Test Strategy Contract Job Trends in Merseyside

Test Strategy
North West > Merseyside

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Merseyside requiring Test Strategy 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 38 32 31
Rank change year-on-year -6 -1 +15
Contract jobs citing Test Strategy 10 1 2
As % of all contract jobs in Merseyside 3.38% 0.49% 0.90%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.24% 0.65% 1.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 9 0 1
10th Percentile £300 - -
25th Percentile £304 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £393 - £350
75th Percentile £398 - -
90th Percentile £400 - -
North West median daily rate £400 £413 £513
% change year-on-year -3.03% -19.51% +20.59%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Merseyside

Test Strategy 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 Merseyside.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 236 154 184
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Merseyside 79.73% 75.12% 82.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 116 86 90
10th Percentile £133 £143 £145
25th Percentile £151 £203 £285
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £225 £400 £400
Median % change year-on-year -43.75% - -15.79%
75th Percentile £441 £537 £545
90th Percentile £634 £638 £639
North West median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 5 26
10th Percentile - £12.43 £12.07
25th Percentile £15.18 £13.70 £15.50
Median hourly rate £41.86 £20.19 £17.50
Median % change year-on-year +107.31% +15.37% -1.24%
75th Percentile £51.02 £23.00 £32.77
90th Percentile - £29.67 £35.75
North West median hourly rate £42.69 £31.51 £30.00
% change year-on-year +35.46% +5.03% -19.57%

Test Strategy
Job Vacancy Trend in Merseyside

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

Test Strategy job vacancy trend in Merseyside

Test Strategy
Daily Rate Trend in Merseyside

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Merseyside citing Test Strategy.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Merseyside citing Test Strategy

Test Strategy
Daily Rate Histogram in Merseyside

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

Daily rate histogram for Test Strategy in Merseyside

Test Strategy
Contract Job Locations in Merseyside

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Test Strategy within the Merseyside 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
Liverpool - 9 £394 - 3
Test Strategy
North West

Test Strategy
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Merseyside 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:

General
1 9 (90.00%) Finance
1 9 (90.00%) Social Skills
2 2 (20.00%) Public Sector
3 1 (10.00%) Banking
Job Titles
1 7 (70.00%) Test Manager
2 3 (30.00%) Lead
2 3 (30.00%) Test Leader
Processes & Methodologies
1 10 (100.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 9 (90.00%) Change Management
2 9 (90.00%) Cutover Planning
2 9 (90.00%) Data Validation
2 9 (90.00%) ETL
2 9 (90.00%) Operational Acceptance Testing
2 9 (90.00%) Operational Stability
2 9 (90.00%) Regression Testing
2 9 (90.00%) Test Management
2 9 (90.00%) User Acceptance Testing
2 9 (90.00%) Validation
3 8 (80.00%) Data Governance
4 1 (10.00%) AI
4 1 (10.00%) Customer Service
4 1 (10.00%) Generative AI
4 1 (10.00%) Test Automation
Qualifications
1 3 (30.00%) BPSS Clearance
1 3 (30.00%) Degree
1 3 (30.00%) Master's Degree
2 2 (20.00%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (80.00%) IFRS
1 8 (80.00%) IFRS 17
2 7 (70.00%) QA