Test Automation Contract Job Trends in London

Automated Testing
England > London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in London requiring Test Automation skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 44 43 51
Rank change year-on-year -1 +8 -5
Contract jobs citing Test Automation 777 648 719
As % of all contract jobs in London 5.07% 4.76% 3.88%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 5.59% 5.25% 4.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 514 430 537
10th Percentile £325 £341 £379
25th Percentile £400 £410 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% -8.33%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £660
90th Percentile £688 £750 £750
England median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 0 5
10th Percentile £55.99 - -
25th Percentile £58.15 - £52.50
Median hourly rate £63.50 - £55.00
75th Percentile £65.88 - £65.00
90th Percentile £66.25 - £65.60
England median hourly rate £63.50 £77.19 £70.19
% change year-on-year -17.74% +9.98% +23.28%

All Process & Methodology Skills
London

Test Automation 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 London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 13,905 12,332 16,419
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 90.68% 90.64% 88.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,265 7,884 11,766
10th Percentile £350 £350 £338
25th Percentile £425 £450 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £675
90th Percentile £750 £800 £788
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 219 153 341
10th Percentile £18.25 £21.05 £16.02
25th Percentile £25.15 £25.75 £19.50
Median hourly rate £35.00 £37.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year -5.41% +23.33% -15.49%
75th Percentile £56.25 £55.25 £50.75
90th Percentile £70.00 £79.75 £72.50
England median hourly rate £25.77 £35.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -26.37% - -

Test Automation
Job Vacancy Trend in London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Test Automation relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in London.

Test Automation job vacancy trend in London

Test Automation
Daily Rate Trend in London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Test Automation.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Test Automation

Test Automation
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Test Automation in London over the 6 months to 14 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Test Automation in London

Test Automation
Hourly Rate Trend in London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Test Automation.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing Test Automation

Test Automation
Contract Job Locations in London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Test Automation within the London region over the 6 months to 14 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
Central London -9 96 £525 +1.69% 31
West London -12 22 £450 +30.25% 10
South London -12 17 £513 +7.89% 4
East London -3 8 £448 +5.29% 9
Test Automation
England

