ISTQB Foundation Certification Contract Job Trends in the South East

ISTQB-BCS Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) formerly ISEB Foundation
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for ISTQB Foundation Certification qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 5 September 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 141 158 188
Rank change year-on-year +17 +30 +65
Contract jobs citing ISTQB Foundation Certification 18 23 24
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the South East 0.52% 0.50% 0.43%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.32% 1.13% 1.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 14 21 14
10th Percentile £380 £350 £460
25th Percentile - £475 £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% -4.35% +57.53%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £618
90th Percentile £546 £603 £623
England median daily rate £450 £550 £535
% change year-on-year -18.18% +2.80% +24.71%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

ISTQB Foundation Certification falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the South East.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 1,366 2,028 2,122
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 39.24% 43.74% 38.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 883 1,278 1,320
10th Percentile £246 £350 £273
25th Percentile £414 £425 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% +0.96%
75th Percentile £600 £645 £625
90th Percentile £656 £723 £700
England median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.33% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 118 163 123
10th Percentile - £21.45 £21.90
25th Percentile £18.87 £45.53 £49.98
Median hourly rate £25.15 £57.35 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -56.15% -4.42% +33.33%
75th Percentile £69.36 £71.82 £72.96
90th Percentile £81.00 £87.46 £76.01
England median hourly rate £25.15 £53.00 £54.56
% change year-on-year -52.55% -2.86% +21.24%

ISTQB Foundation Certification
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Job postings citing ISTQB Foundation Certification as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Job vacancy trend for ISTQB Foundation Certification in the South East

ISTQB Foundation Certification
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing ISTQB Foundation Certification.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing ISTQB Foundation Certification

ISTQB Foundation Certification
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing ISTQB Foundation Certification in the South East over the 6 months to 5 September 2025.

Daily rate histogram for ISTQB Foundation Certification in the South East

ISTQB Foundation Certification
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing ISTQB Foundation Certification.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing ISTQB Foundation Certification

ISTQB Foundation Certification
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing ISTQB Foundation Certification within the South East region over the 6 months to 5 September 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
Thames Valley +21 12 £450 -
Berkshire +26 11 £450 -
Hampshire +2 6 £525 -4.55%
Buckinghamshire - 1 £350 -
ISTQB Foundation Certification
England

ISTQB Foundation Certification
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the South East 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:

Applications
1 1 (5.56%) Microsoft Project
1 1 (5.56%) MS Visio
Communications & Networking
1 11 (61.11%) ATM
1 11 (61.11%) Ethernet
1 11 (61.11%) Frame Relay
1 11 (61.11%) GPRS
1 11 (61.11%) GSM
1 11 (61.11%) LAN
1 11 (61.11%) LTE
1 11 (61.11%) MPLS
1 11 (61.11%) SAN
1 11 (61.11%) SDH
1 11 (61.11%) UMTS
1 11 (61.11%) VPN
1 11 (61.11%) WAN
1 11 (61.11%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (5.56%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 4 (22.22%) TestRail
2 1 (5.56%) HP UFT
2 1 (5.56%) Katalon Studio
2 1 (5.56%) Selenium
2 1 (5.56%) SoapUI
General
1 11 (61.11%) Social Skills
1 11 (61.11%) Telecoms
2 2 (11.11%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (5.56%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 13 (72.22%) Test Engineer
2 10 (55.56%) IP Engineer
3 5 (27.78%) Analyst
3 5 (27.78%) IP Network Engineer
3 5 (27.78%) Network Engineer
3 5 (27.78%) Test Analyst
4 2 (11.11%) Consultant
4 2 (11.11%) IP Consultant
4 2 (11.11%) IP Network Consultant
4 2 (11.11%) Network Consultant
5 1 (5.56%) Coordinator
5 1 (5.56%) SC Cleared Test Analyst
5 1 (5.56%) Senior
5 1 (5.56%) Senior Analyst
5 1 (5.56%) Senior Test Analyst
5 1 (5.56%) Test Coordinator
5 1 (5.56%) Test Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (5.56%) Playwright
1 1 (5.56%) SOAP
1 1 (5.56%) XML
1 1 (5.56%) XML Messaging
Miscellaneous
1 11 (61.11%) Self-Motivation
2 1 (5.56%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 12 (66.67%) Unix
2 11 (61.11%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 14 (77.78%) Test Strategy
2 12 (66.67%) Problem-Solving
2 12 (66.67%) Regression Testing
3 11 (61.11%) Fault Management
3 11 (61.11%) Project Management
4 6 (33.33%) Agile
5 4 (22.22%) Requirements Analysis
5 4 (22.22%) Scaled Agile Framework
5 4 (22.22%) Test Management
6 2 (11.11%) Operational Acceptance Testing
6 2 (11.11%) Software Testing
6 2 (11.11%) Test Automation
6 2 (11.11%) User Acceptance Testing
7 1 (5.56%) Biometrics
7 1 (5.56%) ITIL
7 1 (5.56%) Migration
7 1 (5.56%) Service Management
7 1 (5.56%) Software Engineering
7 1 (5.56%) Stakeholder Management
7 1 (5.56%) TDD
Programming Languages
1 11 (61.11%) Java
2 1 (5.56%) SQL
Qualifications
1 17 (94.44%) ISTQB
2 12 (66.67%) ISEB
3 11 (61.11%) CCNP
3 11 (61.11%) Cisco Certification
4 6 (33.33%) Security Cleared
5 5 (27.78%) DV Cleared
6 2 (11.11%) Degree
7 1 (5.56%) BPSS Clearance
7 1 (5.56%) ISEB Practitioner
7 1 (5.56%) SC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (5.56%) QA
Vendors
1 12 (66.67%) Microsoft
2 11 (61.11%) Cisco
2 11 (61.11%) Juniper
3 1 (5.56%) Compaq
3 1 (5.56%) HP
3 1 (5.56%) Terracotta
3 1 (5.56%) webMethods