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 19 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 267 236 182
Rank change year-on-year -31 -54 -112
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 579 554 1,337
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.71% 1.41% 1.58%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.96% 1.51% 1.86%
Number of salaries quoted 422 409 1,054
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £54,000 £51,259
Median % change year-on-year +1.85% +5.35% -6.80%
75th Percentile £71,250 £70,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £82,500 £87,500 £86,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £54,141 £50,000
% change year-on-year +1.59% +8.28% -9.09%

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 60,429 36,751 71,864
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.71% 93.37% 84.83%
Number of salaries quoted 39,858 20,257 53,833
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £41,250 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,500 £93,750
UK median annual salary £60,000 £58,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +2.56% +6.36% -10.10%

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 19 May 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 19 May 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 +7 158 £50,500 -3.81% 54
London -34 148 £60,000 -7.69% 35
North of England -19 97 £50,000 +11.11% 47
South West -38 66 £48,750 -0.34% 34
Midlands -55 60 £55,000 +22.22% 40
North West +10 54 £51,772 -1.39% 25
East of England -10 42 £50,000 -5.66% 48
West Midlands -32 34 £62,500 +66.67% 25
Yorkshire -57 28 £35,000 +9.38% 7
East Midlands -38 26 £55,000 +15.79% 15
North East -30 15 £55,000 +37.50% 15
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 9 (1.55%) IIS
2 7 (1.21%) Confluence
2 7 (1.21%) Moodle
3 5 (0.86%) SharePoint
4 4 (0.69%) CMS
4 4 (0.69%) WordPress
5 2 (0.35%) Apache
5 2 (0.35%) Umbraco
6 1 (0.17%) Jupyter
Applications
1 10 (1.73%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (1.38%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.86%) AutoCAD
3 5 (0.86%) DaVinci Resolve
3 5 (0.86%) MS Visio
3 5 (0.86%) Simulink
4 4 (0.69%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.69%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.52%) Photoshop
6 2 (0.35%) Adobe Creative Suite
Business Applications
1 3 (0.52%) Misys Midas
2 2 (0.35%) Shopify
2 2 (0.35%) Workday HCM
3 1 (0.17%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.17%) Misys Equation
3 1 (0.17%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 112 (19.34%) Azure
2 105 (18.13%) AWS
3 41 (7.08%) Azure DevOps
3 41 (7.08%) GCP
4 22 (3.80%) GitHub
5 15 (2.59%) Serverless
6 14 (2.42%) BrowserStack
7 11 (1.90%) SaaS
8 9 (1.55%) GitHub Actions
8 9 (1.55%) OpenShift
9 8 (1.38%) AWS Lambda
10 7 (1.21%) Anthropic Claude
10 7 (1.21%) GitHub Copilot
10 7 (1.21%) Power Platform
11 6 (1.04%) Azure Data Factory
11 6 (1.04%) Microsoft 365
12 5 (0.86%) AWS CloudFormation
12 5 (0.86%) Tricentis Tosca
13 4 (0.69%) Amazon EKS
13 4 (0.69%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 8 (1.38%) Broadband
2 6 (1.04%) Ethernet
3 5 (0.86%) SNMP
3 5 (0.86%) VPN
4 4 (0.69%) HTTP
4 4 (0.69%) Software-Defined Radio
5 3 (0.52%) Cisco ISE
6 2 (0.35%) Modbus
6 2 (0.35%) MQTT
6 2 (0.35%) Network Security
7 1 (0.17%) AMQP
7 1 (0.17%) Bluetooth
7 1 (0.17%) LTE
7 1 (0.17%) TCP/IP
7 1 (0.17%) Wi-Fi
7 1 (0.17%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (5.70%) SQL Server
2 22 (3.80%) PostgreSQL
