SDLC Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Systems or Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring SDLC skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 12 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 185 107 63
Rank change year-on-year -78 -44 -23
Permanent jobs citing SDLC 438 885 1,532
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 1.04% 2.46% 4.42%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.33% 2.77% 4.98%
Number of salaries quoted 314 442 788
10th Percentile £40,000 £41,000 £38,130
25th Percentile £48,750 £46,250 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,560 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.24% -4.07% +4.35%
75th Percentile £77,188 £72,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £92,500 £87,950 £85,000
UK median annual salary £67,500 £65,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year +3.85% - -

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

SDLC 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 UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 32,958 31,987 30,742
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 78.54% 88.93% 88.63%
Number of salaries quoted 18,919 14,386 22,914
10th Percentile £27,750 £31,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £33,500 £41,250 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +5.77% -5.45%
75th Percentile £65,000 £70,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £80,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

SDLC
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing SDLC relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

SDLC job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

SDLC
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing SDLC.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing SDLC

SDLC
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing SDLC in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 12 January 2026.

Salary histogram for SDLC in the UK excluding London

SDLC
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing SDLC within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 12 January 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 -48 132 £62,500 +5.04% 96
South East -39 122 £60,000 -4.00% 145
Midlands -27 84 £58,500 +6.36% 52
Yorkshire +22 78 £65,000 -1.51% 33
West Midlands -5 51 £59,014 +12.41% 19
North West -58 46 £62,500 +7.24% 49
South West -52 44 £54,500 -0.91% 70
East of England -6 33 £65,000 +36.84% 74
East Midlands -38 33 £57,500 +4.55% 32
Scotland -29 30 £60,000 -7.69% 21
North East -15 8 £50,000 -16.67% 14
Northern Ireland -22 5 £76,250 - 9
Wales -16 3 £67,500 +1.89% 24
SDLC
UK

