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 14 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 244 252 199
Rank change year-on-year +8 -53 -36
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 490 284 400
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.07% 1.03% 1.22%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.26% 1.13% 1.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 251 181 264
10th Percentile £265 £311 £324
25th Percentile £400 £350 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £435 £453
Median % change year-on-year +9.20% -3.87% -11.71%
75th Percentile £580 £525 £588
90th Percentile £688 £625 £658
UK median daily rate £475 £440 £463
% change year-on-year +7.95% -4.86% -7.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 74 30 21
10th Percentile £26.00 £26.25 £37.55
25th Percentile £54.49 £50.00 £54.63
Median hourly rate £62.00 £55.00 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year +12.73% -12.00% -3.85%
75th Percentile £70.00 £67.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.00 £78.50 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £62.50 £55.00 £57.50
% change year-on-year +13.64% -4.35% -8.00%

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 38,948 25,051 28,234
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 84.68% 90.90% 86.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,873 15,912 17,703
10th Percentile £325 £300 £313
25th Percentile £425 £404 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £508 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.45% -3.33% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £648
90th Percentile £738 £738 £750
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,701 1,483 1,330
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.25 £14.84
25th Percentile £17.85 £17.65 £20.00
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% -1.71%
75th Percentile £68.00 £48.73 £66.58
90th Percentile £80.00 £68.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +59.05% -41.51% +1.18%

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 14 September 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 14 September 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 14 September 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 -28 169 £539 +27.42% 315
South East -25 90 £425 +3.34% 125
Midlands +11 76 £475 +13.10% 95
West Midlands +12 71 £468 -9.22% 59
North of England -57 61 £466 +7.01% 105
East of England -2 48 £74 -86.04% 102
South West -31 39 £410 -4.93% 85
North East -16 29 £500 +37.93% 13
North West -43 19 £464 +30.70% 64
Yorkshire -46 15 £450 -2.17% 30
East Midlands -16 5 £575 +69.12% 35
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 (2.86%) Confluence
2 11 (2.24%) Apache Airflow
3 10 (2.04%) SAS
3 10 (2.04%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.22%) Apache Spark
5 3 (0.61%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.20%) Apache
6 1 (0.20%) IBM HTTP Server
6 1 (0.20%) IIS
6 1 (0.20%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 12 (2.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (2.24%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (0.82%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (0.82%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.82%) Trello
4 2 (0.41%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 6 (1.22%) Findur
1 6 (1.22%) Payment Gateway
2 3 (0.61%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.61%) Primavera
3 2 (0.41%) Bloomberg TOMS
3 2 (0.41%) Eikon
4 1 (0.20%) Aladdin
4 1 (0.20%) Misys Equation
4 1 (0.20%) Misys Midas
4 1 (0.20%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.20%) Oracle EBS R12
4 1 (0.20%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.20%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.20%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.20%) Shopify
4 1 (0.20%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 122 (24.90%) AWS
2 99 (20.20%) Azure
3 48 (9.80%) GitHub
