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 £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 24 July 2026.

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

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 51 14
Rank change year-on-year +28 -37 +65
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 3,546 1,578 5,586
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 4.87% 4.66% 8.50%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.13% 5.19% 8.96%
Number of salaries quoted 2,841 723 3,184
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £38,691
25th Percentile £53,750 £52,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +18.18% -8.33%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £78,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year -10.83% +30.83% -13.67%

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 69,080 30,398 62,327
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.84% 89.71% 94.83%
Number of salaries quoted 47,750 17,453 43,175
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,929 £27,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £33,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% - -5.21%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £78,083
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £54,389
% change year-on-year - +1.12% -9.35%

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 24 July 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 24 July 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
South East +79 958 £65,000 - 163
North of England +21 927 £65,000 -7.14% 182
South West +27 636 £65,000 - 139
North West +5 526 £70,000 -6.67% 111
East of England +67 420 £70,000 +7.69% 135
Midlands +44 351 £62,500 -3.85% 85
Yorkshire +69 246 £60,000 -12.41% 39
West Midlands +32 182 £65,000 +4.00% 31
East Midlands +21 169 £55,000 -21.43% 54
North East +13 155 £70,000 +27.27% 32
Scotland -13 145 £65,000 - 48
Wales +3 95 £45,000 -34.78% 26
Northern Ireland -52 15 £90,000 +80.00% 18
Software Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 24 July 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 3,503 (98.79%) Software Engineering
2 606 (17.09%) C++
3 547 (15.43%) C#
4 466 (13.14%) Python
5 427 (12.04%) Agile
6 375 (10.58%) AWS
7 359 (10.12%) Full-Stack Development
8 340 (9.59%) Security Cleared
9 317 (8.94%) CI/CD
10 310 (8.74%) .NET
11 304 (8.57%) Java
12 291 (8.21%) Degree
13 290 (8.18%) AI
14 272 (7.67%) Azure
15 264 (7.45%) C
16 256 (7.22%) JavaScript
17 240 (6.77%) Linux
18 235 (6.63%) DevOps
19 231 (6.51%) Mentoring
20 222 (6.26%) TypeScript
21 215 (6.06%) SC Cleared
22 194 (5.47%) Problem-Solving
23 192 (5.41%) Microservices
24 190 (5.36%) React
25 184 (5.19%) SDLC
25 184 (5.19%) SQL
25 184 (5.19%) Test Automation
26 176 (4.96%) Computer Science
27 167 (4.71%) Continuous Improvement
27 167 (4.71%) 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 17 (0.48%) Apache
2 15 (0.42%) SharePoint Server
3 8 (0.23%) FactoryTalk
4 7 (0.20%) Confluence
5 5 (0.14%) WinCC
6 4 (0.11%) Apache Solr
6 4 (0.11%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.11%) CMS
6 4 (0.11%) GeoServer
7 2 (0.056%) ArchestrA
7 2 (0.056%) Headless CMS
7 2 (0.056%) WordPress
8 1 (0.028%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.028%) Umbraco
Applications
1 11 (0.31%) Lightworks
2 5 (0.14%) Simulink
3 4 (0.11%) EPLAN
3 4 (0.11%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.11%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.085%) CANalyzer
5 2 (0.056%) AutoCAD
5 2 (0.056%) EngageOne
6 1 (0.028%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.028%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.028%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.028%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 375 (10.58%) AWS
