Software Testing Contracts in the UK excluding London

Software Testing
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Software Testing skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Software Testing over the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 190 149 155
Rank change year-on-year -41 +6 -4
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 151 294 406
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 1.18% 1.42% 1.69%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.31% 1.67% 1.88%
Number of daily rates quoted 85 175 251
10th Percentile £308 £205 £250
25th Percentile £375 £395 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £450 £450
Median % change year-on-year +5.56% - -
75th Percentile £538 £575 £540
90th Percentile £663 £653 £630
UK median daily rate £444 £455 £500
% change year-on-year -2.42% -9.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 62 61
10th Percentile £50.96 £40.87 £37.67
25th Percentile £54.66 £56.94 £42.50
Median hourly rate £61.50 £62.50 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% +19.05% +7.14%
75th Percentile £65.63 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £87.50 - £70.00
UK median hourly rate £61.50 £62.50 £52.74
% change year-on-year -1.60% +18.52% +7.62%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Software Testing falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 11,543 17,602 21,544
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 90.42% 84.74% 89.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,249 10,520 14,947
10th Percentile £235 £250 £255
25th Percentile £375 £380 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.50% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £662 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £520 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 825 2,048 1,307
10th Percentile £14.20 £12.33 £11.00
25th Percentile £17.30 £15.28 £16.00
Median hourly rate £27.50 £37.34 £36.00
Median % change year-on-year -26.35% +3.72% +80.00%
75th Percentile £64.50 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £72.98
UK median hourly rate £29.00 £35.65 £37.30
% change year-on-year -18.65% -4.42% +49.20%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings citing Software Testing as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for Software Testing in the UK excluding London

Software Testing
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Software Testing in the UK excluding London.

Daily rate trend for Software Testing in the UK excluding London

Software Testing
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Testing in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Software Testing in the UK excluding London

Software Testing
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Software Testing in the UK excluding London.

Hourly rate trend for Software Testing in the UK excluding London

Software Testing
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Testing in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 1 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Testing in the UK excluding London

Software Testing
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Software Testing within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 1 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
South East +1 52 £550 +29.41% 332
South West +47 26 £400 -27.27% 143
North of England -17 23 £520 +20.52% 257
East of England +2 20 £475 +13.10% 174
Midlands -6 15 £448 -5.68% 229
Scotland +15 14 £400 -19.68% 73
North West +12 14 £508 +6.84% 131
West Midlands -1 12 £449 -5.47% 137
Yorkshire -25 8 £520 +20.87% 90
East Midlands -3 3 £115 -74.97% 78
Northern Ireland -11 1 £325 -40.91% 19
North East - 1 - - 38
Software Testing
UK

Software Testing
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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:

