QA Job Trends

Quality Assurance (QA)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring QA skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 30 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 71 65 70
Rank change year-on-year -6 +5 -37
Permanent jobs citing QA 1,855 2,228 2,172
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 3.13% 4.03% 4.22%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 23.53% 24.82% 28.12%
Number of salaries quoted 982 969 1,457
10th Percentile £30,000 £32,750 £36,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £45,000 £46,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £60,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% -4.00% +4.17%
75th Percentile £75,000 £76,000 £83,750
90th Percentile £91,250 £91,250 £105,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £51,750 £55,000
% change year-on-year -3.38% -5.91% -

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

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.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 7,883 8,976 7,724
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 13.29% 16.24% 15.01%
Number of salaries quoted 4,394 4,022 5,709
10th Percentile £30,500 £31,750 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £43,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% - +4.35%
75th Percentile £78,750 £78,750 £76,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.76% - +5.00%

QA
Job Vacancy Trend

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

QA job vacancy trend in the UK

QA
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing QA.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing QA

QA
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing QA over the 6 months to 30 December 2025.

Salary histogram for QA in the UK

QA
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing QA within the UK over the 6 months to 30 December 2025. 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
England -6 1,590 £57,500 -4.17% 3,456
UK excluding London -14 1,142 £50,000 -3.38% 3,340
Work from Home +20 634 £63,125 +5.21% 1,972
London +3 563 £70,000 +3.70% 454
South East +32 340 £47,000 -6.00% 831
North of England -32 224 £55,000 +10.00% 766
Midlands +21 220 £45,000 -18.18% 609
Scotland +8 119 £35,000 -36.36% 173
West Midlands +16 116 £57,500 -4.17% 321
North West -32 110 £57,500 +15.00% 385
East Midlands -4 104 £35,000 -22.22% 253
East of England -46 98 £50,000 +42.86% 491
Yorkshire -4 92 £53,750 +19.44% 324
South West -21 91 £47,500 -13.64% 369
Wales +9 30 £55,000 -15.38% 92
Northern Ireland -13 26 £52,500 -22.22% 64
North East -36 22 £33,750 -38.64% 57

