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 11 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 254 240 182
Rank change year-on-year -14 -58 -87
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 607 545 1,433
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.74% 1.39% 1.54%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.01% 1.50% 1.87%
Number of salaries quoted 442 376 1,038
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,188 £39,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - +10.00% -10.71%
75th Percentile £71,250 £71,250 £65,000
90th Percentile £87,475 £87,500 £85,000
UK median annual salary £53,414 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -2.88% +10.00% -10.71%

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 60,030 36,425 76,751
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 72.97% 92.76% 82.48%
Number of salaries quoted 42,034 19,839 55,940
10th Percentile £30,625 £29,000 £29,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £58,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.45% +5.45% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £101,250 £92,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%

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 11 June 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 11 June 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 +11 161 £47,500 -9.52% 69
London -28 157 £60,000 -6.25% 28
North of England -12 98 £51,619 +14.71% 32
South West -44 68 £47,500 -13.64% 29
Midlands -33 66 £55,000 +29.41% 27
North West +26 56 £51,772 -21.85% 19
East of England +10 50 £47,500 -10.38% 48
West Midlands -29 43 £62,500 +316.67% 16
Yorkshire -55 24 £40,000 +28.51% 2
East Midlands -30 23 £55,000 +15.18% 11
North East -30 18 £55,000 +37.50% 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 13 (2.14%) IIS
2 7 (1.15%) Confluence
2 7 (1.15%) SharePoint
3 5 (0.82%) CMS
3 5 (0.82%) WordPress
4 4 (0.66%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.66%) Moodle
5 2 (0.33%) Apache
5 2 (0.33%) Umbraco
6 1 (0.16%) Jupyter
Applications
1 17 (2.80%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (2.31%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (0.99%) Simulink
4 5 (0.82%) AutoCAD
4 5 (0.82%) DaVinci Resolve
4 5 (0.82%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.66%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.49%) Photoshop
7 2 (0.33%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 2 (0.33%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.33%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.33%) Shopify
1 2 (0.33%) Workday HCM
2 1 (0.16%) Misys Equation
2 1 (0.16%) Misys Midas
2 1 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 115 (18.95%) Azure
2 106 (17.46%) AWS
3 42 (6.92%) GCP
4 38 (6.26%) Azure DevOps
5 21 (3.46%) GitHub
6 20 (3.29%) Serverless
7 14 (2.31%) BrowserStack
7 14 (2.31%) Power Platform
8 11 (1.81%) Microsoft 365
8 11 (1.81%) SaaS
9 10 (1.65%) AWS Lambda
10 8 (1.32%) GitHub Copilot
10 8 (1.32%) OpenShift
11 7 (1.15%) Anthropic Claude
11 7 (1.15%) Azure Data Factory
11 7 (1.15%) GitHub Actions
12 5 (0.82%) Tricentis Tosca
13 4 (0.66%) AWS CloudFormation
13 4 (0.66%) Azure Functions
14 3 (0.49%) BlazeMeter
Communications & Networking
1 9 (1.48%) VPN
2 8 (1.32%) Broadband
2 8 (1.32%) Ethernet
3 5 (0.82%) HTTP
3 5 (0.82%) SNMP
4 4 (0.66%) Software-Defined Radio
5 2 (0.33%) Cisco ISE
5 2 (0.33%) LTE
5 2 (0.33%) Modbus
5 2 (0.33%) MQTT
5 2 (0.33%) Network Security
5 2 (0.33%) TCP/IP
5 2 (0.33%) Wireless
6 1 (0.16%) 5G
6 1 (0.16%) AMQP
6 1 (0.16%) Bluetooth
6 1 (0.16%) DNS
6 1 (0.16%) SSL