Application Platforms
1 14 (9.27%) Confluence
2 2 (1.32%) Appian
2 2 (1.32%) SAS
3 1 (0.66%) SharePoint
Applications
1 10 (6.62%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.66%) Simulink
2 1 (0.66%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 2 (1.32%) LabWindows
1 2 (1.32%) Misys Midas
1 2 (1.32%) Remedy ITSM
1 2 (1.32%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 22 (14.57%) Azure
2 20 (13.25%) Azure DevOps
3 12 (7.95%) AWS
4 5 (3.31%) GitHub
4 5 (3.31%) Power Automate
5 3 (1.99%) Azure Machine Learning
5 3 (1.99%) GCP
6 2 (1.32%) Azure Event Grid
6 2 (1.32%) Azure Functions
6 2 (1.32%) Azure Pipelines
6 2 (1.32%) Dynamics 365
6 2 (1.32%) SaaS
6 2 (1.32%) Serverless
7 1 (0.66%) npm
7 1 (0.66%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 10 (6.62%) Software-Defined Radio
2 9 (5.96%) SNMP
3 8 (5.30%) Firewall
4 6 (3.97%) 5G NR
5 3 (1.99%) Ethernet
5 3 (1.99%) HTTP
6 2 (1.32%) 5G
6 2 (1.32%) Diameter Protocol
6 2 (1.32%) DNS
6 2 (1.32%) SIGTRAN
6 2 (1.32%) SMS
6 2 (1.32%) SS7
6 2 (1.32%) SSL
6 2 (1.32%) VoLTE
6 2 (1.32%) VoWiFi
6 2 (1.32%) VPN
6 2 (1.32%) Wireshark
7 1 (0.66%) Cisco Firepower
7 1 (0.66%) NAS
7 1 (0.66%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (5.96%) Oracle Database
2 8 (5.30%) MongoDB
3 7 (4.64%) PostgreSQL
3 7 (4.64%) Relational Database
4 6 (3.97%) Oracle Database 11g
4 6 (3.97%) RDBMS
5 5 (3.31%) SQL Server
6 4 (2.65%) DB2
7 3 (1.99%) Big Data
8 2 (1.32%) InterSystems Cache
8 2 (1.32%) MS Access
9 1 (0.66%) MySQL
9 1 (0.66%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.66%) Power BI
9 1 (0.66%) SAS Data Integration Studio
Development Applications
1 35 (23.18%) JIRA
2 26 (17.22%) Git
3 19 (12.58%) Jenkins
4 17 (11.26%) Selenium
5 14 (9.27%) Cucumber
6 10 (6.62%) Robot Framework
7 9 (5.96%) GoogleTest
7 9 (5.96%) JUnit
8 7 (4.64%) Bitbucket
8 7 (4.64%) SoapUI
9 6 (3.97%) Eclipse
9 6 (3.97%) Rational DOORS
10 5 (3.31%) Cypress.io
10 5 (3.31%) JMeter
11 4 (2.65%) Gradle
11 4 (2.65%) HP UFT
11 4 (2.65%) IntelliJ
11 4 (2.65%) LoadRunner
11 4 (2.65%) Maven
12 3 (1.99%) Postman
General
1 41 (27.15%) Social Skills
2 27 (17.88%) Analytical Skills
3 20 (13.25%) Public Sector
4 14 (9.27%) Finance
5 8 (5.30%) Aerospace
6 4 (2.65%) Manufacturing
6 4 (2.65%) Military
7 3 (1.99%) Banking
7 3 (1.99%) Documentation Skills
7 3 (1.99%) Electronics
7 3 (1.99%) Pharmaceutical
7 3 (1.99%) Telecoms
8 2 (1.32%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (0.66%) Aviation
9 1 (0.66%) Avionics
9 1 (0.66%) Games
9 1 (0.66%) Marketing
9 1 (0.66%) Retail
Job Titles
1 23 (15.23%) Analyst
2 22 (14.57%) Test Analyst
3 20 (13.25%) Tester
4 19 (12.58%) Software Engineer
5 16 (10.60%) Developer
6 15 (9.93%) Lead
7 12 (7.95%) Test Engineer
8 10 (6.62%) Senior
9 9 (5.96%) Software Test Engineer
9 9 (5.96%) Systems Engineer
9 9 (5.96%) Test Manager
10 8 (5.30%) Software Tester
11 6 (3.97%) Java Developer
11 6 (3.97%) Project Engineer
11 6 (3.97%) Project Leader
11 6 (3.97%) Senior Analyst
11 6 (3.97%) Senior Test Analyst
11 6 (3.97%) Test Leader
12 5 (3.31%) Project Manager
12 5 (3.31%) QA Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (10.60%) CSS
1 16 (10.60%) HTML
2 12 (7.95%) Kafka
3 11 (7.28%) .NET
4 9 (5.96%) SOAP
5 7 (4.64%) XML
6 4 (2.65%) Node.js
6 4 (2.65%) Spring
6 4 (2.65%) Spring Boot
7 3 (1.99%) Middleware
7 3 (1.99%) Playwright
