Software Testing Contracts in England

Software Testing
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in England requiring Software Testing skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Software Testing over the 6 months leading up to 2 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Jul 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 253 193 181
Rank change year-on-year -60 -12 -2
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 259 459 667
As % of all contract jobs advertised in England 1.00% 1.23% 1.41%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.10% 1.44% 1.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 317 442
10th Percentile £313 £304 £304
25th Percentile £356 £375 £378
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £438 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.78% -10.00% -
75th Percentile £525 £581 £638
90th Percentile £658 £675 £706
UK median daily rate £438 £457 £499
% change year-on-year -4.27% -8.37% -0.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 52 63
10th Percentile £46.25 £37.55 £42.50
25th Percentile £50.00 £56.25 £47.50
Median hourly rate £55.00 £62.50 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% +0.40%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £87.50 - £74.63
UK median hourly rate £56.25 £62.50 £56.25
% change year-on-year -10.00% +11.11% +10.04%

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 23,546 31,936 42,525
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 91.13% 85.56% 89.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,157 20,719 29,767
10th Percentile £300 £305 £325
25th Percentile £406 £413 £445
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £638 £650 £675
90th Percentile £750 £750 £775
UK median daily rate £505 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -3.86% -4.55% +1.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,176 2,324 1,553
10th Percentile £14.20 £12.79 £11.87
25th Percentile £17.87 £16.06 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £38.12 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year -34.02% +1.65% +44.23%
75th Percentile £55.00 £61.60 £64.63
90th Percentile £72.50 £73.14 £75.82
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £37.50 £36.00
% change year-on-year -32.93% +4.17% +38.46%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Job postings citing Software Testing as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in England.

Job vacancy trend for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Software Testing in England.

Daily rate trend for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Testing in England over the 6 months to 2 July 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in England

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Software Testing in England.

Hourly rate trend for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Testing in England over the 6 months to 2 July 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 2 July 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 -44 114 £438 -7.89% 698
South East +34 55 £400 - 372
South West +36 27 £475 -16.48% 165
North of England -37 22 £475 +5.56% 280
East of England +5 20 £475 -24.00% 181
Midlands -8 15 £356 -10.94% 172
North West -8 12 £425 +10.46% 164
West Midlands -3 9 £423 +9.17% 90
Yorkshire -30 8 £520 +15.50% 95
East Midlands +2 6 £340 -32.00% 83
North East -1 2 - - 21
Software Testing
UK

