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 24 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 274 172 174
Rank change year-on-year -102 +2 -106
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 414 844 1,035
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.75% 1.77% 1.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.93% 1.93% 2.00%
Number of salaries quoted 328 482 849
10th Percentile £32,300 £35,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £41,125 £42,500 £42,238
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
75th Percentile £72,500 £71,250 £72,500
90th Percentile £90,750 £85,000 £87,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £55,000

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 44,281 43,623 51,630
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 80.50% 91.27% 88.89%
Number of salaries quoted 26,723 21,246 40,559
10th Percentile £28,750 £35,000 £30,750
25th Percentile £38,393 £46,250 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -8.00%
75th Percentile £76,750 £81,250 £77,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £101,250 £97,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -8.00%

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 24 January 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 24 January 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 -8 123 £47,500 -13.64% 177
London -23 120 £67,500 +8.00% 67
North of England -66 64 £42,500 -19.05% 109
Midlands -57 41 £45,000 -14.29% 82
South West -59 36 £40,000 -20.00% 89
Yorkshire -21 28 £35,000 -39.13% 51
East of England -27 24 £50,000 -13.04% 97
North West -59 23 £55,000 +4.76% 45
East Midlands -45 21 £55,000 - 44
West Midlands +1 20 £42,500 -19.05% 36
North East 0 13 £56,500 +41.25% 13
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 5 (1.21%) Confluence
2 4 (0.97%) WinCC
3 3 (0.72%) Moodle
4 2 (0.48%) CMS
4 2 (0.48%) IIS
4 2 (0.48%) Umbraco
5 1 (0.24%) Apache
5 1 (0.24%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.24%) WordPress
Applications
1 15 (3.62%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.97%) Simulink
5 2 (0.48%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.24%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.24%) Doxygen
6 1 (0.24%) EPLAN
Business Applications
1 3 (0.72%) Sage X3
2 2 (0.48%) 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%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.24%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.24%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.24%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.24%) Siebel CRM
3 1 (0.24%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 91 (21.98%) Azure
2 62 (14.98%) AWS
3 38 (9.18%) Azure DevOps
4 34 (8.21%) SaaS
5 18 (4.35%) Power Platform
6 16 (3.86%) GCP
7 13 (3.14%) GitHub
8 11 (2.66%) AWS Lambda
8 11 (2.66%) Serverless
9 9 (2.17%) Azure Data Factory
10 8 (1.93%) BrowserStack
11 6 (1.45%) AWS CloudFormation
11 6 (1.45%) Entra ID
11 6 (1.45%) OpenShift
11 6 (1.45%) PaaS
12 5 (1.21%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 5 (1.21%) GitHub Actions
13 4 (0.97%) Datadog
13 4 (0.97%) IaaS
14 3 (0.72%) Adobe Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 6 (1.45%) Ethernet
2 4 (0.97%) Profibus
3 2 (0.48%) Cisco ISE
3 2 (0.48%) HTTP
3 2 (0.48%) LAN
3 2 (0.48%) WAN
4 1 (0.24%) Kerberos
4 1 (0.24%) MQTT
4 1 (0.24%) Network Security
