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

6 months to
1 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 60 101 60
Rank change year-on-year +41 -41 -8
Permanent jobs citing QA 528 311 500
As % of all permanent jobs in the North of England 2.45% 3.25% 3.22%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 28.95% 24.68% 25.52%
Number of salaries quoted 342 124 286
10th Percentile £30,000 £35,000 £25,875
25th Percentile £31,625 £45,000 £31,938
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 £62,425
90th Percentile £75,000 £86,250 £70,000
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 1,824 1,260 1,959
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North of England 8.48% 13.18% 12.60%
Number of salaries quoted 1,325 598 1,239
10th Percentile £30,000 £25,500 £25,500
25th Percentile £38,984 £33,125 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £48,256
Median % change year-on-year - +3.61% -3.49%
75th Percentile £66,250 £64,969 £62,500
90th Percentile £84,500 £76,250 £80,099
England median annual salary £57,500 £57,468 £55,000
% change year-on-year +0.06% +4.49% -5.98%

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 1 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 1 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 +39 314 £45,000 -18.18% 136
Yorkshire +26 110 £40,000 -36.00% 62
North East -3 104 £50,000 - 41
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 (2.08%) Apache Airflow
2 9 (1.70%) CMS
3 8 (1.52%) WordPress
4 7 (1.33%) SharePoint
5 6 (1.14%) Apache Spark
6 5 (0.95%) Apache
6 5 (0.95%) Jupyter
7 3 (0.57%) IIS
8 2 (0.38%) Confluence
8 2 (0.38%) WebLogic
9 1 (0.19%) Headless CMS
Applications
1 29 (5.49%) Microsoft Office
2 25 (4.73%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (1.89%) MS Visio
4 6 (1.14%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.38%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.19%) Revit
Business Applications
1 5 (0.95%) SAP PM
2 4 (0.76%) Sage 200
2 4 (0.76%) SAP Business One
2 4 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.57%) Shopify
4 1 (0.19%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 62 (11.74%) AWS
2 54 (10.23%) Azure
3 36 (6.82%) Power Platform
4 31 (5.87%) Microsoft 365
5 22 (4.17%) Azure DevOps
6 16 (3.03%) Serverless
7 14 (2.65%) GCP
8 13 (2.46%) Amazon S3
9 12 (2.27%) SaaS
10 11 (2.08%) Amazon EC2
11 10 (1.89%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 10 (1.89%) AWS Lambda
12 9 (1.70%) GitHub
13 8 (1.52%) Power Automate
14 7 (1.33%) Amazon EKS
14 7 (1.33%) dbt
14 7 (1.33%) Google Analytics
15 6 (1.14%) Amazon ECR
15 6 (1.14%) GitHub Actions
16 5 (0.95%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.76%) HTTP
2 3 (0.57%) HTTPS
2 3 (0.57%) Structured Cabling
3 2 (0.38%) Broadband
3 2 (0.38%) VoIP
4 1 (0.19%) ADSL
4 1 (0.19%) DNS
4 1 (0.19%) Firewall
4 1 (0.19%) ISDN
4 1 (0.19%) LAN
4 1 (0.19%) Network Security
4 1 (0.19%) RIP
4 1 (0.19%) VDSL
4 1 (0.19%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (5.87%) Power BI
2 16 (3.03%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.52%) BigQuery
3 8 (1.52%) MySQL