QA
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 88 (4.74%) SharePoint
2 33 (1.78%) Confluence
3 16 (0.86%) CMS
4 13 (0.70%) Apache Spark
5 8 (0.43%) WinCC
6 6 (0.32%) IIS
7 5 (0.27%) HCL Notes
7 5 (0.27%) Microsoft Exchange
8 4 (0.22%) FactoryTalk
8 4 (0.22%) nginx
8 4 (0.22%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 3 (0.16%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 3 (0.16%) HCL Domino
9 3 (0.16%) WordPress
10 2 (0.11%) Apache
10 2 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
10 2 (0.11%) ArchestrA
10 2 (0.11%) Tomcat
10 2 (0.11%) WebSphere
10 2 (0.11%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 202 (10.89%) Microsoft Office
2 127 (6.85%) Microsoft Excel
3 86 (4.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 24 (1.29%) Microsoft Project
5 7 (0.38%) AutoCAD
6 5 (0.27%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.27%) Photoshop
6 5 (0.27%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.27%) Trello
7 4 (0.22%) Adobe Illustrator
8 3 (0.16%) Chatbot
9 2 (0.11%) Adobe After Effects
9 2 (0.11%) Adobe Captivate
9 2 (0.11%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 2 (0.11%) Adobe Premiere
9 2 (0.11%) Elementor
10 1 (0.054%) Navisworks
10 1 (0.054%) Revit
10 1 (0.054%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 46 (2.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 28 (1.51%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.54%) Shopify
4 6 (0.32%) Salesforce CRM
4 6 (0.32%) SAP ERP
4 6 (0.32%) SAP Hybris
5 5 (0.27%) Dynamics NAV
6 4 (0.22%) SAP CX
7 3 (0.16%) SAP HCM
7 3 (0.16%) Unit4 Business World
7 3 (0.16%) Workday HCM
8 2 (0.11%) Adobe Campaign
8 2 (0.11%) Aladdin
8 2 (0.11%) NetSuite
8 2 (0.11%) Oracle BPM
8 2 (0.11%) Oracle ERP
8 2 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
8 2 (0.11%) Oracle Receivables
8 2 (0.11%) ResourceLink
8 2 (0.11%) SAP IBP
Cloud Services
1 323 (17.41%) Azure
2 287 (15.47%) AWS
3 154 (8.30%) Azure DevOps
4 148 (7.98%) SaaS
5 143 (7.71%) Microsoft 365
6 115 (6.20%) Power Platform
7 86 (4.64%) GitHub
8 76 (4.10%) Serverless
9 55 (2.96%) GCP
10 50 (2.70%) Dynamics 365
11 47 (2.53%) AWS Lambda
12 41 (2.21%) GitHub Actions
13 36 (1.94%) Amazon S3
14 33 (1.78%) Power Automate
15 29 (1.56%) PaaS
16 28 (1.51%) Datadog
17 26 (1.40%) Entra ID
18 22 (1.19%) Amazon SQS
19 19 (1.02%) PowerApps
20 18 (0.97%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 33 (1.78%) Remote Desktop
2 13 (0.70%) Multicast
3 11 (0.59%) HTTP
4 8 (0.43%) Broadband
4 8 (0.43%) Firewall
5 7 (0.38%) Modbus
5 7 (0.38%) TCP/IP
6 6 (0.32%) Wireless
7 5 (0.27%) 5G
8 3 (0.16%) DNS
8 3 (0.16%) LTE
8 3 (0.16%) MQTT
8 3 (0.16%) WAN
9 2 (0.11%) GSM
9 2 (0.11%) Internet
9 2 (0.11%) Network Security
9 2 (0.11%) RFID
9 2 (0.11%) VLAN
9 2 (0.11%) VoIP
9 2 (0.11%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 124 (6.68%) SQL Server
2 68 (3.67%) Power BI
3 63 (3.40%) MySQL
4 48 (2.59%) NoSQL
4 48 (2.59%) Relational Database
5 31 (1.67%) Data Warehouse
6 25 (1.35%) Metadata
7 24 (1.29%) MongoDB
8 23 (1.24%) DynamoDB
9 22 (1.19%) PostgreSQL
10 20 (1.08%) Elasticsearch
11 14 (0.75%) Big Data
12 12 (0.65%) Amazon Redshift
12 12 (0.65%) GIS
12 12 (0.65%) Hadoop
12 12 (0.65%) Tableau
13 11 (0.59%) Azure SQL Database
14 9 (0.49%) RDBMS
15 7 (0.38%) Redis
15 7 (0.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 178 (9.60%) JIRA
