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 19 July 2026.

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

6 months to
19 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 50 15
Rank change year-on-year +26 -35 +65
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Engineer 3,507 1,587 5,999
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 4.86% 4.68% 8.52%
As % of the Job Titles category 5.13% 5.23% 8.98%
Number of salaries quoted 2,817 735 3,460
10th Percentile £45,000 £43,750 £38,500
25th Percentile £54,500 £52,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +18.18% -8.33%
75th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £66,250
90th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £80,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £77,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year -9.68% +29.17% -13.60%

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 68,388 30,344 66,801
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.72% 89.43% 94.87%
Number of salaries quoted 47,396 17,398 46,977
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,968 £27,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £33,750 £36,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% - -5.66%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £77,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £53,000
% change year-on-year - +3.77% -11.67%

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 19 July 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 19 July 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 +76 957 £65,000 - 130
North of England +20 934 £65,000 -7.14% 108
South West +24 617 £65,000 - 99
North West +5 538 £70,000 -6.67% 64
East of England +64 408 £70,000 +6.70% 94
Midlands +44 342 £62,500 -3.85% 48
Yorkshire +69 240 £60,000 -10.11% 25
West Midlands +40 179 £65,000 +1.96% 12
East Midlands +27 163 £54,500 -22.14% 36
North East +11 156 £70,000 +27.27% 19
Scotland -16 145 £65,000 - 17
Wales +1 91 £44,000 -35.29% 17
Northern Ireland -48 14 £90,000 +80.00% 9
Software Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 19 July 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 3,460 (98.66%) Software Engineering
2 598 (17.05%) C++
3 542 (15.45%) C#
4 457 (13.03%) Python
5 419 (11.95%) Agile
6 376 (10.72%) AWS
7 353 (10.07%) Full-Stack Development
8 329 (9.38%) Security Cleared
9 312 (8.90%) .NET
10 309 (8.81%) CI/CD
11 303 (8.64%) Java
12 292 (8.33%) Degree
13 280 (7.98%) AI
14 270 (7.70%) Azure
14 270 (7.70%) C
15 257 (7.33%) JavaScript
16 238 (6.79%) DevOps
17 234 (6.67%) Linux
18 226 (6.44%) TypeScript
19 225 (6.42%) Mentoring
20 209 (5.96%) SC Cleared
21 196 (5.59%) React
22 195 (5.56%) Problem-Solving
23 192 (5.47%) Microservices
24 187 (5.33%) SQL
25 181 (5.16%) SDLC
26 180 (5.13%) Test Automation
27 177 (5.05%) Computer Science
28 169 (4.82%) Continuous Improvement
29 166 (4.73%) 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 17 (0.48%) Apache
2 15 (0.43%) SharePoint Server
3 8 (0.23%) FactoryTalk
4 7 (0.20%) Confluence
5 5 (0.14%) WinCC
6 4 (0.11%) Apache Solr
6 4 (0.11%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.11%) CMS
6 4 (0.11%) GeoServer
7 2 (0.057%) ArchestrA
7 2 (0.057%) Headless CMS
7 2 (0.057%) WordPress
8 1 (0.029%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.029%) Umbraco
Applications
1 10 (0.29%) Lightworks
2 5 (0.14%) Simulink
3 4 (0.11%) EPLAN
3 4 (0.11%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (0.11%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.086%) CANalyzer
4 3 (0.086%) EngageOne
5 2 (0.057%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.029%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.029%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.029%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 1 (0.029%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 376 (10.72%) AWS