3 18 (3.11%) OLTP
4 12 (2.07%) MongoDB
5 10 (1.73%) MySQL
6 9 (1.55%) DynamoDB
7 8 (1.38%) Elasticsearch
8 7 (1.21%) NoSQL
8 7 (1.21%) Relational Database
9 6 (1.04%) Azure SQL Database
9 6 (1.04%) Spark SQL
9 6 (1.04%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (0.86%) InfluxDB
10 5 (0.86%) Power BI
11 4 (0.69%) Crystal Reports
11 4 (0.69%) Oracle Database
12 2 (0.35%) Big Data
12 2 (0.35%) DB2
12 2 (0.35%) Easytrieve
12 2 (0.35%) Geospatial Data
Development Applications
1 85 (14.68%) JIRA
2 62 (10.71%) Selenium
3 54 (9.33%) Git
4 46 (7.94%) GitLab
5 40 (6.91%) Postman
6 30 (5.18%) Jenkins
7 28 (4.84%) SoapUI
8 27 (4.66%) Team Foundation Server
9 25 (4.32%) WebDriver
10 17 (2.94%) Cypress.io
11 16 (2.76%) TestRail
12 13 (2.25%) Cucumber
12 13 (2.25%) JMeter
12 13 (2.25%) Zephyr
13 12 (2.07%) JUnit
14 10 (1.73%) Subversion
14 10 (1.73%) Visual Studio Code
15 9 (1.55%) REST Assured
16 8 (1.38%) LoadRunner
16 8 (1.38%) SpecFlow
General
1 159 (27.46%) Social Skills
2 81 (13.99%) Finance
3 73 (12.61%) Analytical Skills
4 30 (5.18%) Electronics
5 22 (3.80%) Retail
6 21 (3.63%) Law
7 20 (3.45%) Banking
7 20 (3.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 17 (2.94%) Manufacturing
9 12 (2.07%) Public Sector
10 11 (1.90%) Aerospace
10 11 (1.90%) Games
11 9 (1.55%) Health Technology
12 7 (1.21%) Documentation Skills
12 7 (1.21%) Pharmaceutical
13 6 (1.04%) Back Office
14 5 (0.86%) Marketing
14 5 (0.86%) Organisational Skills
14 5 (0.86%) Telecoms
15 4 (0.69%) Tech for Good
Job Titles
1 132 (22.80%) Senior
2 99 (17.10%) Software Engineer
3 75 (12.95%) Test Engineer
4 64 (11.05%) Tester
5 63 (10.88%) Lead
6 61 (10.54%) Developer
7 58 (10.02%) Analyst
8 42 (7.25%) Software Tester
9 41 (7.08%) Software Test Engineer
10 40 (6.91%) Senior Developer
11 39 (6.74%) Development Engineer
12 38 (6.56%) Software Development Engineer
13 32 (5.53%) Test Development Engineer
14 29 (5.01%) Senior Software Engineer
15 28 (4.84%) Test Analyst
16 25 (4.32%) Test Automation Engineer
17 21 (3.63%) Oracle Developer
17 21 (3.63%) Senior Oracle Developer
18 19 (3.28%) Embedded Engineer
18 19 (3.28%) QA Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 72 (12.44%) .NET
2 58 (10.02%) HTML
3 44 (7.60%) SOAP
4 37 (6.39%) Playwright
5 32 (5.53%) React
6 27 (4.66%) XML
7 20 (3.45%) REST
8 19 (3.28%) Node.js
9 12 (2.07%) ASP.NET
9 12 (2.07%) JSON
10 11 (1.90%) RESTful
10 11 (1.90%) Spring
11 10 (1.73%) CSS
12 8 (1.38%) .NET Framework
12 8 (1.38%) React Native
13 6 (1.04%) Elastic Stack
13 6 (1.04%) LangChain
13 6 (1.04%) PySpark
13 6 (1.04%) pytest
13 6 (1.04%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 48 (8.29%) Product Ownership
2 26 (4.49%) Algorithms
3 17 (2.94%) Embedded Systems
4 16 (2.76%) Distributed Systems
4 16 (2.76%) Mobile App
5 15 (2.59%) Cloud Native
6 13 (2.25%) Client/Server
7 10 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
7 10 (1.73%) Management Information System
8 9 (1.55%) Robotics
8 9 (1.55%) Self-Motivation
9 8 (1.38%) Enterprise Software
9 8 (1.38%) FPGA
9 8 (1.38%) Life Science
9 8 (1.38%) Low-Code
10 7 (1.21%) e-Learning
10 7 (1.21%) NHS
10 7 (1.21%) Video\Live Streaming
11 6 (1.04%) AI Agents
11 6 (1.04%) Blog
Operating Systems
1 44 (7.60%) Windows
2 39 (6.74%) Linux
3 10 (1.73%) Windows Server
4 5 (0.86%) CentOS
5 4 (0.69%) Android
5 4 (0.69%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (0.52%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.52%) Kali Linux
6 3 (0.52%) Unix
7 2 (0.35%) VMS
7 2 (0.35%) zOS