4 7 (1.33%) Relational Database
5 6 (1.14%) DynamoDB
6 5 (0.95%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (0.76%) Azure SQL Database
7 4 (0.76%) MongoDB
8 3 (0.57%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.57%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.57%) DocumentDB
8 3 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (0.57%) Redis
8 3 (0.57%) Tableau
9 2 (0.38%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.38%) Data Mining
9 2 (0.38%) EDRMS
9 2 (0.38%) Looker
9 2 (0.38%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 35 (6.63%) Git
2 24 (4.55%) JIRA
3 20 (3.79%) GitLab
4 9 (1.70%) Jenkins
5 8 (1.52%) Cypress.io
6 7 (1.33%) Postman
7 5 (0.95%) Cucumber
8 4 (0.76%) SonarQube
9 3 (0.57%) Artifactory
9 3 (0.57%) JUnit
9 3 (0.57%) NUnit
10 2 (0.38%) Claude Code
10 2 (0.38%) JMeter
10 2 (0.38%) Selenium
10 2 (0.38%) SpecFlow
10 2 (0.38%) TestRail
11 1 (0.19%) Gatling
11 1 (0.19%) Locust
11 1 (0.19%) REST Assured
11 1 (0.19%) TeamCity
General
1 165 (31.25%) Social Skills
2 91 (17.23%) Manufacturing
3 87 (16.48%) Analytical Skills
4 66 (12.50%) Pharmaceutical
5 61 (11.55%) Finance
6 34 (6.44%) Public Sector
7 28 (5.30%) Legal
8 20 (3.79%) Organisational Skills
9 19 (3.60%) Law
9 19 (3.60%) Marketing
10 12 (2.27%) Swedish Language
11 11 (2.08%) Aerospace
11 11 (2.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 11 (2.08%) Retail
12 8 (1.52%) Games
12 8 (1.52%) Telecoms
13 7 (1.33%) Banking
14 5 (0.95%) Automotive
14 5 (0.95%) Legal Technology
14 5 (0.95%) Military
Job Titles
1 57 (10.80%) Analyst
2 52 (9.85%) QA Manager
3 51 (9.66%) Senior
4 47 (8.90%) QA Officer
5 43 (8.14%) Quality Manager
6 42 (7.95%) QA Engineer
7 40 (7.58%) Developer
8 33 (6.25%) Head of QA
9 30 (5.68%) Lead
9 30 (5.68%) Quality Engineer
10 20 (3.79%) Business Analyst
11 19 (3.60%) Software Engineer
12 18 (3.41%) Service Analyst
12 18 (3.41%) Service Desk Analyst
13 17 (3.22%) Test Engineer
14 15 (2.84%) Tester
15 13 (2.46%) Administrator
16 12 (2.27%) Software Developer
17 11 (2.08%) QA Tester
17 11 (2.08%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (7.20%) .NET
2 31 (5.87%) HTML
3 28 (5.30%) CSS
4 16 (3.03%) REST
5 14 (2.65%) Node.js
6 13 (2.46%) Playwright
7 11 (2.08%) RESTful
8 10 (1.89%) .NET Framework
9 9 (1.70%) ASP.NET Web API
9 9 (1.70%) React
10 8 (1.52%) AngularJS
10 8 (1.52%) ASP.NET
10 8 (1.52%) Entity Framework
10 8 (1.52%) OAuth
11 7 (1.33%) .NET Core
11 7 (1.33%) JSON
11 7 (1.33%) OAuth2
11 7 (1.33%) Vue
12 6 (1.14%) JWT
13 5 (0.95%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 33 (6.25%) Analytical Mindset
2 18 (3.41%) Product Ownership
3 16 (3.03%) Life Science
4 10 (1.89%) Cloud Native
4 10 (1.89%) Onboarding
5 9 (1.70%) Distributed Systems
5 9 (1.70%) Management Information System
6 6 (1.14%) AI Agents
6 6 (1.14%) Enterprise Software
7 5 (0.95%) PMI
7 5 (0.95%) Self-Motivation
8 4 (0.76%) Animation
8 4 (0.76%) Mobile App
8 4 (0.76%) Online Games
9 3 (0.57%) CCTV
9 3 (0.57%) Driving Licence
9 3 (0.57%) FMCG
9 3 (0.57%) Legacy Systems
9 3 (0.57%) Mainframe
9 3 (0.57%) Photography
Operating Systems
1 10 (1.89%) Windows
