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

6 months to
28 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 294 195 173
Rank change year-on-year -99 -22 -103
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 418 695 1,156
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.68% 1.63% 1.72%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.86% 1.76% 1.95%
Number of salaries quoted 332 423 960
10th Percentile £31,250 £32,750 £31,700
25th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £54,500
Median % change year-on-year - +0.92% -0.91%
75th Percentile £72,500 £68,875 £72,500
90th Percentile £92,500 £87,500 £87,625
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 48,733 39,572 59,217
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 78.83% 93.09% 88.20%
Number of salaries quoted 29,924 20,111 46,771
10th Percentile £29,250 £33,200 £29,750
25th Percentile £39,351 £46,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £62,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.29% +12.73% -12.00%
75th Percentile £77,500 £82,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £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 28 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 28 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 £51,000 -2.86% 70
London -36 120 £65,000 - 52
North of England -77 58 £46,421 -11.58% 44
South West -36 42 £37,500 -25.00% 33
Midlands -47 37 £48,750 +2.63% 33
East of England -24 29 £55,000 -4.35% 35
Yorkshire -33 27 £35,000 -15.66% 19
North West -71 20 £49,400 -5.90% 23
East Midlands -59 19 £55,000 +15.79% 15
West Midlands -1 18 £42,500 -8.11% 18
North East -9 11 £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 4 (0.96%) Moodle
2 3 (0.72%) Confluence
2 3 (0.72%) WordPress
3 2 (0.48%) IIS
4 1 (0.24%) Apache
4 1 (0.24%) CMS
4 1 (0.24%) Jupyter
4 1 (0.24%) Umbraco
Applications
1 7 (1.67%) Microsoft Office
1 7 (1.67%) Microsoft Project
2 6 (1.44%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.96%) Simulink
4 2 (0.48%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 2 (0.48%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.24%) AutoCAD
5 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 (22.97%) Azure
2 65 (15.55%) AWS
3 35 (8.37%) Azure DevOps
4 29 (6.94%) SaaS
5 26 (6.22%) GCP
6 16 (3.83%) Power Platform
7 15 (3.59%) GitHub
8 12 (2.87%) BrowserStack
9 10 (2.39%) GitHub Actions
10 8 (1.91%) Serverless
11 7 (1.67%) Azure Data Factory
12 6 (1.44%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (1.44%) AWS Lambda
12 6 (1.44%) OpenShift
12 6 (1.44%) PaaS
13 5 (1.20%) Azure Synapse Analytics
14 4 (0.96%) IaaS
15 3 (0.72%) Amazon EKS
15 3 (0.72%) Amazon S3
15 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%) SAN
4 1 (0.24%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.24%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (7.66%) SQL Server
2 16 (3.83%) PostgreSQL
3 14 (3.35%) OLTP
4 8 (1.91%) Power BI
4 8 (1.91%) Relational Database
5 7 (1.67%) NoSQL
6 6 (1.44%) Azure SQL Database
6 6 (1.44%) MySQL
7 5 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (1.20%) DynamoDB
7 5 (1.20%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.96%) Data Lake
8 4 (0.96%) Elasticsearch
8 4 (0.96%) MongoDB
8 4 (0.96%) Oracle Database
8 4 (0.96%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.72%) InfluxDB
9 3 (0.72%) Spark SQL
10 2 (0.48%) Delta Lake
10 2 (0.48%) GIS
Development Applications
1 71 (16.99%) Selenium
2 70 (16.75%) JIRA
3 43 (10.29%) Postman
4 36 (8.61%) WebDriver
5 31 (7.42%) SoapUI
6 30 (7.18%) Git
7 28 (6.70%) Team Foundation Server
8 27 (6.46%) Jenkins
9 26 (6.22%) GitLab
10 15 (3.59%) Cypress.io
11 14 (3.35%) SpecFlow
11 14 (3.35%) TestRail
12 11 (2.63%) Subversion
12 11 (2.63%) Visual Studio
13 9 (2.15%) REST Assured
14 8 (1.91%) JUnit
15 7 (1.67%) Cucumber
16 6 (1.44%) Atlassian Bamboo
16 6 (1.44%) Bitbucket
16 6 (1.44%) JMeter
General
1 142 (33.97%) Social Skills
2 69 (16.51%) Finance
3 49 (11.72%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (5.98%) Electronics
5 16 (3.83%) Law
6 13 (3.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 13 (3.11%) Public Sector
6 13 (3.11%) Retail
7 8 (1.91%) Banking
7 8 (1.91%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (1.91%) Manufacturing
7 8 (1.91%) Marketing
