Software Tester Job Trends in Manchester
Software Tester
North West > Manchester
The median Software Tester salary in Manchester is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 18 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 18 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 202 | - | 171 |
| Rank change year-on-year | - | - | - |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Software Tester | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in Manchester | 0.052% | - | 0.26% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.055% | - | 0.28% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 10th Percentile | - | - | £31,875 |
| 25th Percentile | £62,500 | - | £34,688 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £65,000 | - | £37,500 |
| 75th Percentile | £67,500 | - | £38,750 |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | - |
| North West median annual salary | £30,750 | - | £36,250 |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
Manchester
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in Manchester. 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 18 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies in Manchester with a recognized job title | 7,212 | 2,090 | 3,591 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 93.47% | 91.83% | 94.57% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 5,394 | 1,277 | 1,852 |
| 10th Percentile | £33,500 | £28,250 | £33,525 |
| 25th Percentile | £45,000 | £35,000 | £41,500 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £60,000 | £52,000 | £55,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +15.38% | -5.45% | -8.33% |
| 75th Percentile | £78,750 | £70,000 | £69,850 |
| 90th Percentile | £96,250 | £85,000 | £85,000 |
| North West median annual salary | £55,000 | £50,000 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +10.00% | - | -9.09% |
Software Tester Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Software Tester' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in Manchester.
Software Tester Salary Trend in Manchester
Salary distribution trend for Software Tester job vacancies in Manchester.
Software Tester Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester
For the 6 months to 18 October 2026, Software Tester 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 Manchester region featuring Software Tester in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Software Testing | 100.0% | 4 |
| 1 | Test Strategy | 100.0% | 4 |
| 3 | BDD | 75.0% | 3 |
| 3 | Gherkin | 75.0% | 3 |
| 3 | JIRA | 75.0% | 3 |
| 6 | Accessibility | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | AI | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | CMS | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | Content Management | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | CRM | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | HTTP | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | QA | 50.0% | 2 |
| 6 | SDLC | 50.0% | 2 |
| 14 | Acceptance Criteria | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | API Testing | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | CI/CD | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Client Onboarding | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Collaborative Working | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Containerisation | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Docker | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | GitHub | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | GitHub Actions | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Go | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Integration Testing | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Microservices | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Playwright | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | SDET | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Software Delivery | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | Software Engineering | 25.0% | 1 |
| 14 | System Integration Testing | 25.0% | 1 |
Software Tester Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester 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 | Automation Tester | 25.0% | 1 |
| 1 | Developer in Test | 25.0% | 1 |
| 1 | Software Developer | 25.0% | 1 |
| 1 | Test Automation Developer | 25.0% | 1 |