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 27 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 273 207 167
Rank change year-on-year -66 -40 +5
Contract jobs citing Unit Testing 189 159 250
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.70% 1.05% 1.30%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.86% 1.18% 1.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 96 93 169
10th Percentile £309 £283 £396
25th Percentile £368 £358 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £460 £525
Median % change year-on-year +8.70% -12.38% -2.78%
75th Percentile £600 £546 £600
90th Percentile £688 £636 £661
UK median daily rate £500 £463 £525
% change year-on-year +8.11% -11.90% -8.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 19 46
10th Percentile £58.00 £59.50 -
25th Percentile £62.50 £63.13 £61.25
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
75th Percentile £70.00 - -
90th Percentile - £67.00 -
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00

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 22,083 13,484 15,909
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 81.73% 89.25% 82.96%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,065 8,174 9,561
10th Percentile £300 £235 £250
25th Percentile £406 £365 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £592 £575 £600
90th Percentile £677 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £520 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -3.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,303 1,274 1,720
10th Percentile £14.48 £14.00 £13.18
25th Percentile £19.55 £16.95 £16.06
Median hourly rate £43.96 £23.82 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +84.59% -40.46% -
75th Percentile £68.75 £50.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £82.47 £70.16 £74.04
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +74.79% -37.13% -5.88%

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 27 July 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 27 July 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 27 July 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
South East -23 69 £513 +12.02% 21
North of England -49 66 £463 +11.45% 29
North East -13 29 £510 -7.27% 6
North West -48 28 £463 +5.47% 19
East of England -21 16 £625 +33.33% 10
South West -36 15 £500 -9.09% 10
Scotland -28 14 £488 +37.08% 3
Midlands -63 14 £494 +12.34% 15
Yorkshire -48 9 £483 +20.75% 5
East Midlands -25 8 £485 +15.48% 3
West Midlands -49 6 £519 +12.89% 12
Wales -17 3 £700 +35.27%
Northern Ireland +3 2 £369 -32.95%
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 5 (2.65%) SharePoint
2 2 (1.06%) Mule
2 2 (1.06%) Mule ESB
3 1 (0.53%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.53%) Camunda
3 1 (0.53%) IIS
3 1 (0.53%) JBoss
3 1 (0.53%) SAS
3 1 (0.53%) WebLogic
Applications
1 4 (2.12%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (1.59%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (1.06%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.53%) Oracle Smart View
Business Applications
1 8 (4.23%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (3.70%) SAP Payroll
3 6 (3.17%) SAP HCM
4 3 (1.59%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (1.06%) Oracle 11i