2 149 (8.03%) Git
3 95 (5.12%) Selenium
4 70 (3.77%) Cypress.io
5 68 (3.67%) Postman
6 65 (3.50%) Jenkins
7 43 (2.32%) GitLab
8 38 (2.05%) Cucumber
9 35 (1.89%) JMeter
10 22 (1.19%) eCATT
11 20 (1.08%) Visual Studio
12 18 (0.97%) SoapUI
13 16 (0.86%) REST Assured
13 16 (0.86%) WebDriver
14 12 (0.65%) Appium
14 12 (0.65%) LoadRunner
15 10 (0.54%) JUnit
15 10 (0.54%) Locust
15 10 (0.54%) Maven
16 9 (0.49%) TestRail
General
1 806 (43.45%) Social Skills
2 345 (18.60%) Finance
3 260 (14.02%) Analytical Skills
4 172 (9.27%) Manufacturing
5 129 (6.95%) Marketing
6 126 (6.79%) Law
7 110 (5.93%) French Language
7 110 (5.93%) Retail
8 99 (5.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 95 (5.12%) Swedish Language
10 90 (4.85%) Organisational Skills
11 80 (4.31%) Banking
11 80 (4.31%) Public Sector
12 70 (3.77%) Legal
13 62 (3.34%) Influencing Skills
14 54 (2.91%) Electronics
15 53 (2.86%) Presentation Skills
16 51 (2.75%) Aviation
17 45 (2.43%) Telecoms
18 36 (1.94%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 315 (16.98%) Senior
2 281 (15.15%) Analyst
3 266 (14.34%) Lead
4 176 (9.49%) Developer
5 164 (8.84%) QA Manager
6 149 (8.03%) Quality Manager
7 111 (5.98%) QA Engineer
8 106 (5.71%) Service Analyst
9 105 (5.66%) Service Desk Analyst
10 86 (4.64%) Senior Manager
11 82 (4.42%) Consultant
12 77 (4.15%) Senior Developer
13 64 (3.45%) Quality Engineer
13 64 (3.45%) Senior QA Manager
13 64 (3.45%) Senior Quality Manager
14 53 (2.86%) QA Leader
15 50 (2.70%) Operations Manager
16 47 (2.53%) Lead Developer
17 45 (2.43%) QA Automation Engineer
18 44 (2.37%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 130 (7.01%) .NET
2 106 (5.71%) React
3 98 (5.28%) RESTful
4 68 (3.67%) CSS
5 66 (3.56%) HTML
6 59 (3.18%) Playwright
7 50 (2.70%) REST
8 46 (2.48%) Node.js
9 33 (1.78%) AngularJS
10 29 (1.56%) .NET Framework
11 25 (1.35%) Vue
12 24 (1.29%) Kafka
12 24 (1.29%) pytest
12 24 (1.29%) SOAP
13 23 (1.24%) Entity Framework
14 22 (1.19%) Jest
15 21 (1.13%) GraphQL
15 21 (1.13%) Spring
15 21 (1.13%) Spring Boot
16 20 (1.08%) ASP.NET Web API
Miscellaneous
1 118 (6.36%) Product Ownership
2 106 (5.71%) Onboarding
3 69 (3.72%) Self-Motivation
4 56 (3.02%) Legacy Systems
5 52 (2.80%) Management Information System
6 45 (2.43%) Cloud Native
7 30 (1.62%) Mobile App
7 30 (1.62%) Virtual Team
8 25 (1.35%) Analytical Mindset
9 24 (1.29%) Driving Licence
9 24 (1.29%) Robotics
10 23 (1.24%) Derivative
11 19 (1.02%) Equities
12 18 (0.97%) Fixed Income
13 17 (0.92%) Distributed Systems
13 17 (0.92%) Enterprise Software
13 17 (0.92%) IoT
14 14 (0.75%) Algorithms
15 13 (0.70%) Data Centre
15 13 (0.70%) FMCG
Operating Systems
1 61 (3.29%) Windows
2 56 (3.02%) Linux
3 25 (1.35%) Android
4 21 (1.13%) Apple iOS
5 14 (0.75%) Windows Server
6 10 (0.54%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 10 (0.54%) Unix
7 6 (0.32%) Windows Server 2016
8 4 (0.22%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.11%) Solaris
10 1 (0.054%) CentOS
10 1 (0.054%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.054%) OpenVMS
10 1 (0.054%) VMS
10 1 (0.054%) Windows 10
10 1 (0.054%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 533 (28.73%) Agile
2 491 (26.47%) Continuous Improvement
3 437 (23.56%) Problem-Solving
4 354 (19.08%) DevOps
5 348 (18.76%) CI/CD
6 326 (17.57%) Test Automation
