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 16 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 726 | 615 | 702 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -111 | +87 | -49 |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Test Automation Engineer | 88 | 54 | 53 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.074% | 0.11% | 0.075% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.080% | 0.12% | 0.079% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 58 | 42 | 28 |
| 10th Percentile | £24,000 | £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 | £70,000 | £63,438 | £60,625 |
| 90th Percentile | £75,000 | £67,500 | £65,625 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £60,000 | £60,000 | £55,000 |
| % change year-on-year | - | +9.09% | +15.06% |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. 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.
| 6 months to 16 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title | 110,105 | 43,964 | 67,208 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 92.43% | 89.90% | 95.34% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 74,779 | 25,831 | 38,509 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,000 | £28,000 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,000 | £35,000 | £41,250 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £58,396 | £53,500 | £55,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +9.15% | -2.73% | -8.33% |
| 75th Percentile | £76,250 | £73,750 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £98,750 | £95,000 | £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 IT job postings featuring 'Test Automation Engineer' in the job title 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 jobs citing Test Automation Engineer over the 6 months to 16 October 2026.
Test Automation Engineer Top 16 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Test Automation Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 16 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 |
Matching Permanent IT Job Ads |
Median Salary Past 6 Months |
Median Salary % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -114 | 66 | £41,500 | -27.83% | 137 |
| UK excluding London | -93 | 64 | £60,000 | - | 100 |
| London | -80 | 19 | £24,000 | -56.36% | 44 |
| East of England | -36 | 16 | £40,000 | -33.33% | 11 |
| Work from Home | -52 | 14 | £72,500 | +28.89% | 55 |
| South West | -61 | 14 | £42,500 | -42.37% | 9 |
| Scotland | +14 | 12 | £61,250 | -12.50% | 9 |
| North of England | -65 | 6 | £55,000 | +2.80% | 32 |
| Wales | -71 | 6 | £70,000 | - | 1 |
| Midlands | -44 | 5 | - | - | 6 |
| South East | -53 | 5 | £75,000 | +30.43% | 27 |
| Yorkshire | -35 | 3 | £72,500 | +35.51% | 8 |
| West Midlands | -44 | 3 | - | - | 3 |
| East Midlands | - | 2 | - | - | 3 |
| North East | - | 2 | £55,000 | - | 12 |
| North West | -31 | 1 | £50,000 | - | 12 |
Test Automation Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 16 October 2026, Test Automation 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 featuring Test Automation Engineer in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test Automation | 100.0% | 88 |
| 2 | Agile | 31.8% | 28 |
| 3 | CI/CD | 30.7% | 27 |
| 4 | Software Testing | 29.5% | 26 |
| 5 | QA | 28.4% | 25 |
| 6 | Playwright | 27.3% | 24 |
| 7 | Python | 22.7% | 20 |
| 7 | Selenium | 22.7% | 20 |
| 9 | DevOps | 19.3% | 17 |
| 9 | Security Cleared | 19.3% | 17 |
| 11 | Java | 18.2% | 16 |
| 11 | Jenkins | 18.2% | 16 |
| 13 | JavaScript | 17.0% | 15 |
| 14 | AWS | 15.9% | 14 |
| 14 | BDD | 15.9% | 14 |
| 16 | GitLab | 14.8% | 13 |
| 16 | Test Strategy | 14.8% | 13 |
| 18 | API Testing | 13.6% | 12 |
| 18 | Azure | 13.6% | 12 |
| 18 | Test Scripting | 13.6% | 12 |
| 21 | Cypress.io | 12.5% | 11 |
| 21 | Problem-Solving | 12.5% | 11 |
| 21 | Test Management | 12.5% | 11 |
| 24 | Git | 11.4% | 10 |
| 24 | Performance Testing | 11.4% | 10 |
| 24 | Validation | 11.4% | 10 |
| 27 | AI | 10.2% | 9 |
| 27 | Azure DevOps | 10.2% | 9 |
| 27 | ISTQB | 10.2% | 9 |
| 27 | JMeter | 10.2% | 9 |
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 | 88.6% | 78 |
| 2 | Senior Test Automation Engineer | 18.2% | 16 |
| 3 | Hardware Engineer | 11.4% | 10 |
| 4 | QA Automation Engineer | 10.2% | 9 |
| 4 | QA Test Engineer | 10.2% | 9 |
| 6 | Java Engineer | 8.0% | 7 |
| 7 | Infrastructure Engineer | 5.7% | 5 |
| 7 | Software Test Engineer | 5.7% | 5 |
| 9 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 9 | C# Software Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 9 | Python Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 9 | Senior QA Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 9 | Software Development Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 9 | Software QA Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 9 | Test Development Engineer | 2.3% | 2 |
| 16 | Automation Test Lead | 1.1% | 1 |
| 16 | AWS Engineer | 1.1% | 1 |
| 16 | Lead Test Engineer | 1.1% | 1 |
| 16 | Microsoft Engineer | 1.1% | 1 |
| 16 | Mobile Engineer | 1.1% | 1 |