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

6 months to
6 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 166 183
Rank change year-on-year -106 +17 -115
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 406 856 827
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.78% 1.76% 1.77%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.95% 1.94% 1.95%
Number of salaries quoted 332 494 668
10th Percentile £32,750 £35,000 £34,500
25th Percentile £40,750 £42,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £55,000
75th Percentile £71,250 £71,250 £73,750
90th Percentile £89,875 £82,500 £89,125
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 42,692 44,038 42,419
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 81.67% 90.44% 90.61%
Number of salaries quoted 25,525 21,717 32,741
10th Percentile £28,518 £35,000 £32,000
25th Percentile £37,500 £45,000 £43,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £76,250 £81,250 £80,000
90th Percentile £96,750 £100,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 6 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 6 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 -4 129 £45,000 -26.53% 125
London -28 117 £67,250 +8.03% 62
North of England -60 62 £42,500 -19.05% 69
Midlands -47 42 £45,000 -14.29% 49
South West -64 34 £40,000 -27.27% 55
Yorkshire -8 28 £32,750 +0.77% 30
West Midlands -5 21 £42,500 -19.05% 18
East Midlands -42 21 £55,000 - 31
North West -60 21 £55,000 +4.76% 32
East of England -31 20 £52,500 -8.70% 59
North East +5 13 £56,500 -13.08% 7
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 (0.99%) Confluence
1 4 (0.99%) WinCC
2 3 (0.74%) Moodle
2 3 (0.74%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.49%) CMS
3 2 (0.49%) Umbraco
4 1 (0.25%) Apache
4 1 (0.25%) IIS
4 1 (0.25%) WordPress
Applications
1 16 (3.94%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.23%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.23%) Microsoft Project
3 3 (0.74%) Simulink
4 2 (0.49%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.25%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.25%) Doxygen
5 1 (0.25%) EPLAN
Business Applications
1 3 (0.74%) Dynamics CRM
1 3 (0.74%) Sage X3
1 3 (0.74%) Unit4 Business World
2 2 (0.49%) Misys Midas
2 2 (0.49%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.25%) Cognos Business Intelligence
3 1 (0.25%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.25%) NEC Housing
3 1 (0.25%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.25%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.25%) Siebel CRM
Cloud Services
1 91 (22.41%) Azure
2 60 (14.78%) AWS
3 43 (10.59%) Azure DevOps
4 35 (8.62%) SaaS
5 17 (4.19%) Power Platform
6 14 (3.45%) AWS Lambda
6 14 (3.45%) Serverless
7 13 (3.20%) GitHub
8 10 (2.46%) GCP
9 9 (2.22%) Azure Data Factory
10 8 (1.97%) Entra ID
11 5 (1.23%) AWS CloudFormation
11 5 (1.23%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 5 (1.23%) BrowserStack
11 5 (1.23%) GitHub Actions
11 5 (1.23%) PaaS
12 4 (0.99%) IaaS
12 4 (0.99%) Microsoft Purview
12 4 (0.99%) OpenShift
13 3 (0.74%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.99%) Ethernet
1 4 (0.99%) LAN
1 4 (0.99%) Profibus
1 4 (0.99%) WAN
2 1 (0.25%) Cisco ISE
2 1 (0.25%) HTTP
2 1 (0.25%) Kerberos
2 1 (0.25%) Network Security
2 1 (0.25%) SAN
2 1 (0.25%) TCP/IP
2 1 (0.25%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (8.62%) SQL Server
2 18 (4.43%) PostgreSQL
3 15 (3.69%) DynamoDB
