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 24 May 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
24 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 253 121 500
Rank change year-on-year -132 +379 -35
Permanent jobs requiring a Test Engineer 628 1,064 338
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.76% 2.78% 0.39%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.81% 3.10% 0.42%
Number of salaries quoted 459 88 186
10th Percentile £35,000 £33,000 £32,625
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,000 £38,188
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £51,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% +13.33% -17.55%
75th Percentile £65,000 £61,250 £55,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £67,500 £65,000
UK median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £45,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +16.67% -16.67%

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.

Permanent vacancies in England with a recognized job title 77,318 34,317 80,969
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.37% 89.54% 94.58%
Number of salaries quoted 52,516 19,695 61,369
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £38,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,250 £57,500 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.91% +8.49% -12.83%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,750 £71,250
90th Percentile £96,250 £100,000 £90,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%

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 job vacancy trend in England

Test Engineer
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for Test Engineer job vacancies 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 24 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Test Engineer in England

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 24 May 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
North of England +94 170 £50,000 +8.11% 35
South East -118 138 £47,000 -10.48% 33
East of England -85 103 £48,750 +16.07% 23
North West +68 90 £47,065 +4.59% 20
South West -23 79 £55,000 +4.76% 30
Midlands -128 69 £50,000 +47.06% 31
London -11 56 £52,500 +12.90% 12
West Midlands +8 50 £50,000 -16.67% 30
North East - 48 £51,250 - 10
Yorkshire -21 32 £40,000 -33.11% 5
East Midlands -124 19 £30,000 -9.09% 1
Test Engineer
UK

Test Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 24 May 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.

1 180 (28.66%) Test Automation
2 90 (14.33%) Validation
3 77 (12.26%) Software Testing
4 75 (11.94%) Agile
5 66 (10.51%) QA
6 63 (10.03%) CI/CD
7 55 (8.76%) Test Strategy
8 54 (8.60%) Security Cleared
9 53 (8.44%) Python
10 52 (8.28%) Problem-Solving
11 50 (7.96%) Verification and Validation
12 48 (7.64%) Degree
13 45 (7.17%) Continuous Improvement
14 44 (7.01%) Java
14 44 (7.01%) Test Scripting
15 43 (6.85%) AWS
16 39 (6.21%) Mentoring
17 36 (5.73%) Playwright
18 33 (5.25%) Performance Testing
19 31 (4.94%) DevOps
20 29 (4.62%) JavaScript
21 28 (4.46%) Azure
21 28 (4.46%) LabVIEW
21 28 (4.46%) SC Cleared
22 27 (4.30%) Accessibility
22 27 (4.30%) Selenium
23 26 (4.14%) Coaching
23 26 (4.14%) Manual Testing
24 25 (3.98%) API Testing
24 25 (3.98%) End-to-End Testing