2 270 (7.70%) Azure
3 155 (4.42%) SaaS
4 89 (2.54%) GCP
5 68 (1.94%) Serverless
6 42 (1.20%) GitHub
7 37 (1.06%) Azure DevOps
8 31 (0.88%) Firebase
9 28 (0.80%) Anthropic Claude
10 22 (0.63%) AWS Lambda
11 18 (0.51%) Amazon S3
12 15 (0.43%) Azure AKS
13 14 (0.40%) GitHub Actions
14 12 (0.34%) Amazon EKS
14 12 (0.34%) AWS CloudFormation
14 12 (0.34%) Cloud Run
15 8 (0.23%) Azure Cosmos DB
15 8 (0.23%) OpenShift
16 7 (0.20%) Amazon ECS
16 7 (0.20%) AWS Step Functions
Communications & Networking
1 58 (1.65%) Wireless
2 36 (1.03%) Ethernet
3 28 (0.80%) Bluetooth
4 24 (0.68%) Modbus
4 24 (0.68%) RS-232
5 17 (0.48%) MQTT
5 17 (0.48%) Wi-Fi
5 17 (0.48%) ZigBee
6 15 (0.43%) Profibus
6 15 (0.43%) TCP/IP
7 12 (0.34%) RS-485
8 10 (0.29%) LTE
9 8 (0.23%) ATM
9 8 (0.23%) Network Security
10 5 (0.14%) Broadband
10 5 (0.14%) Software-Defined Radio
10 5 (0.14%) Wireshark
11 4 (0.11%) AMQP
12 3 (0.086%) Software-Defined Networking
13 2 (0.057%) LoRaWAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 75 (2.14%) PostgreSQL
2 64 (1.82%) MongoDB
3 63 (1.80%) SQL Server
4 58 (1.65%) NoSQL
5 46 (1.31%) MySQL
6 19 (0.54%) Elasticsearch
7 17 (0.48%) Relational Database
8 15 (0.43%) Redis
9 13 (0.37%) Big Data
9 13 (0.37%) Pinecone
10 11 (0.31%) DynamoDB
11 7 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
11 7 (0.20%) Neo4j
12 6 (0.17%) Hadoop
13 5 (0.14%) FileMaker
14 4 (0.11%) Cloudera CDH
14 4 (0.11%) Geospatial Data
14 4 (0.11%) GIS
14 4 (0.11%) QGIS
15 3 (0.086%) DocumentDB
Development Applications
1 131 (3.74%) Git
2 49 (1.40%) GitLab
3 31 (0.88%) JIRA
4 28 (0.80%) Jenkins
5 23 (0.66%) Visual Studio Code
6 18 (0.51%) Claude Code
7 12 (0.34%) Visual Studio
8 11 (0.31%) Cucumber
9 9 (0.26%) SonarQube
10 7 (0.20%) Eclipse
10 7 (0.20%) GDB
10 7 (0.20%) JUnit
10 7 (0.20%) Moq
11 6 (0.17%) Bitbucket
11 6 (0.17%) LabVIEW
11 6 (0.17%) Yeoman
12 5 (0.14%) Postman
12 5 (0.14%) Subversion
13 4 (0.11%) Robot Framework
14 3 (0.086%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 207 (5.90%) Manufacturing
2 182 (5.19%) Electronics
3 159 (4.53%) Social Skills
4 94 (2.68%) Finance
5 85 (2.42%) Aerospace
6 81 (2.31%) Automotive
7 76 (2.17%) Public Sector
8 44 (1.25%) Analytical Skills
9 33 (0.94%) Aviation
10 31 (0.88%) Pharmaceutical
11 22 (0.63%) Retail
12 18 (0.51%) Games
12 18 (0.51%) Telecoms
13 17 (0.48%) Military
14 16 (0.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 14 (0.40%) Organisational Skills
16 10 (0.29%) Health Technology
16 10 (0.29%) Tech for Good
17 9 (0.26%) Agriculture
17 9 (0.26%) Wearables
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 312 (8.90%) .NET
2 196 (5.59%) React
3 121 (3.45%) Node.js
4 103 (2.94%) Vue
5 73 (2.08%) AngularJS
6 70 (2.00%) WPF
7 66 (1.88%) RESTful
8 64 (1.82%) CSS
9 62 (1.77%) REST
10 61 (1.74%) Spring
11 58 (1.65%) HTML
12 53 (1.51%) Spring Boot
13 42 (1.20%) .NET Core
14 38 (1.08%) Next.js
15 36 (1.03%) .NET Framework
16 34 (0.97%) Django
17 25 (0.71%) Yocto
18 22 (0.63%) Entity Framework
19 21 (0.60%) WebSockets
20 20 (0.57%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 144 (4.11%) Cloud Native
2 123 (3.51%) Embedded Systems
3 89 (2.54%) Algorithms
4 80 (2.28%) Robotics
5 76 (2.17%) Legacy Systems
6 66 (1.88%) Product Ownership
7 59 (1.68%) IoT
8 55 (1.57%) Distributed Systems
9 52 (1.48%) AI Agents
10 43 (1.23%) Greenfield Project
11 31 (0.88%) Mobile App
12 30 (0.86%) Device Driver
13 23 (0.66%) Client/Server
14 20 (0.57%) Hedge funds
15 19 (0.54%) ARM Cortex
15 19 (0.54%) Data Structures
16 18 (0.51%) Educational Technology
17 17 (0.48%) Cyber Threat
17 17 (0.48%) Distributed Computing
18 16 (0.46%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 234 (6.67%) Linux