5 2 (1.06%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.53%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.53%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.53%) ProductWriter
6 1 (0.53%) SAP CRM
6 1 (0.53%) SAP HR
6 1 (0.53%) SAP SD
6 1 (0.53%) SAP Travel Management
6 1 (0.53%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 40 (21.16%) OpenShift
2 38 (20.11%) Azure
3 24 (12.70%) AWS
4 23 (12.17%) Azure DevOps
5 15 (7.94%) GitHub
5 15 (7.94%) Serverless
6 9 (4.76%) Power Platform
7 8 (4.23%) Azure Functions
8 7 (3.70%) AWS Lambda
8 7 (3.70%) PowerApps
9 6 (3.17%) Azure Logic Apps
9 6 (3.17%) Dynamics 365
9 6 (3.17%) Power Automate
10 5 (2.65%) Amazon S3
11 4 (2.12%) Amazon SQS
11 4 (2.12%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (1.59%) Amazon ECS
12 3 (1.59%) Amazon EKS
12 3 (1.59%) AWS CloudFormation
12 3 (1.59%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 16 (8.47%) Ethernet
2 13 (6.88%) TCP/IP
3 3 (1.59%) Modbus
3 3 (1.59%) RS-232
3 3 (1.59%) RS-422
3 3 (1.59%) RS-485
4 1 (0.53%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (5.82%) SQL Server
2 10 (5.29%) PostgreSQL
3 8 (4.23%) DynamoDB
4 7 (3.70%) NoSQL
5 6 (3.17%) Power BI
5 6 (3.17%) SAP HANA
6 5 (2.65%) Relational Database
7 4 (2.12%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (2.12%) MongoDB
7 4 (2.12%) Oracle Database
8 3 (1.59%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (1.59%) Data Lake
8 3 (1.59%) DocumentDB
8 3 (1.59%) MySQL
8 3 (1.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 2 (1.06%) Aerospike
9 2 (1.06%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (1.06%) Big Data
9 2 (1.06%) BigQuery
9 2 (1.06%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 43 (22.75%) Git
2 39 (20.63%) SonarQube
3 26 (13.76%) Visual Studio
4 18 (9.52%) GitLab
5 16 (8.47%) Eclipse
6 13 (6.88%) Jenkins
6 13 (6.88%) JUnit
7 9 (4.76%) Selenium
8 8 (4.23%) JIRA
8 8 (4.23%) NUnit
9 7 (3.70%) Maven
10 6 (3.17%) Gradle
11 5 (2.65%) Cucumber
11 5 (2.65%) MSTest
12 4 (2.12%) Bitbucket
12 4 (2.12%) JMeter
12 4 (2.12%) REST Assured
13 3 (1.59%) SpecFlow
13 3 (1.59%) TeamCity
13 3 (1.59%) WebDriver
General
1 37 (19.58%) Social Skills
2 20 (10.58%) Finance
3 15 (7.94%) Public Sector
4 14 (7.41%) Analytical Skills
4 14 (7.41%) Military
5 11 (5.82%) Banking
6 9 (4.76%) Presentation Skills
7 8 (4.23%) Aerospace
8 3 (1.59%) Electronics
8 3 (1.59%) Retail
9 2 (1.06%) Billing
10 1 (0.53%) Advertising
10 1 (0.53%) Aviation
10 1 (0.53%) General Ledger
10 1 (0.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.53%) Law
10 1 (0.53%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 85 (44.97%) Developer
2 38 (20.11%) Software Engineer
3 25 (13.23%) Java Developer
4 23 (12.17%) Java Engineer
5 16 (8.47%) Consultant
6 14 (7.41%) Senior
7 12 (6.35%) .NET Developer
7 12 (6.35%) Lead
8 11 (5.82%) C# Software Engineer
8 11 (5.82%) Java Software Engineer
8 11 (5.82%) SC Cleared Java Developer
9 10 (5.29%) SAP Consultant
10 9 (4.76%) C++ Software Engineer
10 9 (4.76%) Full-Stack Developer
11 8 (4.23%) Senior Developer
11 8 (4.23%) Software Developer
12 7 (3.70%) C# Developer
13 6 (3.17%) Analyst
13 6 (3.17%) Functional Consultant
13 6 (3.17%) Technical Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (22.75%) AngularJS
2 38 (20.11%) Quarkus
3 31 (16.40%) .NET
4 25 (13.23%) Web Services
5 24 (12.70%) REST
6 20 (10.58%) RESTful
7 18 (9.52%) Node.js
