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

6 months to
2 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 255 258 201
Rank change year-on-year +3 -57 -41
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 467 278 408
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.02% 1.02% 1.23%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.21% 1.12% 1.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 244 174 271
10th Percentile £270 £313 £325
25th Percentile £400 £358 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £436 £463
Median % change year-on-year +14.61% -5.68% -9.31%
75th Percentile £582 £525 £588
90th Percentile £688 £625 £663
UK median daily rate £490 £440 £463
% change year-on-year +11.36% -4.86% -7.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 31 25
10th Percentile £25.71 £26.25 £31.14
25th Percentile £55.66 £50.00 £54.63
Median hourly rate £64.00 £55.00 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year +16.36% -12.00% -0.79%
75th Percentile £70.00 £67.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £74.00 £77.50 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £64.00 £55.00 £61.97
% change year-on-year +16.36% -11.24% +0.99%

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 38,700 24,856 28,392
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 84.86% 90.77% 85.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,864 15,818 18,112
10th Percentile £325 £300 £313
25th Percentile £425 £404 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £510 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
75th Percentile £631 £625 £650
90th Percentile £738 £738 £753
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,605 1,463 1,438
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.25 £14.16
25th Percentile £18.50 £17.87 £18.56
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -41.51% +1.18%
75th Percentile £68.00 £50.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £68.75 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £41.00 £25.15 £42.50
% change year-on-year +63.02% -40.82% +2.41%

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 2 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 2 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 2 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 -19 164 £539 +26.82% 312
South East -50 80 £413 +3.31% 128
Midlands -1 73 £488 +15.38% 84
West Midlands +7 68 £475 -7.77% 55
North of England -56 61 £475 +9.20% 104
East of England +2 46 £74 -86.04% 92
South West -23 39 £410 -6.29% 74
North East -21 29 £500 +17.65% 15
North West -40 19 £470 +27.09% 69
Yorkshire -49 15 £450 -2.17% 22
East Midlands -15 5 £575 +69.12% 29
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 13 (2.78%) Confluence
2 11 (2.36%) Apache Airflow
3 10 (2.14%) SAS
4 7 (1.50%) SharePoint
5 6 (1.28%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.64%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 2 (0.43%) IIS
8 1 (0.21%) Apache
8 1 (0.21%) IBM HTTP Server
8 1 (0.21%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 13 (2.78%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (2.14%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 4 (0.86%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (0.86%) Trello
4 3 (0.64%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.43%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 6 (1.28%) Findur
1 6 (1.28%) Payment Gateway
2 3 (0.64%) Aladdin
2 3 (0.64%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.64%) Primavera
3 2 (0.43%) Bloomberg TOMS
3 2 (0.43%) Eikon
4 1 (0.21%) Misys Equation
4 1 (0.21%) Misys Midas
4 1 (0.21%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.21%) Oracle EBS R12
4 1 (0.21%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.21%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.21%) Shopify
4 1 (0.21%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 112 (23.98%) AWS
2 100 (21.41%) Azure
3 45 (9.64%) Azure DevOps
4 44 (9.42%) GitHub