8 1 (0.17%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.17%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 239 (41.28%) Test Automation
2 213 (36.79%) Agile
3 133 (22.97%) Continuous Improvement
3 133 (22.97%) Software Engineering
4 124 (21.42%) DevOps
5 114 (19.69%) Problem-Solving
6 107 (18.48%) CI/CD
7 100 (17.27%) Scrum
8 78 (13.47%) SDLC
9 77 (13.30%) Computer Science
10 76 (13.13%) Mentoring
11 67 (11.57%) AI
12 63 (10.88%) Code Quality
13 62 (10.71%) Test Scripting
14 58 (10.02%) Regression Testing
15 57 (9.84%) Non-Functional Testing
15 57 (9.84%) Test Strategy
16 55 (9.50%) Test Management
17 54 (9.33%) Manual Testing
18 53 (9.15%) API Testing
Programming Languages
1 128 (22.11%) Python
2 121 (20.90%) SQL
3 96 (16.58%) C#
3 96 (16.58%) Java
4 66 (11.40%) JavaScript
5 48 (8.29%) C++
6 42 (7.25%) TypeScript
7 36 (6.22%) C
8 22 (3.80%) PL/SQL
9 15 (2.59%) MATLAB
10 12 (2.07%) Go
10 12 (2.07%) PHP
11 11 (1.90%) PowerShell
12 9 (1.55%) Bash
13 7 (1.21%) VBA
14 6 (1.04%) Groovy
14 6 (1.04%) Rust
15 5 (0.86%) COBOL
15 5 (0.86%) Embedded C
16 4 (0.69%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 169 (29.19%) Degree
2 86 (14.85%) Security Cleared
3 71 (12.26%) ISTQB
4 47 (8.12%) SC Cleared
5 35 (6.04%) Computer Science Degree
6 32 (5.53%) DV Cleared
7 27 (4.66%) Master's Degree
8 21 (3.63%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
9 15 (2.59%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 12 (2.07%) PhD
11 10 (1.73%) BPSS Clearance
12 9 (1.55%) ISEB
13 7 (1.21%) PMI Certification
14 5 (0.86%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
14 5 (0.86%) DBS Check
15 4 (0.69%) BC Cleared
15 4 (0.69%) Chartered Engineer
15 4 (0.69%) CIPD
16 3 (0.52%) Numerate Degree
16 3 (0.52%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 159 (27.46%) QA
2 34 (5.87%) Accessibility
3 20 (3.45%) Software Quality Assurance
4 11 (1.90%) SLA
5 6 (1.04%) Data Quality
5 6 (1.04%) GDPR
5 6 (1.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 5 (0.86%) PMO
7 4 (0.69%) DO-254
8 3 (0.52%) IEC 61508
8 3 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 12207
8 3 (0.52%) WCAG
9 2 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.35%) JTAG
9 2 (0.35%) MISRA
9 2 (0.35%) MISRA C
9 2 (0.35%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.17%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 26 (4.49%) Docker
2 24 (4.15%) Firmware
3 14 (2.42%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.73%) Active Directory
4 10 (1.73%) Embedded Firmware
5 5 (0.86%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.86%) KVM
6 4 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.52%) Terminal Server
8 2 (0.35%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.17%) Xen
Systems Management
1 18 (3.11%) Kubernetes
2 17 (2.94%) Terraform
3 11 (1.90%) Ansible
4 9 (1.55%) Grafana
5 7 (1.21%) SCCM
5 7 (1.21%) SCOM
6 6 (1.04%) Kibana
6 6 (1.04%) logstash
7 4 (0.69%) Rancher
7 4 (0.69%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.52%) HP ALM
8 3 (0.52%) HP Fortify
8 3 (0.52%) SCOrch
9 2 (0.35%) Functional Safety
10 1 (0.17%) Argo
10 1 (0.17%) Istio
10 1 (0.17%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 50 (8.64%) Microsoft
2 34 (5.87%) Oracle
3 15 (2.59%) VMware
4 14 (2.42%) Splunk
5 10 (1.73%) Adobe
6 9 (1.55%) IBM
7 7 (1.21%) Google
8 6 (1.04%) Red Hat
8 6 (1.04%) ServiceNow
9 5 (0.86%) Avid
9 5 (0.86%) Citrix
9 5 (0.86%) HP
9 5 (0.86%) Salesforce
9 5 (0.86%) SolarWinds
10 4 (0.69%) Altera
10 4 (0.69%) AppDynamics
10 4 (0.69%) Atlassian
10 4 (0.69%) SYSPRO
11 3 (0.52%) Cisco
11 3 (0.52%) Veracode