Software Testing Contract Job Trends in England

Software Testing
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Software Testing skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 27 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
27 Dec 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 224 192 170
Rank change year-on-year -32 -22 +11
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 381 375 537
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.20% 1.31% 1.45%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.35% 1.48% 1.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 254 223 348
10th Percentile £325 £313 £285
25th Percentile £379 £378 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £515
Median % change year-on-year - -12.62% -0.96%
75th Percentile £538 £600 £625
90th Percentile £600 £671 £663
UK median daily rate £438 £440 £500
% change year-on-year -0.57% -12.00% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 19 83
10th Percentile £26.25 £48.95 £41.66
25th Percentile £50.00 £57.88 £49.94
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -3.85% +30.00%
75th Percentile £67.13 £71.25 -
90th Percentile £68.75 £80.75 £68.22
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +4.00% -3.85% +30.00%

All Process and Methodology Skills
England

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 England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 28,126 25,301 32,618
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 88.47% 88.70% 88.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,892 15,616 22,141
10th Percentile £301 £311 £310
25th Percentile £406 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% -1.82%
75th Percentile £625 £645 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £528
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.47% -4.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,807 836 1,442
10th Percentile £15.18 £15.62 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.98 £20.30 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -21.35% +25.64%
75th Percentile £56.69 £64.79 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.65 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year -22.62% -23.53% +21.43%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Software Testing job vacancy trend in England

Software Testing
Daily Rate Trend in England

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

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

Software Testing
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Testing in England over the 6 months to 27 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Hourly Rate Trend in England

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

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

Software Testing
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Testing in England over the 6 months to 27 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Contract Job Locations in England

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 England region over the 6 months to 27 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
Contract
IT Job Ads		 Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months		 Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
London -22 143 £450 - 92
North of England -38 64 £409 +2.25% 118
South East -42 56 £433 -27.92% 176
Yorkshire -18 42 £450 +10.43% 51
Midlands -30 37 £515 +28.75% 82
South West +6 36 £450 +3.45% 68
West Midlands -17 30 £515 +28.75% 45
East of England -4 26 £598 +51.75% 87
North West -38 16 £405 +1.25% 61
East Midlands -20 7 £313 - 33
North East - 6 £350 - 6
Software Testing
UK