7 18 (9.52%) React
8 17 (8.99%) Spring
9 14 (7.41%) .NET Framework
9 14 (7.41%) Spring Boot
10 12 (6.35%) Entity Framework
10 12 (6.35%) HTML
10 12 (6.35%) WinForms
11 11 (5.82%) CSS
11 11 (5.82%) Kafka
11 11 (5.82%) WPF
12 9 (4.76%) SOAP
13 8 (4.23%) ASP.NET
13 8 (4.23%) Jest
Miscellaneous
1 12 (6.35%) Distributed Systems
1 12 (6.35%) Product Ownership
2 10 (5.29%) Cloud Native
3 6 (3.17%) Data Structures
4 4 (2.12%) Enterprise Software
5 3 (1.59%) CMDB
5 3 (1.59%) Management Information System
5 3 (1.59%) Self-Motivation
6 2 (1.06%) Distributed Architecture
6 2 (1.06%) NHS
6 2 (1.06%) Public Cloud
7 1 (0.53%) Algorithms
7 1 (0.53%) Analytical Mindset
7 1 (0.53%) Embedded Systems
7 1 (0.53%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 1 (0.53%) IoT
7 1 (0.53%) Low-Code
7 1 (0.53%) Onboarding
7 1 (0.53%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 24 (12.70%) Windows
2 16 (8.47%) Linux
3 1 (0.53%) Apple iOS
3 1 (0.53%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 111 (58.73%) Agile
2 74 (39.15%) Test Automation
3 69 (36.51%) CI/CD
3 69 (36.51%) Software Engineering
4 67 (35.45%) Scrum
5 51 (26.98%) SDLC
6 50 (26.46%) DevOps
7 43 (22.75%) Front End Development
8 41 (21.69%) Sprint Planning
9 38 (20.11%) DevSecOps
9 38 (20.11%) Sprint Review
10 36 (19.05%) TDD
11 35 (18.52%) User Acceptance Testing
12 34 (17.99%) Problem-Solving
13 25 (13.23%) Microservices
14 24 (12.70%) Continuous Integration
14 24 (12.70%) Validation
15 23 (12.17%) Integration Testing
16 20 (10.58%) Continuous Improvement
17 19 (10.05%) Code Quality
Programming Languages
1 69 (36.51%) Java
2 59 (31.22%) C#
3 53 (28.04%) SQL
4 38 (20.11%) JavaScript
5 23 (12.17%) C++
6 20 (10.58%) Python
7 16 (8.47%) TypeScript
8 9 (4.76%) ABAP
9 7 (3.70%) C
9 7 (3.70%) PL/SQL
10 4 (2.12%) PowerShell
10 4 (2.12%) X++
11 3 (1.59%) Apex Code
11 3 (1.59%) Go
12 2 (1.06%) Bash
12 2 (1.06%) Scala
12 2 (1.06%) Shell Script
12 2 (1.06%) SOQL
12 2 (1.06%) VBA
12 2 (1.06%) XAML
Qualifications
1 67 (35.45%) Security Cleared
2 58 (30.69%) SC Cleared
3 11 (5.82%) Degree
4 7 (3.70%) BPSS Clearance
5 5 (2.65%) ISTQB
5 5 (2.65%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
6 4 (2.12%) Microsoft Certification
7 3 (1.59%) DV Cleared
8 2 (1.06%) Master's Degree
8 2 (1.06%) PhD
9 1 (0.53%) ACCA
9 1 (0.53%) Azure Certification
9 1 (0.53%) CIMA
9 1 (0.53%) Computer Science Degree
9 1 (0.53%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (23.28%) QA
2 7 (3.70%) Accessibility
3 6 (3.17%) Data Quality
4 3 (1.59%) HMG Security Policy Framework
4 3 (1.59%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (1.06%) WCAG
6 1 (0.53%) GDPR
6 1 (0.53%) GRC
6 1 (0.53%) ISO 20022
6 1 (0.53%) PSD2
6 1 (0.53%) SEPA
System Software
1 21 (11.11%) Docker
Systems Management
1 49 (25.93%) Kubernetes
2 38 (20.11%) Argo
3 8 (4.23%) Terraform
4 2 (1.06%) Ansible
5 1 (0.53%) Grafana
5 1 (0.53%) Istio
5 1 (0.53%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 36 (19.05%) Red Hat
2 28 (14.81%) Microsoft
3 18 (9.52%) Oracle
4 16 (8.47%) SAP
5 6 (3.17%) Avaloq
6 4 (2.12%) Databricks
6 4 (2.12%) ServiceNow
6 4 (2.12%) Splunk
7 3 (1.59%) Salesforce
8 2 (1.06%) Adobe
8 2 (1.06%) Dynatrace
8 2 (1.06%) Google
8 2 (1.06%) IFS
8 2 (1.06%) MuleSoft
9 1 (0.53%) JDA
9 1 (0.53%) Sitecore
9 1 (0.53%) Sybase
9 1 (0.53%) UiPath
9 1 (0.53%) Workday