2 272 (7.67%) Azure
3 154 (4.34%) SaaS
4 94 (2.65%) GCP
5 65 (1.83%) Serverless
6 43 (1.21%) GitHub
7 37 (1.04%) Azure DevOps
8 33 (0.93%) Firebase
9 30 (0.85%) Anthropic Claude
10 20 (0.56%) AWS Lambda
11 16 (0.45%) Amazon S3
12 15 (0.42%) Cloud Run
12 15 (0.42%) GitHub Actions
13 13 (0.37%) Azure AKS
14 12 (0.34%) AWS CloudFormation
15 11 (0.31%) Amazon EKS
16 8 (0.23%) Azure Cosmos DB
16 8 (0.23%) OpenShift
17 7 (0.20%) Amazon ECS
17 7 (0.20%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 58 (1.64%) Wireless
2 36 (1.02%) Ethernet
3 27 (0.76%) Bluetooth
4 24 (0.68%) RS-232
5 23 (0.65%) Modbus
6 17 (0.48%) MQTT
6 17 (0.48%) ZigBee
7 16 (0.45%) Wi-Fi
8 15 (0.42%) Profibus
8 15 (0.42%) TCP/IP
9 12 (0.34%) RS-485
10 9 (0.25%) LTE
11 8 (0.23%) ATM
11 8 (0.23%) Network Security
12 5 (0.14%) Broadband
12 5 (0.14%) Wireshark
13 4 (0.11%) AMQP
13 4 (0.11%) Software-Defined Radio
14 3 (0.085%) Software-Defined Networking
15 2 (0.056%) LoRaWAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 75 (2.12%) PostgreSQL
2 64 (1.80%) SQL Server
3 63 (1.78%) MongoDB
4 56 (1.58%) NoSQL
5 47 (1.33%) MySQL
6 18 (0.51%) Relational Database
7 17 (0.48%) Elasticsearch
8 15 (0.42%) Pinecone
8 15 (0.42%) Redis
9 13 (0.37%) Big Data
10 9 (0.25%) DynamoDB
11 7 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
12 6 (0.17%) Hadoop
13 5 (0.14%) FileMaker
13 5 (0.14%) Neo4j
14 4 (0.11%) Cloudera CDH
14 4 (0.11%) Geospatial Data
14 4 (0.11%) GIS
14 4 (0.11%) MariaDB
14 4 (0.11%) QGIS
Development Applications
1 128 (3.61%) Git
2 48 (1.35%) GitLab
3 31 (0.87%) JIRA
4 30 (0.85%) Jenkins
5 22 (0.62%) Visual Studio Code
6 18 (0.51%) Claude Code
7 13 (0.37%) Visual Studio
8 11 (0.31%) Cucumber
9 9 (0.25%) SonarQube
10 7 (0.20%) GDB
10 7 (0.20%) JUnit
10 7 (0.20%) Moq
11 6 (0.17%) Bitbucket
11 6 (0.17%) Eclipse
11 6 (0.17%) LabVIEW
11 6 (0.17%) Yeoman
12 5 (0.14%) Postman
13 4 (0.11%) Robot Framework
13 4 (0.11%) Subversion
14 3 (0.085%) Maven
General
1 215 (6.06%) Manufacturing
2 184 (5.19%) Electronics
3 165 (4.65%) Social Skills
4 98 (2.76%) Finance
5 89 (2.51%) Aerospace
6 81 (2.28%) Automotive
7 79 (2.23%) Public Sector
8 45 (1.27%) Analytical Skills
9 35 (0.99%) Pharmaceutical
10 33 (0.93%) Aviation
11 26 (0.73%) Retail
12 23 (0.65%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 19 (0.54%) Games
13 19 (0.54%) Military
13 19 (0.54%) Telecoms
14 14 (0.39%) Organisational Skills
15 12 (0.34%) Tech for Good
16 9 (0.25%) Agriculture
16 9 (0.25%) Health Technology
16 9 (0.25%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 310 (8.74%) .NET
2 190 (5.36%) React
3 117 (3.30%) Node.js
4 101 (2.85%) Vue
5 72 (2.03%) WPF
6 71 (2.00%) AngularJS
7 65 (1.83%) CSS
8 61 (1.72%) RESTful
9 60 (1.69%) HTML
9 60 (1.69%) REST
9 60 (1.69%) Spring
10 53 (1.49%) Spring Boot
11 40 (1.13%) .NET Core
12 38 (1.07%) Next.js
13 35 (0.99%) Django
14 34 (0.96%) .NET Framework
15 25 (0.71%) Yocto
16 21 (0.59%) Entity Framework
16 21 (0.59%) WebSockets
17 20 (0.56%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 152 (4.29%) Cloud Native
2 122 (3.44%) Embedded Systems
3 89 (2.51%) Algorithms
4 88 (2.48%) Robotics
5 76 (2.14%) Legacy Systems
6 65 (1.83%) Product Ownership
7 59 (1.66%) IoT
8 58 (1.64%) Distributed Systems
9 56 (1.58%) AI Agents
10 45 (1.27%) Greenfield Project
11 31 (0.87%) Mobile App
12 30 (0.85%) Device Driver
13 21 (0.59%) Client/Server
14 20 (0.56%) ARM Cortex
14 20 (0.56%) Hedge funds
15 19 (0.54%) Data Structures
15 19 (0.54%) Public Cloud
16 18 (0.51%) Cyber Threat
16 18 (0.51%) Distributed Computing
16 18 (0.51%) Educational Technology
Operating Systems
1 240 (6.77%) Linux
2 51 (1.44%) Windows
3 49 (1.38%) Embedded Linux
4 31 (0.87%) FreeRTOS
5 29 (0.82%) Android
