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

 6 months to
12 Feb 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 235 208 177
Rank change year-on-year -27 -31 +7
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 394 334 521
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.16% 1.28% 1.39%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.32% 1.43% 1.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 255 199 353
10th Percentile £325 £313 £250
25th Percentile £376 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £475
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% - -9.52%
75th Percentile £538 £621 £600
90th Percentile £602 £688 £675
UK median daily rate £446 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -6.11% - -9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 16 78
10th Percentile £16.35 £57.44 £43.75
25th Percentile £48.13 £62.19 £56.25
Median hourly rate £63.75 £62.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +2.00% -3.85% +30.00%
75th Percentile £67.25 £76.44 -
90th Percentile £68.75 £80.75 £69.00
UK median hourly rate £63.75 £62.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +2.00% -3.85% +40.27%

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 29,739 23,407 32,830
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 87.55% 89.77% 87.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 19,003 14,473 21,878
10th Percentile £308 £310 £300
25th Percentile £412 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,861 738 1,959
10th Percentile £15.09 £15.62 £13.39
25th Percentile £18.00 £21.05 £16.25
Median hourly rate £25.77 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -26.37% - -
75th Percentile £60.61 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £72.90
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £33.07
% change year-on-year -22.62% -1.71% +1.74%

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 February 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 February 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 February 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 -33 161 £450 -7.69% 48
South East -25 65 £460 -23.33% 65
North of England -56 51 £405 - 48
Midlands -29 43 £485 +8.26% 45
South West +3 42 £449 +12.13% 35
West Midlands -30 35 £500 +11.61% 28
Yorkshire -45 28 £475 +15.57% 17
East of England -19 19 £598 +29.19% 25
North West -39 15 £405 +1.25% 30
East Midlands -19 8 £313 - 17
North East - 8 £350 - 1
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 21 (5.33%) Confluence
2 12 (3.05%) SAS
3 7 (1.78%) SharePoint
4 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (1.02%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.76%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.76%) SharePoint Server
7 2 (0.51%) Apache
7 2 (0.51%) JBoss
7 2 (0.51%) WebLogic
8 1 (0.25%) CMS
8 1 (0.25%) WebSphere
Applications
1 11 (2.79%) Microsoft Excel
2 9 (2.28%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.51%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.25%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 2 (0.51%) Aladdin
1 2 (0.51%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.51%) Dynamics NAV
1 2 (0.51%) LabWindows
1 2 (0.51%) Maximo
1 2 (0.51%) Oracle EBS R12
1 2 (0.51%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
2 1 (0.25%) Algo Collateral
2 1 (0.25%) CODA-Financials
2 1 (0.25%) Oracle EBS
2 1 (0.25%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 126 (31.98%) Azure
2 82 (20.81%) Azure DevOps
3 71 (18.02%) AWS
4 35 (8.88%) GitHub
5 32 (8.12%) GCP
6 23 (5.84%) Amazon S3
7 21 (5.33%) GitHub Actions
8 20 (5.08%) AWS Lambda
8 20 (5.08%) Serverless
9 13 (3.30%) Amazon ECS
10 12 (3.05%) AWS CloudFormation
11 10 (2.54%) Snowflake
12 8 (2.03%) Power Platform
13 7 (1.78%) Entra ID
14 6 (1.52%) OpenShift