3 15 (3.69%) Elasticsearch
4 9 (2.22%) OLTP
4 9 (2.22%) Power BI
5 8 (1.97%) MySQL
5 8 (1.97%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.72%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 5 (1.23%) Data Lake
7 5 (1.23%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (1.23%) Metadata
7 5 (1.23%) NoSQL
8 4 (0.99%) Azure SQL Database
8 4 (0.99%) MongoDB
8 4 (0.99%) Oracle Database
8 4 (0.99%) SQL Server Analysis Services
9 3 (0.74%) Mixpanel
9 3 (0.74%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 2 (0.49%) InfluxDB
Development Applications
1 85 (20.94%) JIRA
2 84 (20.69%) Selenium
3 62 (15.27%) Postman
4 47 (11.58%) WebDriver
5 43 (10.59%) SoapUI
6 38 (9.36%) Team Foundation Server
7 31 (7.64%) Git
8 24 (5.91%) Jenkins
9 20 (4.93%) Cypress.io
10 13 (3.20%) GitLab
10 13 (3.20%) TestRail
11 12 (2.96%) REST Assured
12 11 (2.71%) Visual Studio
13 9 (2.22%) JMeter
13 9 (2.22%) SpecFlow
13 9 (2.22%) Subversion
14 7 (1.72%) Bitbucket
15 6 (1.48%) Cucumber
15 6 (1.48%) Zephyr
16 5 (1.23%) Robot Framework
General
1 134 (33.00%) Social Skills
2 83 (20.44%) Finance
3 52 (12.81%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (6.16%) Electronics
5 23 (5.67%) Law
6 14 (3.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 14 (3.45%) Legal
6 14 (3.45%) Publishing
7 13 (3.20%) Health Technology
8 12 (2.96%) Public Sector
8 12 (2.96%) Tech for Good
9 11 (2.71%) Advertising
10 10 (2.46%) Documentation Skills
10 10 (2.46%) Retail
11 8 (1.97%) Banking
11 8 (1.97%) Games
11 8 (1.97%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.72%) Manufacturing
12 7 (1.72%) Marketing
13 6 (1.48%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 83 (20.44%) Senior
2 70 (17.24%) Developer
3 60 (14.78%) Lead
4 57 (14.04%) Analyst
5 49 (12.07%) Test Engineer
6 44 (10.84%) Test Analyst
7 40 (9.85%) Tester
8 38 (9.36%) Software Engineer
9 34 (8.37%) Software Developer
10 30 (7.39%) Senior Developer
11 22 (5.42%) Software Test Engineer
12 19 (4.68%) Software Tester
13 18 (4.43%) Senior Analyst
14 16 (3.94%) Full-Stack Engineer
14 16 (3.94%) Test Automation Engineer
15 15 (3.69%) Consultant
16 14 (3.45%) Embedded Engineer
16 14 (3.45%) Systems Engineer
17 13 (3.20%) Applications Support
17 13 (3.20%) Test Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 97 (23.89%) .NET
2 61 (15.02%) HTML
3 48 (11.82%) React
4 47 (11.58%) SOAP
5 31 (7.64%) Playwright
6 23 (5.67%) Node.js
7 22 (5.42%) RESTful
8 19 (4.68%) XML
9 18 (4.43%) REST
10 15 (3.69%) .NET Framework
10 15 (3.69%) ASP.NET
10 15 (3.69%) CSS
10 15 (3.69%) Swagger
11 11 (2.71%) .NET Core
12 10 (2.46%) Entity Framework
13 9 (2.22%) AngularJS
13 9 (2.22%) Web Services
14 6 (1.48%) CSS3
14 6 (1.48%) HTML5
15 5 (1.23%) ASP.NET MVC
Miscellaneous
1 27 (6.65%) Self-Motivation
2 24 (5.91%) Cloud Native
3 23 (5.67%) Product Ownership
4 19 (4.68%) Embedded Systems
5 12 (2.96%) Onboarding
6 10 (2.46%) Mobile App
7 8 (1.97%) Algorithms
8 7 (1.72%) Distributed Systems
8 7 (1.72%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 6 (1.48%) Driving Licence
9 6 (1.48%) e-Learning
10 5 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.23%) Management Information System
10 5 (1.23%) SCADA
11 4 (0.99%) Analytical Mindset
11 4 (0.99%) CCTV
11 4 (0.99%) Fibre Optics
11 4 (0.99%) Reference Data
12 3 (0.74%) Distributed Computing
12 3 (0.74%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 26 (6.40%) Windows
2 20 (4.93%) Linux
3 7 (1.72%) Android
3 7 (1.72%) Unix
