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 31 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 236 200 167
Rank change year-on-year -36 -33 +7
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 342 383 609
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.17% 1.23% 1.51%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.29% 1.42% 1.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 240 241 403
10th Percentile £325 £313 £301
25th Percentile £361 £382 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £435 £450 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% -14.29% +2.44%
75th Percentile £537 £588 £625
90th Percentile £601 £650 £701
UK median daily rate £430 £450 £500
% change year-on-year -4.44% -10.00% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 29 18 89
10th Percentile £26.25 £25.43 £45.88
25th Percentile £50.00 £37.55 £48.47
Median hourly rate £62.50 £59.47 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +5.10% -8.52% +30.00%
75th Percentile £67.00 £64.38 -
90th Percentile £69.00 £80.75 £69.00
UK median hourly rate £62.50 £49.08 £65.00
% change year-on-year +27.36% -24.50% +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 26,413 27,015 35,730
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 90.65% 86.60% 88.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 16,759 16,483 24,594
10th Percentile £296 £313 £313
25th Percentile £405 £419 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £508 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,704 991 1,495
10th Percentile £14.71 £15.00 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.85 £20.00 £19.03
Median hourly rate £25.15 £39.50 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -36.33% -11.24% +27.14%
75th Percentile £44.94 £66.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.50 £74.87 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £36.00 £43.84
% change year-on-year -30.14% -17.88% +25.26%

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 31 October 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 31 October 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 31 October 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 -32 104 £438 -8.66% 112
South East -11 62 £424 -5.83% 164
North of England -45 62 £405 +1.25% 64
South West +21 41 £450 -21.74% 43
Yorkshire -17 38 £443 -9.23% 12
Midlands -17 31 £500 +25.00% 29
East of England +5 27 £573 +36.31% 63
West Midlands -12 27 £515 +28.75% 16
North West -42 18 £405 +5.26% 46
North East -6 6 £350 -4.76% 6
East Midlands -14 4 £340 - 12
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 14 (4.09%) Confluence
2 13 (3.80%) SAS
3 7 (2.05%) Apache Airflow
4 6 (1.75%) JBoss
4 6 (1.75%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (1.75%) SharePoint
5 4 (1.17%) CICS
6 3 (0.88%) SharePoint Server
6 3 (0.88%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.58%) Apache
8 1 (0.29%) CMS
8 1 (0.29%) EPiServer
8 1 (0.29%) Tomcat
Applications
1 10 (2.92%) Microsoft Excel
2 9 (2.63%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.75%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.58%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.58%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.58%) Dynamics NAV
1 2 (0.58%) Maximo
1 2 (0.58%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.29%) Aladdin
2 1 (0.29%) Cerner Millennium
2 1 (0.29%) CODA-Financials
2 1 (0.29%) SimCorp Dimension
2 1 (0.29%) Temenos T24
Cloud Services
1 87 (25.44%) Azure
2 56 (16.37%) AWS
3 38 (11.11%) Azure DevOps
4 32 (9.36%) GCP
5 21 (6.14%) GitHub
6 14 (4.09%) GitHub Actions
7 11 (3.22%) Power Platform
8 9 (2.63%) npm
9 7 (2.05%) Dynamics 365
10 6 (1.75%) PaaS
11 5 (1.46%) Amazon S3
11 5 (1.46%) Cloud Computing
11 5 (1.46%) Snowflake
12 4 (1.17%) Amazon Bedrock
12 4 (1.17%) Entra ID
12 4 (1.17%) Microsoft 365
