 (9.21%) QA Manager
5 54 (9.05%) QA Officer
6 46 (7.71%) Quality Engineer
7 45 (7.54%) Developer
8 43 (7.20%) Quality Manager
9 42 (7.04%) Lead
10 28 (4.69%) Head of QA
11 19 (3.18%) Business Analyst
12 18 (3.02%) Service Analyst
12 18 (3.02%) Service Desk Analyst
12 18 (3.02%) Software Engineer
12 18 (3.02%) Test Engineer
13 17 (2.85%) Tester
14 13 (2.18%) Administrator
15 12 (2.01%) QA Leader
15 12 (2.01%) Senior Developer
15 12 (2.01%) Software Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (7.04%) .NET
2 33 (5.53%) HTML
3 30 (5.03%) CSS
4 18 (3.02%) Playwright
4 18 (3.02%) REST
5 17 (2.85%) Terraform
6 16 (2.68%) Node.js
7 11 (1.84%) RESTful
8 10 (1.68%) .NET Framework
9 9 (1.51%) ASP.NET Web API
9 9 (1.51%) OAuth
10 8 (1.34%) AngularJS
10 8 (1.34%) ASP.NET
10 8 (1.34%) Entity Framework
10 8 (1.34%) React
11 7 (1.17%) .NET Core
11 7 (1.17%) JSON
11 7 (1.17%) OAuth2
11 7 (1.17%) Vue
12 6 (1.01%) JWT
Miscellaneous
1 28 (4.69%) Analytical Mindset
2 22 (3.69%) Product Ownership
3 18 (3.02%) Life Science
4 13 (2.18%) Distributed Systems
5 12 (2.01%) Cloud Native
6 11 (1.84%) Management Information System
6 11 (1.84%) Onboarding
7 6 (1.01%) AI Agents
7 6 (1.01%) Data Centre
7 6 (1.01%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.01%) Mobile App
8 5 (0.84%) Driving Licence
8 5 (0.84%) PMI
8 5 (0.84%) Self-Motivation
9 4 (0.67%) Animation
9 4 (0.67%) Online Games
10 3 (0.50%) Blog
10 3 (0.50%) FMCG
10 3 (0.50%) Photography
10 3 (0.50%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 14 (2.35%) Windows
2 7 (1.17%) Linux
3 5 (0.84%) Android
3 5 (0.84%) Apple iOS
3 5 (0.84%) Windows 10
4 3 (0.50%) VME
5 2 (0.34%) Mac OS
5 2 (0.34%) Unix
5 2 (0.34%) Windows Server
6 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 136 (22.78%) Continuous Improvement
2 128 (21.44%) Agile
3 97 (16.25%) CI/CD
4 85 (14.24%) Problem-Solving
5 79 (13.23%) Test Automation
6 68 (11.39%) DevOps
6 68 (11.39%) Mentoring
7 55 (9.21%) Validation
8 53 (8.88%) Analytics
9 49 (8.21%) Decision-Making
9 49 (8.21%) Software Engineering
10 47 (7.87%) Software Testing
10 47 (7.87%) Stakeholder Management
11 46 (7.71%) Quality Management
12 41 (6.87%) Root Cause Analysis
13 40 (6.70%) AI
14 39 (6.53%) Change Management
15 38 (6.37%) Coaching
16 37 (6.20%) PRINCE2
16 37 (6.20%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 65 (10.89%) SQL
2 50 (8.38%) JavaScript
3 49 (8.21%) C#
4 43 (7.20%) Python
5 29 (4.86%) Java
6 24 (4.02%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.51%) Bash
8 6 (1.01%) Go
8 6 (1.01%) 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 (0.34%) Bicep
11 2 (0.34%) Kotlin
11 2 (0.34%) VB.NET
12 1 (0.17%) C
12 1 (0.17%) Perl
12 1 (0.17%) Swift
Qualifications
1 74 (12.40%) Degree
2 38 (6.37%) Security Cleared
3 34 (5.70%) SC Cleared
4 26 (4.36%) IRCA
5 19 (3.18%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (3.02%) BPSS Clearance
7 16 (2.68%) AWS Certification
7 16 (2.68%) MCSE
8 8 (1.34%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.34%) Postgraduate
8 8 (1.34%) RIBA
9 7 (1.17%) DBS Check
10 6 (1.01%) PMI Certification
11 5 (0.84%) ISTQB
11 5 (0.84%) PMP
12 4 (0.67%) HNC
12 4 (0.67%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 3 (0.50%) CREST Certified
13 3 (0.50%) HND
14 2 (0.34%) CHECK Team Member
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (6.87%) ISO 9001
2 36 (6.03%) GDPR
3 22 (3.69%) Accessibility
4 13 (2.18%) Data Quality
4 13 (2.18%) GMP
5 7 (1.17%) PMO
6 4 (0.67%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.67%) Software Quality Assurance
7 3 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 3 (0.50%) WCAG
8 2 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.34%) ISO 14001
8 2 (0.34%) ISO 19650
9 1 (0.17%) AQAP
9 1 (0.17%) NCSC
9 1 (0.17%) NEBOSH
9 1 (0.17%) NIST
9 1 (0.17%) SLA
System Software
1 29 (4.86%) Docker
2 4 (0.67%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 15 (2.51%) Kubernetes
2 5 (0.84%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (0.50%) Ansible
3 3 (0.50%) Packer
4 2 (0.34%) Grafana
5 1 (0.17%) Cisco CUCM
5 1 (0.17%) Fluentd
5 1 (0.17%) Kibana
Vendors
1 69 (11.56%) Microsoft
2 22 (3.69%) ServiceNow
3 20 (3.35%) SAP
4 11 (1.84%) Google
5 8 (1.34%) Aderant
5 8 (1.34%) iManage
5 8 (1.34%) Intapp
6 6 (1.01%) Autodesk
7 5 (0.84%) Databricks
7 5 (0.84%) 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 (0.34%) Alteryx
10 2 (0.34%) F5