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 8 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 171 165
Rank change year-on-year -101 -6 -97
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 416 797 1,172
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.72% 1.74% 1.77%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.90% 1.90% 2.01%
Number of salaries quoted 334 449 961
10th Percentile £31,250 £34,750 £31,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
75th Percentile £72,500 £70,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £92,500 £87,500 £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 45,994 42,048 58,304
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 79.88% 92.01% 88.24%
Number of salaries quoted 27,932 20,551 46,192
10th Percentile £29,000 £35,000 £29,750
25th Percentile £38,750 £46,250 £40,988
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £61,967 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.24% +12.67% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £81,250 £75,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £95,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -12.00%

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 8 February 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 8 February 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 -28 122 £47,500 -11.63% 78
London -26 121 £67,500 +6.30% 64
North of England -85 57 £44,500 -15.24% 51
South West -39 41 £37,500 -25.00% 28
Midlands -50 38 £45,000 -14.29% 48
East of England -21 30 £55,000 -4.35% 26
Yorkshire -29 27 £35,000 -22.22% 17
West Midlands -10 19 £42,500 -19.05% 31
East Midlands -54 19 £55,000 +7.32% 17
North West -65 18 £52,200 -0.57% 34
North East -6 12 £56,500 +52.70%
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 (1.20%) Confluence
2 3 (0.72%) Moodle
2 3 (0.72%) WordPress
3 2 (0.48%) IIS
4 1 (0.24%) Apache
4 1 (0.24%) CMS
4 1 (0.24%) Umbraco
Applications
1 12 (2.88%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (1.92%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.44%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.72%) Simulink
5 2 (0.48%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.48%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.24%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.24%) Doxygen
6 1 (0.24%) EPLAN
Business Applications
1 3 (0.72%) Dynamics CRM
1 3 (0.72%) Sage X3
2 2 (0.48%) Misys Midas
2 2 (0.48%) 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 93 (22.36%) Azure
2 65 (15.63%) AWS
3 38 (9.13%) Azure DevOps
4 33 (7.93%) SaaS
5 20 (4.81%) GCP
6 17 (4.09%) Power Platform
7 15 (3.61%) GitHub
8 10 (2.40%) AWS Lambda
8 10 (2.40%) BrowserStack
8 10 (2.40%) Serverless
9 8 (1.92%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (1.44%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (1.44%) Azure Data Factory
10 6 (1.44%) OpenShift
10 6 (1.44%) PaaS
11 4 (0.96%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 4 (0.96%) Datadog
11 4 (0.96%) Entra ID
11 4 (0.96%) IaaS
12 3 (0.72%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 3 (0.72%) Ethernet
1 3 (0.72%) Network Security
2 2 (0.48%) Cisco ISE
2 2 (0.48%) HTTP
3 1 (0.24%) AMQP
3 1 (0.24%) Kerberos
3 1 (0.24%) LAN
3 1 (0.24%) MQTT
3 1 (0.24%) SAN
3 1 (0.24%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.24%) WAN
3 1 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (8.65%) SQL Server
