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

6 months to
25 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 285 186 167
Rank change year-on-year -99 -19 -98
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 415 711 1,149
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.68% 1.67% 1.72%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.86% 1.79% 1.95%
Number of salaries quoted 331 423 953
10th Percentile £31,250 £34,000 £31,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £40,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
75th Percentile £72,500 £68,750 £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 48,506 39,645 58,832
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 79.09% 92.95% 88.22%
Number of salaries quoted 29,755 20,008 46,455
10th Percentile £29,000 £34,000 £29,750
25th Percentile £39,000 £46,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £82,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £103,750 £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 25 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 25 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 -35 124 £50,500 -3.81% 69
London -39 118 £65,000 - 56
North of England -96 58 £46,421 -11.58% 52
South West -47 42 £37,500 -25.00% 31
Midlands -55 35 £52,500 +10.53% 38
East of England -27 31 £55,000 -4.35% 36
Yorkshire -31 26 £37,500 -21.05% 22
North West -71 20 £49,400 -5.90% 28
East Midlands -62 18 £55,000 +15.79% 15
West Midlands -3 17 £42,500 -10.53% 23
North East -11 12 £56,500 +52.70% 2
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 3 (0.72%) Confluence
1 3 (0.72%) Moodle
1 3 (0.72%) WordPress
2 2 (0.48%) IIS
3 1 (0.24%) Apache
3 1 (0.24%) CMS
3 1 (0.24%) Umbraco
Applications
1 8 (1.93%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (1.69%) Microsoft Project
3 6 (1.45%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (0.96%) Simulink
5 2 (0.48%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.48%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.24%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.24%) EPLAN
Business Applications
1 3 (0.72%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.48%) Misys Midas
2 2 (0.48%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.24%) Cognos Business Intelligence
3 1 (0.24%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.24%) Sage X3
3 1 (0.24%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.24%) Siebel CRM
Cloud Services
1 96 (23.13%) Azure
2 66 (15.90%) AWS
3 36 (8.67%) Azure DevOps
4 30 (7.23%) SaaS
5 26 (6.27%) GCP
6 16 (3.86%) Power Platform
7 15 (3.61%) GitHub
8 12 (2.89%) BrowserStack
9 10 (2.41%) GitHub Actions
10 7 (1.69%) Serverless
11 6 (1.45%) AWS CloudFormation
11 6 (1.45%) AWS Lambda
11 6 (1.45%) Azure Data Factory
11 6 (1.45%) OpenShift
11 6 (1.45%) PaaS
12 4 (0.96%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 4 (0.96%) IaaS
13 3 (0.72%) Amazon EKS
13 3 (0.72%) Azure AKS
13 3 (0.72%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.96%) Ethernet
1 4 (0.96%) HTTP
2 3 (0.72%) Network Security
3 2 (0.48%) Cisco ISE
3 2 (0.48%) MQTT
3 2 (0.48%) Software-Defined Radio
4 1 (0.24%) AMQP
4 1 (0.24%) Kerberos
4 1 (0.24%) LAN
4 1 (0.24%) SAN
4 1 (0.24%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.24%) WAN
4 1 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (7.71%) SQL Server
2 17 (4.10%) PostgreSQL