4 44 (8.98%) Azure DevOps
5 24 (4.90%) GCP
6 21 (4.29%) GitHub Actions
6 21 (4.29%) GitHub Copilot
7 15 (3.06%) Serverless
8 13 (2.65%) AWS Lambda
9 12 (2.45%) Amazon S3
10 10 (2.04%) PaaS
11 9 (1.84%) SaaS
12 8 (1.63%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 8 (1.63%) Amazon EC2
12 8 (1.63%) Power Platform
13 7 (1.43%) Snowflake
14 6 (1.22%) Anthropic Claude
14 6 (1.22%) OpenShift
15 4 (0.82%) Amazon EMR
15 4 (0.82%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 9 (1.84%) Ethernet
2 5 (1.02%) DNS
2 5 (1.02%) Software-Defined Radio
2 5 (1.02%) Wireless
3 4 (0.82%) DHCP
3 4 (0.82%) Firewall
3 4 (0.82%) Internet
3 4 (0.82%) Network Security
4 2 (0.41%) BGP
4 2 (0.41%) MPLS
4 2 (0.41%) Reverse Proxy
4 2 (0.41%) SSL
4 2 (0.41%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.20%) GSM
5 1 (0.20%) HTTP
5 1 (0.20%) IPv4
5 1 (0.20%) IPv6
5 1 (0.20%) SSH
5 1 (0.20%) UMTS
5 1 (0.20%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (6.53%) Relational Database
2 19 (3.88%) MongoDB
2 19 (3.88%) SQL Server
3 13 (2.65%) NoSQL
3 13 (2.65%) Oracle Database
4 10 (2.04%) SAS Enterprise Guide
4 10 (2.04%) SAS Visual Analytics
5 9 (1.84%) MySQL
5 9 (1.84%) PostgreSQL
6 7 (1.43%) Big Data
6 7 (1.43%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.43%) DynamoDB
7 6 (1.22%) Elasticsearch
8 5 (1.02%) Power BI
9 4 (0.82%) Oracle Reports
9 4 (0.82%) Redis
10 3 (0.61%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.61%) Parquet
10 3 (0.61%) Snowflake Schema
10 3 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 84 (17.14%) Git
2 83 (16.94%) Selenium
3 70 (14.29%) JIRA
4 46 (9.39%) GitLab
5 44 (8.98%) Cucumber
6 36 (7.35%) Postman
7 35 (7.14%) JUnit
8 32 (6.53%) Jenkins
9 24 (4.90%) Gatling
10 23 (4.69%) REST Assured
11 14 (2.86%) JMeter
12 13 (2.65%) Cypress.io
12 13 (2.65%) Rational DOORS
12 13 (2.65%) SonarQube
13 12 (2.45%) WebDriver
14 10 (2.04%) Zephyr
15 9 (1.84%) Maven
15 9 (1.84%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
16 8 (1.63%) HP UFT
16 8 (1.63%) Visual Studio
General
1 157 (32.04%) Social Skills
2 90 (18.37%) Finance
3 73 (14.90%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (12.65%) Public Sector
5 49 (10.00%) Banking
6 31 (6.33%) Automotive
7 27 (5.51%) Aerospace
8 13 (2.65%) Manufacturing
9 12 (2.45%) Front Office
10 11 (2.24%) Back Office
11 10 (2.04%) Organisational Skills
12 9 (1.84%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 9 (1.84%) Law
12 9 (1.84%) Retail
13 8 (1.63%) Documentation Skills
13 8 (1.63%) Electronics
13 8 (1.63%) Telecoms
14 7 (1.43%) Military
15 5 (1.02%) Avionics
15 5 (1.02%) Legal
Job Titles
1 77 (15.71%) Developer
2 72 (14.69%) Senior
3 71 (14.49%) Test Engineer
4 70 (14.29%) Software Engineer
5 38 (7.76%) Analyst
6 29 (5.92%) Test Manager
7 28 (5.71%) Software Developer
8 27 (5.51%) Java Developer
9 26 (5.31%) Software Test Engineer
9 26 (5.31%) Tester
10 25 (5.10%) Lead
11 19 (3.88%) QA Engineer
11 19 (3.88%) Test Automation Engineer
12 18 (3.67%) Architect
13 17 (3.47%) Quality Engineer
13 17 (3.47%) Senior Developer
13 17 (3.47%) Test Analyst
14 16 (3.27%) Principal Engineer
15 14 (2.86%) Java Engineer
16 13 (2.65%) Software Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (10.41%) Playwright
2 49 (10.00%) Spring
3 46 (9.39%) REST
4 42 (8.57%) React
5 40 (8.16%) .NET
6 32 (6.53%) Kafka
7 30 (6.12%) Spring Boot
8 29 (5.92%) Terraform
9 28 (5.71%) RESTful
10 19 (3.88%) Node.js
11 14 (2.86%) AngularJS
11 14 (2.86%) HTML
12 12 (2.45%) JSON
12 12 (2.45%) XML
13 11 (2.24%) SOAP
13 11 (2.24%) WireMock
14 10 (2.04%) CSS
14 10 (2.04%) Gherkin
14 10 (2.04%) Redux
15 9 (1.84%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 46 (9.39%) Product Ownership
2 38 (7.76%) Enterprise Software
3 35 (7.14%) Cloud Native
4 23 (4.69%) Embedded Systems
5 22 (4.49%) Self-Motivation
6 20 (4.08%) Distributed Systems
7 10 (2.04%) Management Information System
8 8 (1.63%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (1.63%) Data Structures
9 7 (1.43%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.22%) Algorithms
