Software Engineer Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
UK > UK excluding London

The median Software Engineer salary in the UK excluding London is £67,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 September 2026.

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

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 64 15
Rank change year-on-year +43 -49 +55
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 4,270 1,335 4,571
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 5.13% 3.87% 8.25%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.48% 4.34% 8.67%
Number of salaries quoted 3,391 505 2,492
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,500 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £55,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.85% +18.18% -8.33%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £69,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £62,500
% change year-on-year -12.50% +28.00% -10.00%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK excluding London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the UK excluding London. 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 the UK excluding London with a recognized job title 77,965 30,790 52,750
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.62% 89.32% 95.20%
Number of salaries quoted 54,160 17,488 31,395
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £38,536
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £80,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £59,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +7.27% - -8.33%

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 14 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Engineer in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
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 Software Engineer within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 14 September 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 +26 1,054 £70,000 - 271
South East +98 1,016 £65,000 -7.14% 283
South West +43 859 £68,000 +4.62% 259
North West +16 591 £70,000 -6.67% 178
East of England +109 558 £70,000 +7.69% 301
Midlands +65 440 £65,000 - 117
Yorkshire +82 261 £60,000 -7.69% 71
East Midlands +42 237 £55,000 -21.43% 68
West Midlands +54 203 £69,305 +13.15% 49
North East +23 202 £70,000 +21.74% 26
Scotland -4 192 £77,500 +20.16% 273
Wales +21 137 £60,000 +9.09% 22
Northern Ireland - 15 £90,000 - 46
Software Engineer
UK

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London

For the 6 months to 14 September 2026, Software 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 UK excluding London region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 4,233 (99.13%) Software Engineering
2 660 (15.46%) C++
3 604 (14.15%) C#
4 527 (12.34%) Python
5 518 (12.13%) Agile
6 411 (9.63%) Security Cleared
7 405 (9.48%) AWS
8 391 (9.16%) AI
9 359 (8.41%) CI/CD
10 358 (8.38%) Full-Stack Development
11 340 (7.96%) Java
12 301 (7.05%) .NET
13 294 (6.89%) Linux
14 281 (6.58%) Degree
15 268 (6.28%) Azure
16 263 (6.16%) SC Cleared
17 258 (6.04%) JavaScript
18 254 (5.95%) C
18 254 (5.95%) TypeScript
19 247 (5.78%) Mentoring
20 233 (5.46%) DevOps
21 224 (5.25%) Problem-Solving
22 214 (5.01%) React
23 202 (4.73%) SDLC
24 188 (4.40%) Test Automation
25 187 (4.38%) Microservices
26 178 (4.17%) DV Cleared
27 176 (4.12%) Computer Science
28 175 (4.10%) Continuous Improvement
28 175 (4.10%) Docker