4 1 (0.24%) SAN
4 1 (0.24%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (8.70%) SQL Server
2 15 (3.62%) PostgreSQL
3 13 (3.14%) DynamoDB
4 12 (2.90%) Elasticsearch
5 11 (2.66%) OLTP
6 9 (2.17%) Power BI
7 8 (1.93%) MySQL
7 8 (1.93%) Relational Database
8 6 (1.45%) Data Warehouse
8 6 (1.45%) NoSQL
9 5 (1.21%) Azure SQL Database
9 5 (1.21%) Data Lake
9 5 (1.21%) MongoDB
9 5 (1.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 4 (0.97%) Metadata
10 4 (0.97%) Oracle Database
10 4 (0.97%) SQL Server Analysis Services
11 3 (0.72%) InfluxDB
11 3 (0.72%) Mixpanel
12 2 (0.48%) Delta Lake
Development Applications
1 83 (20.05%) JIRA
2 79 (19.08%) Selenium
3 58 (14.01%) Postman
4 42 (10.14%) WebDriver
5 38 (9.18%) SoapUI
6 35 (8.45%) Team Foundation Server
7 33 (7.97%) Git
8 24 (5.80%) Jenkins
9 20 (4.83%) Cypress.io
10 18 (4.35%) GitLab
11 13 (3.14%) TestRail
12 12 (2.90%) REST Assured
13 11 (2.66%) Visual Studio
14 10 (2.42%) Subversion
15 9 (2.17%) SpecFlow
16 8 (1.93%) Bitbucket
16 8 (1.93%) JMeter
17 6 (1.45%) Cucumber
17 6 (1.45%) Robot Framework
17 6 (1.45%) Zephyr
General
1 141 (34.06%) Social Skills
2 77 (18.60%) Finance
3 54 (13.04%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (6.52%) Electronics
5 23 (5.56%) Law
6 16 (3.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 13 (3.14%) Public Sector
8 12 (2.90%) Retail
9 10 (2.42%) Publishing
10 9 (2.17%) Advertising
10 9 (2.17%) Health Technology
10 9 (2.17%) Legal
11 8 (1.93%) Banking
11 8 (1.93%) Documentation Skills
11 8 (1.93%) Manufacturing
11 8 (1.93%) Organisational Skills
11 8 (1.93%) Tech for Good
12 6 (1.45%) Games
12 6 (1.45%) Marketing
12 6 (1.45%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 81 (19.57%) Senior
2 65 (15.70%) Developer
3 57 (13.77%) Lead
4 55 (13.29%) Test Engineer
5 51 (12.32%) Analyst
6 45 (10.87%) Software Engineer
7 41 (9.90%) Tester
8 39 (9.42%) Test Analyst
9 31 (7.49%) Software Developer
10 28 (6.76%) Senior Developer
11 26 (6.28%) Software Test Engineer
12 20 (4.83%) Test Automation Engineer
13 18 (4.35%) Software Tester
14 16 (3.86%) Full-Stack Engineer
14 16 (3.86%) Systems Engineer
15 15 (3.62%) Development Engineer
15 15 (3.62%) Embedded Engineer
15 15 (3.62%) Senior Analyst
15 15 (3.62%) Software Development Engineer
15 15 (3.62%) Test Development Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 90 (21.74%) .NET
2 57 (13.77%) HTML
3 46 (11.11%) SOAP
4 41 (9.90%) React
5 31 (7.49%) Playwright
6 21 (5.07%) Node.js
7 20 (4.83%) XML
8 19 (4.59%) RESTful
9 18 (4.35%) REST
10 14 (3.38%) ASP.NET
11 13 (3.14%) .NET Framework
12 12 (2.90%) CSS
13 11 (2.66%) Swagger
14 9 (2.17%) .NET Core
14 9 (2.17%) Web Services
15 8 (1.93%) Entity Framework
16 7 (1.69%) AngularJS
17 6 (1.45%) CSS3
17 6 (1.45%) Elastic Stack
17 6 (1.45%) HTML5
Miscellaneous
1 26 (6.28%) Cloud Native
2 25 (6.04%) Self-Motivation
3 23 (5.56%) Product Ownership
4 19 (4.59%) Embedded Systems
5 12 (2.90%) Mobile App
6 10 (2.42%) Algorithms
7 8 (1.93%) Onboarding
8 7 (1.69%) Distributed Systems
8 7 (1.69%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 6 (1.45%) e-Learning
10 5 (1.21%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (1.21%) Management Information System
11 4 (0.97%) Analytical Mindset
11 4 (0.97%) Driving Licence
11 4 (0.97%) Fibre Optics
11 4 (0.97%) FPGA
11 4 (0.97%) Life Science
11 4 (0.97%) SCADA
12 3 (0.72%) Reference Data
Operating Systems
1 26 (6.28%) Windows
2 22 (5.31%) Linux
