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 15 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 81 68 65
Rank change year-on-year -13 -3 -52
Permanent jobs citing QA 416 391 549
As % of all permanent jobs in the North of England 2.22% 5.09% 3.25%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 27.17% 29.80% 23.71%
Number of salaries quoted 222 133 351
10th Percentile £28,500 £40,988 £26,250
25th Percentile £31,863 £42,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £55,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% +15.79% -12.84%
75th Percentile £65,640 £68,750 £61,100
90th Percentile £79,750 £86,250 £70,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.35% +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 1,531 1,312 2,315
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North of England 8.17% 17.07% 13.73%
Number of salaries quoted 1,016 610 1,636
10th Percentile £30,000 £25,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £39,000 £35,000 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £52,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +10.53% -5.00%
75th Percentile £66,250 £66,250 £62,500
90th Percentile £83,750 £82,500 £82,548
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.35% +9.52% -8.70%

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 15 May 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 15 May 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 +13 231 £45,000 -14.29% 82
Yorkshire +6 120 £42,500 -19.62% 56
North East -34 65 £45,000 -18.18% 16
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 9 (2.16%) CMS
1 9 (2.16%) WordPress
2 7 (1.68%) Apache Airflow
3 3 (0.72%) Apache
3 3 (0.72%) IIS
3 3 (0.72%) Jupyter
4 2 (0.48%) nginx
4 2 (0.48%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.24%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.24%) Confluence
5 1 (0.24%) WebLogic
Applications
1 20 (4.81%) Microsoft Excel
2 13 (3.13%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (2.16%) MS Visio
4 7 (1.68%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 9 (2.16%) SAP ERP
2 5 (1.20%) SAP PM
3 4 (0.96%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.72%) Shopify
5 2 (0.48%) Academy Housing
6 1 (0.24%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 37 (8.89%) Azure
2 33 (7.93%) AWS
3 29 (6.97%) Power Platform
4 17 (4.09%) Microsoft 365
5 12 (2.88%) SaaS
6 10 (2.40%) Amazon S3
6 10 (2.40%) GCP
7 9 (2.16%) Google Analytics
7 9 (2.16%) Serverless
8 7 (1.68%) AWS Lambda
9 6 (1.44%) Amazon EC2
9 6 (1.44%) Apigee
9 6 (1.44%) Azure DevOps
10 5 (1.20%) Amazon ECR
10 5 (1.20%) dbt
11 4 (0.96%) Amazon ECS
11 4 (0.96%) AWS CloudFormation
11 4 (0.96%) AWS Step Functions
11 4 (0.96%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (0.72%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 5 (1.20%) Broadband
2 4 (0.96%) HTTP
3 2 (0.48%) HTTPS
3 2 (0.48%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (6.01%) Power BI
2 7 (1.68%) DynamoDB
2 7 (1.68%) SQL Server
3 6 (1.44%) BigQuery
4 5 (1.20%) Relational Database
5 4 (0.96%) MySQL
6 3 (0.72%) Amazon Athena
6 3 (0.72%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.48%) Data Mining
7 2 (0.48%) Looker
7 2 (0.48%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.48%) PostHog
7 2 (0.48%) Redis
7 2 (0.48%) Tableau
8 1 (0.24%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.24%) Metadata
8 1 (0.24%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 19 (4.57%) Git
2 17 (4.09%) GitLab
2 17 (4.09%) JIRA
3 12 (2.88%) Jenkins
4 9 (2.16%) SonarQube
5 8 (1.92%) Cypress.io
5 8 (1.92%) Postman
6 6 (1.44%) Cucumber
7 4 (0.96%) Maven
8 3 (0.72%) Artifactory
8 3 (0.72%) JMeter
8 3 (0.72%) Selenium
8 3 (0.72%) SpecFlow
8 3 (0.72%) TestRail
9 2 (0.48%) JUnit
9 2 (0.48%) NUnit
9 2 (0.48%) Visual Studio
10 1 (0.24%) Appium
10 1 (0.24%) Gatling
10 1 (0.24%) TestComplete
General
1 139 (33.41%) Social Skills
2 73 (17.55%) Manufacturing
3 68 (16.35%) Finance
4 67 (16.11%) Analytical Skills
5 30 (7.21%) Pharmaceutical
6 25 (6.01%) Organisational Skills
7 24 (5.77%) Public Sector
8 19 (4.57%) Influencing Skills
8 19 (4.57%) Marketing
9 16 (3.85%) Law
10 15 (3.61%) Legal
11 10 (2.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 9 (2.16%) Games
13 8 (1.92%) Aerospace
13 8 (1.92%) Banking
14 6 (1.44%) Retail
15 5 (1.20%) Documentation Skills
15 5 (1.20%) Military
15 5 (1.20%) Telecoms
16 4 (0.96%) French Language
Job Titles
1 54 (12.98%) QA Manager
2 40 (9.62%) Quality Manager
