Test Engineer Job Trends in England
Test Engineer
UK > England
The median Test Engineer salary in England is £50,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 20 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 20 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 209 | 151 | 328 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -58 | +177 | +108 |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Test Engineer | 956 | 900 | 474 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in England | 0.90% | 2.12% | 0.77% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.98% | 2.34% | 0.80% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 608 | 109 | 129 |
| 10th Percentile | £35,000 | £35,000 | £37,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,000 | £40,000 | £41,250 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £50,000 | £50,000 | £50,000 |
| 75th Percentile | £65,000 | £61,250 | £60,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £75,000 | £67,750 | £62,500 |
| UK median annual salary | £50,000 | £45,000 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +11.11% | -10.00% | - |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
England
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in England. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.
| 6 months to 20 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies in England with a recognized job title | 97,657 | 38,503 | 58,950 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 92.36% | 90.60% | 95.20% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 67,864 | 23,241 | 33,739 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,500 | £28,000 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £35,500 | £42,500 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,853 | £53,688 | £57,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +11.48% | -6.63% | -4.17% |
| 75th Percentile | £77,500 | £75,000 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £100,000 | £95,000 | £95,000 |
| UK median annual salary | £59,000 | £52,500 | £56,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +12.38% | -6.25% | -6.67% |
Test Engineer Job Vacancy Trend in England
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Test Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.
Test Engineer Salary Trend in England
Salary distribution trend for Test Engineer job vacancies in England.
Test Engineer Salary Histogram in England
Salary distribution for jobs citing Test Engineer in England over the 6 months to 20 October 2026.
Test Engineer Job Locations in England
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Test Engineer within the England region over the 6 months to 20 October 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 | -49 | 226 | £50,000 | +13.64% | 112 |
| North of England | +74 | 195 | £50,000 | +25.00% | 104 |
| South West | +29 | 169 | £45,000 | -2.70% | 53 |
| East of England | -56 | 161 | £45,000 | -25.00% | 88 |
| Midlands | -83 | 138 | £38,320 | -30.33% | 85 |
| West Midlands | +19 | 96 | £39,140 | -31.93% | 47 |
| North West | +30 | 94 | £50,000 | +25.00% | 57 |
| Yorkshire | +11 | 59 | £49,565 | +13.94% | 16 |
| London | -60 | 59 | £60,000 | +11.63% | 75 |
| North East | -33 | 42 | £55,000 | +22.22% | 31 |
| East Midlands | -111 | 42 | £36,000 | +9.09% | 38 |
| Test Engineer UK |
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Test Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England
For the 6 months to 20 October 2026, Test Engineer job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads across the England region featuring Test Engineer in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test Automation | 27.2% | 260 |
| 2 | Validation | 13.2% | 126 |
| 3 | QA | 12.7% | 121 |
| 4 | Problem-Solving | 12.3% | 118 |
| 5 | Software Testing | 11.9% | 114 |
| 6 | Security Cleared | 10.7% | 102 |
| 7 | Agile | 9.5% | 91 |
| 8 | Python | 9.1% | 87 |
| 9 | Test Strategy | 8.6% | 82 |
| 10 | Continuous Improvement | 8.5% | 81 |
| 11 | CI/CD | 7.7% | 74 |
| 12 | Degree | 7.6% | 73 |
| 13 | SQL | 7.0% | 67 |
| 14 | SC Cleared | 6.6% | 63 |
| 15 | Defect Management | 5.1% | 49 |
| 16 | Mentoring | 4.7% | 45 |
| 16 | Playwright | 4.7% | 45 |
| 18 | LabVIEW | 4.6% | 44 |
| 19 | JavaScript | 4.5% | 43 |
| 20 | AWS | 4.3% | 41 |
| 20 | Test Scripting | 4.3% | 41 |
| 22 | Java | 4.2% | 40 |
| 22 | Software Engineering | 4.2% | 40 |
| 24 | Manual Testing | 4.1% | 39 |
| 25 | DevOps | 4.0% | 38 |
| 25 | Regression Testing | 4.0% | 38 |
| 27 | API Testing | 3.8% | 36 |
| 27 | Software Delivery | 3.8% | 36 |
| 29 | Linux | 3.7% | 35 |
| 30 | Azure | 3.5% | 33 |
Test Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senior Test Engineer | 11.5% | 110 |
| 2 | Systems Test Engineer | 11.0% | 105 |
| 3 | Systems Engineer | 10.9% | 104 |
| 4 | Lead Test Engineer | 10.1% | 97 |
| 5 | Electronics Engineer | 10.0% | 96 |
| 5 | Electronics Test Engineer | 10.0% | 96 |
| 7 | Test Automation Engineer | 6.6% | 63 |
| 8 | Principal Test Engineer | 6.0% | 57 |
| 9 | RF Test Engineer | 4.7% | 45 |
| 10 | Software Test Engineer | 4.1% | 39 |
| 11 | QA Test Engineer | 3.9% | 37 |
| 12 | Manufacturing Engineer | 3.2% | 31 |
| 13 | Applications Engineer | 3.0% | 29 |
| 13 | Support Engineer | 3.0% | 29 |
| 15 | Test Development Engineer | 2.8% | 27 |
| 16 | Lead Systems Engineer | 2.7% | 26 |
| 17 | Electrical Engineer | 2.6% | 25 |
| 18 | Applications Support Engineer | 2.2% | 21 |
| 19 | Performance Test Engineer | 2.1% | 20 |
| 19 | Test and Validation Engineer | 2.1% | 20 |