Software Testing Job Trends

Software Testing
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Software Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 263 226 174
Rank change year-on-year -37 -52 -102
Permanent jobs citing Software Testing 637 646 1,585
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.70% 1.48% 1.64%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.94% 1.58% 1.93%
Number of salaries quoted 457 473 1,269
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,750 £31,250
25th Percentile £39,750 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £53,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.77% +6.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £81,000 £87,500 £83,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £49,329
% change year-on-year - +1.36% -1.34%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Software 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 requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 67,438 40,826 82,224
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 74.22% 93.31% 85.22%
Number of salaries quoted 42,850 22,742 59,687
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,250 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -10.10%
75th Percentile £78,750 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,491 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - +5.00% -9.09%

Software Testing
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Software Testing relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Software Testing job vacancy trend in the UK

Software Testing
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Software Testing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Software Testing

Software Testing
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Testing over the 6 months to 10 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Testing in the UK

Software Testing
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Testing within the UK over the 6 months to 10 May 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
England -29 569 £55,000 +3.77% 248
UK excluding London -53 437 £50,000 - 227
Work from Home -4 237 £55,000 -4.35% 96
South East -4 156 £51,000 -2.86% 60
London -18 147 £60,000 -7.69% 38
North of England -53 96 £47,911 +6.47% 43
South West -39 66 £47,500 -2.08% 27
Midlands -49 56 £55,000 +22.22% 44
North West -3 52 £50,000 -4.76% 21
East of England 0 39 £50,000 -5.66% 42
West Midlands -45 31 £60,000 +45.45% 28
Yorkshire -68 29 £35,000 +13.36% 11
East Midlands -44 25 £55,000 +18.92% 16
Wales -20 15 £44,000 -29.60% 5
North East -34 15 £55,000 +37.50% 11
Scotland -36 9 £50,000 -4.76% 10