6 9 (0.25%) Debian
7 7 (0.20%) Apple iOS
8 5 (0.14%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.14%) Windows Server
9 4 (0.11%) CentOS
9 4 (0.11%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.085%) Gentoo
11 2 (0.056%) Robot Operating System
11 2 (0.056%) SafeRTOS
11 2 (0.056%) Unix
11 2 (0.056%) Windows 10
11 2 (0.056%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.056%) zOS
12 1 (0.028%) ThreadX
12 1 (0.028%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 3,503 (98.79%) Software Engineering
2 427 (12.04%) Agile
3 359 (10.12%) Full-Stack Development
4 317 (8.94%) CI/CD
5 290 (8.18%) AI
6 235 (6.63%) DevOps
7 231 (6.51%) Mentoring
8 194 (5.47%) Problem-Solving
9 192 (5.41%) Microservices
10 184 (5.19%) SDLC
10 184 (5.19%) Test Automation
11 176 (4.96%) Computer Science
12 167 (4.71%) Continuous Improvement
13 126 (3.55%) Containerisation
14 118 (3.33%) Software Architecture
15 113 (3.19%) TDD
16 109 (3.07%) Software Testing
17 104 (2.93%) Scrum
18 98 (2.76%) Code Quality
19 92 (2.59%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 606 (17.09%) C++
2 547 (15.43%) C#
3 466 (13.14%) Python
4 304 (8.57%) Java
5 264 (7.45%) C
6 256 (7.22%) JavaScript
7 222 (6.26%) TypeScript
8 184 (5.19%) SQL
9 124 (3.50%) Rust
10 59 (1.66%) PHP
11 54 (1.52%) Embedded C
11 54 (1.52%) Go
12 26 (0.73%) Ruby
13 24 (0.68%) Embedded C++
14 18 (0.51%) Bash
15 17 (0.48%) COBOL
15 17 (0.48%) Kotlin
16 14 (0.39%) Scala
17 13 (0.37%) MATLAB
18 10 (0.28%) Ada
Qualifications
1 340 (9.59%) Security Cleared
2 291 (8.21%) Degree
3 215 (6.06%) SC Cleared
4 138 (3.89%) DV Cleared
5 133 (3.75%) Computer Science Degree
6 52 (1.47%) Master's Degree
7 24 (0.68%) PhD
8 13 (0.37%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (0.28%) HND
10 9 (0.25%) DBS Check
11 8 (0.23%) Azure Certification
12 6 (0.17%) HNC
13 5 (0.14%) AWS Certification
13 5 (0.14%) CEH
13 5 (0.14%) OSCP
14 4 (0.11%) Microsoft Certification
15 2 (0.056%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 2 (0.056%) NVQ Level 3
16 1 (0.028%) Chartered Engineer
16 1 (0.028%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 73 (2.06%) QA
2 28 (0.79%) Accessibility
3 8 (0.23%) IEC 61131
4 7 (0.20%) IEC 61508
4 7 (0.20%) MISRA
4 7 (0.20%) MISRA C
5 6 (0.17%) JTAG
6 4 (0.11%) DO-178B
7 3 (0.085%) ECSS
7 3 (0.085%) GAMP
7 3 (0.085%) GDPR
7 3 (0.085%) ISO 9001
8 2 (0.056%) ISO 26262
9 1 (0.028%) Automotive SPICE
9 1 (0.028%) DO-254
9 1 (0.028%) HAZOP
9 1 (0.028%) IEC 62304
9 1 (0.028%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 1 (0.028%) Software Quality Assurance
9 1 (0.028%) WCAG
System Software
1 167 (4.71%) Docker
2 156 (4.40%) Firmware
3 52 (1.47%) Embedded Firmware
4 11 (0.31%) KVM
4 11 (0.31%) VMware Infrastructure
5 10 (0.28%) Hyper-V
6 7 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.14%) QEMU
8 2 (0.056%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 131 (3.69%) Kubernetes
2 83 (2.34%) Terraform
3 32 (0.90%) Ansible
4 8 (0.23%) Grafana
5 7 (0.20%) Kibana
5 7 (0.20%) logstash
5 7 (0.20%) Podman
6 5 (0.14%) Functional Safety
6 5 (0.14%) Puppet
7 3 (0.085%) Plesk
7 3 (0.085%) SCCM
7 3 (0.085%) SCOM
7 3 (0.085%) SCOrch
8 2 (0.056%) Microsoft Intune
8 2 (0.056%) Packer
8 2 (0.056%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.028%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 30 (0.85%) Siemens
2 29 (0.82%) Microsoft
3 19 (0.54%) Rockwell
4 18 (0.51%) Google
5 15 (0.42%) Oracle
6 13 (0.37%) VMware
7 12 (0.34%) Salesforce
8 11 (0.31%) Okta
8 11 (0.31%) Ping Identity
9 10 (0.28%) Allen-Bradley
10 9 (0.25%) OpenAI
11 7 (0.20%) Atlassian
12 6 (0.17%) Intel
12 6 (0.17%) Splunk
13 5 (0.14%) Xamarin
14 4 (0.11%) ForgeRock
14 4 (0.11%) Peregrine
14 4 (0.11%) Red Hat
14 4 (0.11%) SaltStack
15 3 (0.085%) IBM