Test Automation
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London 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 48 (6.18%) Confluence
2 14 (1.80%) Apache Spark
3 8 (1.03%) Apache Airflow
3 8 (1.03%) Appian
4 5 (0.64%) SharePoint
5 4 (0.51%) Apache
5 4 (0.51%) Camunda
5 4 (0.51%) CMS
6 3 (0.39%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 2 (0.26%) Magnolia
7 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Exchange
7 2 (0.26%) nginx
7 2 (0.26%) Sitecore CMS
7 2 (0.26%) WebLogic
7 2 (0.26%) WordPress
8 1 (0.13%) Anypoint
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Application Server
8 1 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 19 (2.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 6 (0.77%) Microsoft Office
4 4 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.51%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.51%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.13%) Trello
Business Applications
1 19 (2.45%) Aladdin
2 4 (0.51%) Loan IQ
2 4 (0.51%) SAP HR
3 3 (0.39%) Oracle EBS
3 3 (0.39%) Shopify
4 2 (0.26%) iTrent
4 2 (0.26%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.26%) Summit
5 1 (0.13%) Algo Collateral
5 1 (0.13%) Bloomberg TOMS
5 1 (0.13%) CODA-Financials
5 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.13%) Eagle PACE
5 1 (0.13%) IntelliMatch
5 1 (0.13%) Markit EDM
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS R12
5 1 (0.13%) PORTIA
5 1 (0.13%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.13%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 242 (31.15%) Azure
2 181 (23.29%) AWS
3 114 (14.67%) GitHub
4 105 (13.51%) Azure DevOps
5 83 (10.68%) GCP
6 53 (6.82%) GitHub Actions
6 53 (6.82%) Serverless
7 28 (3.60%) Snowflake
8 27 (3.47%) Azure Data Factory
8 27 (3.47%) Power Platform
9 26 (3.35%) AWS Lambda
9 26 (3.35%) SaaS
10 22 (2.83%) Amazon S3
10 22 (2.83%) Azure AKS
11 20 (2.57%) Dynamics 365
12 19 (2.45%) Azure Cosmos DB
13 18 (2.32%) Amazon EKS
14 16 (2.06%) Power Automate
15 15 (1.93%) Apigee
16 14 (1.80%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.42%) Firewall
1 11 (1.42%) HTTP
2 10 (1.29%) HTTPS
2 10 (1.29%) SSL
3 8 (1.03%) VPN
4 7 (0.90%) DNS
4 7 (0.90%) SD-WAN
4 7 (0.90%) TCP/IP
4 7 (0.90%) WAN
5 5 (0.64%) Cisco IPT
5 5 (0.64%) Network Security
6 4 (0.51%) FTP
6 4 (0.51%) Multicast
7 3 (0.39%) DHCP
7 3 (0.39%) Ethernet
7 3 (0.39%) WebEx
7 3 (0.39%) Wireshark
8 2 (0.26%) VLAN
9 1 (0.13%) Cisco IOS
9 1 (0.13%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 48 (6.18%) PostgreSQL
2 44 (5.66%) SQL Server
3 34 (4.38%) NoSQL
4 25 (3.22%) Relational Database
5 19 (2.45%) BigQuery
5 19 (2.45%) Data Warehouse
5 19 (2.45%) MongoDB
6 15 (1.93%) Power BI
7 12 (1.54%) Tableau
8 11 (1.42%) Redis
9 10 (1.29%) Data Lake
10 9 (1.16%) Amazon Aurora
10 9 (1.16%) Amazon RDS
10 9 (1.16%) Big Data
10 9 (1.16%) Oracle Database
10 9 (1.16%) Pinecone
11 8 (1.03%) Azure SQL Database
11 8 (1.03%) Metadata
11 8 (1.03%) Star Schema
12 7 (0.90%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 130 (16.73%) JIRA
2 124 (15.96%) Git
3 103 (13.26%) Jenkins
4 101 (13.00%) Selenium
5 85 (10.94%) GitLab
6 56 (7.21%) Postman
7 52 (6.69%) Cucumber
7 52 (6.69%) Cypress.io
8 32 (4.12%) JMeter
8 32 (4.12%) REST Assured
9 25 (3.22%) JUnit
9 25 (3.22%) SpecFlow
10 19 (2.45%) MLflow
11 17 (2.19%) Bitbucket
12 16 (2.06%) TestRail
13 15 (1.93%) WebDriver
14 13 (1.67%) Appium
15 11 (1.42%) Gradle
15 11 (1.42%) Zephyr
16 10 (1.29%) Gatling
General
1 194 (24.97%) Social Skills
2 170 (21.88%) Finance
3 89 (11.45%) Banking
4 84 (10.81%) Analytical Skills
4 84 (10.81%) Public Sector
5 25 (3.22%) Investment Banking
6 22 (2.83%) Front Office
7 19 (2.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 17 (2.19%) Pharmaceutical
9 10 (1.29%) Documentation Skills
10 9 (1.16%) Legal
11 8 (1.03%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (0.90%) Financial Institution
13 6 (0.77%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (0.64%) Marketing
14 5 (0.64%) Organisational Skills
14 5 (0.64%) Publishing
14 5 (0.64%) Retail
14 5 (0.64%) Telecoms
15 4 (0.51%) International Banking
Job Titles
1 180 (23.17%) Developer
2 150 (19.31%) Senior
3 92 (11.84%) Tester
4 75 (9.65%) Lead
5 57 (7.34%) Test Engineer
6 55 (7.08%) Automation Tester
7 52 (6.69%) Analyst
8 41 (5.28%) QA Engineer
9 39 (5.02%) Senior Developer
10 34 (4.38%) Automation Engineer
11 33 (4.25%) Software Engineer
12 32 (4.12%) Architect
12 32 (4.12%) Java Developer
12 32 (4.12%) Test Analyst
13 30 (3.86%) Test Automation Engineer
14 27 (3.47%) DevOps Engineer
14 27 (3.47%) Python Developer
15 26 (3.35%) Data Engineer
16 24 (3.09%) Consultant
17 22 (2.83%) Test Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 115 (14.80%) Playwright
2 85 (10.94%) React
3 84 (10.81%) REST
4 72 (9.27%) .NET
5 70 (9.01%) Node.js
6 63 (8.11%) RESTful
7 57 (7.34%) Kafka
8 39 (5.02%) Web Services
9 38 (4.89%) pytest
9 38 (4.89%) Spring
