Software Engineer Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
UK > UK excluding London

The median Software Engineer salary in the UK excluding London is £66,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 10 September 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 63 13
Rank change year-on-year +42 -50 +57
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 4,222 1,350 4,640
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 5.10% 3.91% 8.32%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.44% 4.37% 8.74%
Number of salaries quoted 3,350 517 2,533
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,750 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £55,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £66,000 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +1.54% +18.18% -8.33%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £68,750
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £62,500
% change year-on-year -12.50% +28.00% -10.00%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK excluding London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the UK excluding London. 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.

Permanent vacancies in the UK excluding London with a recognized job title 77,559 30,894 53,118
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.75% 89.36% 95.20%
Number of salaries quoted 54,042 17,645 31,784
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £29,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £87,000 £80,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £57,500 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.55% - -8.33%

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London.

Salary distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineer in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Engineer in the UK excluding London

Software Engineer
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Engineer within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 10 September 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
North of England +27 1,060 £69,305 -0.99% 156
South East +101 1,011 £65,000 -7.14% 162
South West +39 843 £67,500 +3.85% 166
North West +16 595 £70,000 -6.67% 95
East of England +109 546 £70,000 +7.69% 151
Midlands +64 431 £65,000 - 69
Yorkshire +74 265 £60,000 -7.69% 42
East Midlands +38 230 £55,000 -21.43% 44
West Midlands +53 201 £67,500 +10.20% 25
North East +24 200 £70,000 +24.44% 19
Scotland -4 183 £75,000 +16.28% 147
Wales +14 135 £60,000 -4.00% 12
Northern Ireland - 14 £90,000 - 37
Software Engineer
UK

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London

For the 6 months to 10 September 2026, Software 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 across the UK excluding London region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 4,185 (99.12%) Software Engineering
2 660 (15.63%) C++
3 600 (14.21%) C#
4 531 (12.58%) Python
5 522 (12.36%) Agile
6 412 (9.76%) Security Cleared
7 405 (9.59%) AWS
8 387 (9.17%) AI
9 362 (8.57%) CI/CD
10 361 (8.55%) Full-Stack Development
11 341 (8.08%) Java
12 305 (7.22%) .NET
13 297 (7.03%) Linux
14 284 (6.73%) Degree
15 278 (6.58%) Azure
16 264 (6.25%) SC Cleared
17 262 (6.21%) JavaScript
18 258 (6.11%) C
19 257 (6.09%) TypeScript
20 252 (5.97%) Mentoring
21 238 (5.64%) DevOps
22 225 (5.33%) Problem-Solving
23 217 (5.14%) React
24 205 (4.86%) SDLC
25 196 (4.64%) Test Automation
26 190 (4.50%) Microservices
27 181 (4.29%) Continuous Improvement
27 181 (4.29%) SQL
28 178 (4.22%) Computer Science
29 177 (4.19%) Docker

Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 26 (0.62%) Apache
2 15 (0.36%) SharePoint Server
3 9 (0.21%) Confluence
4 8 (0.19%) FactoryTalk
5 7 (0.17%) Apache Spark
5 7 (0.17%) WinCC
6 5 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.071%) Apache Solr
7 3 (0.071%) CMS
8 2 (0.047%) ArchestrA
8 2 (0.047%) Headless CMS
8 2 (0.047%) SharePoint
8 2 (0.047%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.047%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.047%) WordPress
9 1 (0.024%) Cloud Foundry
9 1 (0.024%) GeoServer
9 1 (0.024%) OpenStack
9 1 (0.024%) Umbraco
Applications
1 16 (0.38%) Lightworks
2 11 (0.26%) Simulink
3 4 (0.095%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.095%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.095%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.071%) CANalyzer
5 2 (0.047%) EPLAN
6 1 (0.024%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.024%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.024%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
2 2 (0.047%) Visualfiles
3 1 (0.024%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 405 (9.59%) AWS
2 278 (6.58%) Azure
3 146 (3.46%) SaaS
4 109 (2.58%) GCP
5 69 (1.63%) Serverless
6 53 (1.26%) GitHub
7 38 (0.90%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (0.85%) Firebase
9 30 (0.71%) Anthropic Claude
10 29 (0.69%) AWS Lambda
11 21 (0.50%) GitHub Actions
12 19 (0.45%) AWS CloudFormation
13 18 (0.43%) Amazon EKS
14 17 (0.40%) Amazon S3
15 16 (0.38%) Cloud Run
16 13 (0.31%) OpenShift
17 11 (0.26%) Slack
18 10 (0.24%) GitHub Copilot
19 9 (0.21%) AWS Step Functions
20 8 (0.19%) Azure Functions
Communications & Networking
1 64 (1.52%) Wireless
2 37 (0.88%) Ethernet
3 29 (0.69%) Bluetooth
4 25 (0.59%) Modbus
5 22 (0.52%) TCP/IP
6 20 (0.47%) MQTT
7 19 (0.45%) RS-232
7 19 (0.45%) Wi-Fi
8 17 (0.40%) ZigBee
9 15 (0.36%) Profibus
10 12 (0.28%) RS-485
11 11 (0.26%) LTE
12 10 (0.24%) ATM
13 9 (0.21%) 5G
14 6 (0.14%) AMQP
14 6 (0.14%) Wireshark
15 5 (0.12%) Internet
16 3 (0.071%) Firewall
16 3 (0.071%) Network Security
16 3 (0.071%) Software-Defined Radio
Database & Business Intelligence
1 85 (2.01%) PostgreSQL
2 58 (1.37%) SQL Server
3 55 (1.30%) MongoDB
4 48 (1.14%) NoSQL
5 40 (0.95%) MySQL
6 31 (0.73%) Relational Database
7 20 (0.47%) Redis
8 19 (0.45%) Elasticsearch
9 16 (0.38%) Chroma
9 16 (0.38%) DynamoDB
9 16 (0.38%) Pinecone
10 13 (0.31%) Big Data
11 8 (0.19%) Hadoop
12 7 (0.17%) Azure SQL Database
13 6 (0.14%) Cloudera CDH
14 5 (0.12%) FileMaker
15 4 (0.095%) Amazon RDS
15 4 (0.095%) Data Lake
15 4 (0.095%) MariaDB
15 4 (0.095%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 144 (3.41%) Git
2 52 (1.23%) GitLab
3 34 (0.81%) Jenkins
3 34 (0.81%) JIRA
4 20 (0.47%) Visual Studio Code
5 18 (0.43%) Claude Code
6 15 (0.36%) Cucumber
7 14 (0.33%) Visual Studio
8 11 (0.26%) SonarQube
9 10 (0.24%) JUnit
10 8 (0.19%) GDB
11 7 (0.17%) Cypress.io
11 7 (0.17%) LabVIEW
11 7 (0.17%) Moq
12 6 (0.14%) Bitbucket
12 6 (0.14%) CMake
12 6 (0.14%) Mockito
13 5 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
13 5 (0.12%) Yeoman
14 4 (0.095%) Robot Framework
General
1 221 (5.23%) Manufacturing
2 216 (5.12%) Electronics
3 190 (4.50%) Social Skills
4 152 (3.60%) Finance
5 124 (2.94%) Aerospace
6 109 (2.58%) Public Sector
7 82 (1.94%) Automotive
8 60 (1.42%) Aviation
9 58 (1.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 50 (1.18%) Analytical Skills
11 36 (0.85%) Retail
12 29 (0.69%) Pharmaceutical
13 28 (0.66%) Law
14 25 (0.59%) Military
15 24 (0.57%) Games
16 17 (0.40%) Marketing
17 16 (0.38%) Tech for Good
17 16 (0.38%) Telecoms
18 15 (0.36%) Organisational Skills
19 12 (0.28%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 305 (7.22%) .NET
2 217 (5.14%) React
3 114 (2.70%) Node.js
4 103 (2.44%) Vue
5 95 (2.25%) Terraform
6 84 (1.99%) WPF
7 74 (1.75%) AngularJS
8 73 (1.73%) Spring
9 70 (1.66%) CSS
10 68 (1.61%) Spring Boot
11 59 (1.40%) REST
12 53 (1.26%) HTML
12 53 (1.26%) RESTful
13 37 (0.88%) Next.js
14 34 (0.81%) Django
15 31 (0.73%) .NET Core
15 31 (0.73%) React Native
16 28 (0.66%) .NET Framework
17 23 (0.54%) ASP.NET
17 23 (0.54%) OAuth
Miscellaneous
1 173 (4.10%) Cloud Native
2 131 (3.10%) Embedded Systems
3 116 (2.75%) Robotics
4 108 (2.56%) Algorithms
5 84 (1.99%) Legacy Systems
