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 26 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 247 264 166
Rank change year-on-year +17 -98 +9
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 738 500 1,162
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.77% 1.14% 1.59%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.04% 1.29% 1.97%
Number of salaries quoted 498 360 714
10th Percentile £29,500 £26,200 £32,500
25th Percentile £39,863 £38,438 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.35%
75th Percentile £73,750 £68,750 £70,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £77,625 £82,500
UK median annual salary £54,300 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -1.27% - -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 70,812 38,908 59,129
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 73.46% 88.91% 81.00%
Number of salaries quoted 50,212 22,532 37,613
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £42,000 £37,500 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £56,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -1.79% -10.40%
75th Percentile £80,000 £76,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £95,000
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.33%

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 26 August 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 26 August 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 +4 160 £46,250 -7.50% 83
London -57 153 £70,000 +9.38% 177
North of England +3 137 £55,000 +29.41% 89
Midlands +3 111 £55,000 +29.41% 68
South West -30 90 £52,500 -6.25% 58
East of England +26 79 £50,000 -5.66% 61
West Midlands -5 71 £55,000 +266.67% 44
North West +21 67 £52,136 -30.49% 51
North East -23 44 £57,500 +62.54% 20
East Midlands -5 40 £55,000 +1.85% 24
Yorkshire -49 26 £33,497 +9.82% 21
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 (1.90%) IIS
2 10 (1.36%) Confluence
2 10 (1.36%) SharePoint
3 9 (1.22%) CMS
4 5 (0.68%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.54%) Microsoft Exchange
5 4 (0.54%) Moodle
5 4 (0.54%) WinCC
6 3 (0.41%) Apache
6 3 (0.41%) WordPress
7 2 (0.27%) nginx
7 2 (0.27%) Umbraco
Applications
1 17 (2.30%) Microsoft Excel
1 17 (2.30%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.63%) Simulink
3 7 (0.95%) Spreadsheet
4 6 (0.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.81%) MS Visio
5 5 (0.68%) AutoCAD
5 5 (0.68%) DaVinci Resolve
6 3 (0.41%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 3 (0.41%) SystmOne
2 2 (0.27%) Payment Gateway
2 2 (0.27%) Sage 200
2 2 (0.27%) Shopify
2 2 (0.27%) Workday HCM
3 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.14%) Misys Equation
3 1 (0.14%) Misys Midas
3 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 131 (17.75%) AWS
2 127 (17.21%) Azure
3 42 (5.69%) Azure DevOps
4 32 (4.34%) GCP
5 31 (4.20%) GitHub
6 29 (3.93%) Power Platform
7 28 (3.79%) Serverless
8 21 (2.85%) Microsoft 365
9 18 (2.44%) SaaS
10 14 (1.90%) GitHub Copilot
11 13 (1.76%) AWS Lambda
12 12 (1.63%) OpenShift
13 10 (1.36%) BrowserStack
13 10 (1.36%) GitHub Actions
14 9 (1.22%) Anthropic Claude
15 8 (1.08%) AWS CloudFormation
16 6 (0.81%) Tricentis Tosca
17 5 (0.68%) Amazon ECS
17 5 (0.68%) Amazon EKS
17 5 (0.68%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.49%) SNMP
1 11 (1.49%) VPN
2 10 (1.36%) TCP/IP
3 8 (1.08%) Broadband
4 7 (0.95%) HTTP
5 4 (0.54%) Ethernet
5 4 (0.54%) Modbus
5 4 (0.54%) Wireshark
6 2 (0.27%) ATM
6 2 (0.27%) DNS
6 2 (0.27%) LTE
6 2 (0.27%) Network Security
6 2 (0.27%) Software-Defined Radio
6 2 (0.27%) Wireless
7 1 (0.14%) 5G
7 1 (0.14%) Bluetooth
7 1 (0.14%) Cisco ISE
7 1 (0.14%) Internet
7 1 (0.14%) SSL
