jobfacts

IT quality and testing professionals

SOC 2020 2136

IT quality and testing professionals test the quality of IT software, systems and computer games and identify and recommend solutions to problems and improvements that could be made.

Also calledTest leadSenior test leadLead test analystTest managerTesting consultantTest consultantand 16 more titles
Typical full-time pay£47,1002025 Provisional
People in the job33,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month404↓ 1.1%on last year · 277th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time IT quality and testing professionals earn between £36,700 and £55,000 a year.

What full-time IT quality and testing professionals earn, 2025
£47,100 typical£35,600lowest 20%£55,00075%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£36,700–£55,000)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less than£35,600
25%£36,700
Median£47,100
75%£55,000
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £47,100
South East!£55,000
London!£53,900
North West!£52,500
East of England!£50,500
Scotland!£41,300
South West!£41,200
East Midlands!£38,200
North EastNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £47,100
South East£55,000 (small sample)
London£53,900 (small sample)
North West£52,500 (small sample)
East of England£50,500 (small sample)
Scotland£41,300 (small sample)
South West£41,200 (small sample)
East Midlands£38,200 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £40,200
  • 2024 £41,700
  • 2025 Provisional£47,100
↑ 17% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 404 jobs for IT quality and testing professionals are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026536
Jul 2026424
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026410
Apr 2026354
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026308
Jan 2026409
Dec 2025203
Nov 2025536
Oct 2025457
Sept 2025399
Aug 2025405
Jul 2025438
Jun 2025537
May 2025572
Apr 2025408
Mar 2025494
Feb 2025542
Jan 2025345
Dec 2024231
Nov 2024371
Oct 2024383
Sept 2024386
Aug 2024351
Jul 2024389
Jun 2024343
May 2024412
Apr 2024398
Mar 2024437
Feb 2024448
Jan 2024524
Dec 2023485
Nov 2023491
Oct 2023469
Sept 2023488
Aug 2023632
Jul 2023520
Jun 2023815
May 2023837
Apr 2023722
Mar 20231,025
Feb 20231,087
Jan 20231,258
Dec 20221,208
Nov 20221,451
Oct 20221,401
Sept 20221,405
Aug 20221,333
Jul 20221,495
Jun 20221,552
May 20221,826
Apr 20221,418
Mar 20221,816
Feb 20221,742
Jan 20221,896
Dec 20211,524
Nov 20211,563
Oct 20211,597
Sept 20211,598
Aug 20211,530
Jul 20211,843
Jun 20211,617
May 20212,141
Apr 20211,879
Mar 20211,771
Feb 20211,151
Jan 20211,436
Dec 20201,135
Nov 20201,080
Oct 20201,032
Sept 20201,074
Aug 2020846
Jul 20201,084
Jun 2020923
May 2020752
Apr 20201,201
Mar 20201,938
Feb 20201,897
Jan 20201,775
Dec 20191,280
Nov 20191,755
Oct 20191,595
Sept 20191,845
Aug 20192,029
Jul 20192,490
Jun 20192,599
May 20192,419
Apr 20191,463
Mar 20191,932
Feb 20191,857
Jan 20191,996
Dec 20181,241
Nov 20181,635
Oct 20181,654
Sept 20181,751
Aug 20181,783
Jul 20181,942
Jun 20181,961
May 20181,955
Apr 20181,834
Mar 20181,956
Feb 20181,964
Jan 20182,182
Dec 20171,532
Nov 20171,851
Oct 20172,105
Sept 20171,696
Aug 20171,646
Jul 20171,578
Jun 20172,009
May 20172,263
Apr 20172,062
Mar 20172,290
Feb 20172,008
Jan 20172,225
Is there a shortage of IT quality and testing professionals?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedWell above usual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
7.2%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for information technology professionals, which includes IT quality and testing professionals. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London356
Manchester51
Leeds44
Bristol, City of36
Birmingham34
Newcastle upon Tyne30
Glasgow City24
City of Edinburgh21
Cambridge19
Milton Keynes18
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where IT quality and testing professionals are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 585 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, Pakistan, Italy, ranking it 32nd of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of IT quality and testing professionals
n/p
30%!
39%!
23%!
8.1%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3430% (small sample)
35–4439% (small sample)
45–5423% (small sample)
55–648.1% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree!3%
A levels or equivalent!8.3%
GCSEs or equivalent!7.5%
Other qualifications!5.4%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent79%
Higher education below degree3% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent8.3% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent7.5% (small sample)
Other qualifications5.4% (small sample)

Main employers: computer consultancy activities (23%), computer programming activities (20%), general public administration activities (5.8%), manufacture of computers and peripheral equipment (2.2%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
79%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
2
from level 4, including degree apprenticeships
Apprenticeships take
18 months to 2 years
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

University

You could do a degree or postgraduate course in:

  • computer science
  • business information technology
  • software development
  • software engineering
  • maths

You may have an advantage when you look for work if your degree includes a work placement, internship or a year in industry.

Your university careers service can help you find opportunities.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Software Tester Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship, or a Digital and Technology Solutions Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship, with a commercial company.

These take between 2 and 4 years to complete and combine on-the-job training with academic study.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could join an organisation's quality assurance team as an assistant software tester, for example on a graduate training scheme.

As your experience grows, you could become a test lead through on-the-job training and promotion.

Apply directly

You could apply directly for jobs if you have 3 to 5 years' experience in software testing and quality assurance.

You may also find it helpful to have:

  • experience in software development or user research and design
  • IT project management skills
  • certification through a professional body like The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS)

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

You'll find it useful to have an understanding of project management methods, such as agile delivery.

Further information

You can find out more about careers in computing from:

  • techskills
  • The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS)
  • GOV.UK

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for test lead. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

2 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Other qualifications

QualificationTypeLevel
FD Software DevelopmentHigher technical5
Foundation Degree of Science (FdSc) in Computer ScienceHigher technical5
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Computing for EnglandHigher technical5
Pearson BTEC Level 5 Higher National Diploma in Digital Technologies for EnglandHigher technical5

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • undertakes the testing of software, systems or computer games for errors, identifies source of problems and proposes solutions
  • develops, implements and documents test plans for IT software, systems and computer games
  • develops quality standards and validation techniques
  • makes recommendations concerning software/system quality

Skills

  • address problems critically
  • build business relationships
  • develop ICT test suite
  • execute software tests
  • provide software testing documentation
  • develop automated software tests
  • manage schedule of tasks
  • define data quality criteria
  • develop information security strategy
  • execute ICT audits
  • manage data
  • manage IT security compliances
  • perform quality audits
  • plan software testing

Knowledge

  • levels of software testing
  • ICT debugging tools
  • ICT performance analysis methods
  • ICT process quality models
  • query languages
  • resource description framework query language
  • software anomalies
  • Agile project management

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for science, research, engineering and technology professionals, a group of 28 jobs that includes IT quality and testing professionals.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 18%about 394,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.