Test Strategy Contracts

Test Strategy
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies 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 16 August 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 198 219 258
Rank change year-on-year +21 +39 -73
Contract jobs citing Test Strategy 453 427 510
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.37% 1.10% 0.98%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.51% 1.29% 1.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 324 265 359
10th Percentile £327 £353 £369
25th Percentile £400 £404 £414
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £509 £500
Median % change year-on-year -6.59% +1.70% -6.98%
75th Percentile £550 £588 £600
90th Percentile £659 £650 £726
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £510 £475
% change year-on-year -11.76% +7.37% -9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 7 9
10th Percentile £28.18 £46.24 £46.20
25th Percentile £52.50 - £60.00
Median hourly rate £55.00 £60.00 £61.63
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% -2.64% +224.37%
75th Percentile £60.00 £61.88 -
90th Percentile £62.50 £67.25 £84.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £60.00 £61.63
% change year-on-year -8.33% -2.64% +224.37%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

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.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 29,988 33,146 46,393
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 90.50% 85.48% 89.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 18,666 21,203 31,824
10th Percentile £300 £310 £320
25th Percentile £402 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £544
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -3.49% -1.09%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,727 1,822 1,504
10th Percentile £14.20 £14.05 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.30 £18.25 £18.55
Median hourly rate £25.15 £40.94 £41.50
Median % change year-on-year -38.57% -1.35% +56.60%
75th Percentile £48.75 £64.25 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.00 £74.54 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.92 £42.50 £37.50
% change year-on-year -46.07% +13.33% +70.45%

Test Strategy
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Test Strategy as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Test Strategy in the UK

Test Strategy
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Test Strategy.

Daily rate trend for Test Strategy in the UK

Test Strategy
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Test Strategy over the 6 months to 16 August 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Test Strategy in the UK

Test Strategy
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Test Strategy.

Hourly rate trend for Test Strategy in the UK

Test Strategy
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Test Strategy over the 6 months to 16 August 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Test Strategy in the UK

Test Strategy
Top 17 Contract Locations

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 over the 6 months to 16 August 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 +27 408 £475 -7.32% 257
UK excluding London +41 262 £450 -11.76% 175
London -2 162 £500 -2.44% 116
Work from Home -28 127 £452 -9.70% 129
Midlands +22 82 £500 +37.93% 29
South East +64 74 £450 -14.29% 51
North of England +7 65 £441 -9.82% 38
West Midlands +15 61 £519 +44.03% 22
North West +10 34 £429 -8.63% 25
Yorkshire -1 30 £450 -17.43% 11
East Midlands +12 21 £360 -10.00% 6
South West +9 13 £588 +1.29% 16
Wales +7 12 £353 -29.28% 7
East of England +1 9 £419 -23.86% 13
Scotland -19 8 £525 -4.55% 20
North East -8 1 - - 2
Northern Ireland - 1 £550 - 5