Test Engineer Skill Set
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 (0.64%) Apache
1 4 (0.64%) Apache Airflow
1 4 (0.64%) Confluence
1 4 (0.64%) Jupyter
2 2 (0.32%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 16 (2.55%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.64%) Fusion 360
3 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.16%) AutoCAD
4 1 (0.16%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 1 (0.16%) Endur
1 1 (0.16%) Findur
Cloud Services
1 43 (6.85%) AWS
2 28 (4.46%) Azure
3 15 (2.39%) Azure DevOps
4 13 (2.07%) GitHub
5 10 (1.59%) SaaS
6 5 (0.80%) Amazon S3
6 5 (0.80%) Azure Pipelines
7 4 (0.64%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 4 (0.64%) Amazon EC2
7 4 (0.64%) Amazon EMR
7 4 (0.64%) GCP
7 4 (0.64%) OpenShift
8 3 (0.48%) AWS CodePipeline
8 3 (0.48%) GitHub Actions
9 2 (0.32%) Amazon ECR
9 2 (0.32%) BrowserStack
9 2 (0.32%) Serverless
10 1 (0.16%) Azure Functions
10 1 (0.16%) Dynamics 365
10 1 (0.16%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 9 (1.43%) 5G
1 9 (1.43%) SD-WAN
1 9 (1.43%) WAN
2 8 (1.27%) HTTP
3 7 (1.11%) Wireless
4 1 (0.16%) 3GPP
4 1 (0.16%) Broadband
4 1 (0.16%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.16%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.96%) Elasticsearch
2 4 (0.64%) Amazon Athena
2 4 (0.64%) DynamoDB
2 4 (0.64%) InfluxDB
3 2 (0.32%) Neo4j
4 1 (0.16%) Big Data
4 1 (0.16%) Data Lake
4 1 (0.16%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.16%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.16%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 28 (4.46%) LabVIEW
2 27 (4.30%) Selenium
3 23 (3.66%) JMeter
4 22 (3.50%) Git
5 18 (2.87%) Cypress.io
5 18 (2.87%) JIRA
6 17 (2.71%) GitLab
6 17 (2.71%) Jenkins
7 14 (2.23%) REST Assured
8 12 (1.91%) Gatling
9 11 (1.75%) LoadRunner
9 11 (1.75%) Postman
10 9 (1.43%) Cucumber
11 8 (1.27%) SpecFlow
12 6 (0.96%) TestRail
12 6 (0.96%) WebDriver
13 5 (0.80%) Robot Framework
13 5 (0.80%) Subversion
14 3 (0.48%) NUnit
14 3 (0.48%) SoapUI
General
1 116 (18.47%) Manufacturing
2 115 (18.31%) Electronics
3 51 (8.12%) Aerospace
4 41 (6.53%) Social Skills
5 38 (6.05%) Public Sector
6 30 (4.78%) Analytical Skills
7 21 (3.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 17 (2.71%) Automotive
8 17 (2.71%) Aviation
9 16 (2.55%) Finance
10 11 (1.75%) Organisational Skills
11 10 (1.59%) Presentation Skills
11 10 (1.59%) Telecoms
12 9 (1.43%) Documentation Skills
13 8 (1.27%) Games
14 6 (0.96%) Retail
15 5 (0.80%) Influencing Skills
16 4 (0.64%) Health Technology
17 3 (0.48%) Legal
17 3 (0.48%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (5.73%) Playwright
2 17 (2.71%) pytest
3 11 (1.75%) .NET
4 6 (0.96%) Elastic Stack
4 6 (0.96%) REST
5 5 (0.80%) Gherkin
6 3 (0.48%) React
6 3 (0.48%) Web Services
7 2 (0.32%) AngularJS
7 2 (0.32%) GraphQL
7 2 (0.32%) HTML
7 2 (0.32%) MERN Stack
7 2 (0.32%) Nightwatchjs
7 2 (0.32%) RESTful
7 2 (0.32%) SOAP
7 2 (0.32%) YAML
8 1 (0.16%) Django
8 1 (0.16%) JSON
8 1 (0.16%) Kafka
8 1 (0.16%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 14 (2.23%) Distributed Systems
2 13 (2.07%) Self-Motivation
3 11 (1.75%) Embedded Systems
4 10 (1.59%) Mobile App
5 9 (1.43%) Product Ownership
5 9 (1.43%) Self-Driving Car
6 5 (0.80%) Acoustics
6 5 (0.80%) Robotics
7 4 (0.64%) Analogue Electronics
7 4 (0.64%) Cloud Native
