ISTQB Contract Job Trends in the South East

International Software Testing Qualification Board (ISTQB)
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for ISTQB qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 12 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 169 151 187
Rank change year-on-year -18 +36 -27
Contract jobs citing ISTQB 10 33 31
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 0.26% 0.81% 0.58%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.62% 2.03% 1.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 9 25 18
10th Percentile £362 £400 £389
25th Percentile £420 £450 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 £550 £538
Median % change year-on-year -16.36% +2.33% +19.44%
75th Percentile £461 £575 £608
90th Percentile £570 - £616
England median daily rate £425 £500 £495
% change year-on-year -15.00% +1.01% +15.79%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

ISTQB 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 1,602 1,629 2,262
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 40.92% 39.84% 42.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,052 1,051 1,345
10th Percentile £222 £278 £215
25th Percentile £406 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% +1.90%
75th Percentile £588 £638 £638
90th Percentile £650 £700 £688
England median daily rate £525 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -0.94% -3.64% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 162 102 139
10th Percentile - £22.67 £26.59
25th Percentile £18.87 £31.25 £49.84
Median hourly rate £25.15 £58.34 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -56.89% -2.77% +33.33%
75th Percentile £40.24 £67.76 £71.90
90th Percentile £81.00 £87.36 £78.00
England median hourly rate £25.15 £50.00 £52.50
% change year-on-year -49.70% -4.76% +16.67%

ISTQB
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing ISTQB relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

ISTQB job vacancy trend in the South East

ISTQB
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

ISTQB
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing ISTQB in the South East over the 6 months to 12 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for ISTQB in the South East

ISTQB
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

ISTQB
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 within the South East region over the 6 months to 12 November 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
Berkshire +14 6 £461 -7.90% 1
Thames Valley +2 6 £461 -4.31% 3
West Sussex -8 2 £368 -8.13%
Hampshire -23 2 £550 - 2
ISTQB
England

ISTQB
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 1 (10.00%) Confluence
1 1 (10.00%) WebLogic
Cloud Services
1 5 (50.00%) Azure
1 5 (50.00%) Entra ID
2 2 (20.00%) Tricentis Tosca
Development Applications
1 3 (30.00%) JIRA
2 2 (20.00%) Selenium
2 2 (20.00%) Toad
3 1 (10.00%) Appium
3 1 (10.00%) Cypress.io
3 1 (10.00%) HP UFT
3 1 (10.00%) Katalon Studio
3 1 (10.00%) TestRail
General
1 7 (70.00%) Social Skills
2 6 (60.00%) Analytical Skills
3 5 (50.00%) Documentation Skills
3 5 (50.00%) Influencing Skills
4 2 (20.00%) Finance
Job Titles
1 6 (60.00%) Test Manager
2 2 (20.00%) Test Strategist
2 2 (20.00%) Tester
3 1 (10.00%) Analyst
3 1 (10.00%) QA Engineer
3 1 (10.00%) SAP Analyst
3 1 (10.00%) SAP Test Analyst
3 1 (10.00%) SAP Tester
3 1 (10.00%) Senior
3 1 (10.00%) Senior Tester
3 1 (10.00%) Test Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (20.00%) XML
2 1 (10.00%) Playwright
2 1 (10.00%) WebdriverIO
Miscellaneous
1 5 (50.00%) Enterprise Software
2 1 (10.00%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 1 (10.00%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 10 (100.00%) Test Automation
2 7 (70.00%) Agile
2 7 (70.00%) Problem-Solving
2 7 (70.00%) Test Strategy
2 7 (70.00%) Validation
3 6 (60.00%) Continuous Improvement
3 6 (60.00%) Root Cause Analysis
3 6 (60.00%) Stakeholder Management
4 5 (50.00%) Agile Testing
4 5 (50.00%) Business Continuity
4 5 (50.00%) Disaster Recovery
4 5 (50.00%) ERP
4 5 (50.00%) Integration Testing
4 5 (50.00%) Resilience Testing
4 5 (50.00%) Scenario Testing
4 5 (50.00%) Software Testing
4 5 (50.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 5 (50.00%) Test Management
5 2 (20.00%) Customer Requirements
5 2 (20.00%) Test Scripting
Programming Languages
1 3 (30.00%) Java
1 3 (30.00%) SQL
2 1 (10.00%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 5 (50.00%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
2 4 (40.00%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
3 3 (30.00%) SC Cleared
3 3 (30.00%) Security Cleared
4 2 (20.00%) BPSS Clearance
4 2 (20.00%) Degree
4 2 (20.00%) ISEB
5 1 (10.00%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (10.00%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (20.00%) QA
Vendors
1 5 (50.00%) ServiceNow
1 5 (50.00%) Workday
2 2 (20.00%) Oracle
2 2 (20.00%) SAP
2 2 (20.00%) webMethods