6 1 (0.16%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (6.10%) SQL Server
2 20 (3.29%) PostgreSQL
3 17 (2.80%) OLTP
4 12 (1.98%) Power BI
5 11 (1.81%) MongoDB
6 10 (1.65%) DynamoDB
7 9 (1.48%) Elasticsearch
8 8 (1.32%) Azure SQL Database
8 8 (1.32%) MySQL
8 8 (1.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (1.15%) Spark SQL
10 6 (0.99%) NoSQL
10 6 (0.99%) Oracle Database
11 5 (0.82%) Geospatial Data
11 5 (0.82%) InfluxDB
12 4 (0.66%) Crystal Reports
12 4 (0.66%) Relational Database
13 2 (0.33%) Big Data
13 2 (0.33%) Db2
13 2 (0.33%) Easytrieve
Development Applications
1 73 (12.03%) JIRA
2 64 (10.54%) Git
3 57 (9.39%) Selenium
4 45 (7.41%) GitLab
5 34 (5.60%) Postman
6 27 (4.45%) Jenkins
7 22 (3.62%) Team Foundation Server
8 21 (3.46%) SoapUI
9 20 (3.29%) WebDriver
10 18 (2.97%) Cypress.io
11 15 (2.47%) JUnit
11 15 (2.47%) TestRail
12 14 (2.31%) Zephyr
13 12 (1.98%) Cucumber
13 12 (1.98%) JMeter
14 10 (1.65%) Visual Studio Code
15 9 (1.48%) REST Assured
16 7 (1.15%) Claude Code
16 7 (1.15%) LoadRunner
16 7 (1.15%) SpecFlow
General
1 167 (27.51%) Social Skills
2 89 (14.66%) Analytical Skills
3 81 (13.34%) Finance
4 30 (4.94%) Electronics
5 25 (4.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 24 (3.95%) Law
7 22 (3.62%) Banking
7 22 (3.62%) Manufacturing
8 18 (2.97%) Retail
9 13 (2.14%) Public Sector
10 11 (1.81%) Aerospace
10 11 (1.81%) Games
11 9 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
11 9 (1.48%) Health Technology
12 8 (1.32%) Organisational Skills
13 6 (0.99%) Back Office
13 6 (0.99%) Marketing
13 6 (0.99%) Presentation Skills
14 5 (0.82%) Military
14 5 (0.82%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 138 (22.73%) Senior
2 104 (17.13%) Software Engineer
3 77 (12.69%) Test Engineer
4 68 (11.20%) Developer
5 63 (10.38%) Tester
6 58 (9.56%) Analyst
7 57 (9.39%) Lead
8 45 (7.41%) Senior Developer
9 43 (7.08%) Software Tester
10 40 (6.59%) Software Test Engineer
11 39 (6.43%) Development Engineer
12 35 (5.77%) Software Development Engineer
13 32 (5.27%) Test Development Engineer
14 29 (4.78%) Senior Software Engineer
15 25 (4.12%) Test Automation Engineer
16 24 (3.95%) Test Analyst
17 21 (3.46%) QA Engineer
17 21 (3.46%) Software Developer
18 20 (3.29%) Oracle Developer
18 20 (3.29%) Senior Oracle Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 66 (10.87%) .NET
2 53 (8.73%) HTML
3 36 (5.93%) SOAP
4 35 (5.77%) Playwright
5 33 (5.44%) React
6 26 (4.28%) XML
7 21 (3.46%) REST
8 15 (2.47%) ASP.NET
8 15 (2.47%) Node.js
9 13 (2.14%) RESTful
10 12 (1.98%) CSS
10 12 (1.98%) JSON
11 10 (1.65%) Spring
12 9 (1.48%) React Native
13 8 (1.32%) .NET Framework
13 8 (1.32%) LangChain
13 8 (1.32%) LlamaIndex
14 7 (1.15%) ASP.NET Core
14 7 (1.15%) PySpark
15 6 (0.99%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 51 (8.40%) Product Ownership
2 32 (5.27%) Algorithms
3 18 (2.97%) Distributed Systems
4 16 (2.64%) Mobile App
5 14 (2.31%) Client/Server
5 14 (2.31%) Embedded Systems
6 11 (1.81%) Cloud Native
6 11 (1.81%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (1.81%) Self-Motivation
7 10 (1.65%) Life Science
7 10 (1.65%) Management Information System
7 10 (1.65%) Robotics
8 9 (1.48%) Analytical Mindset
8 9 (1.48%) FPGA
9 8 (1.32%) AI Agents
9 8 (1.32%) Low-Code
9 8 (1.32%) Video\Live Streaming
10 7 (1.15%) Reinsurance
11 6 (0.99%) Blog
11 6 (0.99%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 57 (9.39%) Windows
2 41 (6.75%) Linux
3 15 (2.47%) Windows Server
4 5 (0.82%) CentOS
5 4 (0.66%) Unix
6 3 (0.49%) Android
6 3 (0.49%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.49%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.33%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.33%) VMS