Software Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 11 (1.73%) Confluence
2 10 (1.57%) IIS
3 7 (1.10%) Moodle
4 5 (0.78%) SharePoint
5 4 (0.63%) CMS
5 4 (0.63%) WordPress
6 2 (0.31%) Apache
6 2 (0.31%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.16%) Jupyter
Applications
1 11 (1.73%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (1.57%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.78%) AutoCAD
3 5 (0.78%) DaVinci Resolve
3 5 (0.78%) MS Visio
3 5 (0.78%) Simulink
4 4 (0.63%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.63%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.47%) CANalyzer
5 3 (0.47%) Photoshop
6 2 (0.31%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.47%) Misys Midas
2 2 (0.31%) Shopify
2 2 (0.31%) Workday HCM
3 1 (0.16%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.16%) Misys Equation
3 1 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
3 1 (0.16%) Sage X3
Cloud Services
1 116 (18.21%) AWS
1 116 (18.21%) Azure
2 45 (7.06%) Azure DevOps
3 41 (6.44%) GCP
4 25 (3.92%) GitHub
5 17 (2.67%) SaaS
5 17 (2.67%) Serverless
6 16 (2.51%) BrowserStack
7 12 (1.88%) OpenShift
8 11 (1.73%) GitHub Actions
9 9 (1.41%) AWS Lambda
10 8 (1.26%) Power Platform
11 7 (1.10%) Anthropic Claude
11 7 (1.10%) AWS CloudFormation
11 7 (1.10%) GitHub Copilot
12 6 (0.94%) Microsoft 365
13 5 (0.78%) Azure Data Factory
13 5 (0.78%) Tricentis Tosca
14 4 (0.63%) Amazon S3
14 4 (0.63%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 10 (1.57%) Broadband
2 6 (0.94%) Ethernet
3 5 (0.78%) SNMP
3 5 (0.78%) VPN
4 4 (0.63%) HTTP
4 4 (0.63%) Network Security
5 3 (0.47%) Cisco ISE
5 3 (0.47%) Software-Defined Radio
6 2 (0.31%) Modbus
6 2 (0.31%) MQTT
7 1 (0.16%) AMQP
7 1 (0.16%) Bluetooth
7 1 (0.16%) LTE
7 1 (0.16%) TCP/IP
7 1 (0.16%) Wi-Fi
7 1 (0.16%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (5.81%) SQL Server
2 25 (3.92%) PostgreSQL
3 17 (2.67%) OLTP
4 14 (2.20%) MongoDB
5 12 (1.88%) MySQL
6 10 (1.57%) DynamoDB
7 9 (1.41%) Elasticsearch
8 8 (1.26%) InfluxDB
8 8 (1.26%) NoSQL
8 8 (1.26%) Relational Database
9 6 (0.94%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (0.78%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.78%) Oracle Database
10 5 (0.78%) Power BI
10 5 (0.78%) Spark SQL
11 4 (0.63%) Crystal Reports
12 2 (0.31%) Amazon Redshift
12 2 (0.31%) DB2
12 2 (0.31%) Easytrieve
13 1 (0.16%) Geospatial Data
Development Applications
1 95 (14.91%) JIRA
2 67 (10.52%) Selenium
3 62 (9.73%) Git
4 51 (8.01%) Postman
5 47 (7.38%) GitLab
6 38 (5.97%) Jenkins
7 31 (4.87%) SoapUI
8 27 (4.24%) Team Foundation Server
9 26 (4.08%) WebDriver
10 22 (3.45%) Cypress.io
10 22 (3.45%) TestRail
11 16 (2.51%) Cucumber
12 15 (2.35%) JMeter
13 13 (2.04%) Zephyr
14 10 (1.57%) JUnit
14 10 (1.57%) REST Assured
14 10 (1.57%) Robot Framework
14 10 (1.57%) Subversion
14 10 (1.57%) Visual Studio Code
15 9 (1.41%) LoadRunner
General
1 189 (29.67%) Social Skills
2 88 (13.81%) Finance
3 86 (13.50%) Analytical Skills
4 34 (5.34%) Electronics
5 26 (4.08%) Manufacturing
6 24 (3.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 22 (3.45%) Law
7 22 (3.45%) Retail
8 19 (2.98%) Banking
9 14 (2.20%) Public Sector
10 12 (1.88%) Aerospace
10 12 (1.88%) Games
11 10 (1.57%) Organisational Skills
12 9 (1.41%) Health Technology
13 7 (1.10%) Documentation Skills
13 7 (1.10%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (1.10%) Pharmaceutical
14 6 (0.94%) Back Office
14 6 (0.94%) Marketing
14 6 (0.94%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 142 (22.29%) Senior
2 110 (17.27%) Software Engineer
3 84 (13.19%) Test Engineer
4 71 (11.15%) Analyst
5 70 (10.99%) Developer
5 70 (10.99%) Tester
6 65 (10.20%) Lead
7 44 (6.91%) Software Test Engineer
8 43 (6.75%) Development Engineer
8 43 (6.75%) Senior Developer
9 42 (6.59%) Software Development Engineer
9 42 (6.59%) Software Tester
10 37 (5.81%) Test Development Engineer
11 32 (5.02%) Senior Software Engineer
12 28 (4.40%) Test Analyst
13 27 (4.24%) Test Automation Engineer
14 26 (4.08%) Embedded Engineer
15 24 (3.77%) Software Developer
16 20 (3.14%) Oracle Developer
16 20 (3.14%) Senior Oracle Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 79 (12.40%) .NET
2 58 (9.11%) HTML
3 47 (7.38%) Playwright
4 46 (7.22%) SOAP
5 35 (5.49%) React
6 28 (4.40%) XML
7 24 (3.77%) Node.js
8 21 (3.30%) REST
9 13 (2.04%) ASP.NET
10 12 (1.88%) JSON
10 12 (1.88%) RESTful
10 12 (1.88%) Spring
11 11 (1.73%) CSS
12 10 (1.57%) Elastic Stack
13 9 (1.41%) .NET Framework
13 9 (1.41%) Spring Boot
14 8 (1.26%) React Native
15 6 (0.94%) pytest
16 5 (0.78%) PySpark
