UK Technology Salary Guide 2025/26
Permanent base salary benchmarks across nine UK locations. Compiled by RedTech Recruitment, a specialist UK technology recruiter. Covering Software Engineering, DevOps & Platform, ML & AI, QA & Test, and Embedded, with figures split by experience level. Select your city and role.
Red figures = Top-academic tier (exceptional academics, i.e. from a leading international University, or a relevant PhD)
Notes
- Figures show gross annual base salary only — bonus, equity, pension, and benefits are excluded.
- These tables reflect on-site/hybrid local market rates. Fully remote pay may differ.
- Equivalent contract day rates typically run 1.3–1.6× the daily equivalent of the permanent annual salary.
- Financial services and big tech pay 20–40% above public sector for equivalent roles. These tables reflect the mixed market across all employer types.
- Specialist skills within these roles, or industry-specific experience, can command a premium of 10–40% above the figures shown. Contact us to use our salary benchmarking tool below for an exact figure for your role.
- The top-academic tier (figures shown in red) reflects candidates with exceptional academic backgrounds. This mirrors the calibre of candidate our clients regularly ask us to find, given our graduate division.
- Data synthesised from ITJobsWatch, Morgan McKinley, Hays, Robert Half, Glassdoor, Indeed, Levels.fyi and other sources, July–August 2026.
Disclaimer: Figures are approximate market averages based on publicly available data and RedTech’s own market knowledge. Ranges reflect typical permanent salary packages and may vary based on company size, sector, and individual candidate profile. Salaries are stated as gross annual base salary in GBP. RedTech Recruitment is not responsible for any employment decisions made on the basis of this guide alone.
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