Official pay data
Updated 11 October 2026
Salary guide
Official annual estimates for the whole country, mapped to the closest published occupation.
United Kingdom · gross annual earnings estimate
25th percentile
£36,725
Median
£47,118
75th percentile
£55,008
This ASHE benchmark covers full-time employee jobs, not self-employed income or part-time jobs. ASHE gross earnings include basic pay, overtime, incentive pay such as bonuses and commissions, shift premiums, and other cash pay. They are before deductions, exclude payments in kind, and are not take-home pay or the whole benefits package. Compare the benchmark with an offer on the same working-hours and annual-pay basis.
This is a country-level occupation benchmark, not a local offer estimate. Pay can differ by location, employer, duties, and working pattern.
Source: ONS, 2025-04-30. Mapped to IT quality and testing professionals; the occupation is broader than the page role. Figures are estimates, not advertised salaries.
This guide uses the national benchmark for IT quality and testing professionals because Manual Testing sits within the broader software tester field. It is a useful comparison for roles centred on checking software and finding defects before release. It is not a separate Manual Tester pay rate, and it should not be read as a benchmark for test lead responsibilities.
Benchmark fit
The mapped occupation is useful because software tester work includes manual testing during quality assurance. The benchmark is broader than a manual-only job title, so an individual offer should be compared against the actual testing scope rather than assumed to match every role in the occupation.
Nearby titles: Software tester is a broader occupational label that can include roles involving manual testing..
A test lead is not interchangeable with a Manual Tester. Test leads may plan testing time and resources, monitor completion against quality standards, and report to project management; those are lead-level responsibilities.
Role scope
Manual testing contributes to software quality assurance by checking software before deployment and recording issues for the development team to address.
Understand project scope and business requirements, then design tests and write or execute test scripts. · Run manual tests and, where the role includes it, work with automated testing as part of the broader software tester scope. · Record bugs, troubleshoot problems, and give objective feedback to software development teams. · Communicate findings to technical and non-technical colleagues, with the audience depending on the project.
Test scripts and documented analysis. · Bug reports and feedback for development or business-user teams.
A test lead has broader planning, quality-monitoring and project-management reporting responsibilities than the Manual Tester scope described here.
Game tester and software tester are different roles, although their testing skills are broadly similar and moving between them may be possible.
Read the range
A Manual Tester offer is closest to this benchmark when the work centres on designing or executing tests, finding defects and communicating results. Do not treat it as a test lead offer merely because it includes manual testing: lead roles can also carry planning, resource and project-reporting duties.
One quarter of employees earn below this figure.
Half of employees earn below this figure and half above it; it is not the arithmetic midpoint of the displayed range.
One quarter of employees earn above this figure.
Location
Regional benchmark figures are available as supplementary context for selected UK regions. Use them alongside the national view when the offer location is known.
| Region | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | Not published | £50,490 | Not published |
| East Midlands | Not published | £38,181 | Not published |
| London | Not published | £53,864 | Not published |
| North West | Not published | £52,528 | Not published |
| Scotland | Not published | £41,292 | Not published |
| South East | Not published | £55,001 | Not published |
| South West | Not published | £41,186 | Not published |
This remains a country-level occupational benchmark, not a local offer estimate; location, employer, duties and working pattern can differ.
Beyond salary
Compare an offer on the same annual-pay and working-hours basis as the benchmark. Separate fixed salary from any conditional cash payment, then assess benefits on their own terms rather than treating them as cash pay.
Compare the offer's applicable fixed and conditional cash payments with the benchmark on the same annual and working-hours basis.
Ask whether each payment is offered, what conditions apply, and whether the quoted figure includes it. These are cash-pay items, but they may not be fixed.
Check the terms of any pension, health cover, leave or equity separately. Benefits are not the same thing as the cash earnings measure.
Offer review
Questions
Source
Source: ONS, 2025-04-30. The figures cover IT quality and testing professionals (2136) and full time employee jobs. Updated 11 October 2026. This broad occupation benchmark may not match every Manual Tester vacancy.
Put the benchmark to work
Use the salary range as context. Tailor your CV around the experience that supports your target level.
