Software Testing Contract Job Trends in Bedfordshire

Software Testing
East of England > Bedfordshire

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Bedfordshire requiring Software Testing skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 23 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 39 - -
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 4 0 0
As % of all contract jobs in Bedfordshire 1.34% - -
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.52% - -
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £72 - -
East of England median daily rate £600 £475 £418
% change year-on-year +26.32% +13.77% -16.71%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 0 0
10th Percentile £63.45 - -
25th Percentile £64.88 - -
Median hourly rate £68.50 - -
75th Percentile £70.88 - -
90th Percentile £71.55 - -
East of England median hourly rate £67.50 - £65.00

All Process & Methodology Skills
Bedfordshire

Software Testing falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in Bedfordshire.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 264 130 245
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Bedfordshire 88.29% 91.55% 86.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 157 74 151
10th Percentile £397 £369 £325
25th Percentile £413 £500 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +4.76% +7.69%
75th Percentile £600 £675 £560
90th Percentile £638 £700 £625
East of England median daily rate £475 £500 £495
% change year-on-year -5.00% +1.01% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 13 32
10th Percentile £25.15 £21.61 -
25th Percentile £60.00 £29.00 £15.39
Median hourly rate £68.21 £41.50 £21.50
Median % change year-on-year +64.36% +93.02% -60.66%
75th Percentile £73.46 £80.00 £32.90
90th Percentile £79.00 £86.90 £65.75
East of England median hourly rate £20.35 £50.00 £38.12
% change year-on-year -59.30% +31.16% +43.85%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in Bedfordshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Software Testing relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Bedfordshire.

Software Testing job vacancy trend in Bedfordshire

Software Testing
Daily Rate Trend in Bedfordshire

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bedfordshire citing Software Testing.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bedfordshire citing Software Testing

Software Testing
Hourly Rate Trend in Bedfordshire

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bedfordshire citing Software Testing.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bedfordshire citing Software Testing

Software Testing
Contract Job Locations in Bedfordshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Software Testing within the Bedfordshire region over the 6 months to 23 February 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Luton - 4 £72 - 7
Software Testing
East of England

Software Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Bedfordshire 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:

General
1 3 (75.00%) Analytical Skills
Job Titles
1 2 (50.00%) Principal Engineer
1 2 (50.00%) Principal Software Engineer
1 2 (50.00%) Software Engineer
1 2 (50.00%) Software Test Engineer
1 2 (50.00%) Test Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 3 (75.00%) Embedded Systems
Processes & Methodologies
1 3 (75.00%) Agile
1 3 (75.00%) Problem-Solving
1 3 (75.00%) Regression Testing
1 3 (75.00%) SDLC
1 3 (75.00%) Test Automation
1 3 (75.00%) Test Scripting
2 2 (50.00%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 3 (75.00%) C++
1 3 (75.00%) Python
Qualifications
1 3 (75.00%) ISTQB
1 3 (75.00%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
1 3 (75.00%) Security Cleared
2 2 (50.00%) SC Cleared