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

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 269 177
Rank change year-on-year -3 -92 -22
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 646 496 1,247
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.72% 1.15% 1.57%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.98% 1.27% 1.91%
Number of salaries quoted 459 365 826
10th Percentile £30,000 £25,950 £31,250
25th Percentile £39,818 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year - +4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £83,500 £82,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,565 £52,250
% change year-on-year -1.02% +6.34% -9.13%

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 65,772 38,931 65,266
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.80% 89.97% 81.95%
Number of salaries quoted 46,496 22,437 45,318
10th Percentile £31,037 £28,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,500 £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 £77,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £95,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.71%

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 24 July 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 24 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East +18 152 £47,500 -5.00% 69
London -46 144 £67,500 +5.47% 78
North of England -8 107 £55,000 +29.41% 47
Midlands -17 84 £55,000 +29.41% 35
South West -27 83 £50,000 -9.09% 33
East of England +26 69 £55,000 +3.77% 33
North West +15 58 £52,500 -16.00% 20
West Midlands -22 54 £62,500 +316.67% 25
East Midlands -18 30 £55,000 -1.79% 10
North East -23 29 £57,500 +55.41% 17
Yorkshire -46 20 £45,711 +72.49% 12
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 14 (2.17%) IIS
2 10 (1.55%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.08%) Confluence
4 5 (0.77%) CMS
4 5 (0.77%) WordPress
5 4 (0.62%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.62%) Moodle
6 2 (0.31%) Apache
6 2 (0.31%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.15%) Jupyter
Applications
1 18 (2.79%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (2.32%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.70%) Simulink
4 6 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.93%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.77%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.77%) DaVinci Resolve
6 4 (0.62%) Spreadsheet
7 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Project
7 3 (0.46%) Photoshop
8 2 (0.31%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 1 (0.15%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 2 (0.31%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.31%) Shopify
1 2 (0.31%) Workday HCM
2 1 (0.15%) Misys Equation
2 1 (0.15%) Misys Midas
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle Applications
2 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 118 (18.27%) Azure
2 112 (17.34%) AWS
3 41 (6.35%) Azure DevOps
4 34 (5.26%) GCP
5 28 (4.33%) GitHub
6 27 (4.18%) Serverless
7 15 (2.32%) Power Platform
8 14 (2.17%) AWS Lambda
8 14 (2.17%) Microsoft 365
9 12 (1.86%) GitHub Copilot
10 11 (1.70%) SaaS
11 10 (1.55%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (1.39%) Anthropic Claude
12 9 (1.39%) BrowserStack
12 9 (1.39%) OpenShift
13 6 (0.93%) Azure Data Factory
14 5 (0.77%) Tricentis Tosca
15 4 (0.62%) AWS CloudFormation
15 4 (0.62%) Azure Functions
16 3 (0.46%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.70%) VPN
2 8 (1.24%) Broadband
3 7 (1.08%) SNMP
4 6 (0.93%) Ethernet
4 6 (0.93%) TCP/IP
5 5 (0.77%) HTTP
6 4 (0.62%) Software-Defined Radio
7 2 (0.31%) ATM
7 2 (0.31%) DNS
7 2 (0.31%) LTE
7 2 (0.31%) Modbus
7 2 (0.31%) Network Security
