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 12 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 262 238 202
Rank change year-on-year -24 -36 -16
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 437 295 448
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.97% 1.08% 1.22%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.13% 1.19% 1.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 234 199 313
10th Percentile £300 £313 £311
25th Percentile £394 £358 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £438 £450
Median % change year-on-year +8.57% -2.78% -10.00%
75th Percentile £575 £525 £581
90th Percentile £646 £643 £674
UK median daily rate £475 £438 £455
% change year-on-year +8.57% -3.85% -9.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 59 27 48
10th Percentile £17.50 £48.50 £37.55
25th Percentile £53.90 £50.53 £56.10
Median hourly rate £65.00 £57.50 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year +13.04% -8.00% +10.89%
75th Percentile £70.00 £67.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £81.50 -
UK median hourly rate £67.50 £57.63 £62.50
% change year-on-year +17.14% -7.80% +8.70%

All Process & 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 38,560 24,752 31,552
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 85.53% 90.73% 85.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,293 15,918 20,488
10th Percentile £325 £300 £308
25th Percentile £419 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £514 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.14% -2.10% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £645
90th Percentile £733 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £518 £501 £525
% change year-on-year +3.40% -4.67% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,394 1,279 2,235
10th Percentile £15.35 £14.28 £13.00
25th Percentile £20.87 £17.99 £16.25
Median hourly rate £47.00 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +86.88% -34.02% -6.09%
75th Percentile £68.75 £54.88 £62.50
90th Percentile £82.85 £72.50 £72.50
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +74.79% -34.02% -4.70%

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 12 July 2026.

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 12 July 2026.

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 12 July 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
London -27 156 £475 +11.76% 65
South East -58 69 £490 +22.50% 67
Midlands -3 58 £511 +43.51% 31
North of England -58 54 £475 +3.26% 49
West Midlands -18 52 £510 +20.71% 21
East of England -1 50 £300 -36.95% 37
South West -16 46 £410 -13.79% 39
North East -13 24 £450 - 15
Yorkshire -51 17 £475 +1.06% 10
North West -45 15 £500 +17.65% 24
East Midlands -15 6 £575 +69.12% 10
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 15 (3.43%) Confluence
2 12 (2.75%) Apache Airflow
3 11 (2.52%) SAS
4 9 (2.06%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.46%) IIS
5 2 (0.46%) SharePoint
6 1 (0.23%) Apache
6 1 (0.23%) IBM HTTP Server
6 1 (0.23%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.23%) WebSphere
Applications
1 11 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.60%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.92%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.46%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.46%) Simulink
5 1 (0.23%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.23%) Trello
Business Applications
1 6 (1.37%) Findur
1 6 (1.37%) Payment Gateway
2 4 (0.92%) Aladdin
2 4 (0.92%) Maximo
3 3 (0.69%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.46%) Oracle EBS R12
4 2 (0.46%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.23%) Bloomberg TOMS
5 1 (0.23%) Eikon
5 1 (0.23%) Misys Equation
5 1 (0.23%) Misys Midas
5 1 (0.23%) NEC Housing
5 1 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.23%) Primavera
5 1 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.23%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 99 (22.65%) Azure
