Software Engineering Job Trends in the Thames Valley
Software Engineering
South East > Thames Valley
The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the Thames Valley requiring Software Engineering skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 16 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 15 | 103 | 8 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +88 | -95 | +22 |
| Permanent jobs citing Software Engineering | 494 | 103 | 586 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley | 6.48% | 2.72% | 13.19% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 9.06% | 3.01% | 15.82% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 353 | 79 | 312 |
| 10th Percentile | £45,000 | £32,500 | £41,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £53,000 | £54,375 | £50,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £70,000 | £70,000 | £60,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | - | +16.67% | -14.29% |
| 75th Percentile | £85,000 | £90,000 | £80,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £95,000 | £100,000 | £95,000 |
| South East median annual salary | £70,000 | £70,000 | £60,000 |
| % change year-on-year | - | +16.67% | -6.25% |
All Process & Methodology Skills
Thames Valley
Software Engineering 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 Thames Valley.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills | 5,453 | 3,421 | 3,705 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley | 71.52% | 90.31% | 83.37% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 3,883 | 1,488 | 1,802 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,000 | £27,800 | £32,050 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,000 | £34,000 | £41,736 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £55,000 | £47,500 | £55,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +15.79% | -13.64% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £72,500 | £67,500 | £72,500 |
| 90th Percentile | £90,000 | £82,500 | £85,000 |
| South East median annual salary | £55,000 | £47,500 | £55,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +15.79% | -13.64% | - |
Software Engineering Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Software Engineering relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.
Software Engineering Salary Trend in the Thames Valley
Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Software Engineering.
Software Engineering Salary Histogram in the Thames Valley
Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineering in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Software Engineering Job Locations in the Thames Valley
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Engineering within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxfordshire | +24 | 211 | £65,000 | -7.14% | 160 |
| Berkshire | +79 | 176 | £80,000 | -5.88% | 113 |
| Buckinghamshire | +47 | 107 | £75,000 | +114.29% | 44 |
| Software Engineering South East |
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Software Engineering Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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.
Processes & Methodologies
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI | 17.2% | 85 |
| 2 | Agile | 14.4% | 71 |
| 3 | CI/CD | 14.0% | 69 |
| 4 | Problem-Solving | 13.2% | 65 |
| 5 | Mentoring | 11.1% | 55 |
| 5 | Test Automation | 11.1% | 55 |
| 7 | DevOps | 10.7% | 53 |
| 8 | Full-Stack Development | 10.3% | 51 |
| 9 | Computer Science | 8.7% | 43 |
| 10 | Containerisation | 6.9% | 34 |
| 11 | Design Patterns | 6.5% | 32 |
| 12 | Machine Learning | 5.9% | 29 |
| 12 | Microservices | 5.9% | 29 |
| 14 | Computational Fluid Dynamics | 5.7% | 28 |
| 14 | Finite Element Analysis | 5.7% | 28 |
| 14 | Open Source | 5.7% | 28 |
| 17 | Code Quality | 5.5% | 27 |
| 18 | Continuous Improvement | 4.9% | 24 |
| 18 | SDLC | 4.9% | 24 |
| 20 | Software Architecture | 4.7% | 23 |