10 36 (4.63%) Spring Boot
11 31 (3.99%) HTML
12 29 (3.73%) OAuth
13 28 (3.60%) CSS
14 26 (3.35%) FastAPI
14 26 (3.35%) JSON
15 24 (3.09%) GraphQL
16 23 (2.96%) SOAP
16 23 (2.96%) XML
17 21 (2.70%) AngularJS
Miscellaneous
1 90 (11.58%) Cloud Native
2 45 (5.79%) Product Ownership
3 31 (3.99%) Distributed Systems
4 30 (3.86%) Legacy Systems
5 24 (3.09%) Algorithms
6 21 (2.70%) Data Structures
7 20 (2.57%) Mobile App
8 19 (2.45%) Equities
9 17 (2.19%) Data Protection Act
9 17 (2.19%) Virtual Team
10 16 (2.06%) Greenfield Project
10 16 (2.06%) Onboarding
11 14 (1.80%) Genomics
11 14 (1.80%) Life Science
12 13 (1.67%) Management Information System
13 12 (1.54%) Derivative
13 12 (1.54%) Fixed Income
14 11 (1.42%) Security Posture
15 10 (1.29%) Public Cloud
16 9 (1.16%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 55 (7.08%) Linux
2 30 (3.86%) Windows
3 21 (2.70%) Android
3 21 (2.70%) Apple iOS
4 10 (1.29%) Unix
5 7 (0.90%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.51%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.13%) FreeRTOS
7 1 (0.13%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.13%) Solaris
7 1 (0.13%) VMS
7 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
7 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 412 (53.02%) CI/CD
2 362 (46.59%) Agile
3 296 (38.10%) DevOps
4 169 (21.75%) Problem-Solving
5 128 (16.47%) AI
6 115 (14.80%) Containerisation
7 107 (13.77%) Test Scripting
8 105 (13.51%) Software Engineering
9 103 (13.26%) Microservices
10 102 (13.13%) Test Strategy
11 100 (12.87%) Infrastructure as Code
11 100 (12.87%) Observability
12 94 (12.10%) Software Testing
13 92 (11.84%) Validation
14 90 (11.58%) Continuous Improvement
15 81 (10.42%) Scrum
16 80 (10.30%) TDD
17 77 (9.91%) API Testing
18 75 (9.65%) Full-Stack Development
19 72 (9.27%) SDLC
Programming Languages
1 269 (34.62%) Python
2 178 (22.91%) SQL
3 151 (19.43%) Java
4 149 (19.18%) TypeScript
5 136 (17.50%) JavaScript
6 104 (13.38%) C#
7 21 (2.70%) Bash
7 21 (2.70%) PowerShell
8 19 (2.45%) C++
9 15 (1.93%) Go
10 14 (1.80%) Bicep
11 13 (1.67%) Kotlin
12 11 (1.42%) PL/SQL
13 10 (1.29%) Apex Code
14 8 (1.03%) Ruby
14 8 (1.03%) Swift
15 7 (0.90%) Rust
15 7 (0.90%) T-SQL
16 6 (0.77%) Shell Script
17 5 (0.64%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 153 (19.69%) Security Cleared
2 131 (16.86%) SC Cleared
3 59 (7.59%) Degree
4 38 (4.89%) ISTQB
5 25 (3.22%) Computer Science Degree
6 23 (2.96%) BPSS Clearance
7 18 (2.32%) Master's Degree
8 12 (1.54%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
9 9 (1.16%) OSCP
10 7 (0.90%) Microsoft Certification
11 6 (0.77%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
11 6 (0.77%) SANS
12 5 (0.64%) Azure Certification
12 5 (0.64%) DBS Check
12 5 (0.64%) GPEN
12 5 (0.64%) ISEB
13 4 (0.51%) CEH
13 4 (0.51%) DV Cleared
14 3 (0.39%) CREST Certified
14 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 173 (22.27%) QA
2 47 (6.05%) Accessibility
3 36 (4.63%) Data Quality
4 18 (2.32%) GDPR
5 14 (1.80%) WCAG
6 12 (1.54%) NIST
7 8 (1.03%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 6 (0.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (0.77%) NCSC
9 5 (0.64%) PERC
10 4 (0.51%) ISO 20022
10 4 (0.51%) MiFID
10 4 (0.51%) SLA
10 4 (0.51%) Software Quality Assurance
11 3 (0.39%) EU AI Act
11 3 (0.39%) GMP
11 3 (0.39%) HL7
11 3 (0.39%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.39%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 42001
System Software
1 168 (21.62%) Docker
2 11 (1.42%) Active Directory
3 3 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
3 3 (0.39%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.26%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.26%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.13%) Embedded Firmware
5 1 (0.13%) Firmware
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
5 1 (0.13%) Squid
5 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.13%) zsh
Systems Management
1 134 (17.25%) Kubernetes
2 85 (10.94%) Terraform
3 26 (3.35%) Ansible
4 24 (3.09%) Grafana
5 21 (2.70%) Prometheus
6 9 (1.16%) HP ALM
7 5 (0.64%) Nmap
7 5 (0.64%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (0.51%) Nessus
8 4 (0.51%) Rancher
9 3 (0.39%) Kibana
9 3 (0.39%) Progress Chef
9 3 (0.39%) Puppet
10 2 (0.26%) HP Quality Center
10 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Intune
10 2 (0.26%) SCCM
10 2 (0.26%) vRealize
11 1 (0.13%) CloudHub
11 1 (0.13%) Istio
11 1 (0.13%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 73 (9.40%) Microsoft
2 49 (6.31%) Oracle
3 42 (5.41%) Databricks
4 38 (4.89%) Salesforce
5 35 (4.50%) Google
6 26 (3.35%) ServiceNow
7 18 (2.32%) SAP
8 15 (1.93%) OpenAI
8 15 (1.93%) Splunk
9 13 (1.67%) MuleSoft
10 11 (1.42%) Guidewire
10 11 (1.42%) UiPath
11 10 (1.29%) Apple
12 9 (1.16%) HP
13 8 (1.03%) Automation Anywhere
13 8 (1.03%) Dynatrace
14 7 (0.90%) IBM
14 7 (0.90%) VMware
14 7 (0.90%) webMethods
15 6 (0.77%) Charles River