2 51 (1.45%) Windows
3 49 (1.40%) Embedded Linux
4 32 (0.91%) Android
5 31 (0.88%) FreeRTOS
6 9 (0.26%) Debian
7 7 (0.20%) Apple iOS
8 5 (0.14%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.14%) Windows Server
9 4 (0.11%) CentOS
9 4 (0.11%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.086%) Gentoo
11 2 (0.057%) Robot Operating System
11 2 (0.057%) SafeRTOS
11 2 (0.057%) Unix
11 2 (0.057%) Windows 10
11 2 (0.057%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.057%) zOS
12 1 (0.029%) ThreadX
12 1 (0.029%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 3,460 (98.66%) Software Engineering
2 419 (11.95%) Agile
3 353 (10.07%) Full-Stack Development
4 309 (8.81%) CI/CD
5 280 (7.98%) AI
6 238 (6.79%) DevOps
7 225 (6.42%) Mentoring
8 195 (5.56%) Problem-Solving
9 192 (5.47%) Microservices
10 181 (5.16%) SDLC
11 180 (5.13%) Test Automation
12 177 (5.05%) Computer Science
13 169 (4.82%) Continuous Improvement
14 124 (3.54%) Containerisation
15 117 (3.34%) Software Architecture
16 113 (3.22%) TDD
17 109 (3.11%) Scrum
18 107 (3.05%) Software Testing
19 97 (2.77%) Code Quality
20 87 (2.48%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 598 (17.05%) C++
2 542 (15.45%) C#
3 457 (13.03%) Python
4 303 (8.64%) Java
5 270 (7.70%) C
6 257 (7.33%) JavaScript
7 226 (6.44%) TypeScript
8 187 (5.33%) SQL
9 124 (3.54%) Rust
10 59 (1.68%) PHP
11 55 (1.57%) Embedded C
12 53 (1.51%) Go
13 26 (0.74%) Ruby
14 24 (0.68%) Embedded C++
15 19 (0.54%) Bash
16 18 (0.51%) Kotlin
17 17 (0.48%) COBOL
18 14 (0.40%) MATLAB
19 13 (0.37%) Scala
20 9 (0.26%) Ada
Qualifications
1 329 (9.38%) Security Cleared
2 292 (8.33%) Degree
3 209 (5.96%) SC Cleared
4 131 (3.74%) Computer Science Degree
5 130 (3.71%) DV Cleared
6 53 (1.51%) Master's Degree
7 23 (0.66%) PhD
8 10 (0.29%) DBS Check
8 10 (0.29%) HND
9 9 (0.26%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (0.23%) Azure Certification
11 6 (0.17%) HNC
12 5 (0.14%) AWS Certification
12 5 (0.14%) CEH
12 5 (0.14%) OSCP
13 4 (0.11%) Microsoft Certification
14 2 (0.057%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 2 (0.057%) NVQ Level 3
15 1 (0.029%) Chartered Engineer
15 1 (0.029%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 74 (2.11%) QA
2 23 (0.66%) Accessibility
3 8 (0.23%) IEC 61131
3 8 (0.23%) IEC 61508
3 8 (0.23%) MISRA
3 8 (0.23%) MISRA C
4 6 (0.17%) JTAG
5 4 (0.11%) DO-178B
5 4 (0.11%) ECSS
6 3 (0.086%) GAMP
6 3 (0.086%) GDPR
6 3 (0.086%) ISO 9001
7 2 (0.057%) ISO 26262
8 1 (0.029%) Automotive SPICE
8 1 (0.029%) DO-254
8 1 (0.029%) HAZOP
8 1 (0.029%) IEC 62304
8 1 (0.029%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.029%) Software Quality Assurance
8 1 (0.029%) WCAG
System Software
1 166 (4.73%) Docker
2 156 (4.45%) Firmware
3 52 (1.48%) Embedded Firmware
4 12 (0.34%) KVM
4 12 (0.34%) VMware Infrastructure
5 11 (0.31%) Hyper-V
6 7 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.14%) QEMU
8 2 (0.057%) Time Sharing Option
Systems Management
1 129 (3.68%) Kubernetes
2 81 (2.31%) Terraform
3 32 (0.91%) Ansible
4 7 (0.20%) Grafana
4 7 (0.20%) Kibana
4 7 (0.20%) logstash
4 7 (0.20%) Podman
5 6 (0.17%) Functional Safety
6 5 (0.14%) Puppet
7 3 (0.086%) Plesk
7 3 (0.086%) SCCM
7 3 (0.086%) SCOM
7 3 (0.086%) SCOrch
8 2 (0.057%) Microsoft Intune
8 2 (0.057%) Packer
8 2 (0.057%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 30 (0.86%) Siemens
2 28 (0.80%) Microsoft
3 19 (0.54%) Rockwell
4 18 (0.51%) Google
5 15 (0.43%) Oracle
6 14 (0.40%) VMware
7 11 (0.31%) Salesforce
8 10 (0.29%) Allen-Bradley
9 9 (0.26%) Okta
9 9 (0.26%) OpenAI
9 9 (0.26%) Ping Identity
10 7 (0.20%) Atlassian
11 6 (0.17%) Splunk
11 6 (0.17%) Xamarin
12 5 (0.14%) Intel
13 4 (0.11%) Peregrine
13 4 (0.11%) Red Hat
13 4 (0.11%) SaltStack
14 3 (0.086%) ForgeRock
14 3 (0.086%) Typelevel