6 69 (1.63%) Product Ownership
7 67 (1.59%) AI Agents
8 63 (1.49%) Distributed Systems
9 56 (1.33%) IoT
10 45 (1.07%) Greenfield Project
11 37 (0.88%) Public Cloud
12 28 (0.66%) Data Structures
12 28 (0.66%) Mobile App
13 27 (0.64%) Cyber Threat
14 25 (0.59%) Device Driver
15 21 (0.50%) ARM Cortex
15 21 (0.50%) Distributed Computing
16 18 (0.43%) Educational Technology
17 16 (0.38%) NHS
18 15 (0.36%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 297 (7.03%) Linux
2 72 (1.71%) Windows
3 59 (1.40%) Embedded Linux
4 29 (0.69%) Android
4 29 (0.69%) FreeRTOS
5 11 (0.26%) Debian
6 8 (0.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 8 (0.19%) Ubuntu
7 7 (0.17%) Apple iOS
8 6 (0.14%) CentOS
8 6 (0.14%) VxWorks
9 5 (0.12%) Unix
9 5 (0.12%) Windows Server
10 3 (0.071%) Gentoo
11 2 (0.047%) Robot Operating System
11 2 (0.047%) SafeRTOS
11 2 (0.047%) Windows 10
11 2 (0.047%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.047%) zOS
12 1 (0.024%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 4,185 (99.12%) Software Engineering
2 522 (12.36%) Agile
3 387 (9.17%) AI
4 362 (8.57%) CI/CD
5 361 (8.55%) Full-Stack Development
6 252 (5.97%) Mentoring
7 238 (5.64%) DevOps
8 225 (5.33%) Problem-Solving
9 205 (4.86%) SDLC
10 196 (4.64%) Test Automation
11 190 (4.50%) Microservices
12 181 (4.29%) Continuous Improvement
13 178 (4.22%) Computer Science
14 136 (3.22%) Software Architecture
15 129 (3.06%) Technical Leadership
16 126 (2.98%) Containerisation
17 124 (2.94%) Code Quality
18 117 (2.77%) Software Testing
19 105 (2.49%) Machine Learning
20 99 (2.34%) Embedded Software Development
Programming Languages
1 660 (15.63%) C++
2 600 (14.21%) C#
3 531 (12.58%) Python
4 341 (8.08%) Java
5 262 (6.21%) JavaScript
6 258 (6.11%) C
7 257 (6.09%) TypeScript
8 181 (4.29%) SQL
9 126 (2.98%) Rust
10 71 (1.68%) Go
11 58 (1.37%) PHP
12 44 (1.04%) Embedded C
13 30 (0.71%) Ruby
14 29 (0.69%) Embedded C++
15 24 (0.57%) Ada
16 20 (0.47%) Bash
17 18 (0.43%) MATLAB
18 17 (0.40%) COBOL
18 17 (0.40%) Kotlin
19 14 (0.33%) Scala
Qualifications
1 412 (9.76%) Security Cleared
2 284 (6.73%) Degree
3 264 (6.25%) SC Cleared
4 177 (4.19%) DV Cleared
5 124 (2.94%) Computer Science Degree
6 52 (1.23%) Master's Degree
7 32 (0.76%) BPSS Clearance
8 26 (0.62%) PhD
9 10 (0.24%) DBS Check
10 8 (0.19%) Azure Certification
11 7 (0.17%) HND
12 6 (0.14%) AWS Certification
13 5 (0.12%) CEH
13 5 (0.12%) OSCP
14 4 (0.095%) HNC
14 4 (0.095%) Microsoft Certification
15 3 (0.071%) Microsoft Certified Professional
16 2 (0.047%) Numerate Degree
17 1 (0.024%) ISTQB
17 1 (0.024%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 71 (1.68%) QA
2 51 (1.21%) Accessibility
3 10 (0.24%) IEC 61131
4 8 (0.19%) IEC 61508
4 8 (0.19%) MISRA
4 8 (0.19%) MISRA C
5 6 (0.14%) JTAG
6 5 (0.12%) DO-178B
7 4 (0.095%) Data Quality
7 4 (0.095%) ISO 26262
8 3 (0.071%) Automotive SPICE
8 3 (0.071%) ECSS
8 3 (0.071%) GAMP
8 3 (0.071%) MIL-STD-1553
8 3 (0.071%) WCAG
9 2 (0.047%) AUTOSAR
9 2 (0.047%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 1 (0.024%) HAZOP
10 1 (0.024%) IEC 62304
10 1 (0.024%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 177 (4.19%) Docker
2 167 (3.96%) Firmware
3 50 (1.18%) Embedded Firmware
4 7 (0.17%) QEMU
4 7 (0.17%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (0.12%) KVM
5 5 (0.12%) VMware Infrastructure
6 4 (0.095%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.047%) Active Directory
7 2 (0.047%) Time Sharing Option
8 1 (0.024%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 139 (3.29%) Kubernetes
2 44 (1.04%) Ansible
3 14 (0.33%) Grafana
4 10 (0.24%) Podman
5 8 (0.19%) Kibana
5 8 (0.19%) logstash
5 8 (0.19%) Puppet
6 6 (0.14%) Functional Safety
7 3 (0.071%) Plesk
7 3 (0.071%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.071%) SCCM
7 3 (0.071%) SCOM
7 3 (0.071%) SCOrch
8 2 (0.047%) Microsoft Intune
Vendors
1 37 (0.88%) Siemens
2 33 (0.78%) Microsoft
3 22 (0.52%) Google
4 18 (0.43%) Salesforce
5 15 (0.36%) Rockwell
6 14 (0.33%) Okta
6 14 (0.33%) Oracle
6 14 (0.33%) Ping Identity
7 12 (0.28%) Splunk
8 11 (0.26%) Databricks
9 10 (0.24%) OpenAI
10 8 (0.19%) Allen-Bradley
10 8 (0.19%) Red Hat
10 8 (0.19%) RedGate
11 7 (0.17%) Atlassian
11 7 (0.17%) Sage
11 7 (0.17%) VMware
12 6 (0.14%) Intel
12 6 (0.14%) SaltStack
13 5 (0.12%) New Relic