16 5 (0.78%) Swagger
Miscellaneous
1 55 (8.63%) Product Ownership
2 25 (3.92%) Algorithms
3 21 (3.30%) Embedded Systems
4 19 (2.98%) Mobile App
5 17 (2.67%) Cloud Native
6 13 (2.04%) Distributed Systems
7 12 (1.88%) Analytical Mindset
7 12 (1.88%) Client/Server
7 12 (1.88%) Self-Motivation
8 10 (1.57%) Management Information System
9 9 (1.41%) Low-Code
9 9 (1.41%) Robotics
10 8 (1.26%) Enterprise Software
11 7 (1.10%) e-Learning
11 7 (1.10%) FPGA
11 7 (1.10%) Legacy Systems
11 7 (1.10%) NHS
11 7 (1.10%) Video\Live Streaming
12 6 (0.94%) Life Science
12 6 (0.94%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 54 (8.48%) Windows
2 46 (7.22%) Linux
3 10 (1.57%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.41%) Android
5 8 (1.26%) CentOS
6 5 (0.78%) Unix
7 4 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 4 (0.63%) Windows Server 2019
8 3 (0.47%) FreeRTOS
8 3 (0.47%) Kali Linux
8 3 (0.47%) VMS
9 2 (0.31%) zOS
10 1 (0.16%) Apple iOS
10 1 (0.16%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.16%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.16%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 261 (40.97%) Test Automation
2 239 (37.52%) Agile
3 149 (23.39%) Continuous Improvement
4 146 (22.92%) Software Engineering
5 129 (20.25%) DevOps
6 128 (20.09%) Problem-Solving
7 120 (18.84%) CI/CD
8 113 (17.74%) Scrum
9 86 (13.50%) Mentoring
10 80 (12.56%) SDLC
11 79 (12.40%) Computer Science
12 67 (10.52%) Test Management
13 66 (10.36%) Regression Testing
14 63 (9.89%) AI
15 62 (9.73%) Code Quality
15 62 (9.73%) Validation
16 61 (9.58%) Manual Testing
16 61 (9.58%) Non-Functional Testing
16 61 (9.58%) Test Scripting
17 59 (9.26%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 135 (21.19%) SQL
2 134 (21.04%) Python
3 107 (16.80%) Java
4 102 (16.01%) C#
5 78 (12.24%) JavaScript
6 56 (8.79%) C++
7 52 (8.16%) TypeScript
8 46 (7.22%) C
9 22 (3.45%) PL/SQL
10 18 (2.83%) PowerShell
11 15 (2.35%) Bash
12 14 (2.20%) PHP
13 13 (2.04%) MATLAB
14 12 (1.88%) Go
15 8 (1.26%) Embedded C
16 7 (1.10%) VBA
17 5 (0.78%) COBOL
17 5 (0.78%) Ruby
17 5 (0.78%) Rust
18 4 (0.63%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 183 (28.73%) Degree
2 103 (16.17%) Security Cleared
3 72 (11.30%) ISTQB
4 58 (9.11%) SC Cleared
5 40 (6.28%) Computer Science Degree
6 35 (5.49%) DV Cleared
7 25 (3.92%) Master's Degree
8 22 (3.45%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
9 17 (2.67%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
10 12 (1.88%) PhD
11 11 (1.73%) BPSS Clearance
12 8 (1.26%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
13 7 (1.10%) ISEB
13 7 (1.10%) PMI Certification
14 5 (0.78%) CIPD
14 5 (0.78%) DBS Check
15 4 (0.63%) BC Cleared
15 4 (0.63%) Chartered Engineer
15 4 (0.63%) HND
16 3 (0.47%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 169 (26.53%) QA
2 38 (5.97%) Accessibility
3 20 (3.14%) Software Quality Assurance
4 11 (1.73%) SLA
5 6 (0.94%) Data Quality
5 6 (0.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 6 (0.94%) PMO
6 5 (0.78%) GDPR
7 4 (0.63%) DO-254
8 3 (0.47%) IEC 61508
8 3 (0.47%) ISO 9001
8 3 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 12207
8 3 (0.47%) WCAG
9 2 (0.31%) Cyber Essentials
9 2 (0.31%) JTAG
9 2 (0.31%) MISRA
9 2 (0.31%) MISRA C
9 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 32 (5.02%) Docker
2 26 (4.08%) Firmware
3 13 (2.04%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.57%) Active Directory
4 10 (1.57%) Embedded Firmware
5 4 (0.63%) Hyper-V
5 4 (0.63%) KVM
5 4 (0.63%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.47%) Terminal Server
7 2 (0.31%) Time Sharing Option
7 2 (0.31%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.16%) Xen
Systems Management
1 26 (4.08%) Kubernetes
2 18 (2.83%) Terraform
3 16 (2.51%) Grafana
4 12 (1.88%) Ansible
5 7 (1.10%) SCCM
5 7 (1.10%) SCOM
6 6 (0.94%) Kibana
6 6 (0.94%) logstash
7 4 (0.63%) Rancher
7 4 (0.63%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.47%) HP ALM
8 3 (0.47%) HP Fortify
8 3 (0.47%) SCOrch
9 2 (0.31%) Functional Safety
9 2 (0.31%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.16%) Argo
10 1 (0.16%) Istio
10 1 (0.16%) Nessus
Vendors
1 55 (8.63%) Microsoft
2 36 (5.65%) Oracle
3 16 (2.51%) VMware
4 15 (2.35%) Splunk
5 11 (1.73%) Adobe
6 9 (1.41%) IBM
6 9 (1.41%) Red Hat
7 8 (1.26%) Google
8 7 (1.10%) Atlassian
9 5 (0.78%) Avid
9 5 (0.78%) Citrix
9 5 (0.78%) HP
9 5 (0.78%) Salesforce
9 5 (0.78%) ServiceNow
9 5 (0.78%) SolarWinds
10 4 (0.63%) Altera
10 4 (0.63%) Northgate
10 4 (0.63%) SYSPRO
10 4 (0.63%) Zoho
11 3 (0.47%) McAfee