Test Strategy Contracts in the UK excluding London

Test Strategy
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Test Strategy skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Test Strategy over the 6 months leading up to 19 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 154 192 183
Rank change year-on-year +38 -9 -17
Contract jobs citing Test Strategy 208 213 306
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 1.61% 1.05% 1.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.78% 1.24% 1.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 136 128 227
10th Percentile £322 £358 £363
25th Percentile £400 £412 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £466 £500 £490
Median % change year-on-year -6.85% +2.04% -2.00%
75th Percentile £520 £570 £540
90th Percentile £605 £625 £626
UK median daily rate £475 £525 £500
% change year-on-year -9.52% +5.00% -4.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 4 5
10th Percentile £28.18 - £55.84
25th Percentile £35.51 - -
Median hourly rate £60.00 £60.00 £62.55
Median % change year-on-year - -4.08% +229.21%
75th Percentile £71.88 £63.13 -
90th Percentile £80.13 £68.75 -
UK median hourly rate £60.00 £65.00 £62.55
% change year-on-year -7.69% +3.92% +140.58%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Test Strategy 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 11,711 17,111 20,579
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 90.54% 84.30% 89.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,292 10,219 14,183
10th Percentile £235 £250 £258
25th Percentile £375 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +4.17%
75th Percentile £580 £600 £600
90th Percentile £651 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £515 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -1.90% -4.55% +3.77%
Number of hourly rates quoted 850 2,064 1,254
10th Percentile £14.02 £12.35 £10.63
25th Percentile £17.08 £15.25 £15.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £37.50 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -32.93% +7.14% +75.00%
75th Percentile £63.40 £61.30 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £73.74
UK median hourly rate £28.00 £36.05 £36.00
% change year-on-year -22.32% +0.13% +40.19%

Test Strategy
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Job vacancy trend for Test Strategy in the UK excluding London

Test Strategy
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Daily rate trend for Test Strategy in the UK excluding London

Test Strategy
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Test Strategy in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 19 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Test Strategy in the UK excluding London

Test Strategy
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Hourly rate trend for Test Strategy in the UK excluding London

Test Strategy
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Test Strategy in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 19 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Test Strategy in the UK excluding London

Test Strategy
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 Test Strategy within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 19 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 +60 68 £450 -13.25% 95
North of England +41 58 £453 -4.63% 66
Midlands +38 57 £492 +29.47% 39
West Midlands +23 45 £500 +39.66% 19
North West +32 33 £447 -0.67% 41
Yorkshire +16 19 £475 -8.12% 20
South West +25 12 £630 +12.00% 33
East Midlands +15 12 £322 -23.61% 20
East of England -9 8 £750 +46.34% 29
North East -2 6 £520 +27.61% 5
Wales -4 5 £331 -38.10% 11
Scotland -11 3 £550 +2.14% 24
Northern Ireland - 1 £550 - 6
Test Strategy
UK

