Software Testing Contracts

Software Testing
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies 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 234 179 189
Rank change year-on-year -55 +10 +5
Contract jobs citing Software Testing 329 563 832
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.12% 1.29% 1.39%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.24% 1.50% 1.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 218 366 547
10th Percentile £311 £280 £285
25th Percentile £363 £382 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £444 £455 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.42% -9.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £588 £625
90th Percentile £691 £684 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +5.56% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 64 82
10th Percentile £50.11 £38.05 -
25th Percentile £53.22 £56.25 £42.50
Median hourly rate £61.50 £62.50 £52.74
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% +18.52% +7.62%
75th Percentile £66.88 £65.00 £68.75
90th Percentile £86.83 - £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £61.50 £62.50 £52.50
% change year-on-year -1.60% +19.05% +7.14%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 26,594 37,597 53,655
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 90.84% 86.31% 89.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,149 24,227 37,238
10th Percentile £308 £300 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £630 £638 £650
90th Percentile £743 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -3.50% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,071 2,443 1,746
10th Percentile £14.41 £12.75 £11.00
25th Percentile £18.21 £16.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £29.00 £35.65 £37.30
Median % change year-on-year -18.65% -4.42% +49.20%
75th Percentile £60.38 £59.98 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.50 £37.34 £36.00
% change year-on-year -26.35% +3.72% +80.00%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Software Testing as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Software Testing in the UK

Software Testing
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Software Testing.

Daily rate trend for Software Testing in the UK

Software Testing
Daily Rate Histogram

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

Daily rate histogram for Software Testing in the UK

Software Testing
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Software Testing.

Hourly rate trend for Software Testing in the UK

Software Testing
Hourly Rate Histogram

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

Hourly rate histogram for Software Testing in the UK

Software Testing
Top 16 Contract Locations

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 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
England -52 287 £450 - 731
UK excluding London -41 151 £475 +5.56% 620
London -29 136 £438 -4.27% 205
Work from Home -27 112 £431 -6.76% 382
South East +1 52 £550 +29.41% 185
South West +47 26 £400 -27.27% 69
North of England -17 23 £520 +20.52% 128
East of England +2 20 £475 +13.10% 74
Midlands -6 15 £448 -5.68% 108
Scotland +15 14 £400 -19.68% 48
North West +12 14 £508 +6.84% 76
West Midlands -1 12 £449 -5.47% 73
Yorkshire -25 8 £520 +20.87% 34
East Midlands -3 3 £115 -74.97% 29
Northern Ireland -11 1 £325 -40.91% 12
North East - 1 - - 22

