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 £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 10 January 2026.

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

6 months to
10 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 69 35 32
Rank change year-on-year -34 -3 +19
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 1,214 2,034 2,177
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 2.88% 5.63% 6.38%
As % of the Job Titles category 3.19% 6.06% 6.69%
Number of salaries quoted 936 967 1,332
10th Percentile £40,008 £40,000 £41,250
25th Percentile £51,250 £47,500 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.33% - -
75th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £73,000
90th Percentile £89,375 £87,500 £85,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £70,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year - +7.69% -3.70%

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 38,105 33,579 32,541
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.41% 92.94% 95.37%
Number of salaries quoted 23,220 16,417 24,649
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,250 £27,760
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -5.18%
75th Percentile £65,000 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £82,500 £78,750
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%

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 January 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 January 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
South East -33 299 £65,000 +8.33% 462
North of England -17 269 £65,000 +6.56% 269
South West -7 256 £65,000 +18.18% 242
East of England -27 136 £70,000 +3.70% 228
North West -16 119 £67,500 +8.00% 123
Yorkshire -20 115 £60,000 -2.04% 97
Midlands -18 114 £60,000 +9.09% 145
Scotland -30 110 £60,000 +4.45% 73
West Midlands -14 63 £60,000 - 51
East Midlands -14 54 £65,000 +30.00% 94
North East -18 35 £70,000 +14.75% 49
Wales -32 20 £75,000 - 77
Northern Ireland -29 11 £85,000 -5.56% 29
Software Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 10 January 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 1,212 (99.84%) Software Engineering
2 190 (15.65%) Agile
2 190 (15.65%) C#
3 176 (14.50%) C++
4 164 (13.51%) .NET
5 163 (13.43%) AWS
6 158 (13.01%) Java
7 150 (12.36%) CI/CD
8 142 (11.70%) React
9 140 (11.53%) Security Cleared
10 139 (11.45%) Full-Stack Development
11 138 (11.37%) DevOps
12 133 (10.96%) Azure
13 132 (10.87%) Python
14 118 (9.72%) JavaScript
15 116 (9.56%) Degree
16 115 (9.47%) Mentoring
17 106 (8.73%) TypeScript
18 104 (8.57%) SQL
19 95 (7.83%) Microservices
20 94 (7.74%) Linux
21 93 (7.66%) C
22 90 (7.41%) Problem-Solving
23 76 (6.26%) Kubernetes
24 74 (6.10%) SC Cleared
25 71 (5.85%) Computer Science
26 70 (5.77%) AI
27 63 (5.19%) Docker
28 61 (5.02%) Firmware
29 57 (4.70%) AngularJS

