QA Job Trends in the South East

Quality Assurance (QA)
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the South East requiring QA skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 13 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 64 87 38
Rank change year-on-year +23 -49 -3
Permanent jobs citing QA 331 284 459
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 3.20% 3.17% 5.19%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 24.54% 21.80% 34.96%
Number of salaries quoted 169 140 203
10th Percentile £29,600 £35,900 £31,500
25th Percentile £38,000 £45,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% - -13.04%
75th Percentile £62,500 £67,500 £69,375
90th Percentile £90,250 £78,875 £85,000
England median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £60,500
% change year-on-year -4.17% -0.83% +0.83%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
South East

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 South East.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 1,349 1,303 1,313
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 13.02% 14.54% 14.83%
Number of salaries quoted 695 658 800
10th Percentile £29,000 £31,250 £27,965
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £38,220
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £58,250 £52,147
Median % change year-on-year -9.87% +11.70% -1.61%
75th Percentile £67,500 £78,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,216 £87,500 £83,750
England median annual salary £58,000 £60,000 £59,000
% change year-on-year -3.33% +1.69% +2.61%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

QA job vacancy trend in the South East

QA
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing QA.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing QA

QA
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing QA in the South East over the 6 months to 13 January 2026.

Salary histogram for QA in the South East

QA
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing QA within the South East region over the 6 months to 13 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Thames Valley +42 137 £55,000 -4.35% 100
Hampshire +73 98 £41,250 -21.43% 29
Berkshire +4 65 £55,250 +7.80% 49
Buckinghamshire +44 60 £58,500 +6.36% 20
Kent +12 46 £37,500 -31.28% 20
Oxfordshire +16 12 £42,500 -32.00% 31
Middlesex +13 12 £37,500 -
East Sussex -6 11 £30,000 -40.00% 13
West Sussex -16 8 £65,000 +36.84% 20
Surrey -56 8 £67,500 +3.85% 25
Isle of Wight - 7 £45,000 - 14
Sussex +6 4 £45,000 -5.26% 1
QA
England