15 5 (1.27%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 5 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
16 4 (1.02%) Cloud Computing
16 4 (1.02%) SaaS
17 3 (0.76%) Amazon SQS
Communications & Networking
1 5 (1.27%) Ethernet
2 4 (1.02%) DNS
2 4 (1.02%) Firewall
3 3 (0.76%) Internet
3 3 (0.76%) Skype
3 3 (0.76%) SNMP
4 2 (0.51%) Cisco IOS
4 2 (0.51%) FTP
4 2 (0.51%) Intranet
4 2 (0.51%) IOS XR
4 2 (0.51%) SD-WAN
4 2 (0.51%) Spanning Tree
4 2 (0.51%) SSH
4 2 (0.51%) SSL
4 2 (0.51%) TACACS
4 2 (0.51%) TCP/IP
4 2 (0.51%) Wireless
4 2 (0.51%) Wireshark
5 1 (0.25%) Network Security
5 1 (0.25%) Reverse Proxy
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (8.63%) PostgreSQL
2 22 (5.58%) SQL Server
3 20 (5.08%) NoSQL
4 17 (4.31%) MongoDB
5 15 (3.81%) Relational Database
6 13 (3.30%) Oracle Database
7 12 (3.05%) MySQL
7 12 (3.05%) SAS Enterprise Guide
8 11 (2.79%) BigQuery
9 6 (1.52%) Apache Cassandra
9 6 (1.52%) Big Data
10 5 (1.27%) Couchbase
10 5 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
10 5 (1.27%) Power BI
10 5 (1.27%) Redis
11 4 (1.02%) Amazon Redshift
12 3 (0.76%) DynamoDB
12 3 (0.76%) Metadata
13 2 (0.51%) Pinecone
14 1 (0.25%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
Development Applications
1 62 (15.74%) JIRA
2 61 (15.48%) Selenium
3 46 (11.68%) Git
4 40 (10.15%) Postman
5 39 (9.90%) Jenkins
6 35 (8.88%) Cucumber
7 30 (7.61%) Cypress.io
8 25 (6.35%) REST Assured
9 21 (5.33%) GitLab
10 19 (4.82%) JUnit
11 12 (3.05%) JMeter
12 10 (2.54%) TestRail
12 10 (2.54%) WebDriver
13 7 (1.78%) Maven
14 6 (1.52%) HP UFT
14 6 (1.52%) Rational DOORS
14 6 (1.52%) Rational Rhapsody
15 5 (1.27%) Gradle
15 5 (1.27%) Zephyr
16 4 (1.02%) SonarQube
General
1 121 (30.71%) Social Skills
2 63 (15.99%) Analytical Skills
2 63 (15.99%) Finance
3 50 (12.69%) Public Sector
4 19 (4.82%) Banking
5 11 (2.79%) Aerospace
6 10 (2.54%) Documentation Skills
6 10 (2.54%) Military
7 9 (2.28%) Influencing Skills
7 9 (2.28%) Manufacturing
8 7 (1.78%) Investment Banking
8 7 (1.78%) Telecoms
9 6 (1.52%) Automotive
9 6 (1.52%) Front Office
9 6 (1.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (1.27%) Electronics
11 4 (1.02%) Multimedia
11 4 (1.02%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.02%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.76%) Wearables
Job Titles
1 64 (16.24%) Senior
2 53 (13.45%) Developer
3 47 (11.93%) Software Engineer
4 44 (11.17%) Analyst
5 38 (9.64%) Test Analyst
6 36 (9.14%) Test Engineer
7 34 (8.63%) Lead
8 33 (8.38%) Tester
9 25 (6.35%) Consultant
10 20 (5.08%) Java Engineer
11 18 (4.57%) Test Manager
12 16 (4.06%) QA Engineer
12 16 (4.06%) Senior Analyst
12 16 (4.06%) Senior Test Analyst
13 15 (3.81%) Java Developer
14 14 (3.55%) Senior Developer
15 13 (3.30%) QA Leader
16 12 (3.05%) Release Manager
16 12 (3.05%) Test Leader
17 10 (2.54%) Senior Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (10.15%) Playwright
2 39 (9.90%) React
3 37 (9.39%) .NET
3 37 (9.39%) Spring
4 33 (8.38%) RESTful
5 32 (8.12%) Spring Boot
6 28 (7.11%) Node.js
6 28 (7.11%) REST
7 20 (5.08%) HTML
8 19 (4.82%) Kafka
9 17 (4.31%) CSS
10 11 (2.79%) Middleware
11 9 (2.28%) pytest
12 8 (2.03%) .NET Framework
12 8 (2.03%) AngularJS
12 8 (2.03%) Gherkin
12 8 (2.03%) RabbitMQ
13 7 (1.78%) Apache NiFi
13 7 (1.78%) HTML5
13 7 (1.78%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 28 (7.11%) Product Ownership
2 23 (5.84%) Cloud Native
3 19 (4.82%) Self-Motivation
4 11 (2.79%) Distributed Systems
4 11 (2.79%) Enterprise Software
5 7 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
6 6 (1.52%) CUDA
6 6 (1.52%) Greenfield Project
6 6 (1.52%) Mobile App
6 6 (1.52%) Virtual Team
7 4 (1.02%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.02%) Derivative
7 4 (1.02%) NHS
7 4 (1.02%) PCIe
7 4 (1.02%) Virtual Reality
8 3 (0.76%) Data Centre
8 3 (0.76%) Data Structures
8 3 (0.76%) Fixed Income
8 3 (0.76%) Management Information System