7 2 (0.31%) Wireless
8 1 (0.15%) AMQP
8 1 (0.15%) Cisco ISE
8 1 (0.15%) Internet
8 1 (0.15%) MQTT
8 1 (0.15%) SSL
8 1 (0.15%) Wi-Fi
8 1 (0.15%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (5.57%) SQL Server
2 21 (3.25%) PostgreSQL
3 14 (2.17%) Power BI
4 13 (2.01%) DynamoDB
5 12 (1.86%) Elasticsearch
5 12 (1.86%) OLTP
6 10 (1.55%) MongoDB
7 9 (1.39%) Azure SQL Database
8 8 (1.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (1.08%) InfluxDB
9 7 (1.08%) MySQL
9 7 (1.08%) NoSQL
10 6 (0.93%) Geospatial Data
10 6 (0.93%) Spark SQL
11 5 (0.77%) Relational Database
12 4 (0.62%) Crystal Reports
12 4 (0.62%) Oracle Database
13 3 (0.46%) DTS
14 2 (0.31%) Db2
14 2 (0.31%) Easytrieve
Development Applications
1 80 (12.38%) Git
2 62 (9.60%) JIRA
3 54 (8.36%) Selenium
4 52 (8.05%) GitLab
5 36 (5.57%) Jenkins
6 24 (3.72%) Postman
7 22 (3.41%) Cypress.io
8 18 (2.79%) JUnit
9 17 (2.63%) TestRail
10 15 (2.32%) Cucumber
10 15 (2.32%) Zephyr
11 14 (2.17%) JMeter
12 10 (1.55%) Visual Studio Code
13 9 (1.39%) Claude Code
14 8 (1.24%) REST Assured
14 8 (1.24%) SpecFlow
15 7 (1.08%) Gatling
15 7 (1.08%) LoadRunner
15 7 (1.08%) Robot Framework
15 7 (1.08%) WebDriver
General
1 190 (29.41%) Social Skills
2 105 (16.25%) Analytical Skills
3 81 (12.54%) Finance
4 38 (5.88%) Electronics
5 32 (4.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 30 (4.64%) Law
6 30 (4.64%) Manufacturing
7 22 (3.41%) Banking
8 14 (2.17%) Public Sector
8 14 (2.17%) Retail
9 13 (2.01%) Aerospace
10 12 (1.86%) Games
11 9 (1.39%) Documentation Skills
11 9 (1.39%) Health Technology
11 9 (1.39%) Legal
11 9 (1.39%) Organisational Skills
12 8 (1.24%) Automotive
12 8 (1.24%) Aviation
12 8 (1.24%) Military
13 7 (1.08%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 161 (24.92%) Senior
2 116 (17.96%) Software Engineer
3 75 (11.61%) Test Engineer
4 71 (10.99%) Developer
5 63 (9.75%) Analyst
6 60 (9.29%) Lead
7 52 (8.05%) Tester
8 46 (7.12%) Senior Developer
9 39 (6.04%) Senior Software Engineer
10 35 (5.42%) Software Tester
11 33 (5.11%) Software Test Engineer
12 29 (4.49%) QA Engineer
13 28 (4.33%) Development Engineer
14 25 (3.87%) Test Automation Engineer
15 24 (3.72%) Software Development Engineer
16 23 (3.56%) Embedded Engineer
16 23 (3.56%) Senior Analyst
17 21 (3.25%) Software Developer
17 21 (3.25%) Test Development Engineer
18 20 (3.10%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (8.67%) .NET
2 42 (6.50%) Playwright
3 39 (6.04%) HTML
4 34 (5.26%) React
5 25 (3.87%) REST
6 24 (3.72%) XML
7 17 (2.63%) ASP.NET
8 16 (2.48%) CSS
9 15 (2.32%) SOAP
10 14 (2.17%) Node.js
10 14 (2.17%) RESTful
11 12 (1.86%) Spring
12 11 (1.70%) Swagger
13 10 (1.55%) ASP.NET Core
13 10 (1.55%) JSON
14 9 (1.39%) React Native
15 8 (1.24%) Elastic Stack
15 8 (1.24%) LangChain
15 8 (1.24%) LlamaIndex
15 8 (1.24%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 56 (8.67%) Product Ownership
2 33 (5.11%) Algorithms
3 26 (4.02%) Embedded Systems
4 22 (3.41%) Distributed Systems
5 16 (2.48%) Management Information System
6 15 (2.32%) Client/Server
7 14 (2.17%) Robotics
8 13 (2.01%) Enterprise Software
8 13 (2.01%) FPGA
8 13 (2.01%) Mobile App
9 12 (1.86%) AI Agents
9 12 (1.86%) Analytical Mindset
10 9 (1.39%) Cloud Native
10 9 (1.39%) Life Science
10 9 (1.39%) Onboarding
10 9 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
11 8 (1.24%) Reinsurance
11 8 (1.24%) Verilog
11 8 (1.24%) VHDL
11 8 (1.24%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 77 (11.92%) Windows
2 65 (10.06%) Linux
3 20 (3.10%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.08%) CentOS
5 4 (0.62%) Embedded Linux
5 4 (0.62%) Unix
6 3 (0.46%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.46%) Kali Linux
6 3 (0.46%) VMS
7 2 (0.31%) Android