QA
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 10 (3.02%) SharePoint
2 7 (2.11%) CMS
3 3 (0.91%) Confluence
3 3 (0.91%) HCL Domino
3 3 (0.91%) HCL Notes
3 3 (0.91%) WinCC
4 2 (0.60%) FactoryTalk
4 2 (0.60%) WordPress
5 1 (0.30%) ArchestrA
5 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 39 (11.78%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (2.11%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 5 (1.51%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.91%) Photoshop
5 2 (0.60%) Adobe After Effects
5 2 (0.60%) Adobe Captivate
5 2 (0.60%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.60%) Adobe Illustrator
5 2 (0.60%) Adobe Premiere
5 2 (0.60%) Elementor
6 1 (0.30%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 25 (7.55%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.81%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (1.51%) SAP Hybris
4 2 (0.60%) Unit4 Business World
5 1 (0.30%) Sage X3
5 1 (0.30%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 53 (16.01%) Azure
2 49 (14.80%) Azure DevOps
3 45 (13.60%) AWS
4 37 (11.18%) Microsoft 365
5 22 (6.65%) SaaS
6 18 (5.44%) Power Platform
7 15 (4.53%) GCP
8 12 (3.63%) GitHub
9 5 (1.51%) Amazon S3
9 5 (1.51%) Amazon SQS
9 5 (1.51%) AWS CloudFormation
9 5 (1.51%) AWS Lambda
9 5 (1.51%) Azure Service Bus
9 5 (1.51%) Dynamics 365
9 5 (1.51%) SAP Commerce Cloud
9 5 (1.51%) Serverless
10 3 (0.91%) iPaaS
11 2 (0.60%) Adobe Creative Cloud
11 2 (0.60%) GitHub Copilot
12 1 (0.30%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 4 (1.21%) 5G
1 4 (1.21%) Wireless
2 3 (0.91%) Firewall
2 3 (0.91%) HTTP
2 3 (0.91%) Modbus
2 3 (0.91%) MQTT
2 3 (0.91%) TCP/IP
3 2 (0.60%) GSM
3 2 (0.60%) LTE
3 2 (0.60%) Wi-Fi
4 1 (0.30%) 4G
4 1 (0.30%) DHCP
4 1 (0.30%) DNS
4 1 (0.30%) Profibus
4 1 (0.30%) VLAN
4 1 (0.30%) VoIP
4 1 (0.30%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (5.14%) Power BI
2 10 (3.02%) Relational Database
2 10 (3.02%) SQL Server
3 7 (2.11%) Data Warehouse
3 7 (2.11%) MySQL
4 5 (1.51%) DynamoDB
4 5 (1.51%) NoSQL
5 3 (0.91%) PostgreSQL
6 2 (0.60%) Apache Cassandra
6 2 (0.60%) Azure SQL Database
6 2 (0.60%) Elasticsearch
6 2 (0.60%) MongoDB
6 2 (0.60%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.30%) Crystal Reports
7 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 1 (0.30%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 56 (16.92%) JIRA
2 37 (11.18%) Git
3 26 (7.85%) Jenkins
4 22 (6.65%) eCATT
5 16 (4.83%) Selenium
6 12 (3.63%) Postman
7 6 (1.81%) Cypress.io
8 5 (1.51%) Cucumber
8 5 (1.51%) git-flow
8 5 (1.51%) WebDriver
9 4 (1.21%) Visual Studio
10 3 (0.91%) REST Assured
10 3 (0.91%) SoapUI
11 2 (0.60%) Appium
11 2 (0.60%) Charles Proxy
11 2 (0.60%) Fiddler
11 2 (0.60%) Ranorex
11 2 (0.60%) Team Foundation Server
11 2 (0.60%) TestRail
12 1 (0.30%) GitLab
General
1 139 (41.99%) Social Skills
2 57 (17.22%) Finance
3 44 (13.29%) Analytical Skills
4 42 (12.69%) Manufacturing
4 42 (12.69%) Marketing
5 30 (9.06%) Law
6 26 (7.85%) French Language
6 26 (7.85%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (6.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 22 (6.65%) Swedish Language
9 21 (6.34%) Presentation Skills
10 20 (6.04%) Influencing Skills
11 13 (3.93%) Electronics
12 9 (2.72%) Automotive
13 8 (2.42%) Public Sector
14 7 (2.11%) Documentation Skills
15 6 (1.81%) Advertising
15 6 (1.81%) Pharmaceutical
16 5 (1.51%) Aerospace
17 4 (1.21%) Billing
Job Titles
1 66 (19.94%) Analyst
2 42 (12.69%) Lead
3 31 (9.37%) Senior
4 26 (7.85%) Service Analyst
4 26 (7.85%) Service Desk Analyst
5 24 (7.25%) Applications Engineer
6 23 (6.95%) Applications Support
7 22 (6.65%) Quality Engineer
7 22 (6.65%) Support Engineer
8 20 (6.04%) Applications Support Engineer
8 20 (6.04%) Developer
9 18 (5.44%) Mechanical Engineer
9 18 (5.44%) Project Engineer
10 17 (5.14%) Quality Manager
11 16 (4.83%) QA Engineer
11 16 (4.83%) Senior Developer
12 15 (4.53%) QA Manager
13 14 (4.23%) Full-Stack Developer
14 12 (3.63%) Senior Full-Stack Developer