12 4 (1.17%) OpenShift
12 4 (1.17%) PowerApps
12 4 (1.17%) SaaS
13 3 (0.88%) BlazeMeter
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.63%) Ethernet
2 4 (1.17%) DNS
2 4 (1.17%) Firewall
2 4 (1.17%) Internet
2 4 (1.17%) Wireshark
3 3 (0.88%) SD-WAN
3 3 (0.88%) Skype
4 2 (0.58%) Intranet
4 2 (0.58%) Network Security
4 2 (0.58%) SSL
4 2 (0.58%) TCP/IP
4 2 (0.58%) Wireless
5 1 (0.29%) 4G
5 1 (0.29%) HTTP
5 1 (0.29%) HTTPS
5 1 (0.29%) LAN
5 1 (0.29%) Modbus
5 1 (0.29%) SAN
5 1 (0.29%) SNMP
5 1 (0.29%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (6.14%) SQL Server
2 16 (4.68%) Oracle Database
2 16 (4.68%) PostgreSQL
3 14 (4.09%) NoSQL
4 13 (3.80%) SAS Enterprise Guide
5 9 (2.63%) BigQuery
5 9 (2.63%) MongoDB
6 8 (2.34%) Power BI
7 6 (1.75%) Apache Cassandra
7 6 (1.75%) Redis
7 6 (1.75%) SAS Visual Analytics
8 5 (1.46%) Couchbase
9 4 (1.17%) DB2
9 4 (1.17%) Pinecone
10 3 (0.88%) Metadata
10 3 (0.88%) Relational Database
11 2 (0.58%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.58%) MySQL
12 1 (0.29%) MS Access
12 1 (0.29%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 76 (22.22%) JIRA
2 66 (19.30%) Selenium
3 47 (13.74%) Postman
4 43 (12.57%) Git
5 42 (12.28%) Jenkins
6 37 (10.82%) Cucumber
7 34 (9.94%) GitLab
8 24 (7.02%) Cypress.io
8 24 (7.02%) REST Assured
9 22 (6.43%) SoapUI
10 15 (4.39%) JUnit
11 12 (3.51%) JMeter
11 12 (3.51%) Visual Studio
12 11 (3.22%) Maven
13 9 (2.63%) Artifactory
14 7 (2.05%) IntelliJ
14 7 (2.05%) WebDriver
15 6 (1.75%) Subversion
15 6 (1.75%) Xcode
15 6 (1.75%) Zephyr
General
1 119 (34.80%) Social Skills
2 54 (15.79%) Finance
3 34 (9.94%) Analytical Skills
4 32 (9.36%) Public Sector
5 18 (5.26%) Banking
6 11 (3.22%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (2.63%) Aerospace
8 8 (2.34%) Manufacturing
9 6 (1.75%) Influencing Skills
10 5 (1.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (1.46%) Law
10 5 (1.46%) Military
11 4 (1.17%) Automotive
11 4 (1.17%) Investment Banking
11 4 (1.17%) Multimedia
11 4 (1.17%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.88%) Billing
12 3 (0.88%) Electronics
12 3 (0.88%) Front Office
12 3 (0.88%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 55 (16.08%) Senior
2 44 (12.87%) Analyst
3 41 (11.99%) Software Engineer
4 40 (11.70%) Tester
5 38 (11.11%) Test Analyst
6 37 (10.82%) Test Engineer
7 33 (9.65%) Developer
8 27 (7.89%) Lead
9 26 (7.60%) Consultant
10 13 (3.80%) QA Leader
10 13 (3.80%) Release Manager
10 13 (3.80%) Software Tester
11 12 (3.51%) Automation Tester
11 12 (3.51%) Senior Analyst
11 12 (3.51%) Software Developer
11 12 (3.51%) Test Leader
12 11 (3.22%) Senior Test Analyst
13 10 (2.92%) Python Engineer
13 10 (2.92%) Senior Test Engineer
14 9 (2.63%) Senior Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (9.65%) .NET
2 29 (8.48%) REST
3 25 (7.31%) Playwright
3 25 (7.31%) React
4 24 (7.02%) HTML
5 21 (6.14%) CSS
6 20 (5.85%) SOAP
7 19 (5.56%) Node.js
8 18 (5.26%) AngularJS
9 17 (4.97%) RESTful
9 17 (4.97%) Spring
10 16 (4.68%) Spring Boot
11 15 (4.39%) Kafka
12 14 (4.09%) .NET Framework
13 12 (3.51%) XML
14 11 (3.22%) Web Services
15 10 (2.92%) Vue
16 9 (2.63%) Svelte
17 8 (2.34%) FastAPI
17 8 (2.34%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 28 (8.19%) Self-Motivation
2 20 (5.85%) Distributed Systems
3 16 (4.68%) Product Ownership
4 11 (3.22%) Algorithms
4 11 (3.22%) Data Structures
5 10 (2.92%) Cloud Native
6 6 (1.75%) Data Protection Act
7 5 (1.46%) Mainframe
7 5 (1.46%) Management Information System
8 4 (1.17%) Enterprise Software
8 4 (1.17%) PCIe
8 4 (1.17%) VSAM
9 3 (0.88%) AI Agents
9 3 (0.88%) Derivative
9 3 (0.88%) Distributed Computing
9 3 (0.88%) Greenfield Project
9 3 (0.88%) Legacy Systems
9 3 (0.88%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.88%) NHS
9 3 (0.88%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 33 (9.65%) Windows
