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 7 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 249 280 156
Rank change year-on-year +31 -124 +22
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 760 434 1,126
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.73% 1.00% 1.72%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.99% 1.13% 2.08%
Number of salaries quoted 512 315 563
10th Percentile £29,025 £27,500 £35,000
25th Percentile £39,818 £40,008 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £56,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% +1.82% -4.35%
75th Percentile £71,250 £68,750 £75,000
90th Percentile £89,750 £80,000 £83,500
UK median annual salary £51,361 £57,143 £57,500
% change year-on-year -10.12% -0.62% +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 76,540 38,554 54,017
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.61% 89.02% 82.44%
Number of salaries quoted 53,822 21,790 29,076
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £32,500
25th Percentile £41,750 £36,250 £43,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.64%
75th Percentile £80,000 £75,785 £78,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £97,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -

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 7 October 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 7 October 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 -3 156 £45,000 -10.00% 188
North of England +26 152 £51,619 -3.96% 148
London -69 140 £70,000 +9.38% 352
Midlands +20 125 £52,500 +19.32% 140
South West -23 96 £50,000 -9.91% 93
West Midlands +1 87 £45,000 +28.57% 84
East of England +17 79 £50,000 -5.66% 117
North West +7 62 £44,447 -32.91% 79
North East -21 55 £57,500 +21.05% 22
East Midlands -14 38 £55,000 -1.79% 55
Yorkshire -19 35 £44,447 +45.73% 47
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 13 (1.71%) CMS
2 10 (1.32%) Confluence
3 9 (1.18%) IIS
3 9 (1.18%) SharePoint
4 7 (0.92%) WinCC
5 6 (0.79%) Apache Spark
5 6 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
6 4 (0.53%) Apache
7 3 (0.39%) Headless CMS
7 3 (0.39%) nginx
7 3 (0.39%) WordPress
8 2 (0.26%) Office Communications Server
8 2 (0.26%) Umbraco
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
9 1 (0.13%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 17 (2.24%) Simulink
2 15 (1.97%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (1.71%) Microsoft Excel
4 6 (0.79%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.39%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.26%) EPLAN
6 2 (0.26%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.26%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.13%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.13%) DaVinci Resolve
7 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.13%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.13%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 3 (0.39%) Payment Gateway
1 3 (0.39%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.26%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.26%) Sage 200
2 2 (0.26%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.26%) Shopify
2 2 (0.26%) Workday HCM
3 1 (0.13%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.13%) Misys Equation
3 1 (0.13%) Misys Midas
3 1 (0.13%) Oracle Cash Management
3 1 (0.13%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.13%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 1 (0.13%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 132 (17.37%) Azure
2 131 (17.24%) AWS
3 42 (5.53%) Serverless
4 37 (4.87%) Azure DevOps
5 36 (4.74%) GitHub
5 36 (4.74%) Power Platform
6 31 (4.08%) GCP
7 22 (2.89%) SaaS
8 19 (2.50%) Microsoft 365
9 18 (2.37%) AWS Lambda
10 16 (2.11%) GitHub Actions
11 13 (1.71%) OpenShift
12 11 (1.45%) GitHub Copilot
13 9 (1.18%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 9 (1.18%) AWS CloudFormation
