Test Leader Contracts in the North of England

Test Lead
England > North of England

The median Test Lead daily rate in the North of England is £378, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 2 May 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 151 183 178
Rank change year-on-year +32 -5 +31
Contract jobs requiring a Test Leader 15 6 41
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North of England 0.45% 0.13% 0.71%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.49% 0.14% 0.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 12 4 29
10th Percentile - £408 £393
25th Percentile £348 £411 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £378 £438 £500
Median % change year-on-year -13.65% -12.45% +17.10%
75th Percentile £459 £489 £600
90th Percentile £634 £526 £743
England median daily rate £450 £506 £500
% change year-on-year -11.11% +1.25% +1.01%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
North of England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the North of England. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the North of England with a recognized job title 3,086 4,427 5,538
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 93.49% 93.10% 95.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,038 2,777 3,913
10th Percentile £230 £263 £285
25th Percentile £367 £385 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £470 £477 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.47% -4.60% +5.26%
75th Percentile £551 £580 £595
90th Percentile £645 £672 £679
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 162 393 160
10th Percentile £12.84 £11.01 £14.00
25th Percentile £16.25 £12.53 £18.76
Median hourly rate £24.50 £19.18 £30.54
Median % change year-on-year +27.74% -37.20% +65.08%
75th Percentile £49.69 £45.88 £49.40
90th Percentile £80.40 £60.00 £65.78
England median hourly rate £30.78 £36.02 £44.77
% change year-on-year -14.55% -19.53% +98.96%

Test Leader
Job Vacancy Trend in the North of England

Job postings that featured Test Leader in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North of England.

Job vacancy trend for Test Leader in the North of England

Test Leader
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the North of England

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Test Leader in the North of England.

Daily rate trend for Test Leader in the North of England

Test Leader
Daily Rate Histogram in the North of England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Test Leader in the North of England over the 6 months to 2 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Test Leader in the North of England

Test Leader
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the North of England

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Test Leader in the North of England.

Hourly rate trend for Test Leader in the North of England

Test Leader
Contract Job Locations in the North of England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Test Leader within the North of England region over the 6 months to 2 May 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
North West +20 7 £348 -15.64% 10
North East - 5 £650 -
Yorkshire +6 3 £463 +5.65% 1
Test Leader
England

Test Leader Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North of England

For the 6 months to 2 May 2025, Test Leader contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the North of England region featuring Test Leader in the job title.

1 7 (46.67%) Finance
1 7 (46.67%) Test Planning
2 6 (40.00%) Banking
2 6 (40.00%) Test Strategy
2 6 (40.00%) Planning and Forecasting
2 6 (40.00%) Kondor
3 5 (33.33%) QA
3 5 (33.33%) Onboarding
3 5 (33.33%) Social Skills
4 4 (26.67%) Java
4 4 (26.67%) Microsoft
4 4 (26.67%) Test Automation
5 3 (20.00%) TypeScript
5 3 (20.00%) Ansible
5 3 (20.00%) Finacle
5 3 (20.00%) SC Cleared
5 3 (20.00%) Security Cleared
5 3 (20.00%) FIS
5 3 (20.00%) Software Delivery
5 3 (20.00%) Packer
5 3 (20.00%) Terraform
5 3 (20.00%) Murex
5 3 (20.00%) JavaScript
5 3 (20.00%) Service Management
5 3 (20.00%) Continuous Integration
5 3 (20.00%) Stakeholder Management
5 3 (20.00%) Node.js
5 3 (20.00%) Public Sector
5 3 (20.00%) Roadmaps
6 2 (13.33%) Agile

Test Leader Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North of 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:

Business Applications
1 6 (40.00%) Kondor
2 3 (20.00%) Finacle
3 1 (6.67%) SAP S/4HANA
Communications & Networking
1 1 (6.67%) Cisco Firepower
1 1 (6.67%) Firewall
1 1 (6.67%) Network Security
Development Applications
1 1 (6.67%) JIRA
1 1 (6.67%) Katalon Studio
General
1 7 (46.67%) Finance
2 6 (40.00%) Banking
3 5 (33.33%) Social Skills
4 3 (20.00%) Public Sector
5 2 (13.33%) Analytical Skills
6 1 (6.67%) Legal
6 1 (6.67%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (20.00%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 5 (33.33%) Onboarding
2 1 (6.67%) Legacy Systems
2 1 (6.67%) NHS
2 1 (6.67%) Operational Technology
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (46.67%) Test Planning
2 6 (40.00%) Planning and Forecasting
2 6 (40.00%) Test Strategy
3 4 (26.67%) Test Automation
4 3 (20.00%) Continuous Integration
4 3 (20.00%) Roadmaps
4 3 (20.00%) Service Management
4 3 (20.00%) Software Delivery
4 3 (20.00%) Stakeholder Management
5 2 (13.33%) Agile
5 2 (13.33%) ERP
5 2 (13.33%) Problem-Solving
5 2 (13.33%) Regression Testing
5 2 (13.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 1 (6.67%) Data Protection
6 1 (6.67%) Identity Management
6 1 (6.67%) Manual Testing
6 1 (6.67%) Test Assurance
6 1 (6.67%) Validation
6 1 (6.67%) Waterfall
Programming Languages
1 4 (26.67%) Java
2 3 (20.00%) JavaScript
2 3 (20.00%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 3 (20.00%) SC Cleared
1 3 (20.00%) Security Cleared
2 2 (13.33%) ISTQB
3 1 (6.67%) APMG
3 1 (6.67%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (33.33%) QA
Systems Management
1 3 (20.00%) Ansible
1 3 (20.00%) Packer
1 3 (20.00%) Terraform
Vendors
1 4 (26.67%) Microsoft
2 3 (20.00%) FIS
2 3 (20.00%) Murex
3 1 (6.67%) Cisco
3 1 (6.67%) SAP
3 1 (6.67%) Virgin Media