2 18 (4.33%) PostgreSQL
3 13 (3.13%) OLTP
4 9 (2.16%) DynamoDB
5 8 (1.92%) Elasticsearch
5 8 (1.92%) Power BI
5 8 (1.92%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.68%) MySQL
6 7 (1.68%) NoSQL
7 5 (1.20%) Azure SQL Database
7 5 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (1.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.96%) Data Lake
8 4 (0.96%) MongoDB
8 4 (0.96%) Oracle Database
8 4 (0.96%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.72%) InfluxDB
9 3 (0.72%) Mixpanel
10 2 (0.48%) GIS
10 2 (0.48%) Spark SQL
Development Applications
1 77 (18.51%) JIRA
2 76 (18.27%) Selenium
3 52 (12.50%) Postman
4 39 (9.38%) WebDriver
5 35 (8.41%) Git
6 34 (8.17%) SoapUI
7 31 (7.45%) Team Foundation Server
8 28 (6.73%) Jenkins
9 23 (5.53%) GitLab
10 18 (4.33%) Cypress.io
11 13 (3.13%) TestRail
12 11 (2.64%) REST Assured
12 11 (2.64%) SpecFlow
12 11 (2.64%) Subversion
12 11 (2.64%) Visual Studio
13 7 (1.68%) Cucumber
13 7 (1.68%) JMeter
13 7 (1.68%) Zephyr
14 6 (1.44%) Bitbucket
14 6 (1.44%) Robot Framework
General
1 140 (33.65%) Social Skills
2 70 (16.83%) Finance
3 52 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (6.73%) Electronics
5 22 (5.29%) Law
6 16 (3.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 13 (3.13%) Public Sector
8 12 (2.88%) Retail
9 9 (2.16%) Marketing
10 8 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
10 8 (1.92%) Manufacturing
10 8 (1.92%) Organisational Skills
11 7 (1.68%) Legal
12 6 (1.44%) Banking
12 6 (1.44%) Publishing
13 5 (1.20%) Advertising
13 5 (1.20%) Games
13 5 (1.20%) Health Technology
14 4 (0.96%) Tech for Good
15 3 (0.72%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 79 (18.99%) Senior
2 60 (14.42%) Developer
3 58 (13.94%) Lead
4 51 (12.26%) Test Engineer
5 49 (11.78%) Software Engineer
6 46 (11.06%) Analyst
7 43 (10.34%) Tester
8 34 (8.17%) Test Analyst
9 27 (6.49%) Senior Developer
9 27 (6.49%) Software Test Engineer
10 26 (6.25%) Software Developer
11 20 (4.81%) Software Tester
11 20 (4.81%) Test Automation Engineer
12 18 (4.33%) Development Engineer
12 18 (4.33%) Software Development Engineer
12 18 (4.33%) Test Development Engineer
13 16 (3.85%) Full-Stack Engineer
13 16 (3.85%) Oracle Developer
13 16 (3.85%) Senior Oracle Developer
14 15 (3.61%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 88 (21.15%) .NET
2 53 (12.74%) HTML
3 44 (10.58%) SOAP
4 35 (8.41%) React
5 33 (7.93%) Playwright
6 23 (5.53%) XML
7 22 (5.29%) Node.js
8 18 (4.33%) REST
9 15 (3.61%) RESTful
10 14 (3.37%) .NET Framework
11 12 (2.88%) ASP.NET
12 9 (2.16%) .NET Core
12 9 (2.16%) CSS
13 8 (1.92%) JSON
13 8 (1.92%) Web Services
14 7 (1.68%) Entity Framework
14 7 (1.68%) Spring
14 7 (1.68%) Swagger
15 6 (1.44%) Elastic Stack
15 6 (1.44%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 28 (6.73%) Cloud Native
2 24 (5.77%) Product Ownership
3 22 (5.29%) Self-Motivation
4 17 (4.09%) Embedded Systems
5 13 (3.13%) Mobile App
6 9 (2.16%) Algorithms
7 7 (1.68%) Distributed Systems
8 6 (1.44%) e-Learning
8 6 (1.44%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 5 (1.20%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.20%) Legacy Systems
9 5 (1.20%) Life Science
9 5 (1.20%) Management Information System
9 5 (1.20%) Onboarding
9 5 (1.20%) Web Conferencing
10 4 (0.96%) Analytical Mindset
11 3 (0.72%) Driving Licence
11 3 (0.72%) Public Cloud
11 3 (0.72%) Renewable Energy