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 12 (0.99%) IIS
2 11 (0.91%) Apache
3 6 (0.49%) Confluence
4 5 (0.41%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.33%) CMS
6 3 (0.25%) Apache Solr
7 2 (0.16%) ArchestrA
7 2 (0.16%) FactoryTalk
7 2 (0.16%) NServiceBus
7 2 (0.16%) WinCC
8 1 (0.082%) Headless CMS
8 1 (0.082%) Kinematics
Applications
1 3 (0.25%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.16%) Adobe XD
2 2 (0.16%) Sketch
3 1 (0.082%) Photoshop
3 1 (0.082%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 9 (0.74%) Magento
2 2 (0.16%) ResourceLink
3 1 (0.082%) Q-Pulse
Cloud Services
1 163 (13.43%) AWS
2 133 (10.96%) Azure
3 51 (4.20%) SaaS
4 38 (3.13%) Serverless
5 36 (2.97%) Azure DevOps
6 30 (2.47%) AWS Lambda
7 26 (2.14%) GCP
8 24 (1.98%) Amazon S3
9 23 (1.89%) GitHub
10 20 (1.65%) Amazon EKS
11 15 (1.24%) Amazon ECS
12 9 (0.74%) Azure AKS
12 9 (0.74%) GitHub Actions
13 8 (0.66%) OpenShift
14 7 (0.58%) Amazon EC2
14 7 (0.58%) Stripe
15 6 (0.49%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 6 (0.49%) Amazon SQS
15 6 (0.49%) AWS CloudFormation
16 5 (0.41%) AWS Fargate
Communications & Networking
1 35 (2.88%) Wireless
2 16 (1.32%) RS-232
3 15 (1.24%) Software-Defined Radio
4 14 (1.15%) Bluetooth
5 6 (0.49%) HTTP
5 6 (0.49%) TCP/IP
6 5 (0.41%) DNS
6 5 (0.41%) Modbus
7 4 (0.33%) AMQP
7 4 (0.33%) SMTP
8 3 (0.25%) ATM
8 3 (0.25%) Ethernet
9 2 (0.16%) 3G
9 2 (0.16%) Firewall
9 2 (0.16%) GPRS
9 2 (0.16%) GSM
9 2 (0.16%) Profibus
9 2 (0.16%) RS-485
9 2 (0.16%) SSL
9 2 (0.16%) UWB
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (2.80%) SQL Server
2 32 (2.64%) PostgreSQL
3 24 (1.98%) NoSQL
4 20 (1.65%) Elasticsearch
5 18 (1.48%) Relational Database
6 16 (1.32%) MongoDB
7 15 (1.24%) MySQL
8 14 (1.15%) DynamoDB
9 12 (0.99%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 8 (0.66%) Redis
11 7 (0.58%) Neo4j
12 5 (0.41%) Azure SQL Database
12 5 (0.41%) Big Data
12 5 (0.41%) Hadoop
13 4 (0.33%) Amazon RDS
13 4 (0.33%) Apache Cassandra
13 4 (0.33%) GIS
14 3 (0.25%) Cloudera CDH
14 3 (0.25%) MariaDB
14 3 (0.25%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 50 (4.12%) Git
2 16 (1.32%) GitLab
2 16 (1.32%) Visual Studio
3 15 (1.24%) JIRA
4 12 (0.99%) JUnit
5 11 (0.91%) Jenkins
6 8 (0.66%) Cypress.io
7 5 (0.41%) Bitbucket
7 5 (0.41%) Selenium
8 4 (0.33%) Oracle APEX
9 2 (0.16%) Android Studio
9 2 (0.16%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.16%) Maven
9 2 (0.16%) PROIV
9 2 (0.16%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.16%) TestRail
9 2 (0.16%) Xcode
10 1 (0.082%) Katalon Studio
10 1 (0.082%) Rational Statemate
10 1 (0.082%) REST Assured
General
1 102 (8.40%) Social Skills
2 78 (6.43%) Finance
3 44 (3.62%) Electronics
4 43 (3.54%) Manufacturing
5 22 (1.81%) Aerospace
6 21 (1.73%) Pharmaceutical
7 20 (1.65%) Games
8 19 (1.57%) Analytical Skills
9 18 (1.48%) Public Sector
10 16 (1.32%) Automotive
11 15 (1.24%) Retail
12 12 (0.99%) Tech for Good
13 9 (0.74%) Financial Institution
14 8 (0.66%) Law
15 7 (0.58%) Aeronautics
15 7 (0.58%) Marketing
15 7 (0.58%) Military
16 6 (0.49%) Legal
17 5 (0.41%) Health Technology
18 4 (0.33%) Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 164 (13.51%) .NET
2 142 (11.70%) React
3 57 (4.70%) AngularJS
4 52 (4.28%) Node.js
5 40 (3.29%) Spring
6 39 (3.21%) RESTful
7 37 (3.05%) Spring Boot
8 31 (2.55%) .NET Core
8 31 (2.55%) REST
9 29 (2.39%) HTML
10 28 (2.31%) .NET Framework
10 28 (2.31%) CSS
10 28 (2.31%) Vue
11 27 (2.22%) ASP.NET
12 20 (1.65%) Qt
13 18 (1.48%) Entity Framework
13 18 (1.48%) Next.js
14 16 (1.32%) WinForms
15 13 (1.07%) Kafka
16 12 (0.99%) Laravel
Miscellaneous
1 70 (5.77%) Cloud Native
2 57 (4.70%) Embedded Systems
3 26 (2.14%) Distributed Systems
4 23 (1.89%) IoT