Software Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in 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 17 (4.46%) Confluence
2 15 (3.94%) SAS
3 7 (1.84%) Apache Airflow
4 6 (1.57%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (1.57%) SharePoint
5 3 (0.79%) SharePoint Server
6 2 (0.52%) Apache
6 2 (0.52%) CMS
6 2 (0.52%) JBoss
6 2 (0.52%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.26%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.26%) CICS
7 1 (0.26%) EPiServer
Applications
1 13 (3.41%) Microsoft Excel
2 9 (2.36%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.79%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.52%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.26%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 2 (0.52%) Aladdin
1 2 (0.52%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.52%) Dynamics NAV
2 1 (0.26%) Algo Collateral
2 1 (0.26%) CODA-Financials
2 1 (0.26%) LabWindows
2 1 (0.26%) Oracle EBS R12
2 1 (0.26%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
2 1 (0.26%) SimCorp Dimension
Cloud Services
1 119 (31.23%) Azure
2 75 (19.69%) AWS
3 60 (15.75%) Azure DevOps
4 37 (9.71%) GCP
5 31 (8.14%) GitHub
6 20 (5.25%) GitHub Actions
7 12 (3.15%) Amazon S3
8 11 (2.89%) Power Platform
9 10 (2.62%) AWS Lambda
9 10 (2.62%) Serverless
10 9 (2.36%) Amazon ECS
10 9 (2.36%) npm
11 7 (1.84%) Dynamics 365
12 6 (1.57%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (1.57%) Entra ID
12 6 (1.57%) PaaS
12 6 (1.57%) Snowflake
13 4 (1.05%) Amazon Bedrock
13 4 (1.05%) Cloud Computing
13 4 (1.05%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.36%) Ethernet
2 6 (1.57%) Wireshark
3 5 (1.31%) SD-WAN
4 4 (1.05%) DNS
4 4 (1.05%) Internet
5 3 (0.79%) Firewall
5 3 (0.79%) Network Security
5 3 (0.79%) Skype
5 3 (0.79%) SNMP
6 2 (0.52%) Cisco IOS
6 2 (0.52%) FTP
6 2 (0.52%) Intranet
6 2 (0.52%) IOS XR
6 2 (0.52%) Spanning Tree
6 2 (0.52%) SSH
6 2 (0.52%) SSL
6 2 (0.52%) TACACS
6 2 (0.52%) TCP/IP
6 2 (0.52%) Wireless
7 1 (0.26%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (6.30%) PostgreSQL
2 21 (5.51%) SQL Server
3 16 (4.20%) NoSQL
4 15 (3.94%) SAS Enterprise Guide
5 14 (3.67%) MongoDB
5 14 (3.67%) Oracle Database
6 10 (2.62%) BigQuery
7 7 (1.84%) Power BI
8 6 (1.57%) Apache Cassandra
8 6 (1.57%) MySQL
8 6 (1.57%) SAS Visual Analytics
9 5 (1.31%) Couchbase
9 5 (1.31%) Redis
9 5 (1.31%) Relational Database
10 4 (1.05%) Pinecone
11 3 (0.79%) Metadata
12 2 (0.52%) Big Data
12 2 (0.52%) DynamoDB
13 1 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
13 1 (0.26%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 71 (18.64%) JIRA
2 62 (16.27%) Selenium
3 49 (12.86%) Postman
4 44 (11.55%) Jenkins
5 42 (11.02%) Git
6 38 (9.97%) Cucumber
7 34 (8.92%) GitLab
8 29 (7.61%) Cypress.io
9 25 (6.56%) REST Assured
10 16 (4.20%) JUnit
10 16 (4.20%) SoapUI
11 11 (2.89%) JMeter
12 10 (2.62%) Visual Studio
13 9 (2.36%) Artifactory
14 7 (1.84%) SonarQube
14 7 (1.84%) Subversion
15 6 (1.57%) Atlassian Bamboo
15 6 (1.57%) Maven
15 6 (1.57%) Rational DOORS
15 6 (1.57%) WebDriver
General
1 133 (34.91%) Social Skills
2 58 (15.22%) Finance
3 47 (12.34%) Public Sector
4 44 (11.55%) Analytical Skills
5 21 (5.51%) Banking
6 11 (2.89%) Aerospace
7 10 (2.62%) Documentation Skills
7 10 (2.62%) Manufacturing
8 8 (2.10%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (1.84%) Military
9 7 (1.84%) Telecoms
10 6 (1.57%) Automotive
10 6 (1.57%) Electronics
10 6 (1.57%) Investment Banking
11 5 (1.31%) Front Office
11 5 (1.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 4 (1.05%) Law
12 4 (1.05%) Multimedia
12 4 (1.05%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.79%) Billing
Job Titles
1 59 (15.49%) Senior
2 46 (12.07%) Software Engineer
3 43 (11.29%) Analyst
3 43 (11.29%) Developer
4 38 (9.97%) Test Engineer
5 36 (9.45%) Test Analyst
6 34 (8.92%) Tester
7 32 (8.40%) Lead
8 25 (6.56%) Consultant
9 15 (3.94%) QA Engineer
9 15 (3.94%) Release Manager
10 14 (3.67%) QA Leader
11 13 (3.41%) Senior Analyst
11 13 (3.41%) Software Developer
11 13 (3.41%) Test Manager
12 12 (3.15%) Java Engineer
12 12 (3.15%) Senior Test Analyst
12 12 (3.15%) Senior Test Engineer
13 11 (2.89%) Test Leader
14 10 (2.62%) Automation Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (11.29%) .NET
2 34 (8.92%) Playwright
3 32 (8.40%) React
4 31 (8.14%) Node.js
5 27 (7.09%) HTML
5 27 (7.09%) RESTful
6 26 (6.82%) REST
6 26 (6.82%) Spring Boot
7 25 (6.56%) Spring
8 24 (6.30%) CSS
9 18 (4.72%) AngularJS
10 16 (4.20%) Kafka
11 14 (3.67%) .NET Framework
12 13 (3.41%) SOAP
13 10 (2.62%) Gherkin
13 10 (2.62%) Vue
14 9 (2.36%) Svelte
14 9 (2.36%) Swagger
