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 29 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 276 166 168
Rank change year-on-year -110 +2 -100
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 410 843 1,079
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.74% 1.78% 1.79%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.92% 1.95% 2.02%
Number of salaries quoted 327 479 890
10th Percentile £32,750 £35,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £41,250 £42,875 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
75th Percentile £72,500 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £92,500 £85,000 £88,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year - +4.76% -4.55%

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 44,707 43,296 53,424
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 80.31% 91.66% 88.61%
Number of salaries quoted 27,023 21,021 42,133
10th Percentile £28,928 £35,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £38,500 £46,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £61,110 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +6.28% -8.00%
75th Percentile £77,354 £81,250 £77,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £96,250
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,444
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.45% -8.09%

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 29 January 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 29 January 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 -21 124 £47,500 -13.64% 135
London -34 119 £67,500 +8.00% 72
North of England -75 58 £44,500 -15.24% 75
Midlands -64 40 £45,000 -14.29% 63
South West -54 37 £38,750 -22.50% 61
Yorkshire -21 25 £35,000 -39.13% 33
East of England -28 25 £50,000 -13.04% 57
East Midlands -51 21 £55,000 - 30
North West -58 21 £55,000 +4.76% 36
West Midlands -5 19 £42,500 -19.05% 32
North East -4 12 £56,500 +41.25% 6
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 5 (1.22%) Confluence
2 3 (0.73%) Moodle
3 2 (0.49%) CMS
3 2 (0.49%) IIS
3 2 (0.49%) Umbraco
4 1 (0.24%) Apache
4 1 (0.24%) WordPress
Applications
1 14 (3.41%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.46%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (1.46%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (0.98%) Simulink
4 2 (0.49%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.24%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.24%) Doxygen
5 1 (0.24%) EPLAN
Business Applications
1 3 (0.73%) Sage X3
2 2 (0.49%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.49%) Misys Midas
2 2 (0.49%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.24%) Cognos Business Intelligence
3 1 (0.24%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.24%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.24%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.24%) Siebel CRM
Cloud Services
1 89 (21.71%) Azure
2 64 (15.61%) AWS
3 38 (9.27%) Azure DevOps
4 32 (7.80%) SaaS
5 18 (4.39%) Power Platform
6 17 (4.15%) GCP
7 14 (3.41%) GitHub
8 12 (2.93%) AWS Lambda
8 12 (2.93%) Serverless
9 8 (1.95%) Azure Data Factory
9 8 (1.95%) BrowserStack
10 6 (1.46%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (1.46%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (1.46%) OpenShift
10 6 (1.46%) PaaS
11 5 (1.22%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 5 (1.22%) Entra ID
12 4 (0.98%) Datadog
12 4 (0.98%) IaaS
13 3 (0.73%) Adobe Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 2 (0.49%) Cisco ISE
1 2 (0.49%) Ethernet
1 2 (0.49%) HTTP
1 2 (0.49%) LAN
1 2 (0.49%) Network Security