Software Testing
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in England by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 12 (4.63%) Confluence
2 5 (1.93%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.54%) JBoss
4 3 (1.16%) CICS
5 1 (0.39%) Apache
5 1 (0.39%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.39%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.39%) CMS
5 1 (0.39%) MQSeries
5 1 (0.39%) Oracle Workflow
5 1 (0.39%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.39%) Umbraco
5 1 (0.39%) WebLogic
5 1 (0.39%) WebSphere
Applications
1 8 (3.09%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.54%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.77%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.39%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.39%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.39%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 3 (1.16%) Dynamics CRM
1 3 (1.16%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.77%) Maximo
2 2 (0.77%) NEC Housing
2 2 (0.77%) Salesforce CRM
2 2 (0.77%) Unit4 Business World
3 1 (0.39%) Cerner Millennium
3 1 (0.39%) LabWindows
3 1 (0.39%) SAP CRM
3 1 (0.39%) Temenos T24
Cloud Services
1 60 (23.17%) Azure
2 42 (16.22%) Azure DevOps
3 28 (10.81%) AWS
4 9 (3.47%) GitHub
5 6 (2.32%) Serverless
6 5 (1.93%) Power Platform
7 4 (1.54%) Azure Functions
7 4 (1.54%) Cloud Computing
7 4 (1.54%) GCP
8 3 (1.16%) Azure Event Grid
8 3 (1.16%) Dynamics 365
8 3 (1.16%) OpenShift
8 3 (1.16%) SaaS
9 2 (0.77%) Amazon EC2
9 2 (0.77%) Amazon S3
9 2 (0.77%) AWS Lambda
9 2 (0.77%) Azure Pipelines
9 2 (0.77%) Boomi
9 2 (0.77%) Power Automate
10 1 (0.39%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 8 (3.09%) 5G NR
2 6 (2.32%) Firewall
2 6 (2.32%) SNMP
2 6 (2.32%) Software-Defined Radio
3 4 (1.54%) 5G
3 4 (1.54%) Ethernet
4 3 (1.16%) HTTP
5 2 (0.77%) 4G
5 2 (0.77%) Diameter Protocol
5 2 (0.77%) LTE
5 2 (0.77%) Radio Access Network
5 2 (0.77%) SAN
5 2 (0.77%) SIGTRAN
5 2 (0.77%) SMS
5 2 (0.77%) SS7
5 2 (0.77%) VoLTE
5 2 (0.77%) VoWiFi
5 2 (0.77%) Wireshark
6 1 (0.39%) Modbus
6 1 (0.39%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (8.11%) SQL Server
2 11 (4.25%) Oracle Database
3 8 (3.09%) MongoDB
4 7 (2.70%) MS Access
5 4 (1.54%) InterSystems Cache
5 4 (1.54%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (1.16%) DB2
6 3 (1.16%) Redis
6 3 (1.16%) Relational Database
7 2 (0.77%) Big Data
7 2 (0.77%) Power BI
8 1 (0.39%) BigQuery
8 1 (0.39%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.39%) Elasticsearch
8 1 (0.39%) KDB
8 1 (0.39%) Kdb+
8 1 (0.39%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.39%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 55 (21.24%) JIRA
2 46 (17.76%) Selenium
3 44 (16.99%) Jenkins
4 38 (14.67%) Git
5 24 (9.27%) Cucumber
6 19 (7.34%) SoapUI
7 18 (6.95%) Postman
8 15 (5.79%) JMeter
9 13 (5.02%) JUnit
10 12 (4.63%) GitLab
10 12 (4.63%) Maven
11 10 (3.86%) Appium
11 10 (3.86%) Cypress.io
11 10 (3.86%) QARun
11 10 (3.86%) WinRunner
12 9 (3.47%) IntelliJ
12 9 (3.47%) LoadRunner
12 9 (3.47%) SpecFlow
13 8 (3.09%) HP UFT
13 8 (3.09%) WebDriver
General
1 99 (38.22%) Social Skills
2 51 (19.69%) Finance
3 39 (15.06%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (7.72%) Public Sector
5 18 (6.95%) Banking
6 7 (2.70%) Documentation Skills
7 6 (2.32%) Manufacturing
7 6 (2.32%) Telecoms
8 5 (1.93%) Pharmaceutical
8 5 (1.93%) Presentation Skills
9 4 (1.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 3 (1.16%) Billing
10 3 (1.16%) Electronics
10 3 (1.16%) Marketing
10 3 (1.16%) Organisational Skills
10 3 (1.16%) Private Banking
11 2 (0.77%) Aerospace
11 2 (0.77%) Investment Banking
11 2 (0.77%) Law
11 2 (0.77%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 44 (16.99%) Tester
2 39 (15.06%) Analyst
3 38 (14.67%) Test Analyst
4 36 (13.90%) Lead
5 32 (12.36%) Senior
6 26 (10.04%) Test Engineer
7 23 (8.88%) Developer
8 20 (7.72%) Test Leader
9 17 (6.56%) Software Engineer
10 14 (5.41%) Automation Tester
10 14 (5.41%) Senior Analyst
10 14 (5.41%) Senior Test Analyst
10 14 (5.41%) Software Test Engineer
10 14 (5.41%) Software Tester
11 13 (5.02%) Test Manager
12 11 (4.25%) Software Developer
13 10 (3.86%) Consultant
13 10 (3.86%) QA Engineer
14 9 (3.47%) Developer in Test
15 8 (3.09%) SC Cleared Test Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (7.72%) SOAP
2 16 (6.18%) .NET
2 16 (6.18%) Web Services
2 16 (6.18%) XML
3 15 (5.79%) REST
