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 10 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 250 266 162
Rank change year-on-year +16 -104 +16
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 757 472 1,145
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.76% 1.09% 1.66%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.04% 1.22% 2.04%
Number of salaries quoted 511 336 621
10th Percentile £29,500 £26,250 £32,500
25th Percentile £39,909 £40,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,783 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.40% +1.42% -4.35%
75th Percentile £72,500 £68,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £78,750 £83,750
UK median annual salary £52,500 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.70% +4.55% -0.90%

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 73,131 38,549 56,028
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.32% 88.64% 81.20%
Number of salaries quoted 52,091 22,224 32,866
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £31,750
25th Percentile £42,000 £37,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -8.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £76,250 £77,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £95,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -4.17%

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 10 September 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 10 September 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 +23 163 £45,000 -10.00% 80
London -60 153 £70,000 +9.38% 137
North of England +9 136 £55,000 +27.17% 62
Midlands +9 122 £55,000 +29.41% 59
South West -32 94 £50,000 -10.71% 48
East of England +24 80 £52,500 -0.94% 50
West Midlands +5 80 £55,000 +266.67% 40
North West +18 66 £49,700 -31.45% 36
North East -17 48 £55,000 +55.48% 7
East Midlands -7 42 £55,000 -1.79% 19
Yorkshire -53 22 £37,663 +23.49% 19
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 14 (1.85%) IIS
2 11 (1.45%) Confluence
3 10 (1.32%) SharePoint
4 9 (1.19%) CMS
5 6 (0.79%) WinCC
6 5 (0.66%) Apache Spark
6 5 (0.66%) Microsoft Exchange
7 3 (0.40%) Apache
7 3 (0.40%) WordPress
8 2 (0.26%) Moodle
8 2 (0.26%) nginx
8 2 (0.26%) Umbraco
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 18 (2.38%) Microsoft Excel
2 15 (1.98%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (1.98%) Simulink
3 7 (0.92%) Spreadsheet
4 6 (0.79%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.79%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.66%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.66%) DaVinci Resolve
6 3 (0.40%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.13%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 3 (0.40%) Payment Gateway
1 3 (0.40%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.26%) Sage 200
2 2 (0.26%) Shopify
2 2 (0.26%) Workday HCM
3 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.13%) Misys Equation
3 1 (0.13%) Misys Midas
3 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
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 (17.44%) AWS
2 128 (16.91%) Azure
3 43 (5.68%) Azure DevOps
4 31 (4.10%) GCP
4 31 (4.10%) Power Platform
5 30 (3.96%) GitHub
5 30 (3.96%) Serverless
6 22 (2.91%) Microsoft 365
7 19 (2.51%) SaaS
8 14 (1.85%) AWS Lambda
9 13 (1.72%) GitHub Copilot
9 13 (1.72%) OpenShift
10 11 (1.45%) GitHub Actions
11 10 (1.32%) BrowserStack
12 9 (1.19%) AWS CloudFormation
13 8 (1.06%) Anthropic Claude
14 7 (0.92%) Google Workspace
15 6 (0.79%) Tricentis Tosca
16 5 (0.66%) Amazon EKS
16 5 (0.66%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 14 (1.85%) TCP/IP
2 11 (1.45%) SNMP
2 11 (1.45%) VPN
3 7 (0.92%) Broadband
3 7 (0.92%) HTTP
3 7 (0.92%) Wireshark
4 6 (0.79%) Modbus
5 4 (0.53%) Ethernet
6 3 (0.40%) DNS
7 2 (0.26%) ATM