15 8 (2.10%) FastAPI
15 8 (2.10%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 22 (5.77%) Self-Motivation
2 20 (5.25%) Product Ownership
3 19 (4.99%) Cloud Native
4 17 (4.46%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (2.89%) Algorithms
5 11 (2.89%) Data Structures
6 9 (2.36%) Enterprise Software
7 5 (1.31%) CUDA
7 5 (1.31%) Data Protection Act
7 5 (1.31%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.31%) Management Information System
8 4 (1.05%) NHS
8 4 (1.05%) PCIe
9 3 (0.79%) AI Agents
9 3 (0.79%) Derivative
9 3 (0.79%) Distributed Computing
9 3 (0.79%) Fixed Income
9 3 (0.79%) Greenfield Project
9 3 (0.79%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.79%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 33 (8.66%) Linux
2 31 (8.14%) Windows
3 10 (2.62%) Unix
4 4 (1.05%) FreeRTOS
5 3 (0.79%) Windows 10
5 3 (0.79%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.79%) Windows Server 2016
6 2 (0.52%) Android
7 1 (0.26%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.26%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.26%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.26%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.26%) Robot Operating System
7 1 (0.26%) Solaris
7 1 (0.26%) VMS
7 1 (0.26%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 163 (42.78%) Agile
2 159 (41.73%) Test Automation
3 141 (37.01%) CI/CD
4 116 (30.45%) DevOps
5 109 (28.61%) Problem-Solving
6 73 (19.16%) Test Scripting
7 70 (18.37%) Continuous Improvement
8 67 (17.59%) Software Engineering
9 62 (16.27%) Test Strategy
10 60 (15.75%) Scrum
11 59 (15.49%) Validation
12 57 (14.96%) Microservices
13 49 (12.86%) API Testing
13 49 (12.86%) Containerisation
13 49 (12.86%) TDD
13 49 (12.86%) Test Management
14 42 (11.02%) SDLC
15 38 (9.97%) Integration Testing
16 36 (9.45%) AI
17 34 (8.92%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 73 (19.16%) Python
2 67 (17.59%) Java
3 62 (16.27%) JavaScript
4 61 (16.01%) SQL
5 40 (10.50%) C#
6 33 (8.66%) TypeScript
7 23 (6.04%) C++
8 13 (3.41%) Bash
9 12 (3.15%) C
9 12 (3.15%) Shell Script
10 8 (2.10%) Ada
10 8 (2.10%) Go
11 6 (1.57%) Groovy
11 6 (1.57%) PL/SQL
12 5 (1.31%) Ruby
12 5 (1.31%) Scala
13 4 (1.05%) PowerShell
14 3 (0.79%) Embedded C
14 3 (0.79%) Rust
14 3 (0.79%) VB
Qualifications
1 108 (28.35%) Security Cleared
2 92 (24.15%) SC Cleared
3 43 (11.29%) Degree
4 32 (8.40%) ISTQB
5 20 (5.25%) Computer Science Degree
6 14 (3.67%) BPSS Clearance
7 10 (2.62%) CISSP
8 9 (2.36%) CISM
9 8 (2.10%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
10 6 (1.57%) DV Cleared
11 5 (1.31%) Azure Certification
11 5 (1.31%) ISEB
12 4 (1.05%) HNC
12 4 (1.05%) HND
12 4 (1.05%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 4 (1.05%) PMI Certification
13 3 (0.79%) EMC Certification
13 3 (0.79%) Master's Degree
13 3 (0.79%) PMP
14 2 (0.52%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 104 (27.30%) QA
2 28 (7.35%) Accessibility
3 13 (3.41%) NIST
4 11 (2.89%) WCAG
5 10 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 7 (1.84%) PCI DSS
7 6 (1.57%) EU AI Act
7 6 (1.57%) GDPR
8 4 (1.05%) SLA
9 3 (0.79%) Def Stans
9 3 (0.79%) IEC 61508
9 3 (0.79%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 3 (0.79%) Software Quality Assurance
10 2 (0.52%) GRC
11 1 (0.26%) Data Quality
11 1 (0.26%) IEC 61131
11 1 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 59 (15.49%) Docker
2 5 (1.31%) Active Directory
3 4 (1.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.79%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (0.79%) VMware NSX
5 2 (0.52%) Firmware
6 1 (0.26%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 56 (14.70%) Kubernetes
2 15 (3.94%) Terraform
3 14 (3.67%) Ansible
4 9 (2.36%) Grafana
5 4 (1.05%) Prometheus
5 4 (1.05%) Puppet
6 3 (0.79%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 3 (0.79%) Functional Safety
6 3 (0.79%) HP ALM
6 3 (0.79%) vCenter Server
6 3 (0.79%) WSUS
7 2 (0.52%) Nessus
8 1 (0.26%) Control-M
8 1 (0.26%) HP Quality Center
8 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Intune
8 1 (0.26%) Nmap
8 1 (0.26%) Packer
8 1 (0.26%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.26%) Rsyslog
8 1 (0.26%) SCOM
Vendors
1 55 (14.44%) Microsoft
2 37 (9.71%) Oracle
3 11 (2.89%) Google
4 10 (2.62%) Cisco
4 10 (2.62%) CyberArk
5 9 (2.36%) BeyondTrust
5 9 (2.36%) Splunk
5 9 (2.36%) Thycotic
6 8 (2.10%) ServiceNow
7 7 (1.84%) Atlassian
8 6 (1.57%) Meraki
8 6 (1.57%) VMware
9 5 (1.31%) Juniper
9 5 (1.31%) Workday
10 4 (1.05%) CA Agile Central
10 4 (1.05%) Dynatrace
10 4 (1.05%) HP
10 4 (1.05%) Nokia
10 4 (1.05%) Salesforce
10 4 (1.05%) SAP
600 Software Testing jobs in England