SDLC
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 17 (3.88%) Confluence
2 9 (2.05%) IIS
3 7 (1.60%) OpenStack
3 7 (1.60%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.37%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 2 (0.46%) Apache
5 2 (0.46%) Apache Solr
5 2 (0.46%) CMS
5 2 (0.46%) HCL Notes
5 2 (0.46%) JBoss
5 2 (0.46%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.23%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.23%) Apache Synapse
6 1 (0.23%) ArcGIS
6 1 (0.23%) Headless CMS
6 1 (0.23%) Kentico
6 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Exchange
6 1 (0.23%) Smallworld
Applications
1 10 (2.28%) Microsoft Excel
1 10 (2.28%) Microsoft Office
1 10 (2.28%) Microsoft Project
2 6 (1.37%) MS Visio
3 5 (1.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.46%) Trello
5 1 (0.23%) Photoshop
5 1 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 10 (2.28%) Dynamics CRM
2 4 (0.91%) Oracle ERP
3 3 (0.68%) Teamcenter
4 2 (0.46%) Misys Midas
4 2 (0.46%) Oracle BPM
4 2 (0.46%) Payment Gateway
4 2 (0.46%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.23%) Integrated Workplace Management System
5 1 (0.23%) NetSuite
5 1 (0.23%) Postilion
5 1 (0.23%) Primavera
5 1 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.23%) SAP PP
5 1 (0.23%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 130 (29.68%) Azure
2 107 (24.43%) AWS
3 67 (15.30%) SaaS
4 63 (14.38%) Azure DevOps
5 36 (8.22%) Serverless
6 23 (5.25%) GitHub
7 22 (5.02%) Amazon ECS
8 18 (4.11%) Amazon EKS
8 18 (4.11%) Power Platform
9 16 (3.65%) Dynamics 365
9 16 (3.65%) GCP
10 15 (3.42%) Amazon EC2
10 15 (3.42%) Amazon S3
11 14 (3.20%) Entra ID
11 14 (3.20%) Power Automate
12 11 (2.51%) Amazon SQS
13 10 (2.28%) AWS CloudFormation
13 10 (2.28%) Microsoft 365
14 9 (2.05%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 9 (2.05%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 16 (3.65%) Firewall
2 10 (2.28%) Network Security
3 6 (1.37%) DMZ
3 6 (1.37%) DNS
3 6 (1.37%) VPN
4 5 (1.14%) TCP/IP
5 4 (0.91%) Internet
6 3 (0.68%) IPv4
6 3 (0.68%) IPv6
6 3 (0.68%) SSH
7 2 (0.46%) 3GPP
7 2 (0.46%) 4G
7 2 (0.46%) 5G
7 2 (0.46%) Diameter Protocol
7 2 (0.46%) HTTP
7 2 (0.46%) ICMP
7 2 (0.46%) SCTP
7 2 (0.46%) SpaceWire
7 2 (0.46%) Wireshark
8 1 (0.23%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 53 (12.10%) SQL Server
2 35 (7.99%) Relational Database
3 24 (5.48%) PostgreSQL
4 21 (4.79%) Data Lake
4 21 (4.79%) Data Warehouse
5 15 (3.42%) RDBMS
6 10 (2.28%) Power BI
6 10 (2.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 9 (2.05%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 7 (1.60%) NoSQL
9 4 (0.91%) DynamoDB
9 4 (0.91%) Elasticsearch
9 4 (0.91%) Redis
10 3 (0.68%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
10 3 (0.68%) MongoDB
11 2 (0.46%) Geospatial Data
11 2 (0.46%) Metadata
11 2 (0.46%) Oracle BI Publisher
11 2 (0.46%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 37 (8.45%) Jenkins
2 35 (7.99%) Git
3 30 (6.85%) JIRA
4 20 (4.57%) JUnit
5 18 (4.11%) Selenium
6 17 (3.88%) Mockito
7 13 (2.97%) Cypress.io
8 12 (2.74%) GitLab
8 12 (2.74%) JMeter
9 11 (2.51%) Maven
10 7 (1.60%) SonarQube
11 5 (1.14%) Postman
12 4 (0.91%) Babel
12 4 (0.91%) Cucumber
12 4 (0.91%) rollup.js
12 4 (0.91%) TestRail
13 3 (0.68%) Gatling
13 3 (0.68%) NUnit
13 3 (0.68%) Rational DOORS
13 3 (0.68%) Subversion
General
1 110 (25.11%) Social Skills
2 74 (16.89%) Finance
3 53 (12.10%) Analytical Skills
4 29 (6.62%) Public Sector
5 13 (2.97%) Manufacturing
6 10 (2.28%) Retail
7 9 (2.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (1.83%) Legal
9 7 (1.60%) Aerospace
9 7 (1.60%) Billing
9 7 (1.60%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (1.60%) Marketing
10 6 (1.37%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.37%) Law
11 4 (0.91%) Advertising
11 4 (0.91%) Electronics
11 4 (0.91%) Military
12 3 (0.68%) Back Office
12 3 (0.68%) Banking
12 3 (0.68%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 100 (22.83%) Developer
2 83 (18.95%) Senior
3 45 (10.27%) Lead
4 43 (9.82%) Software Engineer
5 41 (9.36%) Analyst
6 37 (8.45%) Architect
7 35 (7.99%) Java Developer
8 31 (7.08%) Software Manager
9 27 (6.16%) Business Analyst
9 27 (6.16%) Full-Stack Developer
10 26 (5.94%) Development Manager
11 25 (5.71%) Software Architect
11 25 (5.71%) Software Development Manager
12 20 (4.57%) Full-Stack Java Developer
12 20 (4.57%) Senior Developer
13 18 (4.11%) Consultant
13 18 (4.11%) Data Engineer
13 18 (4.11%) Senior Software Engineer
13 18 (4.11%) Software Developer