5 25 (5.35%) GCP
6 20 (4.28%) GitHub Copilot
7 18 (3.85%) GitHub Actions
8 15 (3.21%) Serverless
9 13 (2.78%) AWS Lambda
10 11 (2.36%) PaaS
11 9 (1.93%) Amazon S3
11 9 (1.93%) Power Platform
12 8 (1.71%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 8 (1.71%) SaaS
13 6 (1.28%) Anthropic Claude
13 6 (1.28%) Entra ID
13 6 (1.28%) OpenShift
14 5 (1.07%) Amazon EC2
14 5 (1.07%) Google Gemini
14 5 (1.07%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 7 (1.50%) DNS
1 7 (1.50%) Ethernet
2 5 (1.07%) Software-Defined Radio
2 5 (1.07%) Wireless
3 4 (0.86%) DHCP
3 4 (0.86%) Firewall
3 4 (0.86%) Internet
3 4 (0.86%) Network Security
4 2 (0.43%) BGP
4 2 (0.43%) MPLS
4 2 (0.43%) Reverse Proxy
4 2 (0.43%) SSL
4 2 (0.43%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.21%) GSM
5 1 (0.21%) HTTP
5 1 (0.21%) IPv4
5 1 (0.21%) IPv6
5 1 (0.21%) SSH
5 1 (0.21%) UMTS
5 1 (0.21%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (5.57%) Relational Database
2 17 (3.64%) SQL Server
3 15 (3.21%) MongoDB
4 13 (2.78%) NoSQL
4 13 (2.78%) Oracle Database
5 10 (2.14%) SAS Enterprise Guide
5 10 (2.14%) SAS Visual Analytics
6 9 (1.93%) MySQL
6 9 (1.93%) PostgreSQL
7 7 (1.50%) Big Data
7 7 (1.50%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (1.50%) DynamoDB
7 7 (1.50%) Elasticsearch
8 6 (1.28%) Power BI
9 4 (0.86%) Oracle Reports
9 4 (0.86%) Redis
10 3 (0.64%) Amazon Athena
10 3 (0.64%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.64%) Parquet
10 3 (0.64%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 75 (16.06%) Git
2 74 (15.85%) Selenium
3 71 (15.20%) JIRA
4 43 (9.21%) GitLab
5 42 (8.99%) Cucumber
6 38 (8.14%) Postman
7 34 (7.28%) JUnit
8 29 (6.21%) Jenkins
9 22 (4.71%) Gatling
9 22 (4.71%) REST Assured
10 13 (2.78%) Cypress.io
10 13 (2.78%) SonarQube
11 12 (2.57%) JMeter
11 12 (2.57%) Rational DOORS
11 12 (2.57%) WebDriver
12 10 (2.14%) Zephyr
13 9 (1.93%) Maven
13 9 (1.93%) TestRail
14 8 (1.71%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
14 8 (1.71%) Visual Studio
General
1 150 (32.12%) Social Skills
2 94 (20.13%) Finance
3 72 (15.42%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (12.63%) Public Sector
5 50 (10.71%) Banking
6 26 (5.57%) Automotive
7 25 (5.35%) Aerospace
8 14 (3.00%) Back Office
8 14 (3.00%) Front Office
9 10 (2.14%) Law
9 10 (2.14%) Organisational Skills
10 9 (1.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (1.71%) Retail
11 8 (1.71%) Telecoms
12 7 (1.50%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.50%) Electronics
12 7 (1.50%) Manufacturing
13 6 (1.28%) Military
14 5 (1.07%) Avionics
14 5 (1.07%) Legal
Job Titles
1 71 (15.20%) Developer
1 71 (15.20%) Software Engineer
2 67 (14.35%) Senior
2 67 (14.35%) Test Engineer
3 39 (8.35%) Analyst
4 27 (5.78%) Test Manager
5 26 (5.57%) Software Test Engineer
5 26 (5.57%) Tester
6 24 (5.14%) Java Developer
6 24 (5.14%) Lead
7 23 (4.93%) Software Developer
8 19 (4.07%) QA Engineer
8 19 (4.07%) Quality Engineer
9 18 (3.85%) Test Analyst
9 18 (3.85%) Test Automation Engineer
10 17 (3.64%) Senior Developer
11 15 (3.21%) Principal Engineer
12 14 (3.00%) Architect
13 13 (2.78%) Principal Software Engineer
13 13 (2.78%) Software Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (10.49%) Playwright
2 48 (10.28%) REST
3 45 (9.64%) Spring
4 43 (9.21%) React
5 38 (8.14%) .NET
6 32 (6.85%) Kafka
7 28 (6.00%) Terraform
8 26 (5.57%) RESTful
8 26 (5.57%) Spring Boot
9 19 (4.07%) Node.js
10 16 (3.43%) AngularJS
11 14 (3.00%) HTML
12 12 (2.57%) JSON
12 12 (2.57%) XML
13 11 (2.36%) SOAP
13 11 (2.36%) WireMock
14 10 (2.14%) CSS
14 10 (2.14%) Gherkin
14 10 (2.14%) Redux
15 9 (1.93%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 46 (9.85%) Product Ownership
2 39 (8.35%) Enterprise Software
3 34 (7.28%) Cloud Native
4 24 (5.14%) Embedded Systems
5 22 (4.71%) Self-Motivation
6 19 (4.07%) Distributed Systems
7 12 (2.57%) Management Information System
8 9 (1.93%) Data Protection Act
9 8 (1.71%) Data Structures
9 8 (1.71%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.28%) Algorithms