Software Testing
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities 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 25 (7.60%) Confluence
2 6 (1.82%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.22%) CMS
4 3 (0.91%) Headless CMS
4 3 (0.91%) SAS
5 2 (0.61%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.61%) Appian
5 2 (0.61%) WordPress
6 1 (0.30%) Apache
6 1 (0.30%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.30%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.30%) MQSeries
6 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.30%) Umbraco
6 1 (0.30%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.30%) WinCC
Applications
1 11 (3.34%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.22%) Trello
3 2 (0.61%) Chatbot
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.30%) Simulink
4 1 (0.30%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 7 (2.13%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (0.91%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.61%) LabWindows
3 2 (0.61%) Misys Midas
3 2 (0.61%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.61%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.61%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.61%) SAP MM
3 2 (0.61%) Unit4 Business World
4 1 (0.30%) Endur
4 1 (0.30%) iTrent
4 1 (0.30%) Murex MxG2000
4 1 (0.30%) SAP CRM
4 1 (0.30%) SAP EWM
Cloud Services
1 73 (22.19%) Azure
2 50 (15.20%) AWS
2 50 (15.20%) Azure DevOps
3 12 (3.65%) GitHub
4 9 (2.74%) Power Automate
4 9 (2.74%) Serverless
5 7 (2.13%) Azure Machine Learning
5 7 (2.13%) GCP
6 5 (1.52%) Amazon EC2
6 5 (1.52%) AWS Lambda
6 5 (1.52%) Power Platform
7 4 (1.22%) Amazon S3
7 4 (1.22%) Azure Functions
7 4 (1.22%) SaaS
8 3 (0.91%) Azure Event Grid
8 3 (0.91%) BrowserStack
8 3 (0.91%) Dynamics 365
8 3 (0.91%) Sauce Labs
9 2 (0.61%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 2 (0.61%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 10 (3.04%) Software-Defined Radio
2 9 (2.74%) SNMP
3 8 (2.43%) Firewall
4 7 (2.13%) 5G NR
5 3 (0.91%) 5G
5 3 (0.91%) Ethernet
5 3 (0.91%) HTTP
5 3 (0.91%) Wireshark
6 2 (0.61%) Diameter Protocol
6 2 (0.61%) DNS
6 2 (0.61%) SIGTRAN
6 2 (0.61%) SMS
6 2 (0.61%) SS7
6 2 (0.61%) SSL
6 2 (0.61%) VoLTE
6 2 (0.61%) VoWiFi
6 2 (0.61%) VPN
7 1 (0.30%) Cisco Firepower
7 1 (0.30%) Internet
7 1 (0.30%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (6.69%) Oracle Database
2 17 (5.17%) SQL Server
3 15 (4.56%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (3.34%) MongoDB
5 10 (3.04%) Oracle Database 11g
6 9 (2.74%) Relational Database
7 7 (2.13%) RDBMS
8 6 (1.82%) MS Access
9 5 (1.52%) Big Data
9 5 (1.52%) NoSQL
10 4 (1.22%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (1.22%) DB2
10 4 (1.22%) InterSystems Cache
10 4 (1.22%) Redis
11 3 (0.91%) Power BI
12 2 (0.61%) IDMS
12 2 (0.61%) MySQL
12 2 (0.61%) SAS Data Integration Studio
13 1 (0.30%) KDB
13 1 (0.30%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 61 (18.54%) JIRA
2 53 (16.11%) Git
3 42 (12.77%) Selenium
4 38 (11.55%) Jenkins
5 23 (6.99%) JMeter
6 22 (6.69%) Cucumber
7 15 (4.56%) Bitbucket
7 15 (4.56%) Cypress.io
7 15 (4.56%) Postman
8 14 (4.26%) JUnit
9 13 (3.95%) GitLab
10 11 (3.34%) SoapUI
11 10 (3.04%) LoadRunner
11 10 (3.04%) QARun
11 10 (3.04%) Robot Framework
11 10 (3.04%) WinRunner
12 9 (2.74%) GoogleTest
12 9 (2.74%) SpecFlow
13 8 (2.43%) Appium
13 8 (2.43%) HP UFT
General
1 111 (33.74%) Social Skills
2 64 (19.45%) Finance
3 57 (17.33%) Analytical Skills
4 36 (10.94%) Public Sector
5 21 (6.38%) Banking
6 9 (2.74%) Manufacturing
6 9 (2.74%) Telecoms
7 8 (2.43%) Aerospace
7 8 (2.43%) Electronics
7 8 (2.43%) Marketing
7 8 (2.43%) Pharmaceutical
8 6 (1.82%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (1.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 4 (1.22%) Military
9 4 (1.22%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (1.22%) Retail
10 3 (0.91%) Billing
10 3 (0.91%) Investment Banking
10 3 (0.91%) Presentation Skills
10 3 (0.91%) Private Banking
Job Titles
1 48 (14.59%) Developer
2 46 (13.98%) Analyst
3 40 (12.16%) Test Analyst
3 40 (12.16%) Tester
4 34 (10.33%) Lead
5 33 (10.03%) Software Engineer
6 24 (7.29%) Senior
7 23 (6.99%) Test Engineer
8 19 (5.78%) Test Leader
9 15 (4.56%) Software Developer
10 14 (4.26%) Automation Tester
10 14 (4.26%) Software Test Engineer
10 14 (4.26%) Test Manager
11 12 (3.65%) QA Engineer
11 12 (3.65%) Software Tester
12 11 (3.34%) Developer in Test
12 11 (3.34%) Senior Analyst
12 11 (3.34%) Systems Engineer
13 10 (3.04%) Consultant
13 10 (3.04%) SC Cleared Test Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (9.12%) .NET
2 28 (8.51%) HTML
3 26 (7.90%) CSS
4 19 (5.78%) Playwright
5 18 (5.47%) Kafka