3 8 (1.93%) Android
4 5 (1.21%) Unix
5 4 (0.97%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.72%) CentOS
6 3 (0.72%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.48%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.48%) FreeRTOS
7 2 (0.48%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.24%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.24%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 198 (47.83%) Agile
2 152 (36.71%) Test Automation
3 128 (30.92%) Problem-Solving
4 98 (23.67%) CI/CD
5 93 (22.46%) Continuous Improvement
6 88 (21.26%) Scrum
7 77 (18.60%) DevOps
8 70 (16.91%) Test Scripting
9 67 (16.18%) Software Engineering
10 66 (15.94%) Mentoring
11 62 (14.98%) API Testing
11 62 (14.98%) Test Management
12 55 (13.29%) Computer Science
13 54 (13.04%) Non-Functional Testing
14 51 (12.32%) Manual Testing
15 47 (11.35%) SDLC
16 37 (8.94%) Regression Testing
17 36 (8.70%) SDET
17 36 (8.70%) Software Delivery
18 34 (8.21%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 123 (29.71%) SQL
2 96 (23.19%) Java
3 92 (22.22%) C#
4 59 (14.25%) Python
5 50 (12.08%) JavaScript
5 50 (12.08%) TypeScript
6 28 (6.76%) C
7 22 (5.31%) C++
8 18 (4.35%) Bash
9 13 (3.14%) PL/SQL
9 13 (3.14%) PowerShell
10 8 (1.93%) Go
11 7 (1.69%) T-SQL
12 5 (1.21%) PHP
13 4 (0.97%) Fortran
14 3 (0.72%) MATLAB
14 3 (0.72%) VBScript
15 2 (0.48%) Objective-C
15 2 (0.48%) Scala
15 2 (0.48%) VB6
Qualifications
1 134 (32.37%) Degree
2 84 (20.29%) ISTQB
3 47 (11.35%) Security Cleared
4 36 (8.70%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
5 31 (7.49%) SC Cleared
6 26 (6.28%) Computer Science Degree
7 22 (5.31%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 13 (3.14%) ISEB
9 10 (2.42%) DV Cleared
10 9 (2.17%) BPSS Clearance
10 9 (2.17%) Master's Degree
11 6 (1.45%) Microsoft Certification
11 6 (1.45%) PhD
12 4 (0.97%) PMI Certification
13 3 (0.72%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
13 3 (0.72%) CITP
13 3 (0.72%) CREST Certified
13 3 (0.72%) Numerate Degree
14 2 (0.48%) Azure Certification
14 2 (0.48%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 96 (23.19%) QA
2 25 (6.04%) Accessibility
3 6 (1.45%) Data Quality
3 6 (1.45%) SLA
3 6 (1.45%) Software Quality Assurance
4 4 (0.97%) WCAG
5 3 (0.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (0.72%) JTAG
5 3 (0.72%) SEPA
6 2 (0.48%) ISO 9000
6 2 (0.48%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.24%) GDPR
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 61131
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 61508
7 1 (0.24%) IEC 62304
System Software
1 21 (5.07%) Docker
2 14 (3.38%) Firmware
3 11 (2.66%) Active Directory
4 8 (1.93%) Embedded Firmware
5 4 (0.97%) VMware Infrastructure
6 2 (0.48%) Terminal Server
7 1 (0.24%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.24%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 23 (5.56%) Kubernetes
2 14 (3.38%) Terraform
3 6 (1.45%) Grafana
4 5 (1.21%) Ansible
5 4 (0.97%) 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 49 (11.84%) Microsoft
2 22 (5.31%) Oracle
3 10 (2.42%) Siemens
4 6 (1.45%) VMware
5 5 (1.21%) Google
5 5 (1.21%) Rockwell
5 5 (1.21%) Zoho
6 4 (0.97%) AVEVA
6 4 (0.97%) IBM
6 4 (0.97%) ServiceNow
6 4 (0.97%) Siebel
7 3 (0.72%) Adobe
7 3 (0.72%) HP
7 3 (0.72%) Red Hat
7 3 (0.72%) Sage
7 3 (0.72%) SAP
7 3 (0.72%) Splunk
7 3 (0.72%) Tealium
7 3 (0.72%) Workday
8 2 (0.48%) Databricks