Test Strategy
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 26 (5.74%) Confluence
2 12 (2.65%) WebLogic
3 11 (2.43%) Apache
3 11 (2.43%) SAS
4 8 (1.77%) Apache Airflow
5 6 (1.32%) Oracle Workflow
6 5 (1.10%) CICS
7 2 (0.44%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.22%) Adobe Experience Manager
8 1 (0.22%) Cloud Foundry
8 1 (0.22%) IBM HTTP Server
8 1 (0.22%) JBoss
8 1 (0.22%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.22%) SharePoint
8 1 (0.22%) Tomcat
Applications
1 6 (1.32%) Microsoft Excel
1 6 (1.32%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 6 (1.32%) MS Visio
2 4 (0.88%) Chatbot
2 4 (0.88%) Microsoft Office
3 2 (0.44%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 13 (2.87%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.88%) SAP ERP
3 2 (0.44%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.44%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.44%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.44%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 2 (0.44%) Payment Gateway
3 2 (0.44%) Unit4 Business World
4 1 (0.22%) Adobe Campaign
4 1 (0.22%) Aladdin
4 1 (0.22%) Endur
4 1 (0.22%) Oracle FAH
4 1 (0.22%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 1 (0.22%) Orchestrade
4 1 (0.22%) Sage X3
4 1 (0.22%) SAP CRM
4 1 (0.22%) SAP IBP
4 1 (0.22%) SAP MDG
4 1 (0.22%) SAP Oil and Gas
4 1 (0.22%) SAP Payroll
Cloud Services
1 99 (21.85%) Azure
2 54 (11.92%) AWS
3 48 (10.60%) Azure DevOps
4 25 (5.52%) Power Platform
5 21 (4.64%) GitHub
5 21 (4.64%) PowerApps
6 15 (3.31%) SaaS
7 12 (2.65%) Azure Monitor
7 12 (2.65%) Dynamics 365
7 12 (2.65%) GitHub Actions
8 11 (2.43%) Microsoft 365
9 7 (1.55%) GCP
9 7 (1.55%) PaaS
10 6 (1.32%) Power Automate
11 5 (1.10%) Serverless
11 5 (1.10%) SuccessFactors
12 4 (0.88%) AWS Lambda
12 4 (0.88%) Azure Pipelines
12 4 (0.88%) BrowserStack
12 4 (0.88%) Tricentis Tosca
Communications & Networking
1 17 (3.75%) Ethernet
2 15 (3.31%) WAN
2 15 (3.31%) Wireshark
3 12 (2.65%) LAN
4 11 (2.43%) ATM
4 11 (2.43%) Frame Relay
4 11 (2.43%) GPRS
4 11 (2.43%) GSM
4 11 (2.43%) LTE
4 11 (2.43%) MPLS
4 11 (2.43%) SAN
4 11 (2.43%) SDH
4 11 (2.43%) UMTS
4 11 (2.43%) VPN
5 6 (1.32%) HTTP
6 4 (0.88%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.22%) Modbus
7 1 (0.22%) Software-Defined Radio
7 1 (0.22%) Structured Cabling
7 1 (0.22%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.43%) SAS Enterprise Guide
1 11 (2.43%) SAS Visual Analytics
2 10 (2.21%) Oracle Database
2 10 (2.21%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.77%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (1.32%) Data Warehouse
4 6 (1.32%) Relational Database
5 5 (1.10%) DB2
5 5 (1.10%) Oracle Reports
6 4 (0.88%) Power BI
6 4 (0.88%) SAS Data Integration Studio
7 3 (0.66%) BigQuery
7 3 (0.66%) MySQL
7 3 (0.66%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.66%) SAP HANA
7 3 (0.66%) Tableau
8 2 (0.44%) Amazon RDS
8 2 (0.44%) Hadoop
9 1 (0.22%) Amazon Redshift
9 1 (0.22%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 102 (22.52%) JIRA
2 74 (16.34%) Selenium
3 47 (10.38%) Jenkins
4 31 (6.84%) Cucumber
5 30 (6.62%) Cypress.io
5 30 (6.62%) REST Assured
6 27 (5.96%) Git
7 24 (5.30%) Postman
8 21 (4.64%) JMeter
9 16 (3.53%) LoadRunner
10 15 (3.31%) GitLab
11 13 (2.87%) Gatling
12 11 (2.43%) JUnit
12 11 (2.43%) SoapUI
12 11 (2.43%) SpecFlow
13 10 (2.21%) Maven
14 9 (1.99%) TestRail
14 9 (1.99%) Zephyr
15 8 (1.77%) Appium
16 7 (1.55%) TestNG
General
1 184 (40.62%) Social Skills
2 92 (20.31%) Finance
3 51 (11.26%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (8.39%) Public Sector
5 35 (7.73%) Banking
6 19 (4.19%) Telecoms
7 15 (3.31%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (2.43%) Presentation Skills
9 9 (1.99%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.55%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (1.32%) Billing
11 6 (1.32%) Military
12 5 (1.10%) Front Office
12 5 (1.10%) Legal
12 5 (1.10%) Local Government
13 4 (0.88%) General Ledger
13 4 (0.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 4 (0.88%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.88%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.66%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 87 (19.21%) Test Manager
2 69 (15.23%) Analyst
3 66 (14.57%) Lead
4 56 (12.36%) Tester
5 44 (9.71%) Senior
6 43 (9.49%) Test Engineer
7 38 (8.39%) Test Analyst