8 6 (1.44%) Organisational Skills
9 5 (1.20%) Legal
10 4 (0.96%) Pharmaceutical
10 4 (0.96%) Telecoms
11 3 (0.72%) Advertising
11 3 (0.72%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.72%) Games
11 3 (0.72%) Military
Job Titles
1 75 (17.94%) Senior
2 59 (14.11%) Lead
2 59 (14.11%) Software Engineer
3 53 (12.68%) Developer
4 50 (11.96%) Tester
5 46 (11.00%) Analyst
6 45 (10.77%) Test Engineer
7 30 (7.18%) Test Analyst
8 26 (6.22%) Software Test Engineer
8 26 (6.22%) Software Tester
9 23 (5.50%) Senior Developer
10 22 (5.26%) Development Engineer
10 22 (5.26%) Software Developer
10 22 (5.26%) Software Development Engineer
10 22 (5.26%) Test Development Engineer
11 18 (4.31%) Test Automation Engineer
12 17 (4.07%) Embedded Engineer
12 17 (4.07%) Oracle Developer
12 17 (4.07%) Senior Oracle Developer
13 16 (3.83%) Full-Stack Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 84 (20.10%) .NET
2 51 (12.20%) HTML
3 43 (10.29%) SOAP
4 33 (7.89%) Playwright
5 29 (6.94%) React
6 27 (6.46%) XML
7 21 (5.02%) Node.js
8 15 (3.59%) REST
9 11 (2.63%) .NET Framework
9 11 (2.63%) JSON
10 9 (2.15%) ASP.NET
10 9 (2.15%) RESTful
11 8 (1.91%) CSS
11 8 (1.91%) Spring
12 7 (1.67%) .NET Core
13 6 (1.44%) Elastic Stack
13 6 (1.44%) Kafka
13 6 (1.44%) Web Services
14 5 (1.20%) Spring Boot
15 4 (0.96%) Entity Framework
Miscellaneous
1 27 (6.46%) Cloud Native
2 19 (4.55%) Product Ownership
3 18 (4.31%) Self-Motivation
4 15 (3.59%) Embedded Systems
5 14 (3.35%) Mobile App
6 11 (2.63%) Algorithms
7 10 (2.39%) Distributed Systems
8 7 (1.67%) e-Learning
8 7 (1.67%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.44%) Management Information System
9 6 (1.44%) Onboarding
10 5 (1.20%) Client/Server
10 5 (1.20%) FPGA
10 5 (1.20%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (1.20%) Life Science
10 5 (1.20%) Team-Oriented Environment
10 5 (1.20%) Web Conferencing
11 4 (0.96%) NHS
11 4 (0.96%) PCIe
12 3 (0.72%) Distributed Computing
Operating Systems
1 26 (6.22%) Linux
2 21 (5.02%) Windows
3 9 (2.15%) 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
1 182 (43.54%) Agile
2 163 (39.00%) Test Automation
3 118 (28.23%) Problem-Solving
4 104 (24.88%) Continuous Improvement
5 97 (23.21%) CI/CD
6 83 (19.86%) DevOps
7 81 (19.38%) Scrum
8 77 (18.42%) Software Engineering
9 64 (15.31%) Test Scripting
10 57 (13.64%) Computer Science
11 56 (13.40%) Mentoring
12 54 (12.92%) Test Management
13 50 (11.96%) Manual Testing
13 50 (11.96%) Non-Functional Testing
14 49 (11.72%) API Testing
15 42 (10.05%) Regression Testing
15 42 (10.05%) SDLC
16 40 (9.57%) Software Delivery
17 39 (9.33%) SDET
18 34 (8.13%) Code Quality
Programming Languages
1 112 (26.79%) SQL
2 94 (22.49%) Java
3 81 (19.38%) C#
4 62 (14.83%) Python
5 47 (11.24%) JavaScript
6 40 (9.57%) TypeScript
7 30 (7.18%) C++
8 29 (6.94%) C
9 18 (4.31%) Bash
10 17 (4.07%) PL/SQL
11 13 (3.11%) PowerShell
12 8 (1.91%) Go
12 8 (1.91%) T-SQL
13 7 (1.67%) PHP
14 6 (1.44%) 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
1 137 (32.78%) Degree
2 73 (17.46%) ISTQB
3 61 (14.59%) Security Cleared
4 37 (8.85%) SC Cleared
5 28 (6.70%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
6 27 (6.46%) Computer Science Degree
7 21 (5.02%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 16 (3.83%) DV Cleared
9 12 (2.87%) Master's Degree
10 8 (1.91%) ISEB
11 6 (1.44%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (1.44%) 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 96 (22.97%) QA
2 27 (6.46%) Accessibility
3 7 (1.67%) Software Quality Assurance
4 5 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (1.20%) SLA
5 4 (0.96%) WCAG
6 3 (0.72%) SEPA
7 2 (0.48%) GDPR
7 2 (0.48%) ISO 9001
7 2 (0.48%) JTAG
8 1 (0.24%) IEC 61131
8 1 (0.24%) IEC 61508
8 1 (0.24%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 21 (5.02%) Docker
2 15 (3.59%) Firmware
3 9 (2.15%) Embedded Firmware
3 9 (2.15%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.91%) 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 19 (4.55%) Kubernetes
2 17 (4.07%) Terraform
3 6 (1.44%) 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 37 (8.85%) Microsoft
2 28 (6.70%) Oracle
3 11 (2.63%) VMware
4 7 (1.67%) Google
5 6 (1.44%) 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%) Adobe
9 2 (0.48%) Apple
9 2 (0.48%) Cognos
9 2 (0.48%) Facebook
9 2 (0.48%) Xamarin