15 10 (3.02%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (6.04%) .NET
2 18 (5.44%) React
3 13 (3.93%) CSS
3 13 (3.93%) HTML
4 10 (3.02%) RESTful
5 9 (2.72%) SOAP
6 8 (2.42%) Playwright
6 8 (2.42%) REST
7 7 (2.11%) Middleware
7 7 (2.11%) Node.js
8 6 (1.81%) ASP.NET
8 6 (1.81%) Kafka
8 6 (1.81%) RabbitMQ
9 5 (1.51%) AWS CDK
9 5 (1.51%) Material-UI
9 5 (1.51%) XML
10 4 (1.21%) .NET Framework
10 4 (1.21%) JSON
11 3 (0.91%) EDI
11 3 (0.91%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 18 (5.44%) Onboarding
2 16 (4.83%) Product Ownership
3 11 (3.32%) Self-Motivation
4 9 (2.72%) Cloud Native
5 6 (1.81%) Driving Licence
5 6 (1.81%) Operational Technology
6 5 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
6 5 (1.51%) Distributed Systems
6 5 (1.51%) IoT
6 5 (1.51%) Life Science
7 4 (1.21%) Team-Oriented Environment
8 3 (0.91%) Client/Server
8 3 (0.91%) Cybercrime
8 3 (0.91%) Enterprise Software
8 3 (0.91%) LIMS
8 3 (0.91%) SCADA
9 2 (0.60%) Graphic Design
9 2 (0.60%) Learning Management System
9 2 (0.60%) N-Tier
9 2 (0.60%) Over-the-Top Content
Operating Systems
1 15 (4.53%) Windows
2 4 (1.21%) Windows Server
3 3 (0.91%) Android
3 3 (0.91%) Apple iOS
4 2 (0.60%) Linux
4 2 (0.60%) Windows Server 2016
5 1 (0.30%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 90 (27.19%) Agile
2 84 (25.38%) Continuous Improvement
3 76 (22.96%) Problem-Solving
4 62 (18.73%) Test Automation
5 54 (16.31%) CI/CD
6 46 (13.90%) DevOps
7 40 (12.08%) Validation
8 38 (11.48%) Customer Service
8 38 (11.48%) Data Analysis
9 33 (9.97%) ITIL
9 33 (9.97%) ITSM
9 33 (9.97%) Software Testing
10 31 (9.37%) Performance Metrics
11 30 (9.06%) Process Improvement
11 30 (9.06%) Task Automation
11 30 (9.06%) Test Management
12 28 (8.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 26 (7.85%) Change Management
13 26 (7.85%) Mentoring
13 26 (7.85%) Problem Management
Programming Languages
1 48 (14.50%) SQL
2 27 (8.16%) C#
3 24 (7.25%) Python
4 20 (6.04%) Java
5 13 (3.93%) JavaScript
6 12 (3.63%) TypeScript
7 5 (1.51%) Go
8 4 (1.21%) PHP
9 3 (0.91%) C
9 3 (0.91%) C++
10 1 (0.30%) ActionScript
10 1 (0.30%) ActionScript 2.0
10 1 (0.30%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.30%) Ladder Logic
10 1 (0.30%) Rust
10 1 (0.30%) Swift
Qualifications
1 84 (25.38%) Degree
2 37 (11.18%) Security Cleared
3 28 (8.46%) Microsoft Certification
4 27 (8.16%) AWS Certification
5 26 (7.85%) MCSE
6 11 (3.32%) Computer Science Degree
6 11 (3.32%) SC Cleared
7 9 (2.72%) ISTQB
8 8 (2.42%) Master's Degree
9 6 (1.81%) ISEB
9 6 (1.81%) PMI Certification
9 6 (1.81%) PMP
10 5 (1.51%) Six Sigma Black Belt
10 5 (1.51%) Six Sigma Green Belt
10 5 (1.51%) Six Sigma Master Black Belt
11 2 (0.60%) BPSS Clearance
11 2 (0.60%) DV Cleared
11 2 (0.60%) HNC
12 1 (0.30%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
12 1 (0.30%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (9.67%) SLA
2 22 (6.65%) Def Stans
3 12 (3.63%) PMO
4 10 (3.02%) Accessibility
5 9 (2.72%) ISO 9001
6 6 (1.81%) Software Quality Assurance
7 5 (1.51%) ISO 13485
8 4 (1.21%) Cyber Essentials
8 4 (1.21%) GDPR
9 3 (0.91%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 3 (0.91%) GxP
9 3 (0.91%) IEC 61508
9 3 (0.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 2 (0.60%) Data Quality
10 2 (0.60%) IEC 61131
11 1 (0.30%) DO-254
11 1 (0.30%) GMP
11 1 (0.30%) WCAG
System Software
1 8 (2.42%) Docker
2 4 (1.21%) Hyper-V
2 4 (1.21%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.30%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.30%) KVM
Systems Management
1 22 (6.65%) HP ALM
2 7 (2.11%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Intune
3 1 (0.30%) Netcool
3 1 (0.30%) Netcool/OMNIbus
Vendors
1 48 (14.50%) Microsoft
2 30 (9.06%) SAP
3 26 (7.85%) ServiceNow
4 22 (6.65%) HP
5 6 (1.81%) Zoho
6 4 (1.21%) IBM
6 4 (1.21%) Starlink
6 4 (1.21%) VMware
7 3 (0.91%) Agilent
7 3 (0.91%) Lotus
7 3 (0.91%) Oracle
7 3 (0.91%) Rockwell
7 3 (0.91%) Ruckus Wireless
7 3 (0.91%) Siemens
8 2 (0.60%) Adobe
8 2 (0.60%) Cognos
8 2 (0.60%) Roku
9 1 (0.30%) Apple
9 1 (0.30%) Sage
9 1 (0.30%) Salesforce