6 13 (3.95%) SOAP
6 13 (3.95%) Web Services
7 11 (3.34%) React
7 11 (3.34%) REST
8 10 (3.04%) XML
9 8 (2.43%) Middleware
9 8 (2.43%) Node.js
10 7 (2.13%) .NET Framework
10 7 (2.13%) Spring Boot
11 6 (1.82%) AngularJS
11 6 (1.82%) Spring
12 5 (1.52%) Gherkin
12 5 (1.52%) JSON
12 5 (1.52%) RESTful
12 5 (1.52%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 20 (6.08%) Product Ownership
2 10 (3.04%) Self-Motivation
3 9 (2.74%) Data Structures
4 7 (2.13%) Operational Technology
4 7 (2.13%) Public Cloud
5 6 (1.82%) Cyberattack
6 5 (1.52%) Management Information System
6 5 (1.52%) Mobile App
6 5 (1.52%) Virtual Team
7 4 (1.22%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (1.22%) Distributed Systems
7 4 (1.22%) FMCG
7 4 (1.22%) Onboarding
8 3 (0.91%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (0.91%) IoT
8 3 (0.91%) Linux Command Line
8 3 (0.91%) Online Banking
8 3 (0.91%) PCIe
9 2 (0.61%) FPGA
9 2 (0.61%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 44 (13.37%) Linux
2 32 (9.73%) Windows
3 17 (5.17%) Unix
4 13 (3.95%) Apple iOS
5 8 (2.43%) Android
6 3 (0.91%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.91%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.61%) Windows 10
7 2 (0.61%) Windows Server
7 2 (0.61%) Windows Server 2019
8 1 (0.30%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.30%) Kali Linux
8 1 (0.30%) SUSE
8 1 (0.30%) Windows 7
8 1 (0.30%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 160 (48.63%) Agile
2 145 (44.07%) Test Automation
3 108 (32.83%) DevOps
4 87 (26.44%) Problem-Solving
5 66 (20.06%) CI/CD
6 57 (17.33%) Software Engineering
7 53 (16.11%) Integration Testing
8 48 (14.59%) Validation
9 47 (14.29%) Test Strategy
10 41 (12.46%) Test Scripting
11 40 (12.16%) SDLC
12 38 (11.55%) Scrum
13 36 (10.94%) Continuous Improvement
13 36 (10.94%) Stakeholder Management
14 35 (10.64%) Performance Testing
14 35 (10.64%) User Acceptance Testing
15 34 (10.33%) Manual Testing
16 33 (10.03%) Unit Testing
17 32 (9.73%) Migration
18 29 (8.81%) Waterfall
Programming Languages
1 70 (21.28%) SQL
2 61 (18.54%) Java
2 61 (18.54%) Python
3 59 (17.93%) JavaScript
4 46 (13.98%) C#
5 21 (6.38%) C++
6 18 (5.47%) TypeScript
7 11 (3.34%) PL/SQL
8 9 (2.74%) Bash
9 8 (2.43%) C
10 7 (2.13%) Shell Script
10 7 (2.13%) VB
11 6 (1.82%) Groovy
11 6 (1.82%) PowerShell
12 5 (1.52%) PHP
12 5 (1.52%) Ruby
12 5 (1.52%) Scala
13 4 (1.22%) MUMPS
14 3 (0.91%) ABAP
15 2 (0.61%) JCL
Qualifications
1 105 (31.91%) Security Cleared
2 93 (28.27%) SC Cleared
3 33 (10.03%) Degree
4 20 (6.08%) ISTQB
5 13 (3.95%) Computer Science Degree
6 11 (3.34%) DV Cleared
7 5 (1.52%) ISEB
7 5 (1.52%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 4 (1.22%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (1.22%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
9 3 (0.91%) Azure Certification
9 3 (0.91%) Master's Degree
10 2 (0.61%) HND
10 2 (0.61%) Microsoft Certification
10 2 (0.61%) PMP
11 1 (0.30%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 1 (0.30%) CEH
11 1 (0.30%) HNC
11 1 (0.30%) PMI Certification
11 1 (0.30%) PRINCE2 Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 85 (25.84%) QA
2 9 (2.74%) Def Stans
3 8 (2.43%) Accessibility
4 7 (2.13%) GxP
5 3 (0.91%) ISO 9001
5 3 (0.91%) PMO
6 2 (0.61%) ISO 26262
6 2 (0.61%) MISRA
6 2 (0.61%) MISRA C
7 1 (0.30%) DO-178B
7 1 (0.30%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 1 (0.30%) SLA
7 1 (0.30%) Software Quality Assurance
7 1 (0.30%) WCAG
System Software
1 14 (4.26%) Active Directory
2 10 (3.04%) Docker
2 10 (3.04%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (1.82%) Firmware
4 4 (1.22%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.91%) Microsoft App-V
6 2 (0.61%) HDFS
7 1 (0.30%) Microcode
7 1 (0.30%) NFS
7 1 (0.30%) Time Sharing Option
7 1 (0.30%) Tivoli Workload Scheduler
7 1 (0.30%) Veritas Cluster Server
Systems Management
1 13 (3.95%) Ansible
1 13 (3.95%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.65%) Terraform
3 6 (1.82%) SCCM
4 4 (1.22%) HP ALM
4 4 (1.22%) Microsoft Intune
4 4 (1.22%) Perfmon
5 2 (0.61%) Progress Chef
5 2 (0.61%) Puppet
5 2 (0.61%) QRadar
6 1 (0.30%) Argo
6 1 (0.30%) Functional Safety
6 1 (0.30%) Grafana
6 1 (0.30%) Nessus
6 1 (0.30%) Nmap
6 1 (0.30%) Packer
6 1 (0.30%) Rancher
6 1 (0.30%) Tivoli
6 1 (0.30%) Tivoli Storage Manager
Vendors
1 38 (11.55%) Oracle
2 36 (10.94%) Microsoft
3 15 (4.56%) SAP
4 13 (3.95%) Atlassian
4 13 (3.95%) VMware
5 11 (3.34%) OpenAI
6 9 (2.74%) Google
6 9 (2.74%) ServiceNow
7 8 (2.43%) Citrix
8 7 (2.13%) Dynatrace
9 6 (1.82%) HP
9 6 (1.82%) Splunk
9 6 (1.82%) Talend
10 5 (1.52%) New Relic
11 4 (1.22%) Bloomberg
11 4 (1.22%) Reuters
12 3 (0.91%) IBM
12 3 (0.91%) Red Hat
12 3 (0.91%) Salesforce
12 3 (0.91%) Sybase