7 4 (0.64%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (0.64%) Life Science
7 4 (0.64%) Online Games
7 4 (0.64%) Renewable Energy
7 4 (0.64%) Smart Energy
8 3 (0.48%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (0.48%) Low-Code
9 1 (0.16%) AI Agents
9 1 (0.16%) Linux Command Line
9 1 (0.16%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 17 (2.71%) Windows
2 12 (1.91%) Linux
3 10 (1.59%) Unix
4 4 (0.64%) Android
4 4 (0.64%) Apple iOS
4 4 (0.64%) CentOS
5 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.16%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 180 (28.66%) Test Automation
2 90 (14.33%) Validation
3 77 (12.26%) Software Testing
4 75 (11.94%) Agile
5 63 (10.03%) CI/CD
6 55 (8.76%) Test Strategy
7 52 (8.28%) Problem-Solving
8 50 (7.96%) Verification and Validation
9 45 (7.17%) Continuous Improvement
10 44 (7.01%) Test Scripting
11 39 (6.21%) Mentoring
12 33 (5.25%) Performance Testing
13 31 (4.94%) DevOps
14 26 (4.14%) Coaching
14 26 (4.14%) Manual Testing
15 25 (3.98%) API Testing
15 25 (3.98%) End-to-End Testing
16 23 (3.66%) Non-Functional Testing
17 20 (3.18%) Defect Management
18 19 (3.03%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 53 (8.44%) Python
2 44 (7.01%) Java
3 29 (4.62%) JavaScript
4 24 (3.82%) C#
5 16 (2.55%) SQL
5 16 (2.55%) TypeScript
6 12 (1.91%) MATLAB
7 11 (1.75%) Bash
8 7 (1.11%) C
8 7 (1.11%) C++
9 5 (0.80%) PowerShell
9 5 (0.80%) VB
10 1 (0.16%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 54 (8.60%) Security Cleared
2 48 (7.64%) Degree
3 28 (4.46%) SC Cleared
4 15 (2.39%) HND
5 13 (2.07%) HNC
6 12 (1.91%) DV Cleared
6 12 (1.91%) ISTQB
7 8 (1.27%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (1.27%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
8 6 (0.96%) Computer Science Degree
9 4 (0.64%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
9 4 (0.64%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
10 3 (0.48%) CCA
10 3 (0.48%) Chartered Engineer
10 3 (0.48%) NVQ Level 3
11 2 (0.32%) Master's Degree
12 1 (0.16%) City & Guilds
12 1 (0.16%) DBS Check
12 1 (0.16%) ISEB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 66 (10.51%) QA
2 27 (4.30%) Accessibility
3 6 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 17025
4 4 (0.64%) ISO 13485
5 3 (0.48%) Data Quality
5 3 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 12207
6 2 (0.32%) Def Stans
6 2 (0.32%) IEC 61508
6 2 (0.32%) ISO 26262
6 2 (0.32%) ISO 9001
7 1 (0.16%) COSHH
7 1 (0.16%) GDPR
7 1 (0.16%) Software Quality Assurance
7 1 (0.16%) WCAG
System Software
1 18 (2.87%) Docker
2 10 (1.59%) Firmware
3 5 (0.80%) Virtual Machines
3 5 (0.80%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 19 (3.03%) Terraform
2 14 (2.23%) Kubernetes
3 12 (1.91%) Grafana
4 8 (1.27%) Kibana
5 5 (0.80%) Ansible
6 4 (0.64%) logstash
6 4 (0.64%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.48%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.16%) Argo
8 1 (0.16%) Functional Safety
8 1 (0.16%) HP Fortify
8 1 (0.16%) Puppet
Vendors
1 9 (1.43%) Microsoft
2 8 (1.27%) EMC
3 5 (0.80%) Dynatrace
3 5 (0.80%) Red Hat
3 5 (0.80%) VMware
4 4 (0.64%) AppDynamics
4 4 (0.64%) Atlassian
4 4 (0.64%) Splunk
5 3 (0.48%) Keysight
5 3 (0.48%) ServiceNow
6 2 (0.32%) Guidewire
6 2 (0.32%) IBM
7 1 (0.16%) OneLogin
7 1 (0.16%) OpenLink
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle
7 1 (0.16%) Peregrine
7 1 (0.16%) Perfecto Mobile