Unit Testing Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Unit Testing
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Unit Testing skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 7 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 300 202 149
Rank change year-on-year -98 -53 +19
Contract jobs citing Unit Testing 174 179 267
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.62% 1.17% 1.49%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.77% 1.31% 1.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 92 97 164
10th Percentile £286 £348 £375
25th Percentile £405 £384 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £463 £543
Median % change year-on-year +8.11% -14.75% -1.36%
75th Percentile £600 £526 £638
90th Percentile £688 £633 £663
UK median daily rate £500 £475 £550
% change year-on-year +5.26% -13.64% -4.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 23 40
10th Percentile £38.25 - £61.25
25th Percentile £62.50 - £62.19
Median hourly rate £70.00 £65.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% - -
75th Percentile - £66.00 -
90th Percentile - £67.00 -
UK median hourly rate £70.00 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year +7.69% - -

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Unit 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 22,559 13,636 14,881
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 80.95% 89.05% 82.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,043 8,179 8,727
10th Percentile £300 £240 £250
25th Percentile £408 £368 £390
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £575 £600
90th Percentile £688 £653 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.23%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,555 1,391 1,297
10th Percentile £13.70 £13.85 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.25 £16.95 £17.75
Median hourly rate £42.50 £22.63 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +87.80% -47.37% +11.25%
75th Percentile £68.00 £43.57 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £41.00 £25.15 £42.94
% change year-on-year +63.02% -41.43% +2.73%

Unit Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Unit Testing relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Unit Testing job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Unit Testing
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Unit Testing.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Unit Testing

Unit Testing
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Unit Testing in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 7 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Unit Testing in the UK excluding London

Unit Testing
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Unit Testing.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Unit Testing

Unit Testing
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Unit Testing in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 7 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Unit Testing in the UK excluding London

Unit 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 Unit Testing within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 7 September 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
North of England -61 69 £463 +9.79% 58
South East -35 58 £513 +12.02% 22
North East -6 35 £510 -7.27% 10
Midlands -56 29 £496 +7.27% 27
West Midlands -34 24 £500 - 17
North West -78 22 £463 +0.65% 40
Yorkshire -41 12 £447 +14.62% 9
South West -40 10 £500 -9.09% 31
East of England -34 9 £619 +26.92% 30
Scotland -48 9 £485 -7.18% 27
East Midlands -29 5 £430 -2.61% 10
Wales -19 3 £700 +35.27% 2
Unit Testing
UK

