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 £70,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 5 October 2026.

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

6 months to
5 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 70 22
Rank change year-on-year +48 -48 +40
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 4,488 1,291 3,729
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 5.19% 3.72% 7.10%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.58% 4.15% 7.45%
Number of salaries quoted 3,464 472 2,104
10th Percentile £45,000 £43,750 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £53,688 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +13.04% -4.17%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £80,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year -12.50% +23.08% -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 80,366 31,085 50,041
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.88% 89.49% 95.31%
Number of salaries quoted 55,521 17,305 27,963
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,000 £39,235
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £46,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +18.28% -7.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £63,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £80,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £58,500 £54,824 £55,000
% change year-on-year +6.71% -0.32% -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 5 October 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 5 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
North of England +37 1,081 £70,000 +7.69% 394
South East +86 1,014 £70,000 - 365
South West +43 930 £68,000 +4.62% 279
North West +17 614 £70,000 -6.35% 255
East of England +116 612 £70,000 +7.69% 319
Midlands +64 456 £65,000 +1.96% 214
East Midlands +43 265 £55,000 -21.43% 114
Yorkshire +66 259 £60,000 - 87
Scotland 0 244 £78,750 +22.09% 358
North East +27 208 £70,000 +25.56% 53
West Midlands +44 191 £65,000 +4.00% 100
Wales +17 141 £60,000 +4.35% 56
Northern Ireland - 11 £82,500 - 102
Software Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 5 October 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 4,459 (99.35%) Software Engineering
2 662 (14.75%) C++
3 605 (13.48%) C#
4 573 (12.77%) Agile
5 539 (12.01%) Python
6 441 (9.83%) AI
7 438 (9.76%) AWS
8 404 (9.00%) Security Cleared
9 396 (8.82%) Java
10 380 (8.47%) CI/CD
11 366 (8.16%) Full-Stack Development
12 308 (6.86%) .NET
13 305 (6.80%) Linux
14 288 (6.42%) Azure
15 276 (6.15%) Degree
16 268 (5.97%) TypeScript
17 262 (5.84%) SC Cleared
18 253 (5.64%) JavaScript
18 253 (5.64%) Mentoring
19 233 (5.19%) C
20 230 (5.12%) DevOps
21 227 (5.06%) React
22 222 (4.95%) Problem-Solving
23 200 (4.46%) Microservices
24 198 (4.41%) SDLC
25 193 (4.30%) Test Automation
26 188 (4.19%) Docker
27 178 (3.97%) Continuous Improvement
28 177 (3.94%) SQL
29 174 (3.88%) DV Cleared

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 29 (0.65%) Apache
2 15 (0.33%) SharePoint Server
3 9 (0.20%) Apache Spark
4 8 (0.18%) FactoryTalk
5 7 (0.16%) WinCC
6 6 (0.13%) Confluence
7 5 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
8 4 (0.089%) CMS
8 4 (0.089%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.067%) SharePoint
9 3 (0.067%) Tomcat
9 3 (0.067%) WebSphere
10 2 (0.045%) Apache Solr
10 2 (0.045%) ArchestrA
10 2 (0.045%) WordPress
11 1 (0.022%) Cloud Foundry
11 1 (0.022%) OpenStack
Applications
1 20 (0.45%) Lightworks
2 12 (0.27%) Simulink
3 4 (0.089%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.089%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.067%) Microsoft Office
5 2 (0.045%) EPLAN
6 1 (0.022%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.022%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 6 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