1 2 (0.49%) WAN
2 1 (0.24%) Kerberos
2 1 (0.24%) MQTT
2 1 (0.24%) SAN
2 1 (0.24%) TCP/IP
2 1 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (8.78%) SQL Server
2 17 (4.15%) PostgreSQL
3 13 (3.17%) DynamoDB
4 12 (2.93%) Elasticsearch
5 11 (2.68%) OLTP
6 9 (2.20%) Power BI
7 8 (1.95%) MySQL
7 8 (1.95%) Relational Database
8 6 (1.46%) Data Warehouse
8 6 (1.46%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.22%) Azure SQL Database
9 5 (1.22%) Data Lake
9 5 (1.22%) MongoDB
9 5 (1.22%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.98%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.98%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 3 (0.73%) InfluxDB
11 3 (0.73%) Metadata
11 3 (0.73%) Mixpanel
12 2 (0.49%) Delta Lake
Development Applications
1 82 (20.00%) JIRA
2 80 (19.51%) Selenium
3 57 (13.90%) Postman
4 42 (10.24%) WebDriver
5 38 (9.27%) SoapUI
6 35 (8.54%) Git
6 35 (8.54%) Team Foundation Server
7 25 (6.10%) Jenkins
8 20 (4.88%) Cypress.io
8 20 (4.88%) GitLab
9 13 (3.17%) TestRail
10 12 (2.93%) REST Assured
11 11 (2.68%) Visual Studio
12 10 (2.44%) Subversion
13 9 (2.20%) SpecFlow
14 8 (1.95%) JMeter
15 7 (1.71%) Bitbucket
15 7 (1.71%) Cucumber
16 6 (1.46%) Robot Framework
16 6 (1.46%) Zephyr
General
1 141 (34.39%) Social Skills
2 75 (18.29%) Finance
3 53 (12.93%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (6.59%) Electronics
5 23 (5.61%) Law
6 16 (3.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 14 (3.41%) Public Sector
8 12 (2.93%) Retail
9 10 (2.44%) Publishing
10 9 (2.20%) Health Technology
11 8 (1.95%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (1.95%) Legal
11 8 (1.95%) Manufacturing
11 8 (1.95%) Organisational Skills
11 8 (1.95%) Tech for Good
12 7 (1.71%) Banking
13 6 (1.46%) Marketing
14 5 (1.22%) Advertising
14 5 (1.22%) Games
15 4 (0.98%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 84 (20.49%) Senior
2 63 (15.37%) Developer
3 59 (14.39%) Lead
4 54 (13.17%) Test Engineer
5 50 (12.20%) Analyst
6 45 (10.98%) Software Engineer
7 42 (10.24%) Tester
8 38 (9.27%) Test Analyst
9 30 (7.32%) Software Developer
10 29 (7.07%) Senior Developer
11 26 (6.34%) Software Test Engineer
12 20 (4.88%) Test Automation Engineer
13 19 (4.63%) Software Tester
14 16 (3.90%) Full-Stack Engineer
15 15 (3.66%) Embedded Engineer
15 15 (3.66%) Senior Analyst
16 14 (3.41%) Oracle Developer
16 14 (3.41%) Senior Oracle Developer
16 14 (3.41%) Software Development Engineer
16 14 (3.41%) Test Development Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 89 (21.71%) .NET
2 56 (13.66%) HTML
3 46 (11.22%) SOAP
4 38 (9.27%) React
5 31 (7.56%) Playwright
6 20 (4.88%) Node.js
6 20 (4.88%) XML
7 19 (4.63%) RESTful
8 17 (4.15%) REST
9 13 (3.17%) ASP.NET
10 12 (2.93%) .NET Framework
11 11 (2.68%) Swagger
12 10 (2.44%) CSS
13 9 (2.20%) .NET Core
14 8 (1.95%) Web Services
15 7 (1.71%) AngularJS
15 7 (1.71%) Entity Framework
16 6 (1.46%) CSS3
16 6 (1.46%) HTML5
16 6 (1.46%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 27 (6.59%) Cloud Native
2 26 (6.34%) Self-Motivation
3 23 (5.61%) Product Ownership
4 19 (4.63%) Embedded Systems
5 12 (2.93%) Mobile App
6 10 (2.44%) Algorithms
7 7 (1.71%) Distributed Systems
7 7 (1.71%) Team-Oriented Environment
8 6 (1.46%) e-Learning
8 6 (1.46%) Onboarding
9 5 (1.22%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.22%) Legacy Systems
9 5 (1.22%) Life Science
9 5 (1.22%) Management Information System
10 4 (0.98%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (0.98%) Driving Licence
10 4 (0.98%) FPGA
11 3 (0.73%) NHS
11 3 (0.73%) PMI
11 3 (0.73%) W3C
Operating Systems
1 24 (5.85%) Windows
2 23 (5.61%) Linux
