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 25 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

	6 months to 25 Oct 2026	Same period 2025	Same period 2024
Rank	609	531	548
Rank change year-on-year	-78	+17	-33
Permanent jobs citing Manual Testing	211	130	201
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK	0.17%	0.26%	0.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category	0.24%	0.30%	0.36%
Number of salaries quoted	117	96	113
10^th Percentile	£28,950	£31,250	£30,000
25^th Percentile	£42,466	£41,013	£37,500
Median annual salary (50^th Percentile)	£50,000	£53,000	£55,000
Median % change year-on-year	-5.66%	-3.64%	+10.00%
75^th Percentile	£60,000	£62,813	£65,250
90^th Percentile	£77,500	£72,500	£78,000
UK excluding London median annual salary	£50,000	£52,250	£46,250
% change year-on-year	-4.31%	+12.97%	+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 25 Oct 2026	Same period 2025	Same period 2024
Permanent vacancies citing process or methodology skills	88,933	43,524	56,581
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK	73.56%	88.16%	82.43%
Number of salaries quoted	60,187	24,968	30,074
10^th Percentile	£31,250	£28,250	£33,500
25^th Percentile	£41,250	£35,750	£45,000
Median annual salary (50^th Percentile)	£60,000	£54,000	£60,000
Median % change year-on-year	+11.11%	-10.00%	-
75^th Percentile	£77,500	£75,000	£78,750
90^th Percentile	£100,000	£95,000	£97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary	£55,000	£46,000	£54,000
% change year-on-year	+19.57%	-14.81%	+2.47%

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 25 October 2026.

Salary histogram for Manual Testing in the UK

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 25 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	Job Ads Past 6 Months	Median Salary Past 6 Months	Median Salary % Change on Same Period Last Year	Live Jobs
UK excluding London	-62	171	£50,000	-4.31%	94
England	-144	144	£50,000	-5.66%	154
Work from Home	-9	105	£50,000	-4.76%	88
Northern Ireland	-30	53	-	-	4
South West	-66	36	£50,000	+25.00%	5
South East	-66	31	£52,500	+14.13%	26
London	-82	28	£50,000	-13.04%	60
North of England	-61	24	£50,000	-	32
North East	-	13	£50,000	-	13
Midlands	-55	12	£45,000	+12.50%	10
East of England	-40	11	£44,000	-16.98%	6
East Midlands	-43	8	£42,500	+9.68%	1
North West	-31	7	£47,500	-5.00%	12
Yorkshire	-34	4	-	-	7
West Midlands	-46	4	£53,750	+34.38%	9
Wales	-71	3	£32,000	-46.67%	1
Scotland	+10	1	-	-	10

Manual Testing Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 25 October 2026, job vacancies citing Manual Testing also mentioned 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 citing Manual Testing.

Rank	Skill	Share	Job Ads
1	Test Automation	91.0%	192
2	QA	71.1%	150
3	Continuous Improvement	55.9%	118
3	Software Testing	55.9%	118
5	DevOps	51.2%	108
6	JavaScript	42.7%	90
7	Python	42.2%	89
8	Test Strategy	39.3%	83
9	Mentoring	37.4%	79
10	Agile	36.5%	77
11	C#	32.2%	68
12	CI/CD	30.8%	65
12	Software Engineering	30.8%	65
12	TypeScript	30.8%	65
15	SaaS	29.4%	62
15	Stakeholder Engagement	29.4%	62
17	PowerShell	28.0%	59
18	Project Delivery	27.0%	57
19	Data Management	26.5%	56
20	Budget Management	26.1%	55
20	Change Advisory Board	26.1%	55
20	Enterprise Architecture	26.1%	55
20	Performance Management	26.1%	55
20	Programme Management	26.1%	55
20	Strategic Planning	26.1%	55
20	Virtual Team Management	26.1%	55
27	Problem-Solving	25.6%	54
28	Regression Testing	24.6%	52
29	SQL	24.2%	51
30	SDLC	22.3%	47

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	91.0%	192
2	Continuous Improvement	55.9%	118
2	Software Testing	55.9%	118
4	DevOps	51.2%	108
5	Test Strategy	39.3%	83
6	Mentoring	37.4%	79
7	Agile	36.5%	77
8	CI/CD	30.8%	65
8	Software Engineering	30.8%	65
10	Stakeholder Engagement	29.4%	62
11	Project Delivery	27.0%	57
12	Data Management	26.5%	56
13	Budget Management	26.1%	55
13	Change Advisory Board	26.1%	55
13	Enterprise Architecture	26.1%	55
13	Performance Management	26.1%	55
13	Programme Management	26.1%	55
13	Strategic Planning	26.1%	55
13	Virtual Team Management	26.1%	55
20	Problem-Solving	25.6%	54