10 6 (1.28%) Onboarding
10 6 (1.28%) Public Cloud
11 5 (1.07%) Derivative
11 5 (1.07%) Equity Derivative
11 5 (1.07%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 5 (1.07%) FPGA
11 5 (1.07%) PCIe
12 4 (0.86%) Distributed Architecture
12 4 (0.86%) Equities
Operating Systems
1 32 (6.85%) Linux
2 23 (4.93%) Windows
3 10 (2.14%) Unix
4 7 (1.50%) Windows Server
5 6 (1.28%) FreeRTOS
6 4 (0.86%) Android
6 4 (0.86%) Apple iOS
7 3 (0.64%) Embedded Linux
7 3 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.43%) zOS
9 1 (0.21%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 231 (49.46%) Test Automation
2 226 (48.39%) Agile
3 198 (42.40%) CI/CD
4 145 (31.05%) Software Engineering
5 136 (29.12%) DevOps
6 116 (24.84%) Continuous Improvement
7 106 (22.70%) Problem-Solving
8 98 (20.99%) SDLC
9 97 (20.77%) Scrum
10 73 (15.63%) Validation
11 71 (15.20%) Test Strategy
12 67 (14.35%) Defect Management
13 65 (13.92%) Test Scripting
14 63 (13.49%) Microservices
15 61 (13.06%) AI
16 60 (12.85%) Mentoring
17 59 (12.63%) Regression Testing
18 57 (12.21%) Stakeholder Management
18 57 (12.21%) User Acceptance Testing
19 53 (11.35%) Integration Testing
Programming Languages
1 111 (23.77%) Java
2 84 (17.99%) Python
3 76 (16.27%) SQL
4 50 (10.71%) JavaScript
5 38 (8.14%) C#
6 30 (6.42%) TypeScript
7 24 (5.14%) C++
8 16 (3.43%) C
9 12 (2.57%) PowerShell
10 8 (1.71%) Kotlin
11 7 (1.50%) Bash
12 5 (1.07%) Apex Code
12 5 (1.07%) PL/SQL
13 4 (0.86%) Korn
13 4 (0.86%) Ruby
13 4 (0.86%) Scala
14 3 (0.64%) Ada
14 3 (0.64%) MATLAB
14 3 (0.64%) Rust
14 3 (0.64%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 157 (33.62%) Security Cleared
2 127 (27.19%) SC Cleared
3 62 (13.28%) Degree
4 45 (9.64%) ISTQB
5 21 (4.50%) DV Cleared
6 20 (4.28%) BPSS Clearance
7 19 (4.07%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 14 (3.00%) Computer Science Degree
8 14 (3.00%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
9 12 (2.57%) ISEB
10 4 (0.86%) CEH
10 4 (0.86%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (0.86%) CISSP
10 4 (0.86%) CompTIA Security+
11 3 (0.64%) CCNA
12 2 (0.43%) A+ Certification
12 2 (0.43%) ISEB Practitioner
12 2 (0.43%) Network+ Certification
12 2 (0.43%) PMI Certification
12 2 (0.43%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 106 (22.70%) QA
2 33 (7.07%) Accessibility
3 22 (4.71%) WCAG
4 6 (1.28%) Data Quality
5 5 (1.07%) ISO 20022
5 5 (1.07%) NIST
5 5 (1.07%) Software Quality Assurance
6 3 (0.64%) GRC
7 2 (0.43%) ISO 15022
7 2 (0.43%) MISRA
8 1 (0.21%) HL7
8 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.21%) JTAG
8 1 (0.21%) MiFID
8 1 (0.21%) MIL-STD-1553
8 1 (0.21%) PMO
8 1 (0.21%) SLA
System Software
1 56 (11.99%) Docker
2 11 (2.36%) Active Directory
3 6 (1.28%) Firmware
3 6 (1.28%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.07%) Embedded Firmware
5 4 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.64%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.43%) NFS
7 2 (0.43%) Time Sharing Option
7 2 (0.43%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.21%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 64 (13.70%) Kubernetes
2 16 (3.43%) Ansible
3 12 (2.57%) Prometheus
4 9 (1.93%) Grafana
5 6 (1.28%) HP ALM
5 6 (1.28%) Packer
6 4 (0.86%) Puppet
7 2 (0.43%) Argo
7 2 (0.43%) HP Fortify
7 2 (0.43%) HP Quality Center
7 2 (0.43%) Kibana
7 2 (0.43%) Microsoft Intune
7 2 (0.43%) Salt
7 2 (0.43%) SCCM
7 2 (0.43%) Tivoli Storage Manager
8 1 (0.21%) Control-M
8 1 (0.21%) Oracle ZFS
8 1 (0.21%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.21%) PTC Integrity
Vendors
1 37 (7.92%) Oracle
2 32 (6.85%) Microsoft
3 20 (4.28%) IBM
4 17 (3.64%) Salesforce
5 11 (2.36%) SAP
6 7 (1.50%) Google
6 7 (1.50%) Splunk
6 7 (1.50%) VMware
7 6 (1.28%) Conga
7 6 (1.28%) GoCardless
7 6 (1.28%) HP
7 6 (1.28%) OpenLink
8 5 (1.07%) ServiceNow
9 3 (0.64%) Checkmarx
9 3 (0.64%) Citrix
9 3 (0.64%) Databricks
9 3 (0.64%) OpenAI
9 3 (0.64%) UiPath
10 2 (0.43%) Cisco
10 2 (0.43%) Dell