13 9 (1.18%) Azure Functions
13 9 (1.18%) Google Workspace
14 7 (0.92%) Amazon EC2
14 7 (0.92%) BrowserStack
15 6 (0.79%) Amazon EKS
Communications & Networking
1 15 (1.97%) TCP/IP
2 9 (1.18%) Ethernet
2 9 (1.18%) Wireshark
3 7 (0.92%) SNMP
3 7 (0.92%) VPN
4 6 (0.79%) HTTP
4 6 (0.79%) Modbus
5 5 (0.66%) Profibus
6 4 (0.53%) DNS
7 3 (0.39%) Network Security
8 2 (0.26%) ATM
8 2 (0.26%) Software-Defined Radio
9 1 (0.13%) BGP
9 1 (0.13%) Broadband
9 1 (0.13%) DHCP
9 1 (0.13%) Internet
9 1 (0.13%) IPv4
9 1 (0.13%) IPv6
9 1 (0.13%) MPLS
9 1 (0.13%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (4.21%) SQL Server
2 31 (4.08%) Power BI
3 21 (2.76%) PostgreSQL
4 15 (1.97%) Relational Database
5 14 (1.84%) DynamoDB
5 14 (1.84%) Elasticsearch
5 14 (1.84%) NoSQL
6 8 (1.05%) Azure SQL Database
6 8 (1.05%) MongoDB
7 7 (0.92%) InfluxDB
7 7 (0.92%) MySQL
8 6 (0.79%) Geospatial Data
8 6 (0.79%) OLTP
9 4 (0.53%) Chroma
9 4 (0.53%) Flink
9 4 (0.53%) Pinecone
9 4 (0.53%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 3 (0.39%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.39%) Oracle Database
10 3 (0.39%) Spark SQL
Development Applications
1 99 (13.03%) Git
2 67 (8.82%) JIRA
3 61 (8.03%) GitLab
4 53 (6.97%) Selenium
5 44 (5.79%) Jenkins
6 29 (3.82%) Postman
7 28 (3.68%) Cypress.io
8 18 (2.37%) JMeter
9 17 (2.24%) Cucumber
9 17 (2.24%) JUnit
10 13 (1.71%) Gatling
10 13 (1.71%) TestRail
11 11 (1.45%) Zephyr
12 9 (1.18%) Eclipse
12 9 (1.18%) Maven
12 9 (1.18%) REST Assured
13 8 (1.05%) LabVIEW
13 8 (1.05%) Spock
14 7 (0.92%) Robot Framework
14 7 (0.92%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 265 (34.87%) Social Skills
2 142 (18.68%) Analytical Skills
3 78 (10.26%) Finance
4 61 (8.03%) Electronics
5 56 (7.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 48 (6.32%) Manufacturing
7 28 (3.68%) Law
8 26 (3.42%) Documentation Skills
9 25 (3.29%) Aerospace
10 22 (2.89%) Public Sector
11 19 (2.50%) Automotive
12 18 (2.37%) Retail
13 16 (2.11%) Banking
14 15 (1.97%) Organisational Skills
15 14 (1.84%) Aviation
15 14 (1.84%) Legal
16 10 (1.32%) Presentation Skills
17 9 (1.18%) Military
17 9 (1.18%) Telecoms
18 8 (1.05%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 166 (21.84%) Senior
2 118 (15.53%) Software Engineer
3 109 (14.34%) Test Engineer
4 92 (12.11%) Developer
5 83 (10.92%) Lead
6 71 (9.34%) Analyst
7 51 (6.71%) Tester
8 44 (5.79%) Senior Developer
9 43 (5.66%) Software Developer
10 42 (5.53%) QA Engineer
11 39 (5.13%) Software Test Engineer
12 35 (4.61%) Senior Software Engineer
13 28 (3.68%) Junior
14 27 (3.55%) Embedded Engineer
14 27 (3.55%) Support Engineer
15 26 (3.42%) Test Automation Engineer
16 25 (3.29%) IT Support
16 25 (3.29%) Software Tester
17 24 (3.16%) Support Analyst
18 23 (3.03%) Applications Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 74 (9.74%) .NET
2 62 (8.16%) Playwright
3 54 (7.11%) React
4 51 (6.71%) HTML
5 34 (4.47%) CSS
6 31 (4.08%) REST
6 31 (4.08%) Terraform
7 25 (3.29%) ASP.NET
7 25 (3.29%) RESTful
8 23 (3.03%) Node.js
9 20 (2.63%) XML
10 14 (1.84%) ASP.NET Core
10 14 (1.84%) Spring
11 13 (1.71%) Gherkin
11 13 (1.71%) Swagger
12 12 (1.58%) AngularJS
12 12 (1.58%) JSON
12 12 (1.58%) LangChain
13 10 (1.32%) .NET Framework
13 10 (1.32%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 62 (8.16%) Product Ownership
2 39 (5.13%) Distributed Systems
3 27 (3.55%) AI Agents
3 27 (3.55%) Algorithms
4 26 (3.42%) Cloud Native
5 24 (3.16%) Embedded Systems
6 21 (2.76%) Management Information System
7 20 (2.63%) Enterprise Software
8 18 (2.37%) Analytical Mindset
8 18 (2.37%) Robotics
9 16 (2.11%) Mobile App
9 16 (2.11%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.84%) Driving Licence
11 13 (1.71%) Legacy Applications
12 12 (1.58%) Client/Server
12 12 (1.58%) SCADA
13 11 (1.45%) FPGA
14 9 (1.18%) Onboarding
14 9 (1.18%) Private Cloud
15 8 (1.05%) Reinsurance
Operating Systems
1 77 (10.13%) Windows
2 69 (9.08%) Linux