14 16 (3.65%) Senior Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 102 (23.29%) .NET
2 46 (10.50%) React
3 36 (8.22%) HTML
4 35 (7.99%) REST
5 31 (7.08%) Spring
6 30 (6.85%) .NET Core
6 30 (6.85%) Spring Boot
7 26 (5.94%) AngularJS
8 25 (5.71%) CSS
9 24 (5.48%) Middleware
10 23 (5.25%) ASP.NET
10 23 (5.25%) XML
11 21 (4.79%) Web Services
12 20 (4.57%) Node.js
13 19 (4.34%) RESTful
14 16 (3.65%) .NET Framework
15 15 (3.42%) JSON
16 13 (2.97%) Hibernate
16 13 (2.97%) Kafka
17 12 (2.74%) ActiveMQ
Miscellaneous
1 32 (7.31%) Product Ownership
2 20 (4.57%) Distributed Systems
3 19 (4.34%) Security Posture
4 18 (4.11%) Cloud Native
4 18 (4.11%) Legacy Systems
5 11 (2.51%) Self-Motivation
6 10 (2.28%) Embedded Systems
7 9 (2.05%) Management Information System
8 8 (1.83%) CAN bus
8 8 (1.83%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 7 (1.60%) Enterprise Software
10 6 (1.37%) Analytical Mindset
10 6 (1.37%) Cloud Security Posture
10 6 (1.37%) Cyber Kill Chain
10 6 (1.37%) PKI
11 5 (1.14%) Blog
11 5 (1.14%) Low-Code
11 5 (1.14%) Mobile App
12 4 (0.91%) Algorithms
12 4 (0.91%) Legacy Applications
Operating Systems
1 23 (5.25%) Linux
2 9 (2.05%) Windows
3 4 (0.91%) Unix
3 4 (0.91%) VMS
4 2 (0.46%) VxWorks
5 1 (0.23%) Android
5 1 (0.23%) OpenWrt
5 1 (0.23%) Windows Server
5 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 272 (62.10%) Agile
2 142 (32.42%) DevOps
3 109 (24.89%) CI/CD
4 101 (23.06%) Software Engineering
5 89 (20.32%) Mentoring
6 82 (18.72%) Continuous Improvement
7 81 (18.49%) Problem-Solving
8 67 (15.30%) Computer Science
9 53 (12.10%) Coaching
10 52 (11.87%) Scrum
11 49 (11.19%) Test Automation
12 47 (10.73%) Microservices
12 47 (10.73%) TDD
13 43 (9.82%) Waterfall
14 41 (9.36%) Cybersecurity
14 41 (9.36%) Full-Stack Development
14 41 (9.36%) Stakeholder Management
15 36 (8.22%) UML
16 35 (7.99%) Clean Code
17 32 (7.31%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 95 (21.69%) C#
2 94 (21.46%) SQL
3 84 (19.18%) Java
4 75 (17.12%) JavaScript
5 56 (12.79%) Python
6 30 (6.85%) C
7 27 (6.16%) C++
8 20 (4.57%) TypeScript
9 19 (4.34%) Bash
10 15 (3.42%) Shell Script
11 13 (2.97%) Go
11 13 (2.97%) PowerShell
12 11 (2.51%) PL/SQL
13 8 (1.83%) Delphi
13 8 (1.83%) T-SQL
14 7 (1.60%) Bicep
14 7 (1.60%) Kotlin
15 6 (1.37%) PHP
16 5 (1.14%) Rust
17 4 (0.91%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 95 (21.69%) Degree
2 46 (10.50%) BPSS Clearance
2 46 (10.50%) Computer Science Degree
3 36 (8.22%) Security Cleared
4 20 (4.57%) Chartered Engineer
5 13 (2.97%) SC Cleared
6 11 (2.51%) DV Cleared
7 10 (2.28%) Master's Degree
8 7 (1.60%) PMI Certification
9 5 (1.14%) AWS Certification
9 5 (1.14%) ITIL Certification
10 4 (0.91%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
10 4 (0.91%) CISSP
10 4 (0.91%) ISTQB
10 4 (0.91%) PhD
10 4 (0.91%) PMP
10 4 (0.91%) PRINCE2 Certification
11 3 (0.68%) Azure Certification
11 3 (0.68%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (10.96%) QA
2 23 (5.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 20 (4.57%) ISO/IEC 12207
4 18 (4.11%) NIST
5 14 (3.20%) NCSC
6 11 (2.51%) Accessibility
7 10 (2.28%) IEC 61508
7 10 (2.28%) PCI DSS
8 9 (2.05%) MISRA
9 8 (1.83%) GDPR
9 8 (1.83%) MISRA C
10 6 (1.37%) GRC
10 6 (1.37%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 6 (1.37%) JSP 440
11 3 (0.68%) PMO
12 2 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.46%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.46%) Def Stans
12 2 (0.46%) ECSS
12 2 (0.46%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 43 (9.82%) Docker
2 4 (0.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.68%) Firmware
4 1 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 43 (9.82%) Kubernetes
2 15 (3.42%) Terraform
3 11 (2.51%) Kibana
4 8 (1.83%) Functional Safety
5 5 (1.14%) Grafana
6 4 (0.91%) Argo
6 4 (0.91%) HP Fortify
7 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Intune
7 3 (0.68%) Rancher
7 3 (0.68%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.68%) yum
8 2 (0.46%) Nessus
9 1 (0.23%) Ansible
9 1 (0.23%) CASB
9 1 (0.23%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 79 (18.04%) Microsoft
2 32 (7.31%) Oracle
3 21 (4.79%) Databricks
4 13 (2.97%) Splunk
5 12 (2.74%) Salesforce
6 11 (2.51%) Dynatrace
7 9 (2.05%) SAP
7 9 (2.05%) Siemens
8 7 (1.60%) Google
9 6 (1.37%) Sage
10 5 (1.14%) Xamarin
10 5 (1.14%) Zoho
11 4 (0.91%) VMware
12 3 (0.68%) AppDynamics
13 2 (0.46%) Green Hills
13 2 (0.46%) Lotus
13 2 (0.46%) Qualys
13 2 (0.46%) Workday
14 1 (0.23%) ESRI
14 1 (0.23%) NCR