Software tester: salary in the UK
ONS occupation: IT quality and testing professionals (SOC 2136)
About £36,039 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, -4.3% on last year
£3,764 a month About £3,003 a month after tax 20 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £38,649 in 2021 to £45,165 in 2026 (+17%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | x | £38,649 | x | x |
| 2022 | x | £33,244 | £42,309 | x | x |
| 2023 | x | £32,471 | £40,205 | x | x |
| 2024 | x | £34,623 | £41,707 | x | x |
| 2025 | £32,773 | £36,586 | £47,195 | £55,547 | x |
| 2026 | x | x | £45,165 | x | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £45,165 a year and half earn more. That is 10% more than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 106 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £3,003 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,967 in Scotland.
The median for men is £46,236 and for women £43,187, a gap of 7% in men's favour. This compares full-time salaries only and doesn't account for seniority or hours.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | x | x |
| 25th (P25) | x | x |
| 30th | £38,879 | £3,240 |
| 40th | £41,953 | £3,496 |
| Median (50th) | £45,165 | £3,764 |
| 60th | £49,306 | £4,109 |
| 70th | x | x |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £46,236 | £48,326 | x |
| Women | £43,187 | £46,747 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £36,039 | £3,003 |
| Scotland | £35,606 | £2,967 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £45,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 22 job titles to SOC 2136 IT quality and testing professionals. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- AI evaluation engineer
- AI evaluation specialist
- Automation test analyst
- IT auditor
- Qa engineer
- Qa team leader
- Quality analyst
- Quality assurance engineer
- Quality engineer
- Software test analyst
- Software test consultant
- Software test engineer
- Software tester
- Software testing consultant
- Systems tester
- Test analyst
- Test consultant
- Test engineer
- Test lead
- Test team leader
- Testing consultant
- User acceptance tester
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Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.