2 5 (0.11%) Visualfiles
3 2 (0.045%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.022%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 438 (9.76%) AWS
2 288 (6.42%) Azure
3 132 (2.94%) SaaS
4 110 (2.45%) GCP
5 76 (1.69%) Serverless
6 50 (1.11%) GitHub
7 39 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
8 37 (0.82%) Firebase
9 30 (0.67%) Anthropic Claude
10 29 (0.65%) AWS Lambda
11 21 (0.47%) GitHub Actions
12 19 (0.42%) Amazon EKS
13 18 (0.40%) Amazon S3
13 18 (0.40%) AWS CloudFormation
14 17 (0.38%) Cloud Run
15 14 (0.31%) OpenShift
16 13 (0.29%) GitHub Copilot
17 11 (0.25%) Azure Functions
17 11 (0.25%) Azure Service Bus
18 10 (0.22%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 74 (1.65%) Wireless
2 33 (0.74%) Ethernet
3 31 (0.69%) Bluetooth
4 27 (0.60%) TCP/IP
5 25 (0.56%) Modbus
6 24 (0.53%) MQTT
7 22 (0.49%) Wi-Fi
8 16 (0.36%) ZigBee
9 15 (0.33%) RS-232
10 13 (0.29%) 5G
10 13 (0.29%) LTE
10 13 (0.29%) Profibus
11 11 (0.25%) RS-485
12 10 (0.22%) ATM
13 9 (0.20%) Internet
14 7 (0.16%) AMQP
14 7 (0.16%) Wireshark
15 4 (0.089%) HTTP
15 4 (0.089%) Software-Defined Radio
16 3 (0.067%) Firewall
Database & Business Intelligence
1 96 (2.14%) PostgreSQL
2 61 (1.36%) SQL Server
3 50 (1.11%) MongoDB
4 46 (1.02%) NoSQL
5 43 (0.96%) MySQL
6 38 (0.85%) Relational Database
7 21 (0.47%) Redis
8 17 (0.38%) Elasticsearch
9 16 (0.36%) Chroma
9 16 (0.36%) DynamoDB
9 16 (0.36%) Pinecone
10 14 (0.31%) Big Data
11 9 (0.20%) Hadoop
12 7 (0.16%) Azure SQL Database
12 7 (0.16%) Cloudera CDH
13 4 (0.089%) Amazon RDS
13 4 (0.089%) Data Lake
13 4 (0.089%) MariaDB
14 3 (0.067%) Data Warehouse
14 3 (0.067%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 141 (3.14%) Git
2 55 (1.23%) GitLab
3 34 (0.76%) Jenkins
4 31 (0.69%) JIRA
5 19 (0.42%) Visual Studio Code
6 18 (0.40%) Claude Code
7 16 (0.36%) Cucumber
7 16 (0.36%) Visual Studio
8 10 (0.22%) JUnit
8 10 (0.22%) SonarQube
9 8 (0.18%) Cypress.io
10 7 (0.16%) GDB
10 7 (0.16%) LabVIEW
10 7 (0.16%) Mockito
10 7 (0.16%) Moq
10 7 (0.16%) Rational Rhapsody
11 6 (0.13%) PetaLinux
11 6 (0.13%) Rational DOORS
12 5 (0.11%) CMake
12 5 (0.11%) Yeoman
General
1 216 (4.81%) Manufacturing
2 212 (4.72%) Electronics
3 207 (4.61%) Finance
4 196 (4.37%) Social Skills
5 131 (2.92%) Aerospace
6 108 (2.41%) Public Sector
7 84 (1.87%) Automotive
8 65 (1.45%) Aviation
9 55 (1.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 49 (1.09%) Analytical Skills
11 32 (0.71%) Retail
12 29 (0.65%) Law
12 29 (0.65%) Tech for Good
13 28 (0.62%) Military
14 27 (0.60%) Games
15 22 (0.49%) Financial Institution
15 22 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
16 19 (0.42%) Banking
17 18 (0.40%) Health Technology
18 17 (0.38%) Marketing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 308 (6.86%) .NET
2 227 (5.06%) React
3 120 (2.67%) Node.js
4 93 (2.07%) Vue
5 91 (2.03%) Terraform
6 82 (1.83%) WPF
7 81 (1.80%) Spring
8 80 (1.78%) Spring Boot
9 68 (1.52%) AngularJS
10 66 (1.47%) CSS
11 59 (1.31%) RESTful
12 57 (1.27%) REST
13 44 (0.98%) HTML
14 40 (0.89%) Next.js
15 36 (0.80%) .NET Core
16 35 (0.78%) React Native
17 34 (0.76%) Kafka
18 31 (0.69%) Django
19 29 (0.65%) .NET Framework
20 26 (0.58%) Yocto
Miscellaneous
1 181 (4.03%) Cloud Native
2 131 (2.92%) Robotics
3 129 (2.87%) Embedded Systems
4 104 (2.32%) Algorithms
5 84 (1.87%) Legacy Systems
6 68 (1.52%) Distributed Systems
7 66 (1.47%) AI Agents
8 62 (1.38%) Product Ownership
9 51 (1.14%) IoT
10 48 (1.07%) Greenfield Project
11 47 (1.05%) Public Cloud
12 38 (0.85%) Cyber Threat
13 26 (0.58%) Mobile App
14 25 (0.56%) Data Structures
14 25 (0.56%) Distributed Computing
15 24 (0.53%) Device Driver
16 19 (0.42%) NHS
17 18 (0.40%) Educational Technology
18 17 (0.38%) ARM Cortex
18 17 (0.38%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 305 (6.80%) Linux
