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 23 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 280 265 177
Rank change year-on-year -15 -88 -15
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 646 497 1,269
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.73% 1.15% 1.57%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.98% 1.28% 1.91%
Number of salaries quoted 462 362 847
10th Percentile £30,000 £25,800 £31,250
25th Percentile £39,818 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year - +4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £85,000 £81,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,565 £52,000
% change year-on-year -1.02% +6.86% -9.57%

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 65,658 38,950 66,284
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.80% 90.00% 82.04%
Number of salaries quoted 46,449 22,420 46,231
10th Percentile £31,000 £28,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £38,669 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -12.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £74,280
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £95,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,043 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.01% +0.08% -8.71%

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 23 July 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 23 July 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 +15 152 £47,500 -13.64% 64
London -47 145 £67,500 +5.47% 77
North of England -1 108 £55,000 +29.41% 39
South West -29 83 £50,000 -9.91% 30
Midlands -16 82 £55,000 +29.41% 33
East of England +35 69 £55,000 +3.77% 30
North West +22 60 £52,136 -16.58% 18
West Midlands -23 52 £62,500 +316.67% 25
East Midlands -20 30 £55,000 -1.79% 8
North East -30 28 £57,500 +55.41% 12
Yorkshire -45 20 £45,711 +62.53% 11
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 (2.17%) IIS
2 10 (1.55%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.08%) Confluence
4 5 (0.77%) CMS
4 5 (0.77%) WordPress
5 4 (0.62%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.62%) Moodle
6 2 (0.31%) Apache
6 2 (0.31%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.15%) Jupyter
Applications
1 20 (3.10%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (2.32%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.70%) Simulink
4 6 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.93%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.77%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.77%) DaVinci Resolve
6 4 (0.62%) Spreadsheet
7 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Project
7 3 (0.46%) Photoshop
8 2 (0.31%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 1 (0.15%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 2 (0.31%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.31%) Shopify
1 2 (0.31%) Workday HCM
2 1 (0.15%) Misys Equation
2 1 (0.15%) Misys Midas
2 1 (0.15%) Oracle Applications
2 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 116 (17.96%) Azure
2 111 (17.18%) AWS
3 40 (6.19%) Azure DevOps
4 34 (5.26%) GCP
5 26 (4.02%) GitHub
5 26 (4.02%) Serverless
6 14 (2.17%) Microsoft 365
6 14 (2.17%) Power Platform
7 13 (2.01%) AWS Lambda
8 12 (1.86%) GitHub Copilot
9 11 (1.70%) SaaS
10 10 (1.55%) GitHub Actions
11 9 (1.39%) Anthropic Claude
11 9 (1.39%) BrowserStack
11 9 (1.39%) OpenShift
12 6 (0.93%) Azure Data Factory
13 5 (0.77%) Tricentis Tosca
14 4 (0.62%) Azure Functions
15 3 (0.46%) BlazeMeter
15 3 (0.46%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.70%) VPN
2 8 (1.24%) Broadband
3 7 (1.08%) SNMP
4 6 (0.93%) Ethernet
4 6 (0.93%) TCP/IP
5 5 (0.77%) HTTP
6 4 (0.62%) Software-Defined Radio
7 2 (0.31%) ATM
7 2 (0.31%) LTE