2 5 (0.95%) Windows 10
3 4 (0.76%) Android
3 4 (0.76%) Apple iOS
4 3 (0.57%) Linux
4 3 (0.57%) VME
5 1 (0.19%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 125 (23.67%) Continuous Improvement
2 107 (20.27%) Agile
3 88 (16.67%) CI/CD
4 73 (13.83%) Problem-Solving
5 66 (12.50%) Test Automation
6 60 (11.36%) DevOps
7 58 (10.98%) Analytics
8 56 (10.61%) Mentoring
9 49 (9.28%) Quality Management
10 47 (8.90%) Validation
11 45 (8.52%) Change Management
12 43 (8.14%) Decision-Making
12 43 (8.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 42 (7.95%) PRINCE2
14 41 (7.77%) Software Engineering
15 40 (7.58%) Actionable Insight
15 40 (7.58%) Root Cause Analysis
15 40 (7.58%) Stakeholder Management
16 39 (7.39%) Software Testing
17 37 (7.01%) Customer Experience
Programming Languages
1 57 (10.80%) SQL
2 45 (8.52%) C#
3 42 (7.95%) JavaScript
4 39 (7.39%) Python
5 26 (4.92%) Java
6 23 (4.36%) TypeScript
7 7 (1.33%) Go
8 6 (1.14%) Bash
8 6 (1.14%) PHP
9 3 (0.57%) COBOL
9 3 (0.57%) Groovy
9 3 (0.57%) PowerShell
10 2 (0.38%) Bicep
10 2 (0.38%) R
10 2 (0.38%) VB.NET
11 1 (0.19%) C
11 1 (0.19%) C++
11 1 (0.19%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.19%) Objective-C
11 1 (0.19%) Perl
Qualifications
1 61 (11.55%) Degree
2 31 (5.87%) IRCA
2 31 (5.87%) Security Cleared
3 28 (5.30%) SC Cleared
4 19 (3.60%) Microsoft Certification
5 16 (3.03%) AWS Certification
5 16 (3.03%) MCSE
6 10 (1.89%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (1.52%) Postgraduate
8 7 (1.33%) Computer Science Degree
8 7 (1.33%) DBS Check
9 6 (1.14%) PMI Certification
10 5 (0.95%) ISTQB
10 5 (0.95%) PMP
11 4 (0.76%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 3 (0.57%) RIBA
13 2 (0.38%) CHECK Team Member
13 2 (0.38%) CREST Certified
14 1 (0.19%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
14 1 (0.19%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (7.39%) GDPR
1 39 (7.39%) ISO 9001
2 22 (4.17%) Accessibility
3 12 (2.27%) GMP
4 11 (2.08%) Data Quality
5 7 (1.33%) PMO
6 4 (0.76%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.76%) Software Quality Assurance
7 3 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 3 (0.57%) WCAG
8 2 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials
8 2 (0.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.38%) ISO 14001
8 2 (0.38%) ISO 19650
9 1 (0.19%) AQAP
9 1 (0.19%) NCSC
9 1 (0.19%) NEBOSH
9 1 (0.19%) NIST
9 1 (0.19%) SLA
System Software
1 27 (5.11%) Docker
2 3 (0.57%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 17 (3.22%) Terraform
2 13 (2.46%) Kubernetes
3 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.57%) Ansible
4 3 (0.57%) Packer
5 2 (0.38%) Grafana
6 1 (0.19%) Fluentd
6 1 (0.19%) Kibana
Vendors
1 64 (12.12%) Microsoft
2 22 (4.17%) ServiceNow
3 13 (2.46%) SAP
4 12 (2.27%) Google
5 9 (1.70%) Aderant
5 9 (1.70%) iManage
5 9 (1.70%) Intapp
6 5 (0.95%) Databricks
7 4 (0.76%) Dynatrace
7 4 (0.76%) Sage
8 3 (0.57%) Adobe
8 3 (0.57%) AppDynamics
8 3 (0.57%) Confluent
8 3 (0.57%) IBM
8 3 (0.57%) Planon
8 3 (0.57%) Salesforce
8 3 (0.57%) Splunk
9 2 (0.38%) DevExpress
9 2 (0.38%) F5
9 2 (0.38%) Palo Alto