How to become an iT quality and testing professional

Official title: IT quality and testing professionals

Also called: It auditor, Quality analyst, Quality engineer, Testing consultant, Quality assurance engineer, Software testing consultant, Test lead, Qa engineer, Test analyst, Test engineer, Qa team leader, Systems tester

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.

Main 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

How to become one

Entrants usually possess a degree or equivalent qualification, although entry with other academic qualifications and/or significant relevant experience is possible. There is a variety of relevant vocational, professional and postgraduate qualifications available.

Ways in

• Apprenticeship (England): Software tester (level 4). England. Typically 24 months. Skills England standard ST0129.
• University: Computing & IT degrees, Offered by 26 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

• Median full-time pay: £47,118 a year The middle half earn £36,725 to £55,008.
• About 34,300 people work in this job now, and about 38,100 are projected by 2035. (+11.1%)

Related jobs

• IT project managers
• IT managers
• IT business analysts, architects and systems designers
• Programmers and software development professionals
• Cyber security professionals
• IT network professionals

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Questions people ask

How do I become an iT quality and testing professional?

Entrants usually possess a degree or equivalent qualification, although entry with other academic qualifications and/or significant relevant experience is possible. There is a variety of relevant vocational, professional and postgraduate qualifications available.

How much does an iT quality and testing professional earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £47,118 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £36,725 to £55,008.

Is an iT quality and testing professional a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 11% by 2035, from about 34,300 to about 38,100 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become an iT quality and testing professional?

Usually. 77% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Sources

• Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.