Test Strategy
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 16 (7.69%) Confluence
2 4 (1.92%) CICS
3 2 (0.96%) WebLogic
3 2 (0.96%) WebSphere
4 1 (0.48%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.48%) Oracle Workflow
4 1 (0.48%) SharePoint
Applications
1 6 (2.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 6 (2.88%) MS Visio
2 3 (1.44%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.96%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.48%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.48%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (1.44%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.96%) SAP ERP
3 1 (0.48%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.48%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 46 (22.12%) Azure
2 20 (9.62%) Azure DevOps
3 14 (6.73%) AWS
3 14 (6.73%) Power Platform
4 13 (6.25%) PowerApps
5 10 (4.81%) GitHub
6 5 (2.40%) Dynamics 365
6 5 (2.40%) GCP
7 4 (1.92%) Azure Pipelines
7 4 (1.92%) SaaS
8 3 (1.44%) GitHub Actions
9 2 (0.96%) BrowserStack
9 2 (0.96%) npm
10 1 (0.48%) Oracle Service Cloud
10 1 (0.48%) SuccessFactors
10 1 (0.48%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 19 (9.13%) MPLS
2 16 (7.69%) ATM
2 16 (7.69%) Ethernet
2 16 (7.69%) Frame Relay
2 16 (7.69%) GPRS
2 16 (7.69%) GSM
2 16 (7.69%) LAN
2 16 (7.69%) LTE
2 16 (7.69%) SAN
2 16 (7.69%) SDH
2 16 (7.69%) UMTS
2 16 (7.69%) VPN
2 16 (7.69%) WAN
2 16 (7.69%) Wireshark
3 3 (1.44%) BGP
3 3 (1.44%) TCP/IP
3 3 (1.44%) VLAN
4 2 (0.96%) Software-Defined Radio
5 1 (0.48%) Cisco Wireless
5 1 (0.48%) Modbus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (2.88%) PostgreSQL
2 5 (2.40%) NoSQL
3 4 (1.92%) MySQL
3 4 (1.92%) SQL Server
4 3 (1.44%) DB2
4 3 (1.44%) Oracle Reports
5 2 (0.96%) BigQuery
5 2 (0.96%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.96%) Hadoop
5 2 (0.96%) InfluxDB
5 2 (0.96%) MongoDB
5 2 (0.96%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.48%) Electronic Patient Records
6 1 (0.48%) IDMS
6 1 (0.48%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.48%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 63 (30.29%) JIRA
2 40 (19.23%) Selenium
3 16 (7.69%) Jenkins
4 15 (7.21%) Git
5 14 (6.73%) Cypress.io
5 14 (6.73%) JMeter
6 13 (6.25%) Postman
7 12 (5.77%) Cucumber
7 12 (5.77%) JUnit
8 9 (4.33%) SoapUI
9 7 (3.37%) LoadRunner
9 7 (3.37%) REST Assured
9 7 (3.37%) TestRail
10 6 (2.88%) Appium
10 6 (2.88%) Maven
11 5 (2.40%) IntelliJ
12 4 (1.92%) Gradle
12 4 (1.92%) HP UFT
12 4 (1.92%) SpecFlow
13 3 (1.44%) Robot Framework
General
1 96 (46.15%) Social Skills
2 37 (17.79%) Analytical Skills
3 23 (11.06%) Telecoms
4 21 (10.10%) Finance
5 19 (9.13%) Public Sector
6 8 (3.85%) Documentation Skills
7 5 (2.40%) Manufacturing
7 5 (2.40%) Military
8 4 (1.92%) Automotive
8 4 (1.92%) Banking
9 3 (1.44%) Aerospace
9 3 (1.44%) Billing
9 3 (1.44%) Games
9 3 (1.44%) Organisational Skills
9 3 (1.44%) Retail
10 2 (0.96%) Avionics
10 2 (0.96%) General Ledger
10 2 (0.96%) Marketing
10 2 (0.96%) Pharmaceutical
10 2 (0.96%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 37 (17.79%) Lead
2 34 (16.35%) Tester
3 33 (15.87%) Test Manager
4 28 (13.46%) Analyst
5 25 (12.02%) Test Engineer
6 23 (11.06%) Senior
7 20 (9.62%) Test Leader
8 15 (7.21%) Developer
8 15 (7.21%) IP Engineer
9 13 (6.25%) QA Engineer
10 10 (4.81%) Business Analyst
11 9 (4.33%) OAT Analyst
12 8 (3.85%) ServiceNow Business Analyst
12 8 (3.85%) Technical Leader
12 8 (3.85%) Test Analyst
13 7 (3.37%) Automation Tester
13 7 (3.37%) QA Tester
13 7 (3.37%) Senior Analyst
14 6 (2.88%) Senior QA Engineer
14 6 (2.88%) Test Strategy Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (4.33%) Node.js