Unit Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 2 (1.15%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.57%) Camunda
2 1 (0.57%) JBoss
2 1 (0.57%) Jupyter
2 1 (0.57%) Mule
2 1 (0.57%) Mule ESB
2 1 (0.57%) Oracle Workflow
2 1 (0.57%) SAS
2 1 (0.57%) WebLogic
Applications
1 2 (1.15%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.57%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 10 (5.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (2.30%) SAP Payroll
3 3 (1.72%) SAP HCM
3 3 (1.72%) SAP SD
4 2 (1.15%) SAP MM
4 2 (1.15%) SAP PP
5 1 (0.57%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.57%) ProductWriter
5 1 (0.57%) SAP EWM
5 1 (0.57%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.57%) SAP LE
5 1 (0.57%) SAP QM
5 1 (0.57%) SAP Travel Management
5 1 (0.57%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 41 (23.56%) OpenShift
2 32 (18.39%) Azure
3 23 (13.22%) AWS
4 21 (12.07%) Azure DevOps
5 15 (8.62%) GitHub
6 13 (7.47%) Power Platform
6 13 (7.47%) Serverless
7 8 (4.60%) PowerApps
8 7 (4.02%) AWS Lambda
8 7 (4.02%) Dynamics 365
8 7 (4.02%) Power Automate
9 6 (3.45%) Azure Functions
9 6 (3.45%) Azure Logic Apps
10 5 (2.87%) Amazon SQS
11 4 (2.30%) AWS CloudFormation
11 4 (2.30%) GCP
12 3 (1.72%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 3 (1.72%) Amazon ECS
12 3 (1.72%) Amazon EKS
13 2 (1.15%) Amazon EventBridge
Communications & Networking
1 5 (2.87%) Ethernet
1 5 (2.87%) TCP/IP
2 1 (0.57%) HTTP
2 1 (0.57%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (5.17%) PostgreSQL
2 8 (4.60%) NoSQL
2 8 (4.60%) Power BI
2 8 (4.60%) SQL Server
3 7 (4.02%) DynamoDB
4 5 (2.87%) Relational Database
5 4 (2.30%) MongoDB
6 3 (1.72%) MySQL
7 2 (1.15%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (1.15%) DocumentDB
7 2 (1.15%) Oracle Database
7 2 (1.15%) SAP HANA
7 2 (1.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.57%) Aerospike
8 1 (0.57%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.57%) Big Data
8 1 (0.57%) BigQuery
8 1 (0.57%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.57%) Metadata
8 1 (0.57%) Redis
Development Applications
1 44 (25.29%) Git
2 41 (23.56%) SonarQube
3 18 (10.34%) GitLab
4 17 (9.77%) JUnit
5 15 (8.62%) Selenium
6 11 (6.32%) Visual Studio
7 10 (5.75%) Jenkins
7 10 (5.75%) JIRA
8 9 (5.17%) Maven
9 8 (4.60%) Gradle
10 7 (4.02%) Eclipse
11 6 (3.45%) Cucumber
12 5 (2.87%) MSTest
12 5 (2.87%) NUnit
13 4 (2.30%) Bitbucket
13 4 (2.30%) Cypress.io
13 4 (2.30%) JMeter
14 3 (1.72%) Gatling
14 3 (1.72%) Mockito
14 3 (1.72%) SpecFlow
General
1 44 (25.29%) Social Skills
2 23 (13.22%) Public Sector
3 20 (11.49%) Analytical Skills
3 20 (11.49%) Finance
4 10 (5.75%) Banking
5 9 (5.17%) Aerospace
6 6 (3.45%) Military
7 5 (2.87%) Manufacturing
8 4 (2.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 4 (2.30%) Retail
9 3 (1.72%) Billing
10 1 (0.57%) Advertising
10 1 (0.57%) Aviation
10 1 (0.57%) General Ledger
10 1 (0.57%) Legal
10 1 (0.57%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 80 (45.98%) Developer
2 28 (16.09%) Software Engineer
3 27 (15.52%) Java Developer
4 23 (13.22%) Java Engineer
5 16 (9.20%) Consultant
6 13 (7.47%) Lead
6 13 (7.47%) Senior
7 12 (6.90%) Java Software Engineer
8 11 (6.32%) SC Cleared Java Developer
9 9 (5.17%) SAP Consultant
10 7 (4.02%) .NET Developer
10 7 (4.02%) Software Developer
11 6 (3.45%) Microsoft Developer
11 6 (3.45%) Senior Developer
12 5 (2.87%) Lead Developer
12 5 (2.87%) ServiceNow Developer
12 5 (2.87%) Technical Consultant
13 4 (2.30%) AWS Engineer
13 4 (2.30%) AWS Software Engineer
13 4 (2.30%) Scala Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (25.29%) AngularJS