7 3 (1.99%) REST
7 3 (1.99%) Web Services
8 2 (1.32%) .NET Framework
8 2 (1.32%) AngularJS
8 2 (1.32%) Gherkin
8 2 (1.32%) OpenAPI
8 2 (1.32%) React
8 2 (1.32%) Swagger
9 1 (0.66%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 9 (5.96%) Self-Motivation
2 7 (4.64%) Operational Technology
3 6 (3.97%) Product Ownership
4 5 (3.31%) Data Structures
5 3 (1.99%) Data Protection Act
5 3 (1.99%) IoT
5 3 (1.99%) PCIe
6 2 (1.32%) Cyberattack
6 2 (1.32%) EPoS
6 2 (1.32%) FPGA
6 2 (1.32%) Linux Command Line
6 2 (1.32%) Onboarding
7 1 (0.66%) Driving Licence
7 1 (0.66%) Embedded Systems
7 1 (0.66%) EMC VMAX
7 1 (0.66%) Enterprise Storage
7 1 (0.66%) Fibre Optics
7 1 (0.66%) Legacy Applications
7 1 (0.66%) Mobile App
7 1 (0.66%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 28 (18.54%) Linux
2 10 (6.62%) Windows
3 8 (5.30%) Apple iOS
4 7 (4.64%) Unix
5 3 (1.99%) FreeRTOS
6 2 (1.32%) Windows 10
6 2 (1.32%) Windows Server
6 2 (1.32%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.66%) Android
7 1 (0.66%) Embedded Linux
7 1 (0.66%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (51.66%) Agile
2 56 (37.09%) Test Automation
3 48 (31.79%) DevOps
4 37 (24.50%) Validation
5 32 (21.19%) Problem-Solving
6 29 (19.21%) Integration Testing
6 29 (19.21%) Software Engineering
7 20 (13.25%) Unit Testing
8 18 (11.92%) Test Scripting
9 17 (11.26%) Test Strategy
10 16 (10.60%) CI/CD
10 16 (10.60%) Continuous Improvement
10 16 (10.60%) Manual Testing
10 16 (10.60%) SDLC
11 14 (9.27%) SysML
11 14 (9.27%) UML
11 14 (9.27%) User Acceptance Testing
11 14 (9.27%) Waterfall
12 13 (8.61%) Migration
12 13 (8.61%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 30 (19.87%) SQL
2 24 (15.89%) JavaScript
3 20 (13.25%) Java
4 18 (11.92%) Python
5 15 (9.93%) C#
6 13 (8.61%) C++
7 8 (5.30%) C
8 7 (4.64%) Bash
8 7 (4.64%) PL/SQL
9 2 (1.32%) MATLAB
9 2 (1.32%) MUMPS
9 2 (1.32%) PowerShell
9 2 (1.32%) Shell Script
9 2 (1.32%) TypeScript
9 2 (1.32%) VB
10 1 (0.66%) Embedded C
10 1 (0.66%) Scala
Qualifications
1 57 (37.75%) Security Cleared
2 45 (29.80%) SC Cleared
3 13 (8.61%) ISTQB
4 11 (7.28%) DV Cleared
5 10 (6.62%) Degree
6 4 (2.65%) BPSS Clearance
6 4 (2.65%) ISEB
6 4 (2.65%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 3 (1.99%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
8 1 (0.66%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (0.66%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (16.56%) QA
2 8 (5.30%) Def Stans
3 7 (4.64%) GxP
4 3 (1.99%) PMO
5 2 (1.32%) ISO 26262
5 2 (1.32%) MISRA
5 2 (1.32%) MISRA C
6 1 (0.66%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.66%) DO-178B
System Software
1 9 (5.96%) Active Directory
2 7 (4.64%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (3.31%) Firmware
4 2 (1.32%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.66%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 3 (1.99%) Ansible
2 2 (1.32%) SCCM
2 2 (1.32%) Terraform
3 1 (0.66%) Puppet
Vendors
1 15 (9.93%) Microsoft
2 13 (8.61%) Oracle
3 12 (7.95%) Atlassian
4 9 (5.96%) ServiceNow
4 9 (5.96%) VMware
5 8 (5.30%) Google
6 7 (4.64%) OpenAI
7 4 (2.65%) Talend
8 3 (1.99%) Denodo
8 3 (1.99%) Sybase
9 2 (1.32%) Citrix
9 2 (1.32%) HP
9 2 (1.32%) Remedy
10 1 (0.66%) Cisco
10 1 (0.66%) EMC
10 1 (0.66%) ESRI
10 1 (0.66%) NetApp
10 1 (0.66%) QAD
10 1 (0.66%) Red Hat
10 1 (0.66%) Veritas