Cost to hire a QA engineer in the United Kingdom
Total employer cost by role and level, GBP, computed .
One role and level combination is published for the United Kingdom: a security test engineer at senior level costs a median total of GBP 95,473Confidence B a year.
Employer cost structure
Statutory items the employer pays on top of gross salary in the United Kingdom, 2026 rates. At the published median salary, employer contributions come to 15.8% of base salary (the employer contributions line divided by base salary). On salary up to the highest published one, the rates of the items charged add up to 0% on the first GBP 5,000, 15% from GBP 5,000 to GBP 6,240, 18% from GBP 6,240 to GBP 50,270 and 15% above GBP 50,270. These are cost items, not legal or tax advice.
| Contribution | Rate | Annual cap | Notes | At the published salaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employer National Insurance (Class 1 secondary)[1][2] | 15% | none | Due on earnings above GBP 5,000 a year. | Applied at every published salary |
| Workplace pension, employer minimum (automatic enrolment)[3][4] | 3% | GBP 50,270 | Due on earnings above GBP 6,240 a year. | Applied at every published salary |
Mandatory benefits beyond 12 monthly salaries. None in statute: the statutory sources list no payment beyond 12 monthly salaries; paid leave is counted in productive hours[5][6].
Statutory paid leave: 28 days (working days)[5], public holidays 8[6]. Productive hours used for hourly figures: 1,716 a year (1,700 + 8 x 2, for 28 working days of statutory leave and public holidays against the 30 days that the 1,700-hour year allows for, as this site reads the formula: 28 days of leave, with the 8 bank holidays (public holidays) counted inside the 28-day entitlement, as the statute allows, so they add no days off).
Roles and levels
Median total annual cost as an employee, GBP. Each figure links to its full breakdown.
| Role | Junior | Mid-level | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security test engineer | not published | not published | GBP 95,473Confidence B |
The letter after each figure is its confidence grade (A, B or C, from the number and agreement of the sources); how grades work.
Sources for the totals in this table: [1] to [6], [10] to [21] in the source list below.
Not published for the United Kingdom: manual QA engineer, test automation engineer, SDET, performance test engineer, mobile QA engineer, QA lead and AI QA engineer. Reasons.
Time to hire
Sources put time to hire at 34 to 44 days, median 38 days[7][8][9]. Not specific to the United Kingdom unless the source says so.
Notes on cost items
- Apprenticeship Levy cost item: 0.5% of the employer's total annual pay bill, less a GBP 15,000 annual allowance, so it applies only to employers with a pay bill above GBP 3 million. Not applied per employee in the formula.[1]
- Employment Allowance cost item: eligible employers can reduce their annual employer National Insurance contributions (NIC) bill by up to GBP 10,500 (2026-27). It is per employer and is not applied per employee in the formula.[1]
Sources
- HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK). Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries. United Kingdom - Individual - Other taxes
- Department for Work and Pensions (GOV.UK). Review of the Automatic Enrolment Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band for 2026/27
- GOV.UK. Holiday entitlement
- GOV.UK. UK bank holidays
- Manatal (citing JoinGenius). Average Time to Hire by Industry: 2026 Benchmarks
- Apple. Buy MacBook Air
- Apple. Buy MacBook Pro
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Linear. Linear pricing
- Manatal. Recruitment fees (agency fee guide)
- Apollo Technical. What is a placement fee for engineering hiring
- HeroHunt.ai. True Cost to Hire an AI Engineer in 2026
Formula v1.0How each component is computed
version: 1.0
total_annual_cost =
base_salary
+ employer_contributions # statutory rates applied to base with caps; per country
+ mandatory_benefits # 13th or 14th salary, paid leave value above base, mandatory insurance; per country
+ voluntary_benefits # health, pension top-up, meal and transport; market survey medians per country and level; shown as a separate line
+ equipment_and_tooling # laptop amortised over 3 years, licences, test devices for mobile roles; per level and role
+ recruiting_cost_amortised # recruiting cost / expected tenure years; per country, role and model
+ onboarding_ramp # ramp_weeks x weekly cost x (1 - productivity_factor); per level
first_year_cost = total_annual_cost - recruiting_cost_amortised + recruiting_cost - onboarding_ramp_amortised + onboarding_ramp
monthly_cost = total_annual_cost / 12
hourly_equivalent = total_annual_cost / productive_hours
# Defaults (overridable per country in data with a source)
expected_tenure_years: 2.5
productive_hours: 1,700 per year, adjusted by statutory paid leave per country
ramp_weeks: junior 10, mid 6, senior 4
productivity_factor_during_ramp: 0.5
equipment_amortisation_years: 3
# Hiring models
employee: full formula
contractor: contractor_rate x hours + platform_or_eor_fee; no employer_contributions, no mandatory_benefits unless the EOR passes them through (sourced); recruiting as for employee; ramp as for employee
outsourced: published vendor monthly or hourly rate per role and region; no recruiting, no ramp, no equipment; show typical minimum engagement from sources
# Output per combination
p25, median, p75 for each component and for the totals, in local currency and USD at fx.json date; confidence grade; source ids; computedOnversion: 1.0
total_annual_cost =
base_salary
+ employer_contributions # statutory rates applied to base with caps; per country
+ mandatory_benefits # 13th or 14th salary, paid leave value above base, mandatory insurance; per country
+ voluntary_benefits # health, pension top-up, meal and transport; market survey medians per country and level; shown as a separate line
+ equipment_and_tooling # laptop amortised over 3 years, licences, test devices for mobile roles; per level and role
+ recruiting_cost_amortised # recruiting cost / expected tenure years; per country, role and model
+ onboarding_ramp # ramp_weeks x weekly cost x (1 - productivity_factor); per level
first_year_cost = total_annual_cost - recruiting_cost_amortised + recruiting_cost - onboarding_ramp_amortised + onboarding_ramp
monthly_cost = total_annual_cost / 12
hourly_equivalent = total_annual_cost / productive_hours
# Defaults (overridable per country in data with a source)
expected_tenure_years: 2.5
productive_hours: 1,700 per year, adjusted by statutory paid leave per country
ramp_weeks: junior 10, mid 6, senior 4
productivity_factor_during_ramp: 0.5
equipment_amortisation_years: 3
# Hiring models
employee: full formula
contractor: contractor_rate x hours + platform_or_eor_fee; no employer_contributions, no mandatory_benefits unless the EOR passes them through (sourced); recruiting as for employee; ramp as for employee
outsourced: published vendor monthly or hourly rate per role and region; no recruiting, no ramp, no equipment; show typical minimum engagement from sources
# Output per combination
p25, median, p75 for each component and for the totals, in local currency and USD at fx.json date; confidence grade; source ids; computedOnQuestions
- What does an employer pay on top of salary in the United Kingdom?
- At the published median salary, employer contributions come to 15.8% of base salary (the employer contributions line divided by base salary). On salary up to the highest published one, the rates of the items charged add up to 0% on the first GBP 5,000, 15% from GBP 5,000 to GBP 6,240, 18% from GBP 6,240 to GBP 50,270 and 15% above GBP 50,270. Rates, caps and conditions are listed above with their sources.
- Which QA roles are published for the United Kingdom?
- Security test engineer. Other roles have fewer sources than the publication threshold.