Manual Testing Job Trends in the South East

Manual Testing
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Manual Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 268 232 335
Rank change year-on-year -36 +103 -38
Permanent jobs citing Manual Testing 23 39 46
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 0.16% 0.50% 0.28%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.22% 0.55% 0.33%
Number of salaries quoted 17 26 38
10th Percentile £43,125 £34,375 £36,250
25th Percentile £46,250 £36,438 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £47,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.53% - +5.56%
75th Percentile £65,000 £48,750 £53,438
90th Percentile £66,780 £54,375 £57,500
England median annual salary £50,000 £47,500 £47,500
% change year-on-year +5.26% - -5.00%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Manual 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 the South East.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 10,378 7,062 13,780
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.93% 90.56% 84.12%
Number of salaries quoted 7,020 3,367 9,785
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,000 £27,500
25th Percentile £39,775 £36,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £54,625 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +0.69% +9.25% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +9.09% -12.00%

Manual Testing
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Manual Testing relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Manual Testing job vacancy trend in the South East

Manual Testing
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Manual Testing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Manual Testing

Manual Testing
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing Manual Testing in the South East over the 6 months to 16 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Manual Testing in the South East

Manual Testing
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Manual Testing within the South East region over the 6 months to 16 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
Thames Valley +9 15 £57,500 -11.54% 5
Berkshire +16 10 £57,500 -11.54% 2
Buckinghamshire - 5 £46,250 - 3
East Sussex - 3 £52,500 -
Isle of Wight - 3 £66,300 -
Hampshire -41 1 £50,000 +17.65% 2
West Sussex - 1 £15,600 -
Manual Testing
England

Manual Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 1 (4.35%) Apache
Cloud Services
1 4 (17.39%) Azure
1 4 (17.39%) Azure DevOps
2 2 (8.70%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 3 (13.04%) Cisco ISE
2 1 (4.35%) VoIP
Development Applications
1 10 (43.48%) JIRA
2 4 (17.39%) Subversion
2 4 (17.39%) Zephyr
3 1 (4.35%) JMeter
3 1 (4.35%) LoadRunner
3 1 (4.35%) Selenium
General
1 5 (21.74%) Social Skills
2 3 (13.04%) Aerospace
2 3 (13.04%) Finance
2 3 (13.04%) Health Technology
2 3 (13.04%) Tech for Good
3 1 (4.35%) Electronics
3 1 (4.35%) Games
3 1 (4.35%) Law
3 1 (4.35%) Military
Job Titles
1 7 (30.43%) Senior
2 5 (21.74%) QA Engineer
3 4 (17.39%) Test Engineer
3 4 (17.39%) Tester
4 3 (13.04%) Analyst
4 3 (13.04%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
4 3 (13.04%) Senior Software Test Engineer
4 3 (13.04%) Senior Test Engineer
4 3 (13.04%) Software Test Engineer
4 3 (13.04%) Software Tester
4 3 (13.04%) Test Analyst
4 3 (13.04%) Test Specialist
5 2 (8.70%) Manual Test Analyst
5 2 (8.70%) Manual Tester
6 1 (4.35%) Applications Tester
6 1 (4.35%) Performance Tester
6 1 (4.35%) QA Manager
6 1 (4.35%) Senior Analyst
6 1 (4.35%) Senior Test Analyst
6 1 (4.35%) Test Manager
Miscellaneous
1 5 (21.74%) Product Ownership
2 1 (4.35%) Embedded Systems
2 1 (4.35%) Hackathon
2 1 (4.35%) Self-Motivation
2 1 (4.35%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 6 (26.09%) Windows
2 4 (17.39%) Linux
2 4 (17.39%) Windows Server
2 4 (17.39%) Windows Server 2019
3 1 (4.35%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 16 (69.57%) Software Testing
1 16 (69.57%) Test Automation
2 14 (60.87%) Agile
3 11 (47.83%) Test Scripting
4 10 (43.48%) Regression Testing
4 10 (43.48%) Waterfall
5 7 (30.43%) Scrum
6 6 (26.09%) Continuous Improvement
6 6 (26.09%) SDLC
7 5 (21.74%) DevOps
8 4 (17.39%) Computer Science
8 4 (17.39%) Defect Management
8 4 (17.39%) ITIL
8 4 (17.39%) ITSM
8 4 (17.39%) Problem-Solving
8 4 (17.39%) Requirements Management
8 4 (17.39%) User Stories
8 4 (17.39%) Validation
8 4 (17.39%) Verification and Validation
8 4 (17.39%) V-Model
Programming Languages
1 8 (34.78%) SQL
2 4 (17.39%) Python
3 3 (13.04%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 7 (30.43%) ISTQB
2 5 (21.74%) Security Cleared
3 4 (17.39%) Degree
4 3 (13.04%) BPSS Clearance
4 3 (13.04%) Chartered Engineer
4 3 (13.04%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
5 2 (8.70%) DV Cleared
6 1 (4.35%) Computer Science Degree
6 1 (4.35%) SC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (52.17%) QA
2 3 (13.04%) ISO/IEC 12207
System Software
1 5 (21.74%) Active Directory
2 3 (13.04%) Terminal Server
2 3 (13.04%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 4 (17.39%) SCCM
1 4 (17.39%) SCOM
Vendors
1 4 (17.39%) ServiceNow
1 4 (17.39%) VMware
2 3 (13.04%) Cisco
2 3 (13.04%) Juniper
2 3 (13.04%) McAfee