3 8 (1.95%) Android
4 4 (0.98%) Unix
4 4 (0.98%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.73%) CentOS
5 3 (0.73%) Windows Server 2019
6 2 (0.49%) Apple iOS
6 2 (0.49%) FreeRTOS
6 2 (0.49%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
7 1 (0.24%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 198 (48.29%) Agile
2 152 (37.07%) Test Automation
3 127 (30.98%) Problem-Solving
4 98 (23.90%) CI/CD
5 92 (22.44%) Continuous Improvement
6 89 (21.71%) Scrum
7 79 (19.27%) DevOps
8 70 (17.07%) Software Engineering
9 69 (16.83%) Test Scripting
10 65 (15.85%) Mentoring
11 62 (15.12%) API Testing
12 61 (14.88%) Test Management
13 56 (13.66%) Computer Science
14 54 (13.17%) Non-Functional Testing
15 51 (12.44%) Manual Testing
16 47 (11.46%) SDLC
17 36 (8.78%) Regression Testing
17 36 (8.78%) Software Delivery
18 35 (8.54%) SDET
19 33 (8.05%) Cross-Browser Testing
Programming Languages
1 120 (29.27%) SQL
2 98 (23.90%) Java
3 91 (22.20%) C#
4 62 (15.12%) Python
5 48 (11.71%) JavaScript
5 48 (11.71%) TypeScript
6 28 (6.83%) C
7 23 (5.61%) C++
8 19 (4.63%) Bash
9 14 (3.41%) PL/SQL
10 13 (3.17%) PowerShell
11 8 (1.95%) Go
12 7 (1.71%) T-SQL
13 5 (1.22%) PHP
14 4 (0.98%) Fortran
15 3 (0.73%) MATLAB
15 3 (0.73%) Scala
15 3 (0.73%) VBScript
16 2 (0.49%) Embedded C
16 2 (0.49%) VB
Qualifications
1 135 (32.93%) Degree
2 82 (20.00%) ISTQB
3 50 (12.20%) Security Cleared
4 36 (8.78%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
5 32 (7.80%) SC Cleared
6 25 (6.10%) Computer Science Degree
7 22 (5.37%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 12 (2.93%) ISEB
9 11 (2.68%) DV Cleared
10 10 (2.44%) Master's Degree
11 9 (2.20%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (1.46%) Microsoft Certification
12 6 (1.46%) PhD
13 5 (1.22%) PMI Certification
14 4 (0.98%) Numerate Degree
15 3 (0.73%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
15 3 (0.73%) BC Cleared
15 3 (0.73%) CITP
15 3 (0.73%) CREST Certified
16 2 (0.49%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 95 (23.17%) QA
2 26 (6.34%) Accessibility
3 5 (1.22%) Data Quality
3 5 (1.22%) SLA
3 5 (1.22%) Software Quality Assurance
4 4 (0.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.98%) WCAG
5 3 (0.73%) JTAG
5 3 (0.73%) SEPA
6 2 (0.49%) ISO 9000
6 2 (0.49%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.24%) GDPR
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 61131
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 61508
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 62304
System Software
1 22 (5.37%) Docker
2 14 (3.41%) Firmware
3 10 (2.44%) Active Directory
4 8 (1.95%) Embedded Firmware
5 4 (0.98%) VMware Infrastructure
6 2 (0.49%) Terminal Server
7 1 (0.24%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.24%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 22 (5.37%) Kubernetes
2 15 (3.66%) Terraform
3 6 (1.46%) Grafana
4 5 (1.22%) Ansible
5 4 (0.98%) SCCM
6 3 (0.73%) HP ALM
6 3 (0.73%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.73%) Rancher
6 3 (0.73%) SCOM
7 2 (0.49%) Nessus
8 1 (0.24%) Argo
8 1 (0.24%) Istio
8 1 (0.24%) Kibana
8 1 (0.24%) logstash
8 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Intune
8 1 (0.24%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 47 (11.46%) Microsoft
2 24 (5.85%) Oracle
3 6 (1.46%) Google
3 6 (1.46%) Siemens
3 6 (1.46%) VMware
4 5 (1.22%) Zoho
5 4 (0.98%) IBM
5 4 (0.98%) ServiceNow
5 4 (0.98%) Siebel
6 3 (0.73%) Adobe
6 3 (0.73%) HP
6 3 (0.73%) Red Hat
6 3 (0.73%) Sage
6 3 (0.73%) Splunk
6 3 (0.73%) Tealium
6 3 (0.73%) Workday
7 2 (0.49%) Altera
7 2 (0.49%) Apple
7 2 (0.49%) Xamarin
7 2 (0.49%) Xilinx