Software Test Engineer Contract Job Trends in the South East
Software Test Engineer
England > South East
The median Software Test Engineer daily rate in the South East is £375, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 November 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 13 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 236 | 175 | 174 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -61 | -1 | +31 |
| Contract Software Test Engineer jobs | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the South East | 0.028% | 0.10% | 0.12% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.031% | 0.11% | 0.13% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £363 | - | - |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £375 | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £388 | - | - |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | - |
| England median daily rate | £375 | £513 | - |
| % change year-on-year | -26.83% | - | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| 10th Percentile | - | £47.38 | £56.20 |
| 25th Percentile | £56.25 | £49.06 | £58.56 |
| Median hourly rate | £57.50 | £50.00 | £62.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +15.00% | -20.00% | +19.05% |
| 75th Percentile | £58.75 | - | - |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | - |
| England median hourly rate | £60.81 | £50.00 | £59.88 |
| % change year-on-year | +21.62% | -16.49% | +14.05% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
South East
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts in the South East matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 13 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in the South East matching a recognised job title | 6,451 | 3,546 | 3,802 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.34% | 89.59% | 92.60% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 3,515 | 2,297 | 2,287 |
| 10th Percentile | £283 | £205 | £245 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £380 | £400 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £510 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -1.96% | +0.49% |
| 75th Percentile | £626 | £600 | £625 |
| 90th Percentile | £725 | £663 | £686 |
| England median daily rate | £525 | £510 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.94% | -2.86% | -1.87% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 986 | 352 | 214 |
| 10th Percentile | £15.00 | £13.50 | £16.71 |
| 25th Percentile | £21.00 | £16.10 | £27.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £48.59 | £20.79 | £57.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +133.71% | -63.84% | +11.30% |
| 75th Percentile | £73.25 | £50.25 | £71.74 |
| 90th Percentile | £88.00 | £75.00 | £75.16 |
| England median hourly rate | £41.71 | £25.15 | £40.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +65.84% | -37.13% | -11.11% |
Software Test Engineer Job Vacancy Trend in the South East
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract Software Test Engineer job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.
Software Test Engineer Daily Rate Trend in the South East
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Test Engineer job vacancies in the South East.
Software Test Engineer Hourly Rate Trend in the South East
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Test Engineer job vacancies in the South East.
Software Test Engineer 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 Software Test Engineer jobs within the South East region over the 6 months to 13 November 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampshire | -35 | 1 | £375 | - | |
| Surrey | - | 1 | - | - | |
| Software Test Engineer England |
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Software Test Engineer Skill Set Top 28 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East
For the 6 months to 13 November 2026, Software Test Engineer contract job ads cited the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract Software Test Engineer job ads across the South East region.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agile | 100.0% | 2 |
| 1 | Software Testing | 100.0% | 2 |
| 1 | Test Automation | 100.0% | 2 |
| 4 | Acceptance Criteria | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | CI/CD | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Code Quality | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Continuous Improvement | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Embedded Linux | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Exploratory Testing | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | JIRA | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Linux | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Mentoring | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Postman | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Python | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | QA | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | REST | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | RESTful | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | SC Cleared | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Scaled Agile Framework | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Scrum | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | SDLC | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Security Cleared | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Software Engineering | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Sprint Planning | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Technical Leadership | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Test Management | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | Test Scripting | 50.0% | 1 |
| 4 | User Stories | 50.0% | 1 |
Software Test Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Principal Test Engineer | 50.0% | 1 |
| 1 | Python Engineer | 50.0% | 1 |