Software Testing Job Trends in England

Software Testing
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in England requiring Software Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 23 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 261 254 173
Rank change year-on-year -7 -81 -80
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 616 535 1,483
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.73% 1.34% 1.56%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.00% 1.45% 1.90%
Number of salaries quoted 451 373 1,025
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,250 £31,000
25th Percentile £39,818 £40,000 £39,347
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - +10.00% -10.71%
75th Percentile £72,500 £70,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £90,000 £86,000 £84,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year - +10.00% -10.71%

All Process & Methodology Skills
England

Software Testing falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 61,814 36,977 77,939
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.36% 92.34% 81.81%
Number of salaries quoted 43,548 20,347 56,521
10th Percentile £30,750 £28,822 £29,440
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.41%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Software Testing relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

Software Testing job vacancy trend in England

Software Testing
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Software Testing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Software Testing

Software Testing
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Testing in England over the 6 months to 23 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Testing in England

Software Testing
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Testing within the England region over the 6 months to 23 June 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East +4 158 £47,500 -9.52% 66
London -38 154 £60,000 -6.25% 35
North of England -15 98 £51,772 +15.05% 37
South West -42 77 £50,000 -9.09% 25
Midlands -52 64 £55,000 +29.41% 23
East of England +18 58 £48,750 -8.02% 46
North West +27 56 £55,000 -12.00% 16
West Midlands -30 43 £62,500 +316.67% 12
Yorkshire -47 23 £38,832 +19.48% 8
East Midlands -32 21 £55,000 +14.58% 11
North East -38 19 £56,250 +40.63% 14
Software Testing
UK