10 6 (1.22%) Distributed Architecture
10 6 (1.22%) Onboarding
10 6 (1.22%) Public Cloud
11 5 (1.02%) Derivative
11 5 (1.02%) Equity Derivative
11 5 (1.02%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 5 (1.02%) FPGA
11 5 (1.02%) PCIe
12 4 (0.82%) Equities
Operating Systems
1 32 (6.53%) Linux
2 23 (4.69%) Windows
3 9 (1.84%) Unix
4 8 (1.63%) Windows Server
5 6 (1.22%) FreeRTOS
6 5 (1.02%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 4 (0.82%) Android
7 4 (0.82%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.61%) Embedded Linux
9 2 (0.41%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 241 (49.18%) Test Automation
2 235 (47.96%) Agile
3 210 (42.86%) CI/CD
4 150 (30.61%) Software Engineering
5 133 (27.14%) DevOps
6 123 (25.10%) Continuous Improvement
7 112 (22.86%) SDLC
8 107 (21.84%) Problem-Solving
9 99 (20.20%) Scrum
10 86 (17.55%) Validation
11 75 (15.31%) Defect Management
12 72 (14.69%) Test Scripting
12 72 (14.69%) Test Strategy
13 66 (13.47%) Mentoring
14 65 (13.27%) Microservices
15 63 (12.86%) AI
15 63 (12.86%) Regression Testing
16 62 (12.65%) API Testing
17 59 (12.04%) Stakeholder Management
18 57 (11.63%) Containerisation
Programming Languages
1 119 (24.29%) Java
2 91 (18.57%) Python
3 89 (18.16%) SQL
4 54 (11.02%) JavaScript
5 39 (7.96%) C#
6 35 (7.14%) TypeScript
7 23 (4.69%) C++
8 15 (3.06%) C
9 14 (2.86%) PowerShell
10 8 (1.63%) Kotlin
11 7 (1.43%) Bash
12 5 (1.02%) Apex Code
12 5 (1.02%) Korn
12 5 (1.02%) PL/SQL
13 4 (0.82%) Ruby
13 4 (0.82%) Scala
14 3 (0.61%) Ada
14 3 (0.61%) Go
14 3 (0.61%) Rust
14 3 (0.61%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 177 (36.12%) Security Cleared
2 139 (28.37%) SC Cleared
3 67 (13.67%) Degree
4 49 (10.00%) ISTQB
5 31 (6.33%) DV Cleared
6 21 (4.29%) BPSS Clearance
7 19 (3.88%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 17 (3.47%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
9 14 (2.86%) Computer Science Degree
10 12 (2.45%) ISEB
11 4 (0.82%) CEH
11 4 (0.82%) Cisco Certification
11 4 (0.82%) CISSP
11 4 (0.82%) CompTIA Security+
12 3 (0.61%) CCNA
13 2 (0.41%) A+ Certification
13 2 (0.41%) ISEB Practitioner
13 2 (0.41%) Network+ Certification
13 2 (0.41%) PMI Certification
13 2 (0.41%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 111 (22.65%) QA
2 38 (7.76%) Accessibility
3 23 (4.69%) WCAG
4 6 (1.22%) Data Quality
4 6 (1.22%) Software Quality Assurance
5 5 (1.02%) ISO 20022
5 5 (1.02%) NIST
6 3 (0.61%) GRC
7 2 (0.41%) AUTOSAR
7 2 (0.41%) ISO 15022
7 2 (0.41%) ISO 26262
7 2 (0.41%) MISRA
8 1 (0.20%) HL7
8 1 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.20%) JTAG
8 1 (0.20%) MiFID
8 1 (0.20%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.20%) PMO
8 1 (0.20%) SLA
System Software
1 61 (12.45%) Docker
2 11 (2.24%) Active Directory
3 6 (1.22%) Firmware
3 6 (1.22%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.02%) Embedded Firmware
5 4 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.61%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.41%) NFS
7 2 (0.41%) Time Sharing Option
7 2 (0.41%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 72 (14.69%) Kubernetes
2 14 (2.86%) Ansible
3 12 (2.45%) Prometheus
4 9 (1.84%) Grafana
5 7 (1.43%) HP ALM
6 6 (1.22%) Packer
7 4 (0.82%) Puppet
8 3 (0.61%) HP Quality Center
9 2 (0.41%) Argo
9 2 (0.41%) Functional Safety
9 2 (0.41%) HP Fortify
9 2 (0.41%) Kibana
9 2 (0.41%) Microsoft Intune
9 2 (0.41%) Salt
9 2 (0.41%) SCCM
9 2 (0.41%) Tivoli Storage Manager
10 1 (0.20%) Control-M
10 1 (0.20%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.20%) PTC Integrity
Vendors
1 37 (7.55%) Oracle
2 34 (6.94%) Microsoft
3 20 (4.08%) IBM
4 17 (3.47%) Salesforce
5 9 (1.84%) SAP
6 7 (1.43%) Google
6 7 (1.43%) HP
6 7 (1.43%) Splunk
6 7 (1.43%) VMware
7 6 (1.22%) Conga
7 6 (1.22%) GoCardless
7 6 (1.22%) OpenLink
8 5 (1.02%) ServiceNow
9 4 (0.82%) Red Hat
10 3 (0.61%) Checkmarx
10 3 (0.61%) Databricks
10 3 (0.61%) UiPath
11 2 (0.41%) Broadcom
11 2 (0.41%) Dynatrace
11 2 (0.41%) OpenAI