7 258 (13.91%) Mentoring
8 212 (11.43%) Project Management
9 186 (10.03%) Customer Service
10 184 (9.92%) ITIL
11 180 (9.70%) Coaching
12 173 (9.33%) Scrum
13 157 (8.46%) Process Improvement
14 153 (8.25%) Project Delivery
15 140 (7.55%) Software Engineering
16 136 (7.33%) ITSM
17 133 (7.17%) Stakeholder Management
18 124 (6.68%) Decision-Making
19 123 (6.63%) AI
20 122 (6.58%) Performance Metrics
Programming Languages
1 255 (13.75%) SQL
2 182 (9.81%) C#
3 181 (9.76%) Python
4 161 (8.68%) JavaScript
5 115 (6.20%) TypeScript
6 113 (6.09%) Java
7 44 (2.37%) Delphi
7 44 (2.37%) Pascal
8 34 (1.83%) C++
9 26 (1.40%) Go
10 22 (1.19%) Bash
11 18 (0.97%) PHP
12 15 (0.81%) PowerShell
13 12 (0.65%) C
13 12 (0.65%) Kotlin
14 11 (0.59%) T-SQL
15 8 (0.43%) Elixir
15 8 (0.43%) PL/SQL
15 8 (0.43%) Ruby
16 6 (0.32%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 345 (18.60%) Degree
2 119 (6.42%) AWS Certification
3 110 (5.93%) Microsoft Certification
4 105 (5.66%) MCSE
4 105 (5.66%) Security Cleared
5 73 (3.94%) Computer Science Degree
6 64 (3.45%) Six Sigma Yellow Belt
7 61 (3.29%) SC Cleared
8 48 (2.59%) ISTQB
9 40 (2.16%) PMP
10 39 (2.10%) PMI Certification
11 34 (1.83%) Master's Degree
12 24 (1.29%) DBS Check
13 19 (1.02%) CISSP
14 16 (0.86%) DV Cleared
14 16 (0.86%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 15 (0.81%) BPSS Clearance
16 13 (0.70%) ISEB
17 11 (0.59%) HND
18 10 (0.54%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 84 (4.53%) Accessibility
2 49 (2.64%) SLA
3 45 (2.43%) Data Quality
4 37 (1.99%) GDPR
5 28 (1.51%) PMO
6 24 (1.29%) Cyber Essentials
6 24 (1.29%) ISO 9001
7 22 (1.19%) Def Stans
8 20 (1.08%) WCAG
9 16 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 14 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 14 (0.75%) PCI DSS
11 12 (0.65%) NIST
12 9 (0.49%) GMP
12 9 (0.49%) Software Quality Assurance
13 8 (0.43%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 7 (0.38%) IEC 61508
15 6 (0.32%) IEC 61131
16 5 (0.27%) ISO 13485
16 5 (0.27%) PERC
System Software
1 93 (5.01%) Docker
2 31 (1.67%) Active Directory
3 16 (0.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (0.49%) Firmware
4 9 (0.49%) Hyper-V
5 7 (0.38%) Embedded Firmware
6 1 (0.054%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.054%) Squid
6 1 (0.054%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.054%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 85 (4.58%) Kubernetes
2 47 (2.53%) Terraform
3 43 (2.32%) Grafana
4 24 (1.29%) Prometheus
5 22 (1.19%) HP ALM
6 11 (0.59%) Ansible
7 8 (0.43%) Microsoft Intune
8 5 (0.27%) Argo
9 4 (0.22%) HP Fortify
9 4 (0.22%) Rancher
9 4 (0.22%) yum
10 3 (0.16%) Puppet
11 2 (0.11%) FTK
11 2 (0.11%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.054%) BMC PATROL
12 1 (0.054%) Kibana
12 1 (0.054%) Netcool
12 1 (0.054%) Netcool/OMNIbus
12 1 (0.054%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 1 (0.054%) VxRail
Vendors
1 351 (18.92%) Microsoft
2 120 (6.47%) ServiceNow
3 107 (5.77%) SAP
4 76 (4.10%) Oracle
5 29 (1.56%) Google
6 22 (1.19%) HP
7 21 (1.13%) Salesforce
8 16 (0.86%) VMware
9 11 (0.59%) Adobe
10 10 (0.54%) Databricks
10 10 (0.54%) Splunk
11 8 (0.43%) Dynatrace
11 8 (0.43%) IBM
11 8 (0.43%) Rockwell
11 8 (0.43%) Siemens
12 6 (0.32%) ESRI
12 6 (0.32%) Zoho
13 5 (0.27%) Foundry
13 5 (0.27%) Lotus
13 5 (0.27%) Workday