2 72 (1.60%) Windows
3 60 (1.34%) Embedded Linux
4 38 (0.85%) Android
5 28 (0.62%) FreeRTOS
6 13 (0.29%) Apple iOS
7 12 (0.27%) Debian
8 10 (0.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 9 (0.20%) Ubuntu
10 7 (0.16%) CentOS
10 7 (0.16%) VxWorks
11 5 (0.11%) Mac OS
11 5 (0.11%) Unix
11 5 (0.11%) Windows Server
12 3 (0.067%) Gentoo
13 2 (0.045%) Robot Operating System
13 2 (0.045%) Windows 10
13 2 (0.045%) Windows Server 2019
14 1 (0.022%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 4,459 (99.35%) Software Engineering
2 573 (12.77%) Agile
3 441 (9.83%) AI
4 380 (8.47%) CI/CD
5 366 (8.16%) Full-Stack Development
6 253 (5.64%) Mentoring
7 230 (5.12%) DevOps
8 222 (4.95%) Problem-Solving
9 200 (4.46%) Microservices
10 198 (4.41%) SDLC
11 193 (4.30%) Test Automation
12 178 (3.97%) Continuous Improvement
13 167 (3.72%) Computer Science
14 145 (3.23%) Software Architecture
15 137 (3.05%) Technical Leadership
16 136 (3.03%) Code Quality
17 129 (2.87%) Containerisation
18 119 (2.65%) Machine Learning
19 109 (2.43%) Software Testing
20 98 (2.18%) Open Source
Programming Languages
1 662 (14.75%) C++
2 605 (13.48%) C#
3 539 (12.01%) Python
4 396 (8.82%) Java
5 268 (5.97%) TypeScript
6 253 (5.64%) JavaScript
7 233 (5.19%) C
8 177 (3.94%) SQL
9 127 (2.83%) Rust
10 73 (1.63%) Go
11 60 (1.34%) PHP
12 36 (0.80%) Embedded C
13 31 (0.69%) Ruby
14 28 (0.62%) Ada
14 28 (0.62%) Embedded C++
15 23 (0.51%) Kotlin
16 21 (0.47%) Bash
16 21 (0.47%) MATLAB
17 13 (0.29%) Scala
18 7 (0.16%) XAML
Qualifications
1 404 (9.00%) Security Cleared
2 276 (6.15%) Degree
3 262 (5.84%) SC Cleared
4 174 (3.88%) DV Cleared
5 121 (2.70%) Computer Science Degree
6 48 (1.07%) Master's Degree
7 41 (0.91%) BPSS Clearance
8 25 (0.56%) PhD
9 12 (0.27%) Azure Certification
10 8 (0.18%) DBS Check
11 6 (0.13%) AWS Certification
12 5 (0.11%) CEH
12 5 (0.11%) OSCP
13 4 (0.089%) Chartered Engineer
13 4 (0.089%) Microsoft Certification
14 3 (0.067%) HND
14 3 (0.067%) Microsoft Certified Professional
15 2 (0.045%) Numerate Degree
16 1 (0.022%) ISTQB
16 1 (0.022%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 62 (1.38%) QA
2 49 (1.09%) Accessibility
3 9 (0.20%) IEC 61131
4 8 (0.18%) DO-178B
5 6 (0.13%) JTAG
6 5 (0.11%) WCAG
7 4 (0.089%) Data Quality
7 4 (0.089%) ECSS
7 4 (0.089%) MISRA
7 4 (0.089%) MISRA C
8 3 (0.067%) Automotive SPICE
8 3 (0.067%) GAMP
8 3 (0.067%) IEC 61508
8 3 (0.067%) ISO 26262
8 3 (0.067%) MIL-STD-1553
9 2 (0.045%) AUTOSAR
9 2 (0.045%) GDPR
9 2 (0.045%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 1 (0.022%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.022%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 188 (4.19%) Docker
2 152 (3.39%) Firmware
3 45 (1.00%) Embedded Firmware
4 6 (0.13%) QEMU
5 4 (0.089%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.045%) Active Directory
6 2 (0.045%) KVM
6 2 (0.045%) VMware Infrastructure
7 1 (0.022%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.022%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 161 (3.59%) Kubernetes
2 47 (1.05%) Ansible
3 14 (0.31%) Grafana
4 11 (0.25%) Podman
5 9 (0.20%) Puppet
6 7 (0.16%) Kibana
6 7 (0.16%) logstash
7 5 (0.11%) Functional Safety
8 4 (0.089%) Prometheus
9 3 (0.067%) Plesk
9 3 (0.067%) SCCM
9 3 (0.067%) SCOM
9 3 (0.067%) SCOrch
10 2 (0.045%) Microsoft Intune
10 2 (0.045%) Packer
10 2 (0.045%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 39 (0.87%) Microsoft
2 32 (0.71%) Siemens
3 23 (0.51%) Google
4 18 (0.40%) Salesforce
5 15 (0.33%) Databricks
6 14 (0.31%) Okta
6 14 (0.31%) Ping Identity
7 13 (0.29%) RedGate
8 12 (0.27%) Oracle
8 12 (0.27%) Rockwell
8 12 (0.27%) Splunk
9 11 (0.25%) OpenAI
10 10 (0.22%) Red Hat
11 8 (0.18%) Sage
12 7 (0.16%) SaltStack
13 6 (0.13%) Allen-Bradley
13 6 (0.13%) Intel
14 5 (0.11%) Atlassian
14 5 (0.11%) LexisNexis
14 5 (0.11%) Xamarin