7 1 (0.14%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (5.69%) SQL Server
2 24 (3.25%) Power BI
3 20 (2.71%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (1.76%) DynamoDB
4 13 (1.76%) Relational Database
5 12 (1.63%) Elasticsearch
6 9 (1.22%) Azure SQL Database
6 9 (1.22%) MongoDB
6 9 (1.22%) OLTP
7 8 (1.08%) InfluxDB
7 8 (1.08%) NoSQL
7 8 (1.08%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 7 (0.95%) MySQL
9 6 (0.81%) Geospatial Data
10 5 (0.68%) Oracle Database
11 4 (0.54%) Crystal Reports
11 4 (0.54%) Flink
11 4 (0.54%) Spark SQL
12 3 (0.41%) Big Data
12 3 (0.41%) DTS
Development Applications
1 93 (12.60%) Git
2 70 (9.49%) JIRA
3 59 (7.99%) Selenium
4 51 (6.91%) GitLab
5 41 (5.56%) Jenkins
6 29 (3.93%) Postman
7 27 (3.66%) Cypress.io
8 19 (2.57%) Cucumber
8 19 (2.57%) TestRail
9 18 (2.44%) JUnit
10 17 (2.30%) Zephyr
11 16 (2.17%) JMeter
12 14 (1.90%) Gatling
13 12 (1.63%) REST Assured
14 9 (1.22%) Claude Code
15 8 (1.08%) LoadRunner
15 8 (1.08%) Maven
15 8 (1.08%) Robot Framework
15 8 (1.08%) Visual Studio Code
16 7 (0.95%) Spock
General
1 235 (31.84%) Social Skills
2 133 (18.02%) Analytical Skills
3 94 (12.74%) Finance
4 52 (7.05%) Electronics
5 46 (6.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 39 (5.28%) Law
6 39 (5.28%) Manufacturing
7 22 (2.98%) Banking
8 21 (2.85%) Aerospace
8 21 (2.85%) Public Sector
9 17 (2.30%) Documentation Skills
9 17 (2.30%) Retail
10 15 (2.03%) Organisational Skills
11 14 (1.90%) Aviation
11 14 (1.90%) Games
12 13 (1.76%) Legal
13 12 (1.63%) Automotive
14 9 (1.22%) Back Office
14 9 (1.22%) Military
15 8 (1.08%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 172 (23.31%) Senior
2 121 (16.40%) Software Engineer
3 100 (13.55%) Test Engineer
4 86 (11.65%) Developer
5 81 (10.98%) Lead
6 63 (8.54%) Analyst
7 60 (8.13%) Tester
8 46 (6.23%) Senior Developer
9 42 (5.69%) Software Test Engineer
10 38 (5.15%) Software Developer
11 35 (4.74%) Software Tester
12 34 (4.61%) QA Engineer
13 33 (4.47%) Senior Software Engineer
14 28 (3.79%) Test Automation Engineer
15 27 (3.66%) Embedded Engineer
16 26 (3.52%) Junior
17 23 (3.12%) Development Engineer
17 23 (3.12%) Embedded Software Engineer
18 22 (2.98%) Consultant
19 21 (2.85%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 70 (9.49%) .NET
2 54 (7.32%) Playwright
3 45 (6.10%) HTML
4 42 (5.69%) React
5 33 (4.47%) REST
6 27 (3.66%) ASP.NET
7 22 (2.98%) CSS
7 22 (2.98%) Terraform
8 21 (2.85%) XML
9 15 (2.03%) Node.js
9 15 (2.03%) RESTful
10 13 (1.76%) React Native
10 13 (1.76%) SOAP
11 12 (1.63%) ASP.NET Core
11 12 (1.63%) JSON
11 12 (1.63%) Swagger
12 11 (1.49%) Spring
13 10 (1.36%) pytest
14 9 (1.22%) Elastic Stack
14 9 (1.22%) Gherkin
Miscellaneous
1 61 (8.27%) Product Ownership
2 33 (4.47%) Distributed Systems
3 29 (3.93%) Algorithms
4 27 (3.66%) Embedded Systems
5 23 (3.12%) Management Information System
6 20 (2.71%) Enterprise Software
6 20 (2.71%) Mobile App
7 18 (2.44%) Robotics
8 17 (2.30%) AI Agents
8 17 (2.30%) Cloud Native
9 15 (2.03%) Analytical Mindset
10 14 (1.90%) Client/Server
10 14 (1.90%) Self-Motivation
11 12 (1.63%) Video\Live Streaming
12 11 (1.49%) Driving Licence
12 11 (1.49%) Legacy Applications
12 11 (1.49%) Low-Code
13 10 (1.36%) FPGA
14 9 (1.22%) Onboarding
15 8 (1.08%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 89 (12.06%) Windows
2 71 (9.62%) Linux
3 20 (2.71%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.08%) CentOS
5 6 (0.81%) Embedded Linux
6 5 (0.68%) Android
6 5 (0.68%) Unix
6 5 (0.68%) VMS
7 4 (0.54%) Apple iOS
7 4 (0.54%) Kali Linux
7 4 (0.54%) Robot Operating System
8 3 (0.41%) FreeRTOS
9 2 (0.27%) Debian
9 2 (0.27%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.27%) zOS
10 1 (0.14%) ThreadX