3 13 (3.13%) OLTP
4 8 (1.93%) Power BI
4 8 (1.93%) Relational Database
5 7 (1.69%) NoSQL
6 6 (1.45%) MySQL
7 5 (1.20%) Azure SQL Database
7 5 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (1.20%) DynamoDB
7 5 (1.20%) MongoDB
7 5 (1.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.96%) Data Lake
8 4 (0.96%) Elasticsearch
8 4 (0.96%) Oracle Database
8 4 (0.96%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.72%) InfluxDB
10 2 (0.48%) GIS
10 2 (0.48%) Spark SQL
11 1 (0.24%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 71 (17.11%) Selenium
2 70 (16.87%) JIRA
3 45 (10.84%) Postman
4 35 (8.43%) WebDriver
5 32 (7.71%) Git
5 32 (7.71%) SoapUI
6 28 (6.75%) Jenkins
6 28 (6.75%) Team Foundation Server
7 26 (6.27%) GitLab
8 15 (3.61%) Cypress.io
9 14 (3.37%) TestRail
10 13 (3.13%) SpecFlow
11 11 (2.65%) Subversion
11 11 (2.65%) Visual Studio
12 9 (2.17%) REST Assured
13 8 (1.93%) JUnit
14 7 (1.69%) Cucumber
14 7 (1.69%) JMeter
15 6 (1.45%) Atlassian Bamboo
15 6 (1.45%) Bitbucket
General
1 141 (33.98%) Social Skills
2 65 (15.66%) Finance
3 49 (11.81%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (6.27%) Electronics
5 16 (3.86%) Law
6 13 (3.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 13 (3.13%) Public Sector
7 12 (2.89%) Retail
8 9 (2.17%) Marketing
9 8 (1.93%) Documentation Skills
9 8 (1.93%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.69%) Banking
11 6 (1.45%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (1.20%) Games
12 5 (1.20%) Legal
12 5 (1.20%) Telecoms
13 4 (0.96%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.72%) Advertising
14 3 (0.72%) Aerospace
14 3 (0.72%) Military
Job Titles
1 76 (18.31%) Senior
2 59 (14.22%) Lead
3 58 (13.98%) Software Engineer
4 53 (12.77%) Developer
5 48 (11.57%) Tester
6 47 (11.33%) Test Engineer
7 45 (10.84%) Analyst
8 30 (7.23%) Test Analyst
9 26 (6.27%) Software Test Engineer
10 24 (5.78%) Software Tester
11 23 (5.54%) Senior Developer
12 22 (5.30%) Software Developer
13 21 (5.06%) Development Engineer
13 21 (5.06%) Software Development Engineer
13 21 (5.06%) Test Development Engineer
14 19 (4.58%) Test Automation Engineer
15 17 (4.10%) Embedded Engineer
16 16 (3.86%) Full-Stack Engineer
16 16 (3.86%) Oracle Developer
16 16 (3.86%) Senior Oracle Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 84 (20.24%) .NET
2 50 (12.05%) HTML
3 42 (10.12%) SOAP
4 32 (7.71%) Playwright
5 29 (6.99%) React
6 25 (6.02%) XML
7 21 (5.06%) Node.js
8 16 (3.86%) REST
9 12 (2.89%) .NET Framework
10 10 (2.41%) ASP.NET
10 10 (2.41%) JSON
10 10 (2.41%) RESTful
11 8 (1.93%) CSS
11 8 (1.93%) Spring
12 7 (1.69%) .NET Core
12 7 (1.69%) Web Services
13 6 (1.45%) Elastic Stack
13 6 (1.45%) Kafka
14 5 (1.20%) Entity Framework
14 5 (1.20%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 27 (6.51%) Cloud Native
2 20 (4.82%) Self-Motivation
3 19 (4.58%) Product Ownership
4 15 (3.61%) Embedded Systems
5 13 (3.13%) Mobile App
6 11 (2.65%) Algorithms
7 10 (2.41%) Distributed Systems
8 6 (1.45%) e-Learning
8 6 (1.45%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.45%) Management Information System
9 5 (1.20%) Client/Server
9 5 (1.20%) FPGA
9 5 (1.20%) Legacy Systems
9 5 (1.20%) Life Science
9 5 (1.20%) Onboarding
9 5 (1.20%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 5 (1.20%) Web Conferencing
10 4 (0.96%) PCIe
11 3 (0.72%) Distributed Computing