3 38 (9.13%) Senior
4 34 (8.17%) Lead
5 33 (7.93%) Head of QA
6 30 (7.21%) Analyst
7 28 (6.73%) QA Engineer
8 24 (5.77%) QA Officer
9 18 (4.33%) Developer
10 16 (3.85%) Software Engineer
11 14 (3.37%) Tester
12 13 (3.13%) Administrator
12 13 (3.13%) Business Analyst
12 13 (3.13%) QA Leader
12 13 (3.13%) Quality Engineer
13 12 (2.88%) QA Tester
14 11 (2.64%) Technical Assistant
14 11 (2.64%) Test Engineer
15 8 (1.92%) Portfolio Manager
15 8 (1.92%) Senior Portfolio Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (4.33%) HTML
2 17 (4.09%) .NET
2 17 (4.09%) CSS
3 10 (2.40%) REST
4 9 (2.16%) Playwright
4 9 (2.16%) React
5 8 (1.92%) RESTful
6 7 (1.68%) .NET Framework
6 7 (1.68%) AngularJS
6 7 (1.68%) Entity Framework
7 6 (1.44%) Gherkin
7 6 (1.44%) JSON
7 6 (1.44%) Spring
7 6 (1.44%) Spring Boot
8 5 (1.20%) .NET Core
8 5 (1.20%) ASP.NET
8 5 (1.20%) ASP.NET Web API
8 5 (1.20%) RabbitMQ
9 4 (0.96%) HTML5
9 4 (0.96%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 35 (8.41%) Analytical Mindset
2 11 (2.64%) Onboarding
3 10 (2.40%) Cloud Native
3 10 (2.40%) Product Ownership
4 8 (1.92%) PMI
5 7 (1.68%) Distributed Systems
5 7 (1.68%) Social Media
6 6 (1.44%) Driving Licence
6 6 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (1.20%) Life Science
7 5 (1.20%) Management Information System
7 5 (1.20%) Mobile App
8 4 (0.96%) CCTV
8 4 (0.96%) Online Games
9 3 (0.72%) Animation
9 3 (0.72%) Client/Server
9 3 (0.72%) Legacy Applications
9 3 (0.72%) Mainframe
9 3 (0.72%) Photography
10 2 (0.48%) AI Agents
Operating Systems
1 10 (2.40%) Windows
2 6 (1.44%) Android
2 6 (1.44%) Apple iOS
3 5 (1.20%) Linux
4 3 (0.72%) Unix
4 3 (0.72%) VME
4 3 (0.72%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (21.63%) Continuous Improvement
2 79 (18.99%) Agile
3 66 (15.87%) Mentoring
4 60 (14.42%) Problem-Solving
5 55 (13.22%) Analytics
6 54 (12.98%) CI/CD
7 49 (11.78%) Test Automation
8 48 (11.54%) Quality Management
9 44 (10.58%) DevOps
10 42 (10.10%) Stakeholder Management
11 39 (9.38%) Actionable Insight
11 39 (9.38%) PRINCE2
12 37 (8.89%) Change Management
12 37 (8.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 36 (8.65%) Root Cause Analysis
14 33 (7.93%) Service Delivery
15 32 (7.69%) Coaching
16 30 (7.21%) Anti-Money Laundering
16 30 (7.21%) Customer Experience
17 28 (6.73%) AI
Programming Languages
1 32 (7.69%) SQL
2 26 (6.25%) C#
2 26 (6.25%) Python
3 21 (5.05%) Java
4 14 (3.37%) JavaScript
5 13 (3.13%) TypeScript
6 8 (1.92%) Go
7 7 (1.68%) Bash
7 7 (1.68%) Groovy
8 3 (0.72%) COBOL
8 3 (0.72%) PHP
9 2 (0.48%) Bicep
9 2 (0.48%) C++
10 1 (0.24%) C
10 1 (0.24%) Perl
10 1 (0.24%) PowerShell
10 1 (0.24%) R
10 1 (0.24%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 33 (7.93%) Degree
2 30 (7.21%) IRCA
3 12 (2.88%) BPSS Clearance
4 11 (2.64%) PMI Certification
5 8 (1.92%) Microsoft Certification
6 7 (1.68%) Security Cleared
7 6 (1.44%) AWS Certification
7 6 (1.44%) DBS Check
7 6 (1.44%) MCSE
8 5 (1.20%) ISTQB
8 5 (1.20%) SC Cleared
9 4 (0.96%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.72%) CCEA
10 3 (0.72%) Citrix Certification
10 3 (0.72%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 3 (0.72%) PMP
11 1 (0.24%) CHECK Team Member
11 1 (0.24%) CREST Certified
11 1 (0.24%) Master's Degree
11 1 (0.24%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (8.89%) GDPR
2 32 (7.69%) ISO 9001
3 11 (2.64%) Data Quality
4 10 (2.40%) Accessibility
5 8 (1.92%) P3O
6 6 (1.44%) PCI DSS
7 4 (0.96%) GMP
7 4 (0.96%) PMO
8 3 (0.72%) Software Quality Assurance
8 3 (0.72%) WCAG
9 2 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.48%) GRC
9 2 (0.48%) ISO 14001
9 2 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.48%) NIST
9 2 (0.48%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.24%) NEBOSH
10 1 (0.24%) SLA
System Software
1 18 (4.33%) Docker
2 1 (0.24%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.24%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 9 (2.16%) Terraform
2 7 (1.68%) Kubernetes
3 4 (0.96%) Grafana
3 4 (0.96%) HP Fortify
4 3 (0.72%) Ansible
4 3 (0.72%) Packer
5 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 37 (8.89%) Microsoft
2 18 (4.33%) SAP
3 13 (3.13%) Google
4 10 (2.40%) Intapp
4 10 (2.40%) ServiceNow
5 9 (2.16%) Aderant
5 9 (2.16%) iManage
6 4 (0.96%) Planon
6 4 (0.96%) Siemens
7 3 (0.72%) Adobe
7 3 (0.72%) AppDynamics
7 3 (0.72%) IBM
8 2 (0.48%) DevExpress
8 2 (0.48%) Foundry
8 2 (0.48%) Splunk
9 1 (0.24%) Apple
9 1 (0.24%) CheckPoint
9 1 (0.24%) Draytek
9 1 (0.24%) Veracode