Software Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 15 (2.44%) IIS
2 9 (1.46%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.14%) Confluence
4 5 (0.81%) CMS
4 5 (0.81%) WordPress
5 4 (0.65%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.65%) Moodle
6 2 (0.32%) Apache
6 2 (0.32%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.16%) Jupyter
Applications
1 19 (3.08%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (2.44%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.46%) Simulink
4 5 (0.81%) AutoCAD
4 5 (0.81%) DaVinci Resolve
4 5 (0.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.81%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.65%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.49%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.32%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.32%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.32%) Shopify
1 2 (0.32%) Workday HCM
2 1 (0.16%) Misys Equation
2 1 (0.16%) Misys Midas
2 1 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 118 (19.16%) Azure
2 108 (17.53%) AWS
3 42 (6.82%) GCP
4 39 (6.33%) Azure DevOps
5 21 (3.41%) GitHub
5 21 (3.41%) Serverless
6 15 (2.44%) Power Platform
7 14 (2.27%) BrowserStack
8 13 (2.11%) Microsoft 365
9 11 (1.79%) AWS Lambda
9 11 (1.79%) SaaS
10 10 (1.62%) OpenShift
11 8 (1.30%) GitHub Copilot
12 7 (1.14%) Anthropic Claude
12 7 (1.14%) Azure Data Factory
12 7 (1.14%) GitHub Actions
13 5 (0.81%) Tricentis Tosca
14 4 (0.65%) AWS CloudFormation
14 4 (0.65%) Azure Functions
15 3 (0.49%) BlazeMeter
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.79%) VPN
2 8 (1.30%) Broadband
2 8 (1.30%) Ethernet
3 5 (0.81%) HTTP
3 5 (0.81%) SNMP
4 4 (0.65%) Software-Defined Radio
5 2 (0.32%) Cisco ISE
5 2 (0.32%) LTE
5 2 (0.32%) Modbus
5 2 (0.32%) MQTT
5 2 (0.32%) Network Security
5 2 (0.32%) TCP/IP
5 2 (0.32%) Wireless
6 1 (0.16%) 5G
6 1 (0.16%) AMQP
6 1 (0.16%) Bluetooth
6 1 (0.16%) DNS
6 1 (0.16%) SSL
6 1 (0.16%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (6.49%) SQL Server
2 20 (3.25%) PostgreSQL
3 16 (2.60%) OLTP
4 13 (2.11%) Power BI
5 11 (1.79%) DynamoDB
5 11 (1.79%) MongoDB
6 10 (1.62%) Elasticsearch
7 8 (1.30%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (1.30%) MySQL
7 8 (1.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 7 (1.14%) InfluxDB
8 7 (1.14%) Spark SQL
9 6 (0.97%) Geospatial Data
9 6 (0.97%) NoSQL
9 6 (0.97%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.65%) Crystal Reports
10 4 (0.65%) Relational Database
11 2 (0.32%) Big Data
11 2 (0.32%) Db2
11 2 (0.32%) Easytrieve
Development Applications
1 69 (11.20%) Git
2 67 (10.88%) JIRA
3 54 (8.77%) Selenium
4 50 (8.12%) GitLab
5 31 (5.03%) Jenkins
6 29 (4.71%) Postman
7 21 (3.41%) Cypress.io
8 17 (2.76%) TestRail
9 15 (2.44%) JUnit
9 15 (2.44%) Team Foundation Server
10 14 (2.27%) JMeter
10 14 (2.27%) SoapUI
10 14 (2.27%) WebDriver
10 14 (2.27%) Zephyr
11 12 (1.95%) Cucumber
12 11 (1.79%) Visual Studio Code
13 10 (1.62%) REST Assured
14 7 (1.14%) Claude Code
14 7 (1.14%) Robot Framework
14 7 (1.14%) SpecFlow
General
1 172 (27.92%) Social Skills
2 95 (15.42%) Analytical Skills
3 76 (12.34%) Finance
4 30 (4.87%) Electronics
5 26 (4.22%) Law
6 25 (4.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 22 (3.57%) Banking
7 22 (3.57%) Manufacturing
8 18 (2.92%) Retail
9 12 (1.95%) Public Sector
10 11 (1.79%) Aerospace
10 11 (1.79%) Games
11 9 (1.46%) Health Technology
11 9 (1.46%) Organisational Skills
12 8 (1.30%) Documentation Skills
13 7 (1.14%) Military
13 7 (1.14%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (0.97%) Back Office
14 6 (0.97%) Marketing
15 5 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 140 (22.73%) Senior
2 109 (17.69%) Software Engineer
3 76 (12.34%) Test Engineer
4 67 (10.88%) Developer
5 59 (9.58%) Tester
6 58 (9.42%) Analyst
7 55 (8.93%) Lead
8 44 (7.14%) Senior Developer
9 41 (6.66%) Software Tester
10 39 (6.33%) Development Engineer
11 36 (5.84%) Software Test Engineer
12 35 (5.68%) Software Development Engineer
13 32 (5.19%) Senior Software Engineer
13 32 (5.19%) Test Development Engineer
14 27 (4.38%) Test Automation Engineer
15 22 (3.57%) QA Engineer
16 21 (3.41%) Software Developer
17 20 (3.25%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
17 20 (3.25%) Test Analyst
18 19 (3.08%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (9.25%) .NET
2 46 (7.47%) HTML
3 38 (6.17%) Playwright
4 31 (5.03%) React
5 28 (4.55%) SOAP
6 25 (4.06%) XML
7 22 (3.57%) REST
8 15 (2.44%) ASP.NET
9 14 (2.27%) RESTful
10 13 (2.11%) CSS
10 13 (2.11%) Node.js
11 12 (1.95%) JSON
12 10 (1.62%) Spring
13 9 (1.46%) React Native
14 8 (1.30%) .NET Framework
14 8 (1.30%) LangChain
