Manual Testing Job Trends
Manual Testing
UK
The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs citing Manual Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 November 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 10 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 624 | 536 | 559 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -88 | +23 | -47 |
| Permanent jobs citing Manual Testing | 210 | 123 | 201 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.17% | 0.24% | 0.30% |
| As % of the Processes & Methodologies category | 0.23% | 0.28% | 0.36% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 121 | 90 | 115 |
| 10th Percentile | £32,000 | £31,250 | £30,000 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £40,538 | £37,500 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £50,000 | £52,500 | £55,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -4.76% | -4.55% | +10.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £60,000 | £63,438 | £65,250 |
| 90th Percentile | £77,500 | £71,500 | £78,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £50,000 | £50,000 | £46,250 |
| % change year-on-year | - | +8.11% | +2.78% |
All Process & Methodology Skills
UK
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 citing process or methodology skills.
| 6 months to 10 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies citing process or methodology skills | 90,706 | 44,404 | 55,780 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK | 73.65% | 86.64% | 82.84% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 60,128 | 26,555 | 29,039 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,250 | £28,250 | £34,000 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,800 | £35,500 | £45,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,999 | £53,700 | £60,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +11.73% | -10.50% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £77,500 | £75,000 | £78,750 |
| 90th Percentile | £100,000 | £95,000 | £97,500 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £46,750 | £54,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +17.65% | -13.43% | +2.86% |
Manual Testing Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Manual Testing relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.
Manual Testing Salary Trend
Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Manual Testing.
Manual Testing Salary Histogram
Salary distribution for jobs citing Manual Testing over the 6 months to 10 November 2026.
Manual Testing Top 17 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Manual Testing within the UK over the 6 months to 10 November 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Salary Past 6 Months |
Median Salary % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK excluding London | -76 | 166 | £50,000 | - | 93 |
| England | -123 | 142 | £50,000 | -4.76% | 164 |
| Work from Home | -3 | 105 | £50,000 | - | 85 |
| Northern Ireland | -34 | 53 | - | - | 1 |
| South West | -62 | 33 | £47,500 | +35.71% | 9 |
| London | -72 | 32 | £50,000 | -13.04% | 78 |
| North of England | -55 | 27 | £50,000 | +11.11% | 28 |
| South East | -87 | 26 | £52,500 | +14.13% | 20 |
| North East | - | 13 | £50,000 | - | 9 |
| Midlands | -81 | 12 | £45,000 | +12.50% | 7 |
| East of England | -62 | 11 | £44,000 | -22.12% | 11 |
| North West | -53 | 8 | £47,500 | +5.56% | 15 |
| East Midlands | -57 | 8 | £42,500 | -12.82% | 3 |
| Yorkshire | -46 | 6 | - | - | 4 |
| West Midlands | -49 | 4 | £53,750 | +34.38% | 4 |
| Wales | -70 | 3 | £32,000 | -46.67% | 6 |
| Scotland | -8 | 1 | - | - | 13 |
Manual Testing Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 | Test Automation | 90.5% | 190 |
| 2 | Continuous Improvement | 55.7% | 117 |
| 3 | Software Testing | 54.8% | 115 |
| 4 | DevOps | 51.0% | 107 |
| 5 | Test Strategy | 38.6% | 81 |
| 6 | Mentoring | 37.1% | 78 |
| 7 | Agile | 35.7% | 75 |
| 8 | Software Engineering | 31.4% | 66 |
| 9 | CI/CD | 31.0% | 65 |
| 10 | Stakeholder Engagement | 29.0% | 61 |
| 11 | Project Delivery | 27.1% | 57 |
| 12 | Problem-Solving | 26.7% | 56 |
| 12 | Regression Testing | 26.7% | 56 |
| 14 | Budget Management | 26.2% | 55 |
| 14 | Change Advisory Board | 26.2% | 55 |
| 14 | Data Management | 26.2% | 55 |
| 14 | Enterprise Architecture | 26.2% | 55 |
| 14 | Performance Management | 26.2% | 55 |
| 14 | Programme Management | 26.2% | 55 |
| 14 | Strategic Planning | 26.2% | 55 |