4 13 (5.02%) Kafka
4 13 (5.02%) Playwright
5 12 (4.63%) HTML
6 10 (3.86%) CSS
6 10 (3.86%) Middleware
7 8 (3.09%) Spring
8 6 (2.32%) .NET Framework
8 6 (2.32%) AngularJS
8 6 (2.32%) Swagger
9 5 (1.93%) ADO
9 5 (1.93%) Bootstrap
9 5 (1.93%) Node.js
9 5 (1.93%) Spring Boot
10 4 (1.54%) Play Framework
10 4 (1.54%) Spring MVC
Miscellaneous
1 16 (6.18%) Self-Motivation
2 14 (5.41%) Product Ownership
3 8 (3.09%) Distributed Systems
4 6 (2.32%) Data Structures
4 6 (2.32%) Mainframe
5 5 (1.93%) Operational Technology
5 5 (1.93%) Public Cloud
6 4 (1.54%) Data Protection Act
6 4 (1.54%) Mobile App
6 4 (1.54%) Onboarding
6 4 (1.54%) Virtual Team
7 3 (1.16%) Linux Command Line
7 3 (1.16%) Management Information System
7 3 (1.16%) Online Banking
7 3 (1.16%) PCIe
7 3 (1.16%) VSAM
8 2 (0.77%) Analytical Mindset
8 2 (0.77%) Housing Association
8 2 (0.77%) Legacy Applications
8 2 (0.77%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 34 (13.13%) Linux
2 29 (11.20%) Windows
3 18 (6.95%) Unix
4 11 (4.25%) Apple iOS
5 7 (2.70%) Android
6 3 (1.16%) FreeRTOS
7 2 (0.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.39%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.39%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.39%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 142 (54.83%) Test Automation
2 121 (46.72%) Agile
3 81 (31.27%) DevOps
4 70 (27.03%) Problem-Solving
5 51 (19.69%) CI/CD
6 45 (17.37%) Integration Testing
6 45 (17.37%) Test Strategy
7 43 (16.60%) Test Scripting
8 41 (15.83%) Validation
9 36 (13.90%) Waterfall
10 35 (13.51%) User Acceptance Testing
11 34 (13.13%) Manual Testing
12 32 (12.36%) Scrum
12 32 (12.36%) Software Engineering
13 31 (11.97%) SDLC
14 30 (11.58%) Stakeholder Management
15 28 (10.81%) Continuous Improvement
15 28 (10.81%) Defect Management
16 27 (10.42%) Performance Testing
16 27 (10.42%) System Integration Testing
Programming Languages
1 65 (25.10%) Java
2 39 (15.06%) Python
3 38 (14.67%) SQL
4 35 (13.51%) C#
5 32 (12.36%) JavaScript
6 11 (4.25%) Bash
6 11 (4.25%) C++
7 10 (3.86%) VB
8 8 (3.09%) TypeScript
9 7 (2.70%) Shell Script
10 6 (2.32%) Scala
11 5 (1.93%) C
12 4 (1.54%) COBOL
12 4 (1.54%) Groovy
12 4 (1.54%) JCL
12 4 (1.54%) MUMPS
12 4 (1.54%) PHP
12 4 (1.54%) Ruby
13 3 (1.16%) Ada
13 3 (1.16%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 85 (32.82%) Security Cleared
2 62 (23.94%) SC Cleared
3 24 (9.27%) Degree
4 22 (8.49%) DV Cleared
5 20 (7.72%) ISTQB
6 14 (5.41%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (3.09%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 5 (1.93%) BPSS Clearance
9 4 (1.54%) Azure Certification
9 4 (1.54%) ISEB
10 2 (0.77%) HNC
10 2 (0.77%) HND
10 2 (0.77%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
11 1 (0.39%) AWS Certification
11 1 (0.39%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 1 (0.39%) EMC Certification
11 1 (0.39%) ISEB Practitioner
11 1 (0.39%) Master's Degree
11 1 (0.39%) PMP
11 1 (0.39%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 76 (29.34%) QA
2 10 (3.86%) Def Stans
3 6 (2.32%) Accessibility
4 5 (1.93%) GxP
5 2 (0.77%) IEC 61508
5 2 (0.77%) ISO 9001
5 2 (0.77%) PMO
6 1 (0.39%) HL7
6 1 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 1 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 1 (0.39%) MISRA
6 1 (0.39%) MISRA C
6 1 (0.39%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 1 (0.39%) SLA
6 1 (0.39%) WCAG
System Software
1 8 (3.09%) VMware Infrastructure
2 6 (2.32%) Active Directory
2 6 (2.32%) Docker
3 5 (1.93%) Firmware
4 1 (0.39%) HDFS
4 1 (0.39%) Microsoft App-V
4 1 (0.39%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
4 1 (0.39%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 9 (3.47%) Ansible
2 8 (3.09%) Kubernetes
3 6 (2.32%) Terraform
4 4 (1.54%) HP ALM
4 4 (1.54%) Perfmon
5 2 (0.77%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.77%) HP Quality Center
5 2 (0.77%) Microsoft Intune
5 2 (0.77%) Puppet
5 2 (0.77%) SCCM
6 1 (0.39%) Argo
6 1 (0.39%) QRadar
6 1 (0.39%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 38 (14.67%) Microsoft
2 17 (6.56%) Oracle
3 10 (3.86%) VMware
4 8 (3.09%) Dynatrace
4 8 (3.09%) Salesforce
4 8 (3.09%) Splunk
5 7 (2.70%) Citrix
5 7 (2.70%) SAP
6 6 (2.32%) Atlassian
6 6 (2.32%) Google
6 6 (2.32%) HP
6 6 (2.32%) ServiceNow
7 5 (1.93%) New Relic
7 5 (1.93%) Red Hat
8 4 (1.54%) Bloomberg
8 4 (1.54%) IBM
8 4 (1.54%) Reuters
9 3 (1.16%) CA Agile Central
9 3 (1.16%) Denodo
9 3 (1.16%) Nokia