7 2 (0.31%) Modbus
7 2 (0.31%) Network Security
7 2 (0.31%) Wireless
8 1 (0.15%) AMQP
8 1 (0.15%) Bluetooth
8 1 (0.15%) Cisco ISE
8 1 (0.15%) DNS
8 1 (0.15%) Internet
8 1 (0.15%) SSL
8 1 (0.15%) Wi-Fi
8 1 (0.15%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (5.26%) SQL Server
2 20 (3.10%) PostgreSQL
3 13 (2.01%) Power BI
4 12 (1.86%) DynamoDB
4 12 (1.86%) Elasticsearch
4 12 (1.86%) OLTP
5 10 (1.55%) MongoDB
6 9 (1.39%) Azure SQL Database
7 8 (1.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 7 (1.08%) InfluxDB
8 7 (1.08%) MySQL
9 6 (0.93%) Geospatial Data
9 6 (0.93%) NoSQL
9 6 (0.93%) Spark SQL
10 5 (0.77%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.62%) Crystal Reports
11 4 (0.62%) Oracle Database
12 3 (0.46%) DTS
13 2 (0.31%) Db2
13 2 (0.31%) Easytrieve
Development Applications
1 78 (12.07%) Git
2 63 (9.75%) JIRA
3 53 (8.20%) Selenium
4 52 (8.05%) GitLab
5 36 (5.57%) Jenkins
6 23 (3.56%) Postman
7 22 (3.41%) Cypress.io
8 17 (2.63%) JUnit
8 17 (2.63%) TestRail
9 15 (2.32%) Zephyr
10 14 (2.17%) Cucumber
10 14 (2.17%) JMeter
11 11 (1.70%) Visual Studio Code
12 9 (1.39%) Claude Code
13 8 (1.24%) REST Assured
13 8 (1.24%) SpecFlow
14 7 (1.08%) LoadRunner
14 7 (1.08%) Robot Framework
14 7 (1.08%) WebDriver
15 6 (0.93%) Gatling
General
1 188 (29.10%) Social Skills
2 105 (16.25%) Analytical Skills
3 79 (12.23%) Finance
4 38 (5.88%) Electronics
5 32 (4.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 30 (4.64%) Law
7 29 (4.49%) Manufacturing
8 22 (3.41%) Banking
9 14 (2.17%) Public Sector
9 14 (2.17%) Retail
10 13 (2.01%) Aerospace
11 11 (1.70%) Games
12 9 (1.39%) Documentation Skills
12 9 (1.39%) Health Technology
12 9 (1.39%) Organisational Skills
13 8 (1.24%) Aviation
13 8 (1.24%) Legal
14 7 (1.08%) Automotive
14 7 (1.08%) Back Office
14 7 (1.08%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 161 (24.92%) Senior
2 117 (18.11%) Software Engineer
3 75 (11.61%) Test Engineer
4 71 (10.99%) Developer
5 63 (9.75%) Analyst
6 61 (9.44%) Lead
7 52 (8.05%) Tester
8 46 (7.12%) Senior Developer
9 40 (6.19%) Senior Software Engineer
10 35 (5.42%) Software Tester
11 33 (5.11%) Software Test Engineer
12 28 (4.33%) Development Engineer
12 28 (4.33%) QA Engineer
13 24 (3.72%) Software Development Engineer
13 24 (3.72%) Test Automation Engineer
14 23 (3.56%) Embedded Engineer
14 23 (3.56%) Senior Analyst
15 21 (3.25%) Software Developer
15 21 (3.25%) Test Development Engineer
16 20 (3.10%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (8.67%) .NET
2 41 (6.35%) Playwright
3 38 (5.88%) HTML
4 34 (5.26%) React
5 25 (3.87%) REST
6 24 (3.72%) XML
7 16 (2.48%) ASP.NET
8 15 (2.32%) CSS
8 15 (2.32%) Node.js
8 15 (2.32%) SOAP
9 14 (2.17%) RESTful
10 12 (1.86%) Spring
11 11 (1.70%) Swagger
12 10 (1.55%) JSON
13 9 (1.39%) ASP.NET Core
13 9 (1.39%) React Native
14 8 (1.24%) Elastic Stack
14 8 (1.24%) LangChain
14 8 (1.24%) LlamaIndex
14 8 (1.24%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 56 (8.67%) Product Ownership
2 34 (5.26%) Algorithms
3 26 (4.02%) Embedded Systems
4 22 (3.41%) Distributed Systems
5 16 (2.48%) Management Information System
6 15 (2.32%) Client/Server
7 13 (2.01%) Enterprise Software
7 13 (2.01%) FPGA
7 13 (2.01%) Mobile App
7 13 (2.01%) Robotics
8 12 (1.86%) AI Agents
8 12 (1.86%) Analytical Mindset
9 9 (1.39%) Cloud Native
9 9 (1.39%) Life Science
9 9 (1.39%) Onboarding
9 9 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
10 8 (1.24%) Low-Code
10 8 (1.24%) Reinsurance
10 8 (1.24%) VHDL
10 8 (1.24%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 76 (11.76%) Windows
2 65 (10.06%) Linux
3 19 (2.94%) Windows Server
4 7 (1.08%) CentOS
5 4 (0.62%) Embedded Linux
5 4 (0.62%) Unix
6 3 (0.46%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.46%) Kali Linux