Software Engineer Skill Set
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 26 (0.61%) Apache
2 15 (0.35%) SharePoint Server
3 8 (0.19%) Confluence
3 8 (0.19%) FactoryTalk
4 7 (0.16%) Apache Spark
4 7 (0.16%) WinCC
5 5 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.070%) Apache Solr
7 2 (0.047%) ArchestrA
7 2 (0.047%) SharePoint
7 2 (0.047%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.047%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.047%) WordPress
8 1 (0.023%) Cloud Foundry
8 1 (0.023%) CMS
8 1 (0.023%) GeoServer
8 1 (0.023%) Headless CMS
8 1 (0.023%) OpenStack
Applications
1 17 (0.40%) Lightworks
2 11 (0.26%) Simulink
3 4 (0.094%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.094%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.094%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.047%) CANalyzer
4 2 (0.047%) EPLAN
5 1 (0.023%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.023%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.023%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
2 2 (0.047%) Visualfiles
3 1 (0.023%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 405 (9.48%) AWS
2 268 (6.28%) Azure
3 144 (3.37%) SaaS
4 106 (2.48%) GCP
5 69 (1.62%) Serverless
6 50 (1.17%) GitHub
7 37 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (0.84%) Firebase
9 29 (0.68%) Anthropic Claude
9 29 (0.68%) AWS Lambda
10 21 (0.49%) GitHub Actions
11 19 (0.44%) AWS CloudFormation
12 18 (0.42%) Amazon EKS
13 17 (0.40%) Amazon S3
14 16 (0.37%) Cloud Run
15 13 (0.30%) OpenShift
16 11 (0.26%) Slack
17 10 (0.23%) GitHub Copilot
18 9 (0.21%) AWS Step Functions
19 8 (0.19%) Azure Service Bus
Communications & Networking
1 66 (1.55%) Wireless
2 37 (0.87%) Ethernet
3 29 (0.68%) Bluetooth
4 25 (0.59%) Modbus
5 23 (0.54%) TCP/IP
6 20 (0.47%) MQTT
7 19 (0.44%) Wi-Fi
8 18 (0.42%) RS-232
9 17 (0.40%) ZigBee
10 15 (0.35%) Profibus
11 12 (0.28%) RS-485
12 11 (0.26%) LTE
13 10 (0.23%) 5G
13 10 (0.23%) ATM
14 6 (0.14%) AMQP
14 6 (0.14%) Wireshark
15 5 (0.12%) Internet
16 3 (0.070%) Firewall
16 3 (0.070%) Software-Defined Radio
17 2 (0.047%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 83 (1.94%) PostgreSQL
2 57 (1.33%) SQL Server
3 52 (1.22%) MongoDB
4 45 (1.05%) NoSQL
5 39 (0.91%) MySQL
6 30 (0.70%) Relational Database
7 20 (0.47%) Redis
8 19 (0.44%) Elasticsearch
9 16 (0.37%) Chroma
9 16 (0.37%) DynamoDB
9 16 (0.37%) Pinecone
10 12 (0.28%) Big Data
11 8 (0.19%) Hadoop
12 7 (0.16%) Azure SQL Database
13 6 (0.14%) Cloudera CDH
14 4 (0.094%) Amazon RDS
14 4 (0.094%) Data Lake
14 4 (0.094%) FileMaker
14 4 (0.094%) MariaDB
15 3 (0.070%) Data Warehouse
Development Applications
1 143 (3.35%) Git
2 52 (1.22%) GitLab
3 34 (0.80%) Jenkins
4 33 (0.77%) JIRA
5 20 (0.47%) Visual Studio Code
6 16 (0.37%) Claude Code
7 15 (0.35%) Cucumber
8 14 (0.33%) Visual Studio
9 11 (0.26%) SonarQube
10 9 (0.21%) JUnit
11 8 (0.19%) GDB
12 7 (0.16%) Cypress.io
12 7 (0.16%) LabVIEW
12 7 (0.16%) Moq
13 6 (0.14%) CMake
13 6 (0.14%) Mockito
14 5 (0.12%) Bitbucket
14 5 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
14 5 (0.12%) Yeoman
15 4 (0.094%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 222 (5.20%) Manufacturing
2 218 (5.11%) Electronics
3 189 (4.43%) Social Skills
4 154 (3.61%) Finance
5 125 (2.93%) Aerospace
6 107 (2.51%) Public Sector
7 82 (1.92%) Automotive
8 60 (1.41%) Aviation
9 56 (1.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 49 (1.15%) Analytical Skills
11 35 (0.82%) Retail
12 28 (0.66%) Law
12 28 (0.66%) Pharmaceutical
13 26 (0.61%) Games
14 25 (0.59%) Military
15 17 (0.40%) Marketing
15 17 (0.40%) Tech for Good
16 16 (0.37%) Telecoms
17 15 (0.35%) Organisational Skills
18 12 (0.28%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 301 (7.05%) .NET
2 214 (5.01%) React
3 112 (2.62%) Node.js
4 100 (2.34%) Vue
5 94 (2.20%) Terraform
6 84 (1.97%) WPF
7 75 (1.76%) Spring
8 72 (1.69%) AngularJS
9 71 (1.66%) Spring Boot
10 70 (1.64%) CSS
11 57 (1.33%) REST
12 52 (1.22%) HTML
13 51 (1.19%) RESTful
14 36 (0.84%) Next.js
15 32 (0.75%) Django
15 32 (0.75%) React Native
16 29 (0.68%) .NET Core
17 27 (0.63%) .NET Framework
18 23 (0.54%) ASP.NET
18 23 (0.54%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 165 (3.86%) Cloud Native
2 131 (3.07%) Embedded Systems
3 119 (2.79%) Robotics
4 106 (2.48%) Algorithms
5 84 (1.97%) Legacy Systems