2 38 (21.84%) Quarkus
3 29 (16.67%) REST
4 28 (16.09%) .NET
5 22 (12.64%) Spring
6 20 (11.49%) Web Services
7 19 (10.92%) React
8 16 (9.20%) RESTful
8 16 (9.20%) Spring Boot
9 14 (8.05%) HTML
10 13 (7.47%) SOAP
11 12 (6.90%) Kafka
11 12 (6.90%) Node.js
11 12 (6.90%) Playwright
12 11 (6.32%) CSS
12 11 (6.32%) Terraform
12 11 (6.32%) WPF
13 10 (5.75%) Middleware
14 9 (5.17%) .NET Framework
14 9 (5.17%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 11 (6.32%) Data Structures
2 10 (5.75%) Cloud Native
2 10 (5.75%) Distributed Systems
2 10 (5.75%) Product Ownership
3 4 (2.30%) Enterprise Software
3 4 (2.30%) Management Information System
4 3 (1.72%) CMDB
4 3 (1.72%) Onboarding
5 2 (1.15%) Algorithms
5 2 (1.15%) NHS
6 1 (0.57%) Analytical Mindset
6 1 (0.57%) Embedded Systems
6 1 (0.57%) LIMS
6 1 (0.57%) Low-Code
6 1 (0.57%) Public Cloud
6 1 (0.57%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 10 (5.75%) Windows
2 6 (3.45%) Linux
3 1 (0.57%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 102 (58.62%) Agile
2 77 (44.25%) Test Automation
3 62 (35.63%) CI/CD
3 62 (35.63%) Scrum
4 58 (33.33%) Software Engineering
5 52 (29.89%) DevOps
6 50 (28.74%) SDLC
7 45 (25.86%) Sprint Planning
8 44 (25.29%) Front End Development
9 41 (23.56%) Problem-Solving
10 40 (22.99%) User Acceptance Testing
11 39 (22.41%) DevSecOps
12 37 (21.26%) Sprint Review
13 31 (17.82%) Continuous Improvement
13 31 (17.82%) Integration Testing
14 27 (15.52%) TDD
15 24 (13.79%) Microservices
16 23 (13.22%) Code Quality
17 18 (10.34%) System Integration Testing
18 17 (9.77%) Translating Business Requirements
Programming Languages
1 68 (39.08%) Java
2 45 (25.86%) SQL
3 43 (24.71%) C#
4 40 (22.99%) JavaScript
5 14 (8.05%) Python
5 14 (8.05%) TypeScript
6 7 (4.02%) C++
7 6 (3.45%) Scala
8 5 (2.87%) ABAP
9 4 (2.30%) X++
10 2 (1.15%) Apex Code
10 2 (1.15%) C
10 2 (1.15%) Embedded C
10 2 (1.15%) PL/SQL
10 2 (1.15%) SOQL
10 2 (1.15%) SOSL
10 2 (1.15%) T-SQL
10 2 (1.15%) VBA
10 2 (1.15%) XAML
11 1 (0.57%) Bash
Qualifications
1 64 (36.78%) Security Cleared
2 54 (31.03%) SC Cleared
3 11 (6.32%) Degree
4 6 (3.45%) BPSS Clearance
4 6 (3.45%) Microsoft Certification
5 5 (2.87%) ISTQB
5 5 (2.87%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
6 3 (1.72%) DV Cleared
7 2 (1.15%) Master's Degree
7 2 (1.15%) PhD
8 1 (0.57%) ACCA
8 1 (0.57%) CIMA
8 1 (0.57%) CISA
8 1 (0.57%) CISSP
8 1 (0.57%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (0.57%) CREST Certified
8 1 (0.57%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
8 1 (0.57%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (27.59%) QA
2 7 (4.02%) Accessibility
3 5 (2.87%) WCAG
4 3 (1.72%) Data Quality
4 3 (1.72%) HMG Security Policy Framework
4 3 (1.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (1.15%) GDPR
6 1 (0.57%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 1 (0.57%) GMP
6 1 (0.57%) GRC
6 1 (0.57%) GxP
6 1 (0.57%) HL7
6 1 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 17025
6 1 (0.57%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 20 (11.49%) Docker
2 2 (1.15%) Virtual Machines
2 2 (1.15%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 53 (30.46%) Kubernetes
2 38 (21.84%) Argo
3 2 (1.15%) Ansible
4 1 (0.57%) Grafana
4 1 (0.57%) Istio
4 1 (0.57%) Kubeflow
Vendors
1 36 (20.69%) Red Hat
2 21 (12.07%) Microsoft
3 16 (9.20%) SAP
4 14 (8.05%) Oracle
5 8 (4.60%) ServiceNow
6 5 (2.87%) Splunk
7 4 (2.30%) Avaloq
7 4 (2.30%) UiPath
8 2 (1.15%) Adobe
8 2 (1.15%) Databricks
8 2 (1.15%) Google
8 2 (1.15%) MuleSoft
8 2 (1.15%) Salesforce
8 2 (1.15%) VMware
9 1 (0.57%) Dynatrace
9 1 (0.57%) IFS
9 1 (0.57%) JDA
9 1 (0.57%) Pega
9 1 (0.57%) Sitecore
9 1 (0.57%) Workday