7 2 (0.26%) LTE
7 2 (0.26%) Network Security
7 2 (0.26%) Software-Defined Radio
7 2 (0.26%) Wireless
8 1 (0.13%) 5G
8 1 (0.13%) Bluetooth
8 1 (0.13%) Cisco ISE
8 1 (0.13%) DHCP
8 1 (0.13%) SSH
8 1 (0.13%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (5.42%) SQL Server
2 26 (3.43%) Power BI
3 19 (2.51%) PostgreSQL
4 14 (1.85%) Relational Database
5 13 (1.72%) DynamoDB
6 12 (1.59%) Elasticsearch
7 9 (1.19%) Azure SQL Database
7 9 (1.19%) InfluxDB
8 8 (1.06%) MongoDB
8 8 (1.06%) NoSQL
8 8 (1.06%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (0.92%) OLTP
10 6 (0.79%) Geospatial Data
10 6 (0.79%) MySQL
11 5 (0.66%) Oracle Database
12 4 (0.53%) Crystal Reports
12 4 (0.53%) Flink
12 4 (0.53%) Spark SQL
13 3 (0.40%) Amazon RDS
13 3 (0.40%) DTS
Development Applications
1 98 (12.95%) Git
2 74 (9.78%) JIRA
3 61 (8.06%) Selenium
4 55 (7.27%) GitLab
5 43 (5.68%) Jenkins
6 31 (4.10%) Postman
7 29 (3.83%) Cypress.io
8 20 (2.64%) Cucumber
8 20 (2.64%) TestRail
9 19 (2.51%) JUnit
10 18 (2.38%) Zephyr
11 17 (2.25%) JMeter
12 14 (1.85%) Gatling
13 12 (1.59%) REST Assured
14 9 (1.19%) Maven
14 9 (1.19%) Robot Framework
15 8 (1.06%) LoadRunner
15 8 (1.06%) SoapUI
15 8 (1.06%) Spock
15 8 (1.06%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 248 (32.76%) Social Skills
2 137 (18.10%) Analytical Skills
3 93 (12.29%) Finance
4 59 (7.79%) Electronics
5 50 (6.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 40 (5.28%) Manufacturing
7 38 (5.02%) Law
8 23 (3.04%) Public Sector
9 22 (2.91%) Aerospace
10 20 (2.64%) Banking
11 18 (2.38%) Documentation Skills
12 15 (1.98%) Aviation
12 15 (1.98%) Organisational Skills
12 15 (1.98%) Retail
13 14 (1.85%) Automotive
14 13 (1.72%) Games
14 13 (1.72%) Legal
15 10 (1.32%) Telecoms
16 9 (1.19%) Back Office
16 9 (1.19%) Military
Job Titles
1 175 (23.12%) Senior
2 125 (16.51%) Software Engineer
3 103 (13.61%) Test Engineer
4 89 (11.76%) Lead
5 83 (10.96%) Developer
6 65 (8.59%) Analyst
7 57 (7.53%) Tester
8 43 (5.68%) Senior Developer
9 40 (5.28%) Software Test Engineer
10 38 (5.02%) Software Developer
11 37 (4.89%) Senior Software Engineer
12 36 (4.76%) QA Engineer
13 32 (4.23%) Software Tester
14 29 (3.83%) Embedded Engineer
14 29 (3.83%) Test Automation Engineer
15 27 (3.57%) Junior
16 24 (3.17%) Embedded Software Engineer
17 23 (3.04%) Development Engineer
17 23 (3.04%) IT Support
18 22 (2.91%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 67 (8.85%) .NET
2 57 (7.53%) Playwright
3 46 (6.08%) HTML
4 44 (5.81%) React
5 31 (4.10%) REST
6 27 (3.57%) ASP.NET
7 25 (3.30%) CSS
8 24 (3.17%) Terraform
9 22 (2.91%) XML
10 16 (2.11%) Node.js
11 15 (1.98%) RESTful
12 13 (1.72%) React Native
12 13 (1.72%) Spring
13 12 (1.59%) ASP.NET Core
13 12 (1.59%) JSON
13 12 (1.59%) SOAP
13 12 (1.59%) Swagger
14 11 (1.45%) pytest
15 10 (1.32%) Elastic Stack
16 9 (1.19%) Gherkin
Miscellaneous
1 64 (8.45%) Product Ownership
2 34 (4.49%) Distributed Systems
3 30 (3.96%) Algorithms
4 28 (3.70%) Embedded Systems
5 24 (3.17%) Management Information System
6 20 (2.64%) Enterprise Software
7 19 (2.51%) Mobile App
7 19 (2.51%) Robotics
8 18 (2.38%) Analytical Mindset
9 17 (2.25%) AI Agents
9 17 (2.25%) Cloud Native
9 17 (2.25%) Self-Motivation
10 16 (2.11%) Client/Server
11 11 (1.45%) Driving Licence
11 11 (1.45%) Legacy Applications
11 11 (1.45%) Video\Live Streaming
12 10 (1.32%) FPGA
12 10 (1.32%) Low-Code
13 9 (1.19%) SCADA
13 9 (1.19%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 90 (11.89%) Windows
2 75 (9.91%) Linux
3 20 (2.64%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.19%) CentOS
5 6 (0.79%) Embedded Linux
5 6 (0.79%) VMS
6 5 (0.66%) Android
6 5 (0.66%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.66%) Robot Operating System
6 5 (0.66%) Unix
7 4 (0.53%) Kali Linux
8 3 (0.40%) Debian