4 3 (0.74%) Windows Server
5 2 (0.49%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.49%) CentOS
5 2 (0.49%) FreeRTOS
5 2 (0.49%) Mac OS
5 2 (0.49%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.25%) Embedded Linux
6 1 (0.25%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 212 (52.22%) Agile
2 142 (34.98%) Test Automation
3 125 (30.79%) Problem-Solving
4 96 (23.65%) CI/CD
5 95 (23.40%) Scrum
6 94 (23.15%) Continuous Improvement
7 79 (19.46%) DevOps
8 78 (19.21%) Mentoring
9 77 (18.97%) Test Scripting
10 65 (16.01%) API Testing
10 65 (16.01%) Test Management
11 62 (15.27%) Software Engineering
12 57 (14.04%) Non-Functional Testing
13 56 (13.79%) Computer Science
14 48 (11.82%) Manual Testing
15 44 (10.84%) Regression Testing
16 43 (10.59%) SDLC
17 36 (8.87%) Cross-Browser Testing
18 35 (8.62%) Test Strategy
19 34 (8.37%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 130 (32.02%) SQL
2 98 (24.14%) Java
3 97 (23.89%) C#
4 55 (13.55%) Python
5 52 (12.81%) TypeScript
6 51 (12.56%) JavaScript
7 27 (6.65%) C
8 19 (4.68%) C++
9 16 (3.94%) Bash
10 11 (2.71%) PL/SQL
10 11 (2.71%) PowerShell
11 7 (1.72%) Go
11 7 (1.72%) T-SQL
12 5 (1.23%) PHP
13 4 (0.99%) Fortran
14 3 (0.74%) SystemVerilog
14 3 (0.74%) VBScript
15 2 (0.49%) Data Analysis Expressions
15 2 (0.49%) Embedded C
15 2 (0.49%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 135 (33.25%) Degree
2 90 (22.17%) ISTQB
3 41 (10.10%) Security Cleared
4 40 (9.85%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
5 29 (7.14%) Computer Science Degree
6 28 (6.90%) SC Cleared
7 23 (5.67%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 17 (4.19%) ISEB
9 9 (2.22%) BPSS Clearance
9 9 (2.22%) DV Cleared
10 8 (1.97%) Master's Degree
11 6 (1.48%) Microsoft Certification
11 6 (1.48%) Numerate Degree
12 4 (0.99%) PhD
12 4 (0.99%) PMI Certification
13 3 (0.74%) CITP
13 3 (0.74%) CREST Certified
14 2 (0.49%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
14 2 (0.49%) Azure Certification
14 2 (0.49%) BC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 106 (26.11%) QA
2 20 (4.93%) Accessibility
3 8 (1.97%) Software Quality Assurance
4 7 (1.72%) Data Quality
5 6 (1.48%) SLA
6 4 (0.99%) WCAG
7 3 (0.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 3 (0.74%) SEPA
8 2 (0.49%) ISO 9000
8 2 (0.49%) ISO 9001
8 2 (0.49%) JTAG
9 1 (0.25%) GDPR
9 1 (0.25%) IEC 61131
9 1 (0.25%) IEC 61508
9 1 (0.25%) IEC 62304
System Software
1 19 (4.68%) Docker
2 12 (2.96%) Active Directory
3 11 (2.71%) Firmware
4 7 (1.72%) Embedded Firmware
5 2 (0.49%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.25%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.25%) Terminal Server
6 1 (0.25%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.25%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 20 (4.93%) Kubernetes
2 12 (2.96%) Terraform
3 5 (1.23%) Grafana
4 3 (0.74%) Ansible
4 3 (0.74%) HP ALM
4 3 (0.74%) Prometheus
4 3 (0.74%) SCCM
5 2 (0.49%) Nessus
5 2 (0.49%) Rancher
5 2 (0.49%) SCOM
6 1 (0.25%) Argo
6 1 (0.25%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 50 (12.32%) Microsoft
2 21 (5.17%) Oracle
3 10 (2.46%) Siemens
4 5 (1.23%) Rockwell
5 4 (0.99%) AVEVA
5 4 (0.99%) ServiceNow
5 4 (0.99%) Siebel
5 4 (0.99%) VMware
5 4 (0.99%) Zoho
6 3 (0.74%) Adobe
6 3 (0.74%) HP
6 3 (0.74%) Intel
6 3 (0.74%) Microsemi
6 3 (0.74%) Sage
6 3 (0.74%) Salesforce
6 3 (0.74%) SAP
6 3 (0.74%) Tealium
6 3 (0.74%) Workday
6 3 (0.74%) Xilinx
7 2 (0.49%) Databricks