2 84 (19.22%) AWS
3 56 (12.81%) Azure DevOps
4 31 (7.09%) GitHub
5 26 (5.95%) Serverless
6 24 (5.49%) AWS Lambda
7 23 (5.26%) Amazon S3
8 21 (4.81%) GCP
9 12 (2.75%) GitHub Actions
10 11 (2.52%) PaaS
11 9 (2.06%) Entra ID
11 9 (2.06%) OpenShift
11 9 (2.06%) Snowflake
12 8 (1.83%) Amazon EC2
12 8 (1.83%) Power Platform
13 7 (1.60%) Virtual Private Cloud
14 6 (1.37%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 6 (1.37%) Amazon ECS
14 6 (1.37%) AWS CloudFormation
14 6 (1.37%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.06%) Ethernet
2 6 (1.37%) DNS
2 6 (1.37%) Firewall
3 5 (1.14%) Software-Defined Radio
3 5 (1.14%) Wireless
4 4 (0.92%) Reverse Proxy
4 4 (0.92%) RS-232
4 4 (0.92%) RS-422
5 3 (0.69%) DHCP
5 3 (0.69%) Internet
5 3 (0.69%) Modbus
5 3 (0.69%) Network Security
5 3 (0.69%) RS-485
6 2 (0.46%) 4G
6 2 (0.46%) 5G
6 2 (0.46%) TCP/IP
7 1 (0.23%) Broadband
7 1 (0.23%) FTP
7 1 (0.23%) GSM
7 1 (0.23%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (5.26%) Relational Database
2 20 (4.58%) PostgreSQL
3 17 (3.89%) Oracle Database
4 14 (3.20%) SQL Server
5 13 (2.97%) MySQL
6 11 (2.52%) Big Data
6 11 (2.52%) DynamoDB
6 11 (2.52%) SAS Enterprise Guide
7 10 (2.29%) SAS Visual Analytics
8 8 (1.83%) Data Warehouse
8 8 (1.83%) MongoDB
9 7 (1.60%) Amazon Redshift
9 7 (1.60%) NoSQL
10 6 (1.37%) Power BI
11 5 (1.14%) Amazon Athena
12 4 (0.92%) Amazon QuickSight
12 4 (0.92%) Elasticsearch
12 4 (0.92%) Redis
13 3 (0.69%) Parquet
13 3 (0.69%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 77 (17.62%) JIRA
2 51 (11.67%) Selenium
3 49 (11.21%) Git
4 34 (7.78%) Postman
5 30 (6.86%) GitLab
5 30 (6.86%) Jenkins
6 29 (6.64%) Cucumber
7 28 (6.41%) JUnit
8 27 (6.18%) REST Assured
9 17 (3.89%) Cypress.io
10 14 (3.20%) WebDriver
11 13 (2.97%) Rational DOORS
12 12 (2.75%) TestRail
13 11 (2.52%) Zephyr
14 9 (2.06%) Gatling
14 9 (2.06%) JMeter
15 7 (1.60%) Maven
16 6 (1.37%) Gradle
16 6 (1.37%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
17 5 (1.14%) SonarQube
General
1 126 (28.83%) Social Skills
2 85 (19.45%) Finance
3 70 (16.02%) Analytical Skills
4 49 (11.21%) Public Sector
5 32 (7.32%) Banking
6 21 (4.81%) Aerospace
7 20 (4.58%) Automotive
8 13 (2.97%) Back Office
9 11 (2.52%) Documentation Skills
10 10 (2.29%) Electronics
10 10 (2.29%) Law
11 8 (1.83%) Front Office
11 8 (1.83%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.60%) Military
13 5 (1.14%) Avionics
13 5 (1.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.14%) Legal
13 5 (1.14%) Manufacturing
14 4 (0.92%) Telecoms
15 3 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 68 (15.56%) Software Engineer
1 68 (15.56%) Test Engineer
2 61 (13.96%) Senior
3 60 (13.73%) Developer
4 35 (8.01%) Analyst
5 32 (7.32%) Tester
6 30 (6.86%) Lead
7 26 (5.95%) Java Developer
7 26 (5.95%) Software Test Engineer
8 19 (4.35%) Architect
9 18 (4.12%) QA Engineer
10 17 (3.89%) Principal Engineer
10 17 (3.89%) Software Developer
10 17 (3.89%) Test Analyst
11 16 (3.66%) Test Manager
12 15 (3.43%) Principal Software Engineer
13 14 (3.20%) Salesforce Engineer
14 13 (2.97%) Software Architect
14 13 (2.97%) Test Automation Engineer
15 12 (2.75%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (9.84%) Playwright
2 40 (9.15%) React
3 39 (8.92%) REST
3 39 (8.92%) Spring
4 26 (5.95%) .NET
4 26 (5.95%) Spring Boot
5 25 (5.72%) RESTful
6 20 (4.58%) Kafka
7 14 (3.20%) CSS
7 14 (3.20%) HTML
7 14 (3.20%) Node.js
8 12 (2.75%) Redux
9 10 (2.29%) Jest
10 9 (2.06%) CSS3
10 9 (2.06%) HTML5
11 8 (1.83%) AngularJS
11 8 (1.83%) Spring MVC
12 7 (1.60%) Software Packaging
13 6 (1.37%) .NET Core
13 6 (1.37%) .NET Framework
Miscellaneous
1 45 (10.30%) Product Ownership
2 28 (6.41%) Enterprise Software
3 26 (5.95%) Embedded Systems
4 25 (5.72%) Cloud Native
5 22 (5.03%) Self-Motivation
6 21 (4.81%) Distributed Systems
7 15 (3.43%) Management Information System
8 12 (2.75%) Legacy Systems
9 11 (2.52%) Data Centre
10 9 (2.06%) Data Protection Act