2 32 (9.36%) Linux
3 14 (4.09%) Unix
4 4 (1.17%) FreeRTOS
5 3 (0.88%) Windows 10
5 3 (0.88%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.88%) Windows Server 2016
6 2 (0.58%) Android
6 2 (0.58%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.29%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.29%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.29%) Robot Operating System
7 1 (0.29%) Solaris
7 1 (0.29%) VMS
7 1 (0.29%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 155 (45.32%) Test Automation
2 149 (43.57%) Agile
3 116 (33.92%) CI/CD
4 93 (27.19%) Problem-Solving
5 88 (25.73%) DevOps
6 66 (19.30%) Test Scripting
7 64 (18.71%) Software Engineering
8 62 (18.13%) Test Strategy
9 58 (16.96%) Scrum
10 51 (14.91%) Continuous Improvement
11 50 (14.62%) Validation
12 49 (14.33%) SDLC
13 44 (12.87%) Microservices
14 39 (11.40%) Computer Science
14 39 (11.40%) Containerisation
15 37 (10.82%) Test Management
16 35 (10.23%) Migration
16 35 (10.23%) TDD
17 34 (9.94%) API Testing
18 31 (9.06%) Integration Testing
Programming Languages
1 55 (16.08%) Java
1 55 (16.08%) Python
2 48 (14.04%) JavaScript
3 42 (12.28%) SQL
4 40 (11.70%) C#
5 20 (5.85%) C++
6 19 (5.56%) TypeScript
7 13 (3.80%) Shell Script
8 11 (3.22%) Bash
8 11 (3.22%) C
9 8 (2.34%) Ada
9 8 (2.34%) Go
10 7 (2.05%) VB
11 6 (1.75%) Groovy
12 5 (1.46%) Scala
13 4 (1.17%) COBOL
13 4 (1.17%) JCL
14 3 (0.88%) Embedded C
14 3 (0.88%) PowerShell
14 3 (0.88%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 90 (26.32%) Security Cleared
2 71 (20.76%) SC Cleared
3 44 (12.87%) Degree
4 28 (8.19%) ISTQB
5 24 (7.02%) Computer Science Degree
6 12 (3.51%) DV Cleared
7 10 (2.92%) CISSP
8 9 (2.63%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (2.63%) CISM
9 6 (1.75%) Azure Certification
10 5 (1.46%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 4 (1.17%) HNC
11 4 (1.17%) HND
11 4 (1.17%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
12 3 (0.88%) EMC Certification
12 3 (0.88%) ISEB
13 2 (0.58%) ACCA
13 2 (0.58%) AWS Certification
13 2 (0.58%) CIMA
13 2 (0.58%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 84 (24.56%) QA
2 24 (7.02%) Accessibility
3 13 (3.80%) NIST
4 10 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (2.63%) WCAG
6 7 (2.05%) PCI DSS
7 6 (1.75%) EU AI Act
7 6 (1.75%) GDPR
8 4 (1.17%) Def Stans
8 4 (1.17%) IEC 61508
9 3 (0.88%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 3 (0.88%) SLA
10 2 (0.58%) GRC
10 2 (0.58%) ISO 9001
10 2 (0.58%) Software Quality Assurance
11 1 (0.29%) HL7
11 1 (0.29%) IEC 61131
11 1 (0.29%) MISRA C
11 1 (0.29%) PMO
11 1 (0.29%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 48 (14.04%) Docker
2 5 (1.46%) Active Directory
2 5 (1.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.88%) Virtual Machines
3 3 (0.88%) VMware NSX
4 1 (0.29%) Embedded Firmware
4 1 (0.29%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 41 (11.99%) Kubernetes
2 15 (4.39%) Ansible
3 10 (2.92%) Terraform
4 5 (1.46%) Grafana
5 4 (1.17%) Functional Safety
5 4 (1.17%) HP ALM
6 3 (0.88%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 3 (0.88%) HP Quality Center
6 3 (0.88%) Puppet
6 3 (0.88%) vCenter Server
6 3 (0.88%) WSUS
7 2 (0.58%) Nessus
8 1 (0.29%) Control-M
8 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Intune
8 1 (0.29%) Nmap
8 1 (0.29%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.29%) Rsyslog
8 1 (0.29%) SCOM
Vendors
1 59 (17.25%) Microsoft
2 29 (8.48%) Oracle
3 11 (3.22%) Google
4 10 (2.92%) CyberArk
4 10 (2.92%) Splunk
5 9 (2.63%) BeyondTrust
5 9 (2.63%) Thycotic
6 8 (2.34%) Cisco
6 8 (2.34%) Salesforce
7 7 (2.05%) Atlassian
8 6 (1.75%) HP
8 6 (1.75%) VMware
9 5 (1.46%) CA Agile Central
9 5 (1.46%) Dynatrace
9 5 (1.46%) Juniper
9 5 (1.46%) Nokia
10 4 (1.17%) Meraki
10 4 (1.17%) MuleSoft
10 4 (1.17%) ServiceNow
11 3 (0.88%) UiPath