5 19 (1.57%) Robotics
6 18 (1.48%) e-Learning
7 17 (1.40%) Algorithms
8 15 (1.24%) Product Ownership
9 13 (1.07%) RISC-V
10 12 (0.99%) Legacy Systems
10 12 (0.99%) Manufacturing Execution System
10 12 (0.99%) Smart Energy
11 11 (0.91%) Driving Licence
11 11 (0.91%) MicroBlaze
12 9 (0.74%) Self-Motivation
13 8 (0.66%) CAN bus
13 8 (0.66%) Hedge funds
13 8 (0.66%) Renewable Energy
14 7 (0.58%) Enterprise Software
14 7 (0.58%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 94 (7.74%) Linux
2 34 (2.80%) Windows
3 33 (2.72%) Embedded Linux
4 15 (1.24%) Android
5 6 (0.49%) Unix
6 3 (0.25%) CentOS
6 3 (0.25%) Debian
6 3 (0.25%) FreeRTOS
6 3 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (0.25%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.16%) Mac OS X
7 2 (0.16%) Windows Server
8 1 (0.082%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.082%) Fedora
8 1 (0.082%) Robot Operating System
8 1 (0.082%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 1,212 (99.84%) Software Engineering
2 190 (15.65%) Agile
3 150 (12.36%) CI/CD
4 139 (11.45%) Full-Stack Development
5 138 (11.37%) DevOps
6 115 (9.47%) Mentoring
7 95 (7.83%) Microservices
8 90 (7.41%) Problem-Solving
9 71 (5.85%) Computer Science
10 70 (5.77%) AI
11 57 (4.70%) Continuous Improvement
12 49 (4.04%) Containerisation
13 48 (3.95%) Scrum
14 45 (3.71%) Coaching
15 43 (3.54%) SDLC
16 40 (3.29%) Machine Learning
17 37 (3.05%) Test Automation
18 36 (2.97%) TDD
19 35 (2.88%) Fintech
20 33 (2.72%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 190 (15.65%) C#
2 176 (14.50%) C++
3 158 (13.01%) Java
4 132 (10.87%) Python
5 118 (9.72%) JavaScript
6 106 (8.73%) TypeScript
7 104 (8.57%) SQL
8 93 (7.66%) C
9 36 (2.97%) PHP
10 23 (1.89%) Ada
10 23 (1.89%) Kotlin
11 19 (1.57%) T-SQL
12 18 (1.48%) Embedded C++
12 18 (1.48%) Ruby
13 13 (1.07%) Ada 95
13 13 (1.07%) PL/SQL
13 13 (1.07%) Rust
14 12 (0.99%) Embedded C
15 11 (0.91%) Scala
16 9 (0.74%) Bash
Qualifications
1 140 (11.53%) Security Cleared
2 116 (9.56%) Degree
3 74 (6.10%) SC Cleared
4 50 (4.12%) Computer Science Degree
5 39 (3.21%) DV Cleared
6 16 (1.32%) Master's Degree
7 14 (1.15%) BPSS Clearance
7 14 (1.15%) Chartered Engineer
8 11 (0.91%) PhD
9 5 (0.41%) DBS Check
10 2 (0.16%) AWS Certification
10 2 (0.16%) AWS Certified Developer
10 2 (0.16%) Azure Certification
10 2 (0.16%) Microsoft Certification
10 2 (0.16%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (1.73%) QA
2 13 (1.07%) ISO/IEC 12207
3 10 (0.82%) IEC 61508
3 10 (0.82%) MISRA
4 8 (0.66%) MISRA C
5 4 (0.33%) Accessibility
6 3 (0.25%) ECSS
6 3 (0.25%) GDPR
6 3 (0.25%) IEC 61131
6 3 (0.25%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.16%) ISO 9000
7 2 (0.16%) ISO 9001
7 2 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 2 (0.16%) JTAG
7 2 (0.16%) SOC 2
8 1 (0.082%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.082%) Data Quality
System Software
1 63 (5.19%) Docker
2 61 (5.02%) Firmware
3 37 (3.05%) Embedded Firmware
4 3 (0.25%) Hyper-V
4 3 (0.25%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.082%) KVM
5 1 (0.082%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 76 (6.26%) Kubernetes
2 34 (2.80%) Terraform
3 8 (0.66%) Functional Safety
3 8 (0.66%) Kibana
4 7 (0.58%) Grafana
5 3 (0.25%) Ansible
5 3 (0.25%) Puppet
6 2 (0.16%) Prometheus
7 1 (0.082%) Istio
Vendors
1 18 (1.48%) Microsoft
2 16 (1.32%) Oracle
3 14 (1.15%) Xamarin
4 12 (0.99%) Sage
5 11 (0.91%) Adobe
6 10 (0.82%) Google
7 8 (0.66%) Atlassian
8 6 (0.49%) HubSpot
9 5 (0.41%) Guidewire
9 5 (0.41%) Zoho
10 4 (0.33%) Databricks
10 4 (0.33%) Red Hat
11 3 (0.25%) OpenAI
11 3 (0.25%) Rockwell
11 3 (0.25%) SaltStack
11 3 (0.25%) SAP
11 3 (0.25%) Siemens
11 3 (0.25%) VMware
12 2 (0.16%) Palantir
13 1 (0.082%) Dynatrace