10 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 302 (40.92%) Test Automation
2 271 (36.72%) Agile
3 231 (31.30%) Software Engineering
4 198 (26.83%) Continuous Improvement
5 180 (24.39%) CI/CD
5 180 (24.39%) Problem-Solving
6 161 (21.82%) DevOps
7 117 (15.85%) Code Quality
8 111 (15.04%) Validation
9 107 (14.50%) AI
9 107 (14.50%) Mentoring
10 104 (14.09%) SDLC
11 96 (13.01%) Scrum
12 94 (12.74%) Test Strategy
13 77 (10.43%) Regression Testing
14 70 (9.49%) Computer Science
15 64 (8.67%) Manual Testing
16 53 (7.18%) Test Scripting
17 52 (7.05%) Software Architecture
18 49 (6.64%) User Acceptance Testing
Programming Languages
1 197 (26.69%) Python
2 133 (18.02%) SQL
3 111 (15.04%) C#
4 87 (11.79%) JavaScript
5 85 (11.52%) Java
6 75 (10.16%) C++
7 58 (7.86%) C
8 50 (6.78%) TypeScript
9 23 (3.12%) MATLAB
9 23 (3.12%) PowerShell
10 20 (2.71%) Bash
11 13 (1.76%) Go
12 12 (1.63%) PL/SQL
13 11 (1.49%) Embedded C
14 10 (1.36%) Groovy
14 10 (1.36%) PHP
15 9 (1.22%) Julia
16 8 (1.08%) R
17 7 (0.95%) VBA
18 5 (0.68%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 168 (22.76%) Degree
2 129 (17.48%) Security Cleared
3 78 (10.57%) SC Cleared
4 40 (5.42%) ISTQB
5 37 (5.01%) DV Cleared
6 34 (4.61%) Master's Degree
7 32 (4.34%) Computer Science Degree
8 19 (2.57%) BPSS Clearance
9 11 (1.49%) ISEB
10 8 (1.08%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
10 8 (1.08%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 8 (1.08%) PhD
11 5 (0.68%) DBS Check
12 4 (0.54%) Chartered Engineer
13 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 3 (0.41%) PMI Certification
14 2 (0.27%) HND
14 2 (0.27%) MCSA
14 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Certification
14 2 (0.27%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 208 (28.18%) QA
2 47 (6.37%) Accessibility
3 22 (2.98%) GDPR
4 16 (2.17%) Software Quality Assurance
5 13 (1.76%) Data Quality
5 13 (1.76%) WCAG
6 9 (1.22%) SLA
7 5 (0.68%) DO-254
7 5 (0.68%) IEC 61508
7 5 (0.68%) PMO
8 3 (0.41%) IEC 61131
8 3 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 12207
8 3 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.27%) Automotive SPICE
9 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.27%) MISRA
9 2 (0.27%) MISRA C
10 1 (0.14%) DO-160
10 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 1 (0.14%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 52 (7.05%) Docker
2 34 (4.61%) Firmware
3 18 (2.44%) Active Directory
4 16 (2.17%) Embedded Firmware
5 10 (1.36%) VMware Infrastructure
6 6 (0.81%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.27%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.27%) KVM
7 2 (0.27%) Time Sharing Option
8 1 (0.14%) Terminal Server
Systems Management
1 35 (4.74%) Kubernetes
2 22 (2.98%) Grafana
3 18 (2.44%) Ansible
4 9 (1.22%) Kibana
5 8 (1.08%) logstash
6 6 (0.81%) vCenter Server
7 5 (0.68%) Functional Safety
8 4 (0.54%) HP Fortify
8 4 (0.54%) Prometheus
8 4 (0.54%) SCCM
8 4 (0.54%) SCOM
9 3 (0.41%) HP ALM
9 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Intune
9 3 (0.41%) Norton AntiVirus
9 3 (0.41%) SCOrch
10 2 (0.27%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 2 (0.27%) Puppet
10 2 (0.27%) Rancher
10 2 (0.27%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.14%) Fluentd
Vendors
1 69 (9.35%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.12%) Splunk
3 20 (2.71%) Oracle
4 12 (1.63%) VMware
5 11 (1.49%) Citrix
5 11 (1.49%) Google
6 10 (1.36%) Atlassian
6 10 (1.36%) Red Hat
7 9 (1.22%) Intel
8 8 (1.08%) Adobe
8 8 (1.08%) ServiceNow
9 7 (0.95%) AppDynamics
9 7 (0.95%) IBM
10 6 (0.81%) Siemens
11 5 (0.68%) Avid
11 5 (0.68%) SolarWinds
12 4 (0.54%) HP
12 4 (0.54%) SYSPRO
12 4 (0.54%) Veracode
12 4 (0.54%) Xilinx