3 20 (2.63%) Windows Server
4 7 (0.92%) Android
4 7 (0.92%) CentOS
5 6 (0.79%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.66%) Embedded Linux
6 5 (0.66%) Robot Operating System
7 4 (0.53%) Unix
7 4 (0.53%) VMS
8 3 (0.39%) Debian
8 3 (0.39%) Kali Linux
8 3 (0.39%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.13%) FreeRTOS
9 1 (0.13%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 334 (43.95%) Test Automation
2 291 (38.29%) Agile
3 236 (31.05%) Software Engineering
4 217 (28.55%) CI/CD
5 209 (27.50%) Problem-Solving
6 199 (26.18%) Continuous Improvement
7 154 (20.26%) DevOps
8 121 (15.92%) Mentoring
9 119 (15.66%) Code Quality
10 117 (15.39%) Validation
11 105 (13.82%) AI
12 104 (13.68%) SDLC
13 99 (13.03%) Scrum
14 97 (12.76%) Test Strategy
15 86 (11.32%) Regression Testing
16 70 (9.21%) Stakeholder Management
17 64 (8.42%) Computer Science
18 61 (8.03%) Software Delivery
19 56 (7.37%) Manual Testing
20 55 (7.24%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 190 (25.00%) Python
2 142 (18.68%) SQL
3 110 (14.47%) C#
4 93 (12.24%) JavaScript
5 92 (12.11%) Java
6 72 (9.47%) C++
7 70 (9.21%) TypeScript
8 56 (7.37%) C
9 27 (3.55%) MATLAB
10 23 (3.03%) PowerShell
11 21 (2.76%) Bash
12 13 (1.71%) Embedded C
13 12 (1.58%) Go
14 11 (1.45%) Groovy
15 10 (1.32%) Julia
15 10 (1.32%) PL/SQL
16 8 (1.05%) R
17 6 (0.79%) PHP
17 6 (0.79%) Rust
17 6 (0.79%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 162 (21.32%) Degree
2 136 (17.89%) Security Cleared
3 84 (11.05%) SC Cleared
4 35 (4.61%) DV Cleared
5 33 (4.34%) ISTQB
6 30 (3.95%) Master's Degree
7 27 (3.55%) Computer Science Degree
8 16 (2.11%) BPSS Clearance
9 7 (0.92%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
9 7 (0.92%) ISEB
10 5 (0.66%) DBS Check
11 4 (0.53%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 3 (0.39%) AWS Certification
12 3 (0.39%) Chartered Engineer
12 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Certification
12 3 (0.39%) PMI Certification
13 2 (0.26%) CSQA
13 2 (0.26%) Network+ Certification
13 2 (0.26%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 202 (26.58%) QA
2 50 (6.58%) Accessibility
3 23 (3.03%) GDPR
4 21 (2.76%) WCAG
5 13 (1.71%) Data Quality
6 8 (1.05%) SLA
7 6 (0.79%) Software Quality Assurance
8 5 (0.66%) PMO
9 3 (0.39%) DO-254
9 3 (0.39%) IEC 61131
9 3 (0.39%) IEC 61508
9 3 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 2 (0.26%) Automotive SPICE
11 1 (0.13%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 1 (0.13%) DO-160
11 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 1 (0.13%) MIL-STD-1553
11 1 (0.13%) MISRA
11 1 (0.13%) MISRA C
System Software
1 67 (8.82%) Docker
2 38 (5.00%) Firmware
3 19 (2.50%) Embedded Firmware
4 15 (1.97%) Active Directory
5 7 (0.92%) VMware Infrastructure
6 5 (0.66%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.13%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.13%) KVM
Systems Management
1 46 (6.05%) Kubernetes
2 20 (2.63%) Ansible
2 20 (2.63%) Grafana
3 9 (1.18%) Kibana
4 7 (0.92%) logstash
5 5 (0.66%) vCenter Server
6 4 (0.53%) Functional Safety
6 4 (0.53%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.39%) HP Fortify
7 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Intune
7 3 (0.39%) Norton AntiVirus
7 3 (0.39%) Puppet
7 3 (0.39%) Rancher
7 3 (0.39%) SCCM
7 3 (0.39%) SCOM
7 3 (0.39%) SCOrch
8 2 (0.26%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 2 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.13%) HP ALM
9 1 (0.13%) HP Quality Center
Vendors
1 71 (9.34%) Microsoft
2 19 (2.50%) Splunk
3 15 (1.97%) Google
3 15 (1.97%) Siemens
4 14 (1.84%) Oracle
5 9 (1.18%) Atlassian
5 9 (1.18%) Intel
5 9 (1.18%) Red Hat
5 9 (1.18%) VMware
6 8 (1.05%) AppDynamics
6 8 (1.05%) Rockwell
7 7 (0.92%) Citrix
7 7 (0.92%) OpenAI
8 6 (0.79%) Databricks
8 6 (0.79%) SAP
8 6 (0.79%) ServiceNow
9 5 (0.66%) IBM
10 4 (0.53%) EMC
10 4 (0.53%) Microsemi
10 4 (0.53%) Xilinx