8 3 (0.40%) FreeRTOS
8 3 (0.40%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.26%) zOS
10 1 (0.13%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 322 (42.54%) Test Automation
2 283 (37.38%) Agile
3 238 (31.44%) Software Engineering
4 198 (26.16%) Continuous Improvement
5 189 (24.97%) CI/CD
6 188 (24.83%) Problem-Solving
7 160 (21.14%) DevOps
8 121 (15.98%) Code Quality
9 113 (14.93%) Validation
10 111 (14.66%) AI
10 111 (14.66%) Mentoring
11 109 (14.40%) SDLC
12 100 (13.21%) Scrum
13 99 (13.08%) Test Strategy
14 83 (10.96%) Regression Testing
15 71 (9.38%) Computer Science
16 63 (8.32%) Manual Testing
17 54 (7.13%) Software Architecture
18 52 (6.87%) Test Scripting
19 51 (6.74%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 201 (26.55%) Python
2 139 (18.36%) SQL
3 109 (14.40%) C#
4 91 (12.02%) Java
4 91 (12.02%) JavaScript
5 79 (10.44%) C++
6 64 (8.45%) C
7 53 (7.00%) TypeScript
8 26 (3.43%) MATLAB
9 25 (3.30%) PowerShell
10 22 (2.91%) Bash
11 15 (1.98%) Embedded C
12 13 (1.72%) Go
13 11 (1.45%) Groovy
13 11 (1.45%) PL/SQL
14 9 (1.19%) Julia
14 9 (1.19%) PHP
15 8 (1.06%) R
16 7 (0.92%) VBA
17 5 (0.66%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 168 (22.19%) Degree
2 132 (17.44%) Security Cleared
3 81 (10.70%) SC Cleared
4 43 (5.68%) ISTQB
5 37 (4.89%) DV Cleared
6 34 (4.49%) Master's Degree
7 33 (4.36%) Computer Science Degree
8 18 (2.38%) BPSS Clearance
9 11 (1.45%) ISEB
10 9 (1.19%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
11 8 (1.06%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 7 (0.92%) PhD
13 5 (0.66%) DBS Check
14 3 (0.40%) AWS Certification
14 3 (0.40%) Chartered Engineer
14 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 3 (0.40%) PMI Certification
15 2 (0.26%) CSQA
15 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Certification
15 2 (0.26%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 210 (27.74%) QA
2 50 (6.61%) Accessibility
3 23 (3.04%) GDPR
4 16 (2.11%) WCAG
5 15 (1.98%) Software Quality Assurance
6 13 (1.72%) Data Quality
7 9 (1.19%) SLA
8 6 (0.79%) DO-254
9 5 (0.66%) PMO
10 4 (0.53%) IEC 61508
11 3 (0.40%) IEC 61131
11 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 12207
11 3 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 2 (0.26%) Automotive SPICE
12 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.26%) MISRA
12 2 (0.26%) MISRA C
13 1 (0.13%) DO-160
13 1 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 1 (0.13%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 56 (7.40%) Docker
2 39 (5.15%) Firmware
3 19 (2.51%) Active Directory
3 19 (2.51%) Embedded Firmware
4 11 (1.45%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (0.92%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.26%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.26%) KVM
6 2 (0.26%) Time Sharing Option
7 1 (0.13%) Terminal Server
Systems Management
1 37 (4.89%) Kubernetes
2 23 (3.04%) Grafana
3 20 (2.64%) Ansible
4 10 (1.32%) Kibana
5 9 (1.19%) logstash
6 7 (0.92%) vCenter Server
7 5 (0.66%) Functional Safety
8 4 (0.53%) HP Fortify
8 4 (0.53%) Prometheus
8 4 (0.53%) SCCM
8 4 (0.53%) SCOM
9 3 (0.40%) HP ALM
9 3 (0.40%) Microsoft Intune
9 3 (0.40%) Norton AntiVirus
9 3 (0.40%) Puppet
9 3 (0.40%) SCOrch
10 2 (0.26%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 2 (0.26%) Rancher
10 2 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.13%) Fluentd
Vendors
1 71 (9.38%) Microsoft
2 25 (3.30%) Splunk
3 19 (2.51%) Oracle
4 13 (1.72%) VMware
5 12 (1.59%) Google
6 11 (1.45%) Atlassian
6 11 (1.45%) Citrix
6 11 (1.45%) Red Hat
7 9 (1.19%) Intel
8 8 (1.06%) Adobe
8 8 (1.06%) AppDynamics
8 8 (1.06%) ServiceNow
8 8 (1.06%) Siemens
9 7 (0.92%) IBM
10 5 (0.66%) Avid
10 5 (0.66%) Rockwell
10 5 (0.66%) SolarWinds
11 4 (0.53%) SYSPRO
11 4 (0.53%) Veracode
11 4 (0.53%) Xilinx