7 2 (0.33%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.33%) zOS
8 1 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.16%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 250 (41.19%) Test Automation
2 208 (34.27%) Agile
3 153 (25.21%) Software Engineering
4 138 (22.73%) Continuous Improvement
5 126 (20.76%) DevOps
6 120 (19.77%) Problem-Solving
7 113 (18.62%) CI/CD
8 93 (15.32%) Scrum
9 81 (13.34%) Computer Science
10 80 (13.18%) Mentoring
11 76 (12.52%) Code Quality
11 76 (12.52%) SDLC
12 75 (12.36%) AI
13 64 (10.54%) Test Strategy
14 56 (9.23%) Manual Testing
14 56 (9.23%) Regression Testing
15 54 (8.90%) Non-Functional Testing
16 51 (8.40%) Test Scripting
17 50 (8.24%) Validation
18 45 (7.41%) Test Management
Programming Languages
1 148 (24.38%) Python
2 128 (21.09%) SQL
3 100 (16.47%) C#
4 85 (14.00%) Java
5 69 (11.37%) JavaScript
6 59 (9.72%) C++
7 42 (6.92%) TypeScript
8 39 (6.43%) C
9 23 (3.79%) PL/SQL
10 21 (3.46%) MATLAB
11 14 (2.31%) PowerShell
12 12 (1.98%) PHP
13 11 (1.81%) Go
14 9 (1.48%) Bash
15 8 (1.32%) Julia
16 7 (1.15%) Groovy
16 7 (1.15%) R
16 7 (1.15%) VBA
17 6 (0.99%) Embedded C
17 6 (0.99%) Rust
Qualifications
1 182 (29.98%) Degree
2 83 (13.67%) Security Cleared
3 65 (10.71%) ISTQB
4 49 (8.07%) SC Cleared
5 35 (5.77%) Master's Degree
6 34 (5.60%) Computer Science Degree
7 32 (5.27%) DV Cleared
8 16 (2.64%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
9 12 (1.98%) PhD
10 11 (1.81%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 10 (1.65%) BPSS Clearance
12 9 (1.48%) ISEB
13 6 (0.99%) PMI Certification
14 5 (0.82%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
14 5 (0.82%) DBS Check
15 4 (0.66%) Chartered Engineer
15 4 (0.66%) CIPD
16 3 (0.49%) Numerate Degree
17 2 (0.33%) BC Cleared
17 2 (0.33%) CSQA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 173 (28.50%) QA
2 40 (6.59%) Accessibility
3 21 (3.46%) Software Quality Assurance
4 12 (1.98%) SLA
5 10 (1.65%) GDPR
6 7 (1.15%) Data Quality
7 5 (0.82%) PMO
7 5 (0.82%) WCAG
8 4 (0.66%) DO-254
8 4 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 3 (0.49%) IEC 61508
9 3 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 2 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.33%) JTAG
10 2 (0.33%) MISRA
10 2 (0.33%) MISRA C
10 2 (0.33%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.16%) Automotive SPICE
System Software
1 29 (4.78%) Docker
2 25 (4.12%) Firmware
3 15 (2.47%) Active Directory
4 14 (2.31%) VMware Infrastructure
5 12 (1.98%) Embedded Firmware
6 5 (0.82%) Hyper-V
6 5 (0.82%) KVM
7 4 (0.66%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.33%) Terminal Server
8 2 (0.33%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.16%) Xen
Systems Management
1 18 (2.97%) Kubernetes
2 15 (2.47%) Terraform
3 10 (1.65%) Ansible
4 8 (1.32%) Grafana
5 6 (0.99%) Kibana
5 6 (0.99%) logstash
6 5 (0.82%) SCCM
6 5 (0.82%) SCOM
7 4 (0.66%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.49%) Functional Safety
8 3 (0.49%) HP ALM
8 3 (0.49%) HP Fortify
8 3 (0.49%) Microsoft Intune
8 3 (0.49%) Norton AntiVirus
8 3 (0.49%) Rancher
8 3 (0.49%) SCOrch
9 1 (0.16%) HP Quality Center
9 1 (0.16%) Istio
Vendors
1 59 (9.72%) Microsoft
2 34 (5.60%) Oracle
3 16 (2.64%) VMware
4 14 (2.31%) Splunk
5 10 (1.65%) Adobe
5 10 (1.65%) ServiceNow
6 9 (1.48%) Citrix
6 9 (1.48%) IBM
7 7 (1.15%) Google
8 6 (0.99%) Red Hat
9 5 (0.82%) Avid
9 5 (0.82%) HP
9 5 (0.82%) Salesforce
9 5 (0.82%) SolarWinds
10 4 (0.66%) Altera
10 4 (0.66%) AppDynamics
10 4 (0.66%) Atlassian
10 4 (0.66%) SYSPRO
11 3 (0.49%) Bloomberg
11 3 (0.49%) Veeam