Tester Contract Job Trends in the South East

Tester
England > South East

The median Tester daily rate in the South East is £405, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 February 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 117 127 97
Rank change year-on-year +10 -30 +72
Contract jobs requiring a Tester 76 27 120
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 1.60% 0.86% 2.20%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.78% 0.92% 2.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 49 7 25
10th Percentile £357 £370 -
25th Percentile £401 £404 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £405 £425 £425
Median % change year-on-year -4.71% - +1.19%
75th Percentile £450 £488 £513
90th Percentile £650 £500 £590
England median daily rate £445 £450 £469
% change year-on-year -1.11% -4.00% -1.32%

All Contract IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the South East. 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 South East with a recognized job title 4,269 2,924 5,100
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.12% 92.85% 93.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,751 1,815 3,158
10th Percentile £260 £244 £205
25th Percentile £401 £400 £378
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £600 £602 £608
90th Percentile £688 £675 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 367 104 401
10th Percentile £13.95 £18.50 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.25 £24.18 £18.20
Median hourly rate £27.50 £42.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.29% -5.56% -
75th Percentile £61.57 £62.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £85.40 £73.88 £76.53
England median hourly rate £31.46 £35.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -10.11% - -7.03%

Tester
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Tester' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Tester job vacancy trend in the South East

Tester
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Tester job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Tester job vacancies in the South East

Tester
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Tester in the South East over the 6 months to 13 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Tester in the South East

Tester
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Tester job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Tester job vacancies in the South East

Tester
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 Tester within the South East region over the 6 months to 13 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
Thames Valley +10 48 £405 -16.92% 1
Berkshire +5 44 £405 -19.00% 1
Hampshire -5 22 £650 +62.50% 4
Buckinghamshire - 4 £363 -
Surrey -4 3 £425 - 1
Kent - 2 £300 - 1
West Sussex -17 1 £375 -
Tester
England

Tester Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 13 February 2026, Tester contract job roles required 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 job ads across the South East region featuring Tester in the job title.

1 52 (68.42%) Security Cleared
2 32 (42.11%) Test Automation
3 27 (35.53%) Penetration Testing
4 26 (34.21%) Nmap
5 25 (32.89%) Windows
6 24 (31.58%) DV Cleared
7 23 (30.26%) Burp Suite
7 23 (30.26%) SC Cleared
8 21 (27.63%) Metasploit
9 20 (26.32%) Python
10 19 (25.00%) Linux
11 18 (23.68%) Wireless
12 17 (22.37%) JIRA
13 16 (21.05%) Azure
13 16 (21.05%) Firewall
14 14 (18.42%) Cybersecurity
14 14 (18.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
14 14 (18.42%) Microsoft Office
14 14 (18.42%) QA
15 13 (17.11%) CHECK Team Member
15 13 (17.11%) Degree
15 13 (17.11%) GDPR
15 13 (17.11%) Microsoft Excel
15 13 (17.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
15 13 (17.11%) PCI DSS
15 13 (17.11%) Regulatory Compliance
16 12 (15.79%) AWS
16 12 (15.79%) CI/CD
16 12 (15.79%) Cloud Security
16 12 (15.79%) Regression Testing