11 6 (1.37%) Greenfield Project
12 5 (1.14%) FPGA
12 5 (1.14%) Mobile App
12 5 (1.14%) Onboarding
12 5 (1.14%) PCIe
12 5 (1.14%) Public Cloud
12 5 (1.14%) Virtual Team
13 4 (0.92%) Analytical Mindset
14 3 (0.69%) AI Agents
14 3 (0.69%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 29 (6.64%) Windows
2 26 (5.95%) Linux
3 9 (2.06%) Unix
4 6 (1.37%) FreeRTOS
4 6 (1.37%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.92%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.69%) Android
6 3 (0.69%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.46%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.46%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.46%) zOS
8 1 (0.23%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 206 (47.14%) Test Automation
2 176 (40.27%) Agile
3 159 (36.38%) CI/CD
4 140 (32.04%) DevOps
5 123 (28.15%) Software Engineering
6 89 (20.37%) Continuous Improvement
7 87 (19.91%) Problem-Solving
8 75 (17.16%) Test Scripting
9 68 (15.56%) Scrum
9 68 (15.56%) SDLC
10 67 (15.33%) Validation
11 65 (14.87%) Test Strategy
12 57 (13.04%) User Acceptance Testing
13 53 (12.13%) Regression Testing
14 51 (11.67%) Code Quality
15 48 (10.98%) Defect Management
16 46 (10.53%) Mentoring
16 46 (10.53%) Microservices
17 43 (9.84%) Test Management
18 41 (9.38%) TDD
Programming Languages
1 84 (19.22%) Java
2 80 (18.31%) Python
3 57 (13.04%) SQL
4 43 (9.84%) JavaScript
5 42 (9.61%) C#
6 34 (7.78%) TypeScript
7 23 (5.26%) C++
8 19 (4.35%) C
9 12 (2.75%) PowerShell
10 7 (1.60%) Bash
11 6 (1.37%) PL/SQL
12 5 (1.14%) Apex Code
12 5 (1.14%) Go
13 3 (0.69%) Ada
13 3 (0.69%) Kotlin
13 3 (0.69%) MATLAB
13 3 (0.69%) Rust
13 3 (0.69%) T-SQL
13 3 (0.69%) VB
14 2 (0.46%) REXX
Qualifications
1 138 (31.58%) Security Cleared
2 111 (25.40%) SC Cleared
3 46 (10.53%) Degree
4 38 (8.70%) ISTQB
5 23 (5.26%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
6 11 (2.52%) Computer Science Degree
7 10 (2.29%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (2.06%) DV Cleared
8 9 (2.06%) ISEB
9 5 (1.14%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
10 4 (0.92%) CEH
10 4 (0.92%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (0.92%) CISSP
10 4 (0.92%) CompTIA Security+
11 3 (0.69%) CCNA
12 2 (0.46%) A+ Certification
12 2 (0.46%) IIBA
12 2 (0.46%) Network+ Certification
12 2 (0.46%) PMI Certification
12 2 (0.46%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 96 (21.97%) QA
2 18 (4.12%) Accessibility
3 11 (2.52%) Data Quality
4 9 (2.06%) WCAG
5 8 (1.83%) PMO
6 5 (1.14%) Software Quality Assurance
7 4 (0.92%) NIST
7 4 (0.92%) SLA
8 3 (0.69%) ISO 20022
9 2 (0.46%) GRC
9 2 (0.46%) ISO 15022
9 2 (0.46%) MiFID
10 1 (0.23%) MIL-STD-1553
10 1 (0.23%) SEPA
System Software
1 40 (9.15%) Docker
2 13 (2.97%) Active Directory
3 10 (2.29%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (1.37%) Firmware
4 6 (1.37%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (0.92%) Embedded Firmware
6 3 (0.69%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.69%) VMware Workstation
7 2 (0.46%) NFS
7 2 (0.46%) Time Sharing Option
8 1 (0.23%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
Systems Management
1 50 (11.44%) Kubernetes
2 24 (5.49%) Terraform
3 15 (3.43%) Ansible
4 11 (2.52%) Prometheus
5 10 (2.29%) Grafana
5 10 (2.29%) HP ALM
6 7 (1.60%) Microsoft Intune
7 6 (1.37%) HP Quality Center
8 5 (1.14%) Puppet
8 5 (1.14%) SCCM
9 4 (0.92%) Packer
9 4 (0.92%) Salt
10 2 (0.46%) Kibana
10 2 (0.46%) Tivoli Storage Manager
11 1 (0.23%) Oracle ZFS
11 1 (0.23%) PTC Integrity
11 1 (0.23%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 35 (8.01%) Microsoft
1 35 (8.01%) Oracle
2 19 (4.35%) Salesforce
3 16 (3.66%) IBM
4 11 (2.52%) VMware
5 10 (2.29%) HP
6 9 (2.06%) Dell
6 9 (2.06%) SAP
7 8 (1.83%) Citrix
8 7 (1.60%) Splunk
9 6 (1.37%) Conga
9 6 (1.37%) GoCardless
9 6 (1.37%) OpenLink
10 5 (1.14%) Ab Initio
10 5 (1.14%) Google
10 5 (1.14%) ServiceNow
10 5 (1.14%) Teradata
11 4 (0.92%) Fortinet
12 3 (0.69%) Palo Alto
12 3 (0.69%) Siemens