1 9 (4.33%) XML
2 5 (2.40%) .NET
2 5 (2.40%) CSS
2 5 (2.40%) HTML
2 5 (2.40%) Middleware
2 5 (2.40%) Playwright
2 5 (2.40%) RESTful
3 4 (1.92%) JSON
3 4 (1.92%) React
3 4 (1.92%) REST
3 4 (1.92%) SOAP
4 3 (1.44%) Unity (Game Engine)
5 2 (0.96%) AngularJS
5 2 (0.96%) Blazor
5 2 (0.96%) Gherkin
5 2 (0.96%) Next.js
5 2 (0.96%) Oracle Fusion
5 2 (0.96%) pytest
5 2 (0.96%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 23 (11.06%) Self-Motivation
2 16 (7.69%) SCADA
3 15 (7.21%) Data Centre
4 14 (6.73%) Product Ownership
5 9 (4.33%) CMDB
6 5 (2.40%) Management Information System
6 5 (2.40%) NHS
6 5 (2.40%) Onboarding
7 4 (1.92%) Mainframe
8 3 (1.44%) Cloud Native
8 3 (1.44%) Legacy Systems
8 3 (1.44%) VSAM
9 2 (0.96%) Distributed Applications
9 2 (0.96%) Enterprise Software
9 2 (0.96%) FMCG
9 2 (0.96%) Greenfield Project
9 2 (0.96%) Infotainment
9 2 (0.96%) Life Science
9 2 (0.96%) Mobile Payment
9 2 (0.96%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 22 (10.58%) Linux
2 21 (10.10%) Unix
3 7 (3.37%) Windows
4 1 (0.48%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 86 (41.35%) Agile
2 81 (38.94%) Test Automation
3 73 (35.10%) Problem-Solving
4 53 (25.48%) DevOps
5 40 (19.23%) CI/CD
6 38 (18.27%) Test Management
7 36 (17.31%) User Acceptance Testing
8 33 (15.87%) Stakeholder Management
9 30 (14.42%) Validation
10 29 (13.94%) Project Management
11 27 (12.98%) Scenario Testing
11 27 (12.98%) Test Scripting
12 25 (12.02%) End-to-End Testing
12 25 (12.02%) Manual Testing
13 24 (11.54%) Continuous Improvement
13 24 (11.54%) Performance Testing
14 23 (11.06%) Regression Testing
14 23 (11.06%) System Integration Testing
15 22 (10.58%) Non-Functional Testing
16 21 (10.10%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 41 (19.71%) SQL
2 39 (18.75%) Java
3 16 (7.69%) JavaScript
3 16 (7.69%) Python
4 14 (6.73%) TypeScript
5 10 (4.81%) C#
6 4 (1.92%) COBOL
6 4 (1.92%) Go
6 4 (1.92%) JCL
6 4 (1.92%) Perl
6 4 (1.92%) PL/SQL
7 2 (0.96%) REXX
8 1 (0.48%) PowerShell
8 1 (0.48%) Rust
Qualifications
1 40 (19.23%) Security Cleared
2 38 (18.27%) ISTQB
3 33 (15.87%) SC Cleared
4 22 (10.58%) ISEB
5 21 (10.10%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
6 16 (7.69%) CCNP
6 16 (7.69%) Cisco Certification
6 16 (7.69%) Degree
7 6 (2.88%) DV Cleared
8 3 (1.44%) Master's Degree
9 2 (0.96%) BPSS Clearance
9 2 (0.96%) Computer Science Degree
9 2 (0.96%) HND
9 2 (0.96%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
9 2 (0.96%) PMI Certification
9 2 (0.96%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (32.21%) QA
2 10 (4.81%) Accessibility
3 5 (2.40%) Data Quality
4 3 (1.44%) Software Quality Assurance
5 2 (0.96%) COSHH
5 2 (0.96%) GxP
5 2 (0.96%) ISO 14001
5 2 (0.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 1 (0.48%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (0.48%) GDPR
6 1 (0.48%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.48%) SEPA
6 1 (0.48%) SLA
6 1 (0.48%) WCAG
System Software
1 12 (5.77%) Docker
2 1 (0.48%) Active Directory
2 1 (0.48%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 7 (3.37%) HP ALM
1 7 (3.37%) Kubernetes
2 6 (2.88%) Ansible
3 5 (2.40%) Terraform
4 3 (1.44%) Packer
5 2 (0.96%) Amdocs OSS
5 2 (0.96%) Grafana
6 1 (0.48%) CA Endevor
6 1 (0.48%) OPNET
Vendors
1 26 (12.50%) Microsoft
2 23 (11.06%) Oracle
3 18 (8.65%) Cisco
4 16 (7.69%) Juniper
5 10 (4.81%) SAP
5 10 (4.81%) ServiceNow
6 7 (3.37%) HP
7 6 (2.88%) MuleSoft
8 5 (2.40%) Informatica
9 3 (1.44%) Databricks
9 3 (1.44%) Salesforce
9 3 (1.44%) Talend
10 2 (0.96%) Ariba
10 2 (0.96%) CheckPoint
10 2 (0.96%) Cramer
10 2 (0.96%) Infoblox
10 2 (0.96%) Nintex
10 2 (0.96%) Parasoft
10 2 (0.96%) Remedy
10 2 (0.96%) webMethods