11 3 (0.72%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 24 (5.77%) Linux
2 22 (5.29%) Windows
3 8 (1.92%) Android
4 4 (0.96%) Unix
4 4 (0.96%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.72%) CentOS
5 3 (0.72%) Windows Server 2019
6 2 (0.48%) Apple iOS
6 2 (0.48%) FreeRTOS
6 2 (0.48%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
7 1 (0.24%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 189 (45.43%) Agile
2 163 (39.18%) Test Automation
3 125 (30.05%) Problem-Solving
4 101 (24.28%) CI/CD
5 95 (22.84%) Continuous Improvement
6 82 (19.71%) Scrum
7 80 (19.23%) DevOps
8 71 (17.07%) Software Engineering
9 66 (15.87%) Test Scripting
10 58 (13.94%) Mentoring
11 57 (13.70%) API Testing
11 57 (13.70%) Computer Science
11 57 (13.70%) Test Management
12 54 (12.98%) Manual Testing
13 51 (12.26%) Non-Functional Testing
14 47 (11.30%) SDLC
15 41 (9.86%) Software Delivery
16 38 (9.13%) Regression Testing
17 37 (8.89%) SDET
18 36 (8.65%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 115 (27.64%) SQL
2 97 (23.32%) Java
3 86 (20.67%) C#
4 64 (15.38%) Python
5 50 (12.02%) JavaScript
6 46 (11.06%) TypeScript
7 27 (6.49%) C
8 24 (5.77%) C++
9 20 (4.81%) Bash
10 16 (3.85%) PL/SQL
11 13 (3.13%) PowerShell
12 8 (1.92%) Go
13 7 (1.68%) T-SQL
14 5 (1.20%) PHP
15 4 (0.96%) Fortran
15 4 (0.96%) MATLAB
16 3 (0.72%) VBScript
17 2 (0.48%) Delphi
17 2 (0.48%) Embedded C
17 2 (0.48%) VB
Qualifications
1 134 (32.21%) Degree
2 77 (18.51%) ISTQB
3 52 (12.50%) Security Cleared
4 33 (7.93%) SC Cleared
5 31 (7.45%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
6 25 (6.01%) Computer Science Degree
7 22 (5.29%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 12 (2.88%) DV Cleared
9 11 (2.64%) Master's Degree
10 10 (2.40%) ISEB
11 8 (1.92%) BPSS Clearance
12 7 (1.68%) PhD
13 5 (1.20%) Microsoft Certification
14 4 (0.96%) Numerate Degree
14 4 (0.96%) PMI Certification
15 3 (0.72%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
15 3 (0.72%) BC Cleared
15 3 (0.72%) CITP
15 3 (0.72%) CREST Certified
16 2 (0.48%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 95 (22.84%) QA
2 28 (6.73%) Accessibility
3 7 (1.68%) SLA
4 5 (1.20%) WCAG
5 4 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 3 (0.72%) Data Quality
6 3 (0.72%) JTAG
6 3 (0.72%) SEPA
6 3 (0.72%) Software Quality Assurance
7 2 (0.48%) ISO 9000
7 2 (0.48%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.24%) GDPR
8 1 (0.24%) IEC 61131
8 1 (0.24%) IEC 61508
8 1 (0.24%) IEC 62304
System Software
1 23 (5.53%) Docker
2 15 (3.61%) Firmware
3 9 (2.16%) Active Directory
4 8 (1.92%) Embedded Firmware
5 5 (1.20%) VMware Infrastructure
6 2 (0.48%) 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
7 1 (0.24%) Xen
Systems Management
1 21 (5.05%) Kubernetes
2 17 (4.09%) Terraform
3 6 (1.44%) Grafana
4 5 (1.20%) Ansible
5 4 (0.96%) SCCM
6 3 (0.72%) HP ALM
6 3 (0.72%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.72%) Rancher
6 3 (0.72%) SCOM
7 2 (0.48%) 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 44 (10.58%) Microsoft
2 27 (6.49%) Oracle
3 7 (1.68%) VMware
4 6 (1.44%) Google
4 6 (1.44%) IBM
4 6 (1.44%) ServiceNow
5 5 (1.20%) Adobe
5 5 (1.20%) Siebel
5 5 (1.20%) Zoho
6 4 (0.96%) Siemens
7 3 (0.72%) Altera
7 3 (0.72%) HP
7 3 (0.72%) HubSpot
7 3 (0.72%) Red Hat
7 3 (0.72%) Sage
7 3 (0.72%) SAP
7 3 (0.72%) Splunk
7 3 (0.72%) Tealium
7 3 (0.72%) Workday
8 2 (0.48%) Facebook