14 8 (1.30%) LlamaIndex
14 8 (1.30%) Swagger
15 7 (1.14%) ASP.NET Core
15 7 (1.14%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 55 (8.93%) Product Ownership
2 33 (5.36%) Algorithms
3 18 (2.92%) Distributed Systems
4 16 (2.60%) Embedded Systems
4 16 (2.60%) Mobile App
5 14 (2.27%) Client/Server
6 11 (1.79%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (1.79%) FPGA
6 11 (1.79%) Robotics
6 11 (1.79%) Self-Motivation
7 10 (1.62%) Life Science
7 10 (1.62%) Management Information System
8 9 (1.46%) AI Agents
8 9 (1.46%) Analytical Mindset
8 9 (1.46%) Cloud Native
9 8 (1.30%) Low-Code
9 8 (1.30%) Onboarding
9 8 (1.30%) Reinsurance
9 8 (1.30%) Video\Live Streaming
10 7 (1.14%) Hackathon
Operating Systems
1 68 (11.04%) Windows
2 46 (7.47%) Linux
3 19 (3.08%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.14%) CentOS
5 4 (0.65%) Unix
6 3 (0.49%) Android
6 3 (0.49%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.49%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.32%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.32%) Embedded Linux
7 2 (0.32%) VMS
7 2 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.32%) zOS
8 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.16%) Robot Operating System
8 1 (0.16%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 255 (41.40%) Test Automation
2 208 (33.77%) Agile
3 159 (25.81%) Software Engineering
4 141 (22.89%) Continuous Improvement
5 131 (21.27%) DevOps
6 122 (19.81%) CI/CD
7 120 (19.48%) Problem-Solving
8 91 (14.77%) Scrum
9 81 (13.15%) Code Quality
9 81 (13.15%) Computer Science
10 79 (12.82%) SDLC
11 78 (12.66%) Mentoring
12 76 (12.34%) AI
13 65 (10.55%) Test Strategy
14 59 (9.58%) Regression Testing
15 58 (9.42%) Manual Testing
16 56 (9.09%) Validation
17 47 (7.63%) Non-Functional Testing
18 44 (7.14%) Test Scripting
19 43 (6.98%) SDET
Programming Languages
1 157 (25.49%) Python
2 127 (20.62%) SQL
3 94 (15.26%) C#
4 79 (12.82%) Java
5 69 (11.20%) JavaScript
6 63 (10.23%) C++
7 42 (6.82%) C
8 41 (6.66%) TypeScript
9 23 (3.73%) MATLAB
10 22 (3.57%) PL/SQL
11 17 (2.76%) PowerShell
12 12 (1.95%) Bash
12 12 (1.95%) PHP
13 11 (1.79%) Go
14 9 (1.46%) Julia
15 8 (1.30%) R
16 7 (1.14%) Embedded C
16 7 (1.14%) Groovy
16 7 (1.14%) VBA
17 6 (0.97%) Rust
Qualifications
1 182 (29.55%) Degree
2 90 (14.61%) Security Cleared
3 61 (9.90%) ISTQB
4 51 (8.28%) SC Cleared
5 36 (5.84%) Master's Degree
6 34 (5.52%) Computer Science Degree
6 34 (5.52%) DV Cleared
7 13 (2.11%) BPSS Clearance
8 12 (1.95%) PhD
9 11 (1.79%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 10 (1.62%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
11 9 (1.46%) ISEB
12 7 (1.14%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
13 6 (0.97%) PMI Certification
14 5 (0.81%) DBS Check
15 4 (0.65%) Chartered Engineer
15 4 (0.65%) CIPD
16 3 (0.49%) Numerate Degree
17 2 (0.32%) BC Cleared
17 2 (0.32%) CSQA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 175 (28.41%) QA
2 41 (6.66%) Accessibility
3 21 (3.41%) Software Quality Assurance
4 12 (1.95%) SLA
5 11 (1.79%) GDPR
6 7 (1.14%) Data Quality
7 6 (0.97%) WCAG
8 5 (0.81%) PMO
9 4 (0.65%) DO-254
9 4 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 3 (0.49%) IEC 61508
10 3 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 12207
11 2 (0.32%) Automotive SPICE
11 2 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.32%) JTAG
11 2 (0.32%) MISRA
11 2 (0.32%) MISRA C
11 2 (0.32%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 32 (5.19%) Docker
2 25 (4.06%) Firmware
3 17 (2.76%) Active Directory
4 16 (2.60%) VMware Infrastructure
5 12 (1.95%) Embedded Firmware
6 6 (0.97%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.81%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.81%) KVM
8 2 (0.32%) Terminal Server
8 2 (0.32%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.16%) Xen
Systems Management
1 21 (3.41%) Kubernetes
2 18 (2.92%) Terraform
3 13 (2.11%) Ansible
4 11 (1.79%) Grafana
5 8 (1.30%) Kibana
5 8 (1.30%) logstash
6 6 (0.97%) vCenter Server
7 5 (0.81%) SCCM
7 5 (0.81%) SCOM
8 4 (0.65%) Functional Safety
9 3 (0.49%) HP ALM
9 3 (0.49%) HP Fortify
9 3 (0.49%) Microsoft Intune
9 3 (0.49%) Norton AntiVirus
9 3 (0.49%) Rancher
9 3 (0.49%) SCOrch
10 1 (0.16%) HP Quality Center
10 1 (0.16%) Istio
Vendors
1 62 (10.06%) Microsoft
2 35 (5.68%) Oracle
3 18 (2.92%) VMware
4 16 (2.60%) Splunk
5 11 (1.79%) Citrix
6 10 (1.62%) Adobe
6 10 (1.62%) ServiceNow
7 9 (1.46%) IBM
8 8 (1.30%) Red Hat
9 7 (1.14%) Google
10 6 (0.97%) Atlassian
11 5 (0.81%) Avid
11 5 (0.81%) HP
11 5 (0.81%) Salesforce
11 5 (0.81%) SolarWinds
12 4 (0.65%) Altera
12 4 (0.65%) AppDynamics
12 4 (0.65%) Intel
12 4 (0.65%) SYSPRO
13 3 (0.49%) Veracode