6 3 (0.46%) VMS
7 2 (0.31%) Android
7 2 (0.31%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.31%) Robot Operating System
7 2 (0.31%) zOS
8 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.15%) ThreadX
8 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 259 (40.09%) Test Automation
2 228 (35.29%) Agile
3 185 (28.64%) Software Engineering
4 163 (25.23%) Continuous Improvement
5 143 (22.14%) CI/CD
6 140 (21.67%) Problem-Solving
7 137 (21.21%) DevOps
8 97 (15.02%) Code Quality
9 93 (14.40%) Mentoring
10 91 (14.09%) Scrum
11 87 (13.47%) AI
12 85 (13.16%) SDLC
13 77 (11.92%) Computer Science
14 74 (11.46%) Test Strategy
15 72 (11.15%) Regression Testing
16 71 (10.99%) Validation
17 61 (9.44%) Manual Testing
18 45 (6.97%) Test Scripting
19 42 (6.50%) User Acceptance Testing
20 41 (6.35%) Software Architecture
Programming Languages
1 179 (27.71%) Python
2 117 (18.11%) SQL
3 95 (14.71%) C#
4 74 (11.46%) C++
5 73 (11.30%) JavaScript
6 68 (10.53%) Java
7 55 (8.51%) C
8 44 (6.81%) TypeScript
9 23 (3.56%) MATLAB
10 19 (2.94%) PowerShell
11 16 (2.48%) PL/SQL
12 14 (2.17%) Bash
13 12 (1.86%) PHP
14 11 (1.70%) Go
15 9 (1.39%) Julia
15 9 (1.39%) Rust
16 8 (1.24%) Embedded C
16 8 (1.24%) Groovy
16 8 (1.24%) R
17 7 (1.08%) VBA
Qualifications
1 177 (27.40%) Degree
2 107 (16.56%) Security Cleared
3 63 (9.75%) SC Cleared
4 46 (7.12%) ISTQB
5 41 (6.35%) DV Cleared
6 38 (5.88%) Master's Degree
7 33 (5.11%) Computer Science Degree
8 17 (2.63%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (1.55%) ISEB
9 10 (1.55%) PhD
10 8 (1.24%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 7 (1.08%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
12 5 (0.77%) DBS Check
13 4 (0.62%) Chartered Engineer
13 4 (0.62%) CIPD
13 4 (0.62%) PMI Certification
14 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 2 (0.31%) CSQA
15 2 (0.31%) HND
15 2 (0.31%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 178 (27.55%) QA
2 35 (5.42%) Accessibility
3 20 (3.10%) Software Quality Assurance
4 14 (2.17%) GDPR
5 11 (1.70%) SLA
6 9 (1.39%) Data Quality
7 8 (1.24%) WCAG
8 5 (0.77%) DO-254
8 5 (0.77%) PMO
9 4 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 3 (0.46%) IEC 61508
10 3 (0.46%) ISO/IEC 12207
11 2 (0.31%) Automotive SPICE
11 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.31%) MISRA
11 2 (0.31%) MISRA C
11 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
12 1 (0.15%) DO-160
12 1 (0.15%) IEC 61131
12 1 (0.15%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 38 (5.88%) Docker
2 27 (4.18%) Firmware
3 16 (2.48%) Active Directory
4 15 (2.32%) VMware Infrastructure
5 14 (2.17%) Embedded Firmware
6 6 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.77%) Hyper-V
7 5 (0.77%) KVM
8 2 (0.31%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.15%) Terminal Server
9 1 (0.15%) Xen
Systems Management
1 23 (3.56%) Kubernetes
2 17 (2.63%) Terraform
3 14 (2.17%) Ansible
4 12 (1.86%) Grafana
5 8 (1.24%) Kibana
5 8 (1.24%) logstash
6 6 (0.93%) vCenter Server
7 5 (0.77%) Functional Safety
8 4 (0.62%) SCCM
8 4 (0.62%) SCOM
9 3 (0.46%) HP ALM
9 3 (0.46%) HP Fortify
9 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Intune
9 3 (0.46%) Norton AntiVirus
9 3 (0.46%) SCOrch
10 2 (0.31%) Rancher
11 1 (0.15%) HP Quality Center
11 1 (0.15%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 62 (9.60%) Microsoft
2 27 (4.18%) Oracle
3 17 (2.63%) Splunk
3 17 (2.63%) VMware
4 11 (1.70%) Citrix
5 10 (1.55%) Adobe
5 10 (1.55%) ServiceNow
6 9 (1.39%) IBM
6 9 (1.39%) Intel
7 8 (1.24%) Atlassian
7 8 (1.24%) Red Hat
8 5 (0.77%) AppDynamics
8 5 (0.77%) Avid
8 5 (0.77%) HP
8 5 (0.77%) Salesforce
8 5 (0.77%) SolarWinds
9 4 (0.62%) EMC
9 4 (0.62%) Google
9 4 (0.62%) SYSPRO
9 4 (0.62%) Xilinx