7 2 (0.31%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.31%) Robot Operating System
7 2 (0.31%) zOS
8 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.15%) ThreadX
8 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 260 (40.25%) Test Automation
2 228 (35.29%) Agile
3 185 (28.64%) Software Engineering
4 165 (25.54%) Continuous Improvement
5 142 (21.98%) CI/CD
6 141 (21.83%) Problem-Solving
7 139 (21.52%) DevOps
8 97 (15.02%) Code Quality
9 94 (14.55%) Mentoring
10 92 (14.24%) Scrum
11 87 (13.47%) AI
12 84 (13.00%) SDLC
13 75 (11.61%) Computer Science
13 75 (11.61%) Test Strategy
14 73 (11.30%) Validation
15 72 (11.15%) Regression Testing
16 61 (9.44%) Manual Testing
17 46 (7.12%) Test Scripting
18 43 (6.66%) User Acceptance Testing
19 41 (6.35%) Machine Learning
Programming Languages
1 181 (28.02%) Python
2 117 (18.11%) SQL
3 95 (14.71%) C#
4 74 (11.46%) C++
5 73 (11.30%) JavaScript
6 69 (10.68%) Java
7 55 (8.51%) C
8 43 (6.66%) TypeScript
9 23 (3.56%) MATLAB
10 20 (3.10%) PowerShell
11 16 (2.48%) Bash
11 16 (2.48%) PL/SQL
12 12 (1.86%) Go
12 12 (1.86%) PHP
13 9 (1.39%) Julia
13 9 (1.39%) Rust
14 8 (1.24%) Embedded C
14 8 (1.24%) Groovy
14 8 (1.24%) R
15 7 (1.08%) VBA
Qualifications
1 175 (27.09%) Degree
2 109 (16.87%) Security Cleared
3 65 (10.06%) SC Cleared
4 46 (7.12%) ISTQB
5 41 (6.35%) DV Cleared
6 37 (5.73%) Master's Degree
7 33 (5.11%) Computer Science Degree
8 15 (2.32%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (1.55%) ISEB
9 10 (1.55%) PhD
10 8 (1.24%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 7 (1.08%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
12 5 (0.77%) DBS Check
13 4 (0.62%) Chartered Engineer
13 4 (0.62%) CIPD
13 4 (0.62%) PMI Certification
14 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 2 (0.31%) HND
15 2 (0.31%) Microsoft Certification
15 2 (0.31%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 180 (27.86%) QA
2 36 (5.57%) Accessibility
3 20 (3.10%) Software Quality Assurance
4 14 (2.17%) GDPR
5 11 (1.70%) SLA
6 9 (1.39%) Data Quality
6 9 (1.39%) WCAG
7 5 (0.77%) DO-254
7 5 (0.77%) PMO
8 4 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 3 (0.46%) IEC 61508
9 3 (0.46%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 2 (0.31%) Automotive SPICE
10 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.31%) MISRA
10 2 (0.31%) MISRA C
10 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.15%) IEC 61131
11 1 (0.15%) JTAG
11 1 (0.15%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 40 (6.19%) Docker
2 27 (4.18%) Firmware
3 16 (2.48%) Active Directory
4 15 (2.32%) VMware Infrastructure
5 14 (2.17%) Embedded Firmware
6 6 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.77%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.77%) KVM
8 2 (0.31%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.15%) Terminal Server
9 1 (0.15%) Xen
Systems Management
1 25 (3.87%) Kubernetes
2 18 (2.79%) Terraform
3 14 (2.17%) Ansible
4 12 (1.86%) Grafana
5 9 (1.39%) Kibana
6 8 (1.24%) logstash
7 6 (0.93%) vCenter Server
8 5 (0.77%) Functional Safety
9 4 (0.62%) SCCM
9 4 (0.62%) SCOM
10 3 (0.46%) HP ALM
10 3 (0.46%) HP Fortify
10 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Intune
10 3 (0.46%) Norton AntiVirus
10 3 (0.46%) SCOrch
11 2 (0.31%) Rancher
12 1 (0.15%) Fluentd
12 1 (0.15%) HP Quality Center
12 1 (0.15%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 60 (9.29%) Microsoft
2 27 (4.18%) Oracle
3 17 (2.63%) Splunk
3 17 (2.63%) VMware
4 11 (1.70%) Citrix
5 10 (1.55%) Adobe
5 10 (1.55%) ServiceNow
6 9 (1.39%) Intel
7 8 (1.24%) Atlassian
7 8 (1.24%) IBM
7 8 (1.24%) Red Hat
8 5 (0.77%) AppDynamics
8 5 (0.77%) Avid
8 5 (0.77%) HP
8 5 (0.77%) Salesforce
8 5 (0.77%) SolarWinds
9 4 (0.62%) EMC
9 4 (0.62%) Google
9 4 (0.62%) SYSPRO
9 4 (0.62%) Xilinx