Tester Skill Set
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 6 (7.89%) Confluence
2 2 (2.63%) Apache
Applications
1 14 (18.42%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (17.11%) Microsoft Excel
2 13 (17.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (1.32%) Microsoft Project
Cloud Services
1 16 (21.05%) Azure
2 12 (15.79%) AWS
3 2 (2.63%) Azure DevOps
4 1 (1.32%) GCP
4 1 (1.32%) OCI
4 1 (1.32%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 18 (23.68%) Wireless
2 16 (21.05%) Firewall
3 11 (14.47%) Wireshark
4 4 (5.26%) Internet
4 4 (5.26%) Intranet
5 3 (3.95%) BGP
5 3 (3.95%) Cisco ASA
5 3 (3.95%) MPLS
5 3 (3.95%) Multicast
5 3 (3.95%) OSPF
5 3 (3.95%) TCP/IP
5 3 (3.95%) VLAN
5 3 (3.95%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (3.95%) SQL Server
2 1 (1.32%) Azure SQL Database
Development Applications
1 23 (30.26%) Burp Suite
2 21 (27.63%) Metasploit
3 17 (22.37%) JIRA
4 7 (9.21%) Selenium
5 5 (6.58%) Cucumber
6 4 (5.26%) Bitbucket
6 4 (5.26%) Cypress.io
6 4 (5.26%) Jenkins
6 4 (5.26%) REST Assured
7 2 (2.63%) Postman
7 2 (2.63%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (1.32%) Git
8 1 (1.32%) JMeter
8 1 (1.32%) NUnit
8 1 (1.32%) Toad
8 1 (1.32%) Tricentis qTest
8 1 (1.32%) WebDriver
General
1 38 (50.00%) Social Skills
2 17 (22.37%) Analytical Skills
3 9 (11.84%) Military
4 6 (7.89%) Finance
4 6 (7.89%) Public Sector
5 3 (3.95%) Automotive
5 3 (3.95%) Telecoms
6 2 (2.63%) French Language
7 1 (1.32%) Aviation
7 1 (1.32%) Billing
7 1 (1.32%) Documentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (7.89%) .NET
2 4 (5.26%) REST
2 4 (5.26%) RESTful
2 4 (5.26%) SOAP
3 2 (2.63%) Apache NiFi
3 2 (2.63%) Playwright
3 2 (2.63%) Swagger
4 1 (1.32%) WebdriverIO
4 1 (1.32%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 13 (17.11%) Security Posture
2 2 (2.63%) Team-Oriented Environment
3 1 (1.32%) Client/Server
3 1 (1.32%) Management Information System
3 1 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 25 (32.89%) Windows
2 19 (25.00%) Linux
3 10 (13.16%) Kali Linux
4 1 (1.32%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 32 (42.11%) Test Automation
2 27 (35.53%) Penetration Testing
3 14 (18.42%) Cybersecurity
4 13 (17.11%) Regulatory Compliance
5 12 (15.79%) CI/CD
5 12 (15.79%) Cloud Security
5 12 (15.79%) Regression Testing
5 12 (15.79%) Test Strategy
6 11 (14.47%) Agile
6 11 (14.47%) Information Security
6 11 (14.47%) Red Team
7 10 (13.16%) Business Development
7 10 (13.16%) Commercial Awareness
7 10 (13.16%) Line Management
7 10 (13.16%) OWASP
7 10 (13.16%) Security Management
8 9 (11.84%) Customer Service
9 8 (10.53%) Acceptance Criteria
9 8 (10.53%) MITRE ATT&CK
9 8 (10.53%) Scenario Testing
Programming Languages
1 20 (26.32%) Python
2 11 (14.47%) Bash
3 8 (10.53%) PowerShell
4 7 (9.21%) JavaScript
4 7 (9.21%) SQL
5 6 (7.89%) C#
6 5 (6.58%) Java
7 1 (1.32%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 52 (68.42%) Security Cleared
2 24 (31.58%) DV Cleared
3 23 (30.26%) SC Cleared
4 13 (17.11%) CHECK Team Member
4 13 (17.11%) Degree
5 11 (14.47%) CREST Certified
5 11 (14.47%) Cyber Scheme
5 11 (14.47%) Postgraduate
6 9 (11.84%) OSCP
7 8 (10.53%) CEH
7 8 (10.53%) GPEN
8 4 (5.26%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (3.95%) CCIE
9 3 (3.95%) CCNP
9 3 (3.95%) ISTQB
10 2 (2.63%) CISSP
10 2 (2.63%) SANS
11 1 (1.32%) BC Cleared
11 1 (1.32%) BPSS Clearance
11 1 (1.32%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (18.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 14 (18.42%) QA
2 13 (17.11%) GDPR
2 13 (17.11%) PCI DSS
3 11 (14.47%) PMO
4 1 (1.32%) Accessibility
4 1 (1.32%) NCSC
4 1 (1.32%) NIST
4 1 (1.32%) SLA
Systems Management
1 26 (34.21%) Nmap
2 3 (3.95%) Ansible
2 3 (3.95%) Iperf
2 3 (3.95%) Nessus
3 1 (1.32%) Cisco Prime
3 1 (1.32%) HP Quality Center
Vendors
1 3 (3.95%) CheckPoint
1 3 (3.95%) Cisco
1 3 (3.95%) Fortinet
1 3 (3.95%) Oracle
1 3 (3.95%) Palo Alto
1 3 (3.95%) ServiceNow
1 3 (3.95%) SolarWinds
2 1 (1.32%) SAP
2 1 (1.32%) Tufin
2 1 (1.32%) webMethods