8 3 (0.76%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 37 (9.39%) Windows
2 27 (6.85%) Linux
3 9 (2.28%) Unix
4 5 (1.27%) Mac OS
5 4 (1.02%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.76%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.76%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.76%) Windows Server 2016
7 2 (0.51%) Android
8 1 (0.25%) Kali Linux
8 1 (0.25%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.25%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 175 (44.42%) Test Automation
2 146 (37.06%) Agile
3 137 (34.77%) CI/CD
4 131 (33.25%) DevOps
5 104 (26.40%) Problem-Solving
6 87 (22.08%) Test Scripting
7 83 (21.07%) Continuous Improvement
8 75 (19.04%) Software Engineering
9 63 (15.99%) Validation
10 59 (14.97%) Microservices
11 58 (14.72%) Test Strategy
12 50 (12.69%) Test Management
13 49 (12.44%) API Testing
13 49 (12.44%) Containerisation
14 45 (11.42%) Scrum
14 45 (11.42%) TDD
15 43 (10.91%) Defect Tracking
16 40 (10.15%) AI
17 38 (9.64%) Integration Testing
18 37 (9.39%) Manual Testing
Programming Languages
1 87 (22.08%) Java
2 80 (20.30%) Python
3 71 (18.02%) SQL
4 59 (14.97%) JavaScript
5 38 (9.64%) C#
5 38 (9.64%) TypeScript
6 16 (4.06%) C++
7 11 (2.79%) C
7 11 (2.79%) Go
8 9 (2.28%) Bash
8 9 (2.28%) PL/SQL
8 9 (2.28%) Shell Script
9 6 (1.52%) Ada
10 5 (1.27%) Scala
10 5 (1.27%) VBScript
11 4 (1.02%) PowerShell
11 4 (1.02%) VB
12 3 (0.76%) Embedded C
12 3 (0.76%) Groovy
12 3 (0.76%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 113 (28.68%) Security Cleared
2 95 (24.11%) SC Cleared
3 43 (10.91%) Degree
4 32 (8.12%) ISTQB
5 23 (5.84%) Computer Science Degree
6 12 (3.05%) BPSS Clearance
7 10 (2.54%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
8 8 (2.03%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 6 (1.52%) ISEB
10 4 (1.02%) DV Cleared
10 4 (1.02%) Master's Degree
11 3 (0.76%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.76%) PMP
12 2 (0.51%) ACCA
12 2 (0.51%) CIMA
12 2 (0.51%) Cisco Certification
12 2 (0.51%) CISSP
12 2 (0.51%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 1 (0.25%) CFA
13 1 (0.25%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 104 (26.40%) QA
2 28 (7.11%) Accessibility
3 8 (2.03%) WCAG
4 7 (1.78%) NIST
5 6 (1.52%) EU AI Act
6 5 (1.27%) SLA
7 3 (0.76%) Data Quality
7 3 (0.76%) PMO
7 3 (0.76%) Software Quality Assurance
8 1 (0.25%) IEC 61131
8 1 (0.25%) ISO 20022
8 1 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.25%) SEPA
System Software
1 54 (13.71%) Docker
2 8 (2.03%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (1.52%) Active Directory
4 5 (1.27%) Firmware
5 3 (0.76%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.76%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.76%) VMware NSX
6 1 (0.25%) Embedded Firmware
6 1 (0.25%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
Systems Management
1 54 (13.71%) Kubernetes
2 16 (4.06%) Terraform
3 11 (2.79%) Grafana
4 10 (2.54%) HP ALM
5 7 (1.78%) Prometheus
6 6 (1.52%) Ansible
6 6 (1.52%) Puppet
7 5 (1.27%) HP Quality Center
7 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Intune
8 4 (1.02%) SCCM
9 3 (0.76%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 3 (0.76%) vCenter Server
9 3 (0.76%) WSUS
10 2 (0.51%) Nessus
11 1 (0.25%) Kibana
11 1 (0.25%) Nmap
11 1 (0.25%) Packer
11 1 (0.25%) Progress Chef
11 1 (0.25%) Salt
11 1 (0.25%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 44 (11.17%) Microsoft
2 40 (10.15%) Oracle
3 10 (2.54%) HP
3 10 (2.54%) ServiceNow
3 10 (2.54%) Splunk
4 9 (2.28%) VMware
5 8 (2.03%) Atlassian
6 6 (1.52%) Cisco
6 6 (1.52%) Salesforce
6 6 (1.52%) SAP
7 5 (1.27%) Workday
8 4 (1.02%) Citrix
8 4 (1.02%) Remedy
9 3 (0.76%) Ab Initio
9 3 (0.76%) Dell
9 3 (0.76%) Micro Focus
9 3 (0.76%) Siemens
9 3 (0.76%) SolarWinds
9 3 (0.76%) Teradata
9 3 (0.76%) Veeam
253 Software Testing jobs in England