8 36 (7.95%) Developer
8 36 (7.95%) Test Leader
9 23 (5.08%) Automation Tester
10 19 (4.19%) QA Engineer
11 18 (3.97%) Business Analyst
12 17 (3.75%) Programme Test Manager
12 17 (3.75%) Test Programme Manager
13 15 (3.31%) Consultant
14 14 (3.09%) Programme Manager
14 14 (3.09%) Senior Analyst
15 12 (2.65%) Network Engineer
16 11 (2.43%) Project Manager
17 10 (2.21%) Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (6.84%) REST
2 29 (6.40%) Playwright
3 21 (4.64%) XML
4 18 (3.97%) SOAP
5 16 (3.53%) RESTful
6 14 (3.09%) JSON
7 13 (2.87%) React
8 11 (2.43%) HTML
8 11 (2.43%) Node.js
9 10 (2.21%) CSS
9 10 (2.21%) Web Services
10 9 (1.99%) .NET
11 7 (1.55%) Jest
11 7 (1.55%) Next.js
12 6 (1.32%) Gherkin
12 6 (1.32%) SailPoint
13 5 (1.10%) pytest
14 4 (0.88%) Kafka
14 4 (0.88%) Spring
14 4 (0.88%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 43 (9.49%) Product Ownership
2 22 (4.86%) Self-Motivation
3 19 (4.19%) SCADA
4 14 (3.09%) Data Centre
5 13 (2.87%) Management Information System
6 12 (2.65%) Data Protection Act
6 12 (2.65%) Legacy Systems
7 11 (2.43%) Mobile App
8 8 (1.77%) Cloud Native
8 8 (1.77%) CMDB
9 7 (1.55%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 7 (1.55%) Mainframe
10 6 (1.32%) Low-Code
10 6 (1.32%) NHS
10 6 (1.32%) Onboarding
10 6 (1.32%) SWIFT Messaging Network
11 5 (1.10%) Analytical Mindset
11 5 (1.10%) Greenfield Project
11 5 (1.10%) VSAM
12 3 (0.66%) FMCG
Operating Systems
1 37 (8.17%) Linux
2 30 (6.62%) Unix
3 27 (5.96%) Windows
4 8 (1.77%) Apple iOS
5 6 (1.32%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 207 (45.70%) Test Automation
2 179 (39.51%) Agile
3 129 (28.48%) User Acceptance Testing
4 120 (26.49%) DevOps
5 106 (23.40%) CI/CD
6 104 (22.96%) Problem-Solving
7 83 (18.32%) Test Scripting
8 80 (17.66%) Test Management
9 78 (17.22%) Continuous Improvement
10 74 (16.34%) Regression Testing
11 63 (13.91%) Scenario Testing
11 63 (13.91%) Stakeholder Management
12 62 (13.69%) Software Testing
12 62 (13.69%) Test Planning
13 61 (13.47%) Migration
14 59 (13.02%) End-to-End Testing
15 56 (12.36%) Validation
16 55 (12.14%) Defect Management
17 51 (11.26%) Performance Testing
18 50 (11.04%) System Integration Testing
Programming Languages
1 74 (16.34%) SQL
2 60 (13.25%) Java
3 35 (7.73%) Python
4 34 (7.51%) JavaScript
5 19 (4.19%) C#
6 18 (3.97%) TypeScript
7 7 (1.55%) PL/SQL
7 7 (1.55%) VB
8 6 (1.32%) Bash
9 5 (1.10%) COBOL
9 5 (1.10%) JCL
9 5 (1.10%) Swift
10 4 (0.88%) Perl
11 3 (0.66%) Kotlin
12 2 (0.44%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.44%) Korn
12 2 (0.44%) R
12 2 (0.44%) REXX
12 2 (0.44%) RPG
12 2 (0.44%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 75 (16.56%) Security Cleared
2 52 (11.48%) SC Cleared
3 41 (9.05%) ISTQB
4 35 (7.73%) Degree
5 18 (3.97%) ISEB
6 17 (3.75%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
7 15 (3.31%) Computer Science Degree
8 14 (3.09%) Cisco Certification
9 12 (2.65%) CCNP
10 11 (2.43%) DV Cleared
11 7 (1.55%) BPSS Clearance
11 7 (1.55%) Master's Degree
12 4 (0.88%) CISA
13 2 (0.44%) CCNA
13 2 (0.44%) CISM
13 2 (0.44%) CISSP
13 2 (0.44%) HND
13 2 (0.44%) PMI Certification
13 2 (0.44%) PMP
13 2 (0.44%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 138 (30.46%) QA
2 15 (3.31%) Accessibility
3 11 (2.43%) Data Quality
4 9 (1.99%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 7 (1.55%) GDPR
5 7 (1.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 7 (1.55%) WCAG
6 6 (1.32%) SEPA
7 4 (0.88%) ITGC
7 4 (0.88%) SOX 404
8 3 (0.66%) GRC
8 3 (0.66%) GxP
8 3 (0.66%) NIST
8 3 (0.66%) SLA
9 2 (0.44%) COBIT
9 2 (0.44%) COSHH
9 2 (0.44%) FATCA
9 2 (0.44%) HL7
9 2 (0.44%) ISO 14001
9 2 (0.44%) NIST 800
System Software
1 19 (4.19%) Docker
2 1 (0.22%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 27 (5.96%) HP ALM
2 18 (3.97%) Kubernetes
3 5 (1.10%) Ansible
4 3 (0.66%) Kibana
4 3 (0.66%) Terraform
5 2 (0.44%) Amdocs OSS
5 2 (0.44%) HP Quality Center
5 2 (0.44%) RSA Archer
6 1 (0.22%) OPNET
6 1 (0.22%) SCOM
Vendors
1 58 (12.80%) Oracle
2 55 (12.14%) Microsoft
3 31 (6.84%) Cisco
4 28 (6.18%) HP
5 25 (5.52%) SAP
6 17 (3.75%) Juniper
7 16 (3.53%) Splunk
8 15 (3.31%) AppDynamics
8 15 (3.31%) Dynatrace
9 13 (2.87%) ServiceNow
10 12 (2.65%) Salesforce
11 10 (2.21%) Workday
12 7 (1.55%) Nokia
13 6 (1.32%) Google
13 6 (1.32%) MuleSoft
14 5 (1.10%) CyberArk
15 4 (0.88%) CheckPoint
15 4 (0.88%) Informatica
15 4 (0.88%) Meraki
15 4 (0.88%) New Relic