11 3 (0.72%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 27 (6.51%) Linux
2 21 (5.06%) Windows
3 9 (2.17%) Android
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%) Mac OS
6 2 (0.48%) Unix
7 1 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
7 1 (0.24%) FreeRTOS
7 1 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.24%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 183 (44.10%) Agile
2 162 (39.04%) Test Automation
3 118 (28.43%) Problem-Solving
4 103 (24.82%) Continuous Improvement
5 97 (23.37%) CI/CD
6 82 (19.76%) DevOps
7 81 (19.52%) Scrum
8 76 (18.31%) Software Engineering
9 64 (15.42%) Test Scripting
10 56 (13.49%) Computer Science
11 54 (13.01%) Mentoring
11 54 (13.01%) Test Management
12 52 (12.53%) Manual Testing
13 51 (12.29%) API Testing
13 51 (12.29%) Non-Functional Testing
14 42 (10.12%) SDLC
15 41 (9.88%) Regression Testing
16 39 (9.40%) SDET
16 39 (9.40%) Software Delivery
17 33 (7.95%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 112 (26.99%) SQL
2 93 (22.41%) Java
3 82 (19.76%) C#
4 61 (14.70%) Python
5 47 (11.33%) JavaScript
6 40 (9.64%) TypeScript
7 30 (7.23%) C++
8 29 (6.99%) C
9 18 (4.34%) Bash
10 16 (3.86%) PL/SQL
11 13 (3.13%) PowerShell
12 8 (1.93%) Go
13 7 (1.69%) PHP
13 7 (1.69%) T-SQL
14 6 (1.45%) MATLAB
15 4 (0.96%) Rust
16 3 (0.72%) VBScript
17 2 (0.48%) Delphi
17 2 (0.48%) Fortran
17 2 (0.48%) VB
Qualifications
1 136 (32.77%) Degree
2 73 (17.59%) ISTQB
3 61 (14.70%) Security Cleared
4 37 (8.92%) SC Cleared
5 28 (6.75%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
6 27 (6.51%) Computer Science Degree
7 21 (5.06%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 16 (3.86%) DV Cleared
9 11 (2.65%) Master's Degree
10 7 (1.69%) ISEB
11 6 (1.45%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (1.45%) PhD
12 5 (1.20%) Microsoft Certification
13 4 (0.96%) BC Cleared
13 4 (0.96%) CIPD
13 4 (0.96%) Numerate Degree
13 4 (0.96%) PMI Certification
14 3 (0.72%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
14 3 (0.72%) CITP
14 3 (0.72%) CREST Certified
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 94 (22.65%) QA
2 27 (6.51%) Accessibility
3 5 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (1.20%) SLA
3 5 (1.20%) Software Quality Assurance
4 4 (0.96%) WCAG
5 3 (0.72%) SEPA
6 2 (0.48%) GDPR
6 2 (0.48%) ISO 9001
6 2 (0.48%) JTAG
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 61131
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 61508
7 1 (0.24%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 23 (5.54%) Docker
2 15 (3.61%) Firmware
3 9 (2.17%) Embedded Firmware
3 9 (2.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.93%) Active Directory
5 4 (0.96%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.72%) KVM
7 2 (0.48%) Terminal Server
8 1 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.24%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.24%) Xen
Systems Management
1 21 (5.06%) Kubernetes
2 17 (4.10%) Terraform
3 6 (1.45%) 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 39 (9.40%) Microsoft
2 27 (6.51%) Oracle
3 11 (2.65%) VMware
4 7 (1.69%) Google
5 6 (1.45%) IBM
6 5 (1.20%) Siebel
6 5 (1.20%) Zoho
7 4 (0.96%) Altera
7 4 (0.96%) HP
7 4 (0.96%) Red Hat
7 4 (0.96%) ServiceNow
8 3 (0.72%) HubSpot
8 3 (0.72%) Salesforce
8 3 (0.72%) SAP
8 3 (0.72%) Splunk
9 2 (0.48%) Apple
9 2 (0.48%) Cognos
9 2 (0.48%) Facebook
9 2 (0.48%) McAfee
9 2 (0.48%) Xamarin