6 68 (1.59%) Product Ownership
7 66 (1.55%) AI Agents
8 62 (1.45%) Distributed Systems
9 55 (1.29%) IoT
10 45 (1.05%) Greenfield Project
11 38 (0.89%) Public Cloud
12 28 (0.66%) Cyber Threat
12 28 (0.66%) Mobile App
13 26 (0.61%) Data Structures
14 24 (0.56%) Device Driver
15 22 (0.52%) Distributed Computing
16 21 (0.49%) ARM Cortex
17 18 (0.42%) Educational Technology
18 17 (0.40%) NHS
19 15 (0.35%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 294 (6.89%) Linux
2 71 (1.66%) Windows
3 59 (1.38%) Embedded Linux
4 31 (0.73%) Android
4 31 (0.73%) FreeRTOS
5 11 (0.26%) Debian
6 8 (0.19%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 8 (0.19%) Ubuntu
7 7 (0.16%) VxWorks
8 6 (0.14%) CentOS
9 5 (0.12%) Unix
9 5 (0.12%) Windows Server
10 3 (0.070%) Gentoo
11 2 (0.047%) Robot Operating System
11 2 (0.047%) SafeRTOS
11 2 (0.047%) Windows 10
11 2 (0.047%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.047%) zOS
12 1 (0.023%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 4,233 (99.13%) Software Engineering
2 518 (12.13%) Agile
3 391 (9.16%) AI
4 359 (8.41%) CI/CD
5 358 (8.38%) Full-Stack Development
6 247 (5.78%) Mentoring
7 233 (5.46%) DevOps
8 224 (5.25%) Problem-Solving
9 202 (4.73%) SDLC
10 188 (4.40%) Test Automation
11 187 (4.38%) Microservices
12 176 (4.12%) Computer Science
13 175 (4.10%) Continuous Improvement
14 136 (3.19%) Software Architecture
15 127 (2.97%) Technical Leadership
16 125 (2.93%) Code Quality
17 122 (2.86%) Containerisation
18 115 (2.69%) Software Testing
19 104 (2.44%) Machine Learning
20 99 (2.32%) Embedded Software Development
Programming Languages
1 660 (15.46%) C++
2 604 (14.15%) C#
3 527 (12.34%) Python
4 340 (7.96%) Java
5 258 (6.04%) JavaScript
6 254 (5.95%) C
6 254 (5.95%) TypeScript
7 175 (4.10%) SQL
8 123 (2.88%) Rust
9 70 (1.64%) Go
10 55 (1.29%) PHP
11 42 (0.98%) Embedded C
12 29 (0.68%) Embedded C++
12 29 (0.68%) Ruby
13 25 (0.59%) Ada
14 20 (0.47%) Bash
15 18 (0.42%) MATLAB
16 17 (0.40%) COBOL
16 17 (0.40%) Kotlin
17 13 (0.30%) Scala
Qualifications
1 411 (9.63%) Security Cleared
2 281 (6.58%) Degree
3 263 (6.16%) SC Cleared
4 178 (4.17%) DV Cleared
5 124 (2.90%) Computer Science Degree
6 52 (1.22%) Master's Degree
7 34 (0.80%) BPSS Clearance
8 27 (0.63%) PhD
9 11 (0.26%) DBS Check
10 8 (0.19%) Azure Certification
11 6 (0.14%) AWS Certification
11 6 (0.14%) HND
12 5 (0.12%) CEH
12 5 (0.12%) OSCP
13 4 (0.094%) Microsoft Certification
14 3 (0.070%) HNC
14 3 (0.070%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 2 (0.047%) Numerate Degree
16 1 (0.023%) ISTQB
16 1 (0.023%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 69 (1.62%) QA
2 51 (1.19%) Accessibility
3 10 (0.23%) IEC 61131
4 8 (0.19%) IEC 61508
4 8 (0.19%) MISRA
4 8 (0.19%) MISRA C
5 6 (0.14%) JTAG
6 5 (0.12%) DO-178B
7 4 (0.094%) Data Quality
7 4 (0.094%) ISO 26262
8 3 (0.070%) Automotive SPICE
8 3 (0.070%) ECSS
8 3 (0.070%) GAMP
8 3 (0.070%) MIL-STD-1553
8 3 (0.070%) WCAG
9 2 (0.047%) AUTOSAR
9 2 (0.047%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 1 (0.023%) DO-254
10 1 (0.023%) IEC 62304
10 1 (0.023%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 175 (4.10%) Docker
2 168 (3.93%) Firmware
3 50 (1.17%) Embedded Firmware
4 7 (0.16%) QEMU
5 6 (0.14%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.094%) KVM
6 4 (0.094%) VMware Infrastructure
7 3 (0.070%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.047%) Active Directory
8 2 (0.047%) Time Sharing Option
9 1 (0.023%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 137 (3.21%) Kubernetes
2 44 (1.03%) Ansible
3 14 (0.33%) Grafana
4 10 (0.23%) Podman
5 8 (0.19%) Kibana
5 8 (0.19%) logstash
5 8 (0.19%) Puppet
6 6 (0.14%) Functional Safety
7 3 (0.070%) Plesk
7 3 (0.070%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.070%) SCCM
7 3 (0.070%) SCOM
7 3 (0.070%) SCOrch
8 2 (0.047%) Microsoft Intune
9 1 (0.023%) Packer
9 1 (0.023%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 37 (0.87%) Siemens
2 32 (0.75%) Microsoft
3 21 (0.49%) Google
4 19 (0.44%) Salesforce
5 15 (0.35%) Rockwell
6 14 (0.33%) Okta
6 14 (0.33%) Ping Identity
7 13 (0.30%) Databricks
7 13 (0.30%) Oracle
8 12 (0.28%) Splunk
9 9 (0.21%) OpenAI
10 8 (0.19%) Allen-Bradley
10 8 (0.19%) Red Hat
10 8 (0.19%) RedGate
10 8 (0.19%) Sage
11 6 (0.14%) Atlassian
11 6 (0.14%) Intel
11 6 (0.14%) SaltStack
11 6 (0.14%) VMware
12 5 (0.12%) New Relic