Test Engineer Job Trends in the North West
Test Engineer
England > North West
The median Test Engineer salary in the North West is £50,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 25 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 25 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 166 | 205 | 218 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +39 | +13 | -30 |
| Permanent Test Engineer jobs | 97 | 19 | 13 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the North West | 0.75% | 0.40% | 0.19% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.81% | 0.44% | 0.20% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 81 | 10 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | £35,000 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £40,500 | - | - |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £50,000 | £40,000 | - |
| Median % change year-on-year | +25.00% | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £75,000 | £45,000 | - |
| 90th Percentile | £77,500 | £74,375 | - |
| England median annual salary | £50,000 | £50,000 | £50,000 |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
North West
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job adverts in the North West matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all permanent IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 25 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the North West matching a recognised job title | 11,962 | 4,289 | 6,656 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 92.54% | 90.47% | 95.26% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 8,732 | 2,388 | 3,748 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,025 | £26,500 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,000 | £33,750 | £40,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £55,000 | £48,500 | £50,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +13.40% | -3.00% | -9.09% |
| 75th Percentile | £75,000 | £65,000 | £65,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £90,000 | £80,000 | £77,650 |
| England median annual salary | £59,999 | £53,500 | £57,500 |
| % change year-on-year | +12.15% | -6.96% | -4.17% |
Test Engineer Job Vacancy Trend in the North West
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent Test Engineer job postings relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.
Test Engineer Salary Trend in the North West
Salary distribution trend for Test Engineer job vacancies in the North West.
Test Engineer Salary Histogram in the North West
Salary distribution for Test Engineer jobs in the North West over the 6 months to 25 October 2026.
Test Engineer Job Locations in the North West
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in Test Engineer jobs within the North West region over the 6 months to 25 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Salary Past 6 Months |
Median Salary % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | -3 | 64 | £50,000 | -25.93% | 39 |
| Cheshire | +24 | 18 | £47,500 | -36.67% | 7 |
| Lancashire | -1 | 9 | £75,000 | - | 8 |
| Merseyside | -23 | 6 | £65,000 | +62.50% | 1 |
| Test Engineer England |
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Test Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West
For the 6 months to 25 October 2026, Test Engineer job ads cited 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 Test Engineer job ads across the North West region.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Test Automation | 29.9% | 29 |
| 2 | Continuous Improvement | 18.6% | 18 |
| 3 | Python | 12.4% | 12 |
| 4 | Problem-Solving | 10.3% | 10 |
| 5 | CI/CD | 9.3% | 9 |
| 6 | Agile | 8.2% | 8 |
| 6 | Azure | 8.2% | 8 |
| 6 | Java | 8.2% | 8 |
| 6 | Software Testing | 8.2% | 8 |
| 10 | HNC | 7.2% | 7 |
| 10 | JavaScript | 7.2% | 7 |
| 10 | Mentoring | 7.2% | 7 |
| 10 | Security Cleared | 7.2% | 7 |
| 10 | Test Strategy | 7.2% | 7 |
| 10 | Validation | 7.2% | 7 |
| 16 | AWS | 6.2% | 6 |
| 16 | SQL | 6.2% | 6 |
| 18 | C | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | C++ | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | Defect Management | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | Degree | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | Kubernetes | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | QA | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | Software Engineering | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | Test Scripting | 5.2% | 5 |
| 18 | TypeScript | 5.2% | 5 |
| 27 | Accessibility | 4.1% | 4 |
| 27 | AngularJS | 4.1% | 4 |
| 27 | Cucumber | 4.1% | 4 |
| 27 | Cypress.io | 4.1% | 4 |
Test Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Systems Test Engineer | 19.6% | 19 |
| 2 | Manufacturing Engineer | 18.6% | 18 |
| 3 | Senior Test Engineer | 14.4% | 14 |
| 4 | Lead Test Engineer | 13.4% | 13 |
| 5 | Electronics Engineer | 6.2% | 6 |
| 5 | Electronics Test Engineer | 6.2% | 6 |
| 7 | Electrical Engineer | 5.2% | 5 |
| 7 | Software Test Engineer | 5.2% | 5 |
| 9 | Data Engineer | 4.1% | 4 |
| 10 | PCB Engineer | 3.1% | 3 |
| 11 | Test and Integration Engineer | 2.1% | 2 |
| 12 | DevSecOps Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Firmware Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Principal Test Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Product Test Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | QA Test Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Systems Integration Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Test and Validation Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Test Automation Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |
| 12 | Test Development Engineer | 1.0% | 1 |