Test Automation Engineer Job Trends
Automation Test Engineer
UK
The median Automation Test Engineer salary in the UK is £60,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 4 November 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 4 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 740 | 602 | 698 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -138 | +96 | -69 |
| Permanent Test Automation Engineer jobs | 75 | 52 | 49 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.061% | 0.10% | 0.072% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.067% | 0.11% | 0.076% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 48 | 40 | 27 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,700 | £49,750 | £40,000 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,000 | £50,000 | £46,250 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £60,000 | £57,500 | £55,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.35% | +4.55% | +10.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £68,125 | £62,813 | £59,375 |
| 90th Percentile | £75,750 | £67,500 | £63,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £60,000 | £60,000 | £55,000 |
| % change year-on-year | - | +9.09% | +10.00% |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all permanent IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 4 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 112,318 | 45,315 | 64,293 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.88% | 90.13% | 95.06% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 74,839 | 27,737 | 36,347 |
| 10th Percentile | £31,000 | £28,250 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £35,000 | £42,049 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,000 | £52,500 | £57,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +12.38% | -7.89% | -5.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £76,250 | £73,750 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £97,500 | £92,500 | £95,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £46,000 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +19.57% | -8.00% | -4.76% |
Test Automation Engineer Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent Test Automation Engineer job postings relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.
Test Automation Engineer Salary Trend
Salary distribution trend for Test Automation Engineer job vacancies in the UK.
Test Automation Engineer Salary Histogram
Salary distribution for Test Automation Engineer jobs over the 6 months to 4 November 2026.
Test Automation Engineer Top 15 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in Test Automation Engineer jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -154 | 57 | £41,500 | -24.55% | 18 |
| UK excluding London | -133 | 56 | £60,000 | - | 17 |
| East of England | -62 | 17 | £40,000 | -33.33% | 2 |
| South West | -63 | 14 | £42,500 | -10.53% | 2 |
| London | -79 | 14 | £24,000 | -55.35% | 7 |
| Scotland | +7 | 11 | £62,500 | -10.71% | 2 |
| Work from Home | -76 | 10 | £72,500 | +28.89% | 8 |
| North of England | -81 | 5 | £63,000 | +17.76% | 2 |
| Yorkshire | -36 | 4 | £67,750 | +26.64% | |
| West Midlands | -59 | 3 | - | - | |
| Midlands | -69 | 3 | - | - | |
| Wales | -71 | 3 | £70,000 | - | |
| South East | -78 | 3 | £80,000 | +45.45% | 9 |
| North West | -45 | 1 | £50,000 | - | 2 |
| North East | - | 1 | £63,000 | - |
Test Automation Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 4 November 2026, Test Automation Engineer job ads cited 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 Test Automation Engineer job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test Automation | 100.0% | 75 |
| 2 | Agile | 33.3% | 25 |
| 3 | CI/CD | 32.0% | 24 |
| 4 | Playwright | 29.3% | 22 |
| 4 | Software Testing | 29.3% | 22 |
| 6 | Selenium | 26.7% | 20 |
| 7 | Python | 25.3% | 19 |
| 7 | QA | 25.3% | 19 |
| 9 | Security Cleared | 24.0% | 18 |
| 10 | Jenkins | 20.0% | 15 |
| 11 | AWS | 18.7% | 14 |
| 11 | DevOps | 18.7% | 14 |
| 11 | Java | 18.7% | 14 |
| 11 | JavaScript | 18.7% | 14 |
| 15 | BDD | 16.0% | 12 |
| 15 | Cypress.io | 16.0% | 12 |
| 15 | GitLab | 16.0% | 12 |
| 18 | Test Management | 14.7% | 11 |
| 19 | API Testing | 13.3% | 10 |
| 19 | Git | 13.3% | 10 |
| 19 | Test Scripting | 13.3% | 10 |
| 22 | AI | 12.0% | 9 |
| 22 | Azure | 12.0% | 9 |
| 22 | ISTQB | 12.0% | 9 |
| 22 | JMeter | 12.0% | 9 |
| 22 | Problem-Solving | 12.0% | 9 |
| 22 | Validation | 12.0% | 9 |
| 22 | Windows | 12.0% | 9 |
| 29 | Containerisation | 10.7% | 8 |
| 29 | Continuous Improvement | 10.7% | 8 |
Test Automation Engineer Skill Set 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.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test Engineer | 86.7% | 65 |
| 2 | Hardware Engineer | 13.3% | 10 |
| 2 | Senior Test Automation Engineer | 13.3% | 10 |
| 4 | QA Automation Engineer | 8.0% | 6 |
| 4 | QA Test Engineer | 8.0% | 6 |
| 6 | Infrastructure Engineer | 6.7% | 5 |
| 6 | Java Engineer | 6.7% | 5 |
| 8 | Software Test Engineer | 4.0% | 3 |
| 9 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 2.7% | 2 |
| 9 | Python Engineer | 2.7% | 2 |
| 9 | Software QA Engineer | 2.7% | 2 |
| 12 | AWS Engineer | 1.3% | 1 |
| 12 | Network Security Engineer | 1.3% | 1 |