What is Continuous Testing? — UK Software Development Guide
Direct Answer
Continuous Testing is the practice of executing automated tests throughout the software delivery pipeline — from developer commit through to production deployment. Rather than testing at a single pre-release checkpoint, continuous testing integrates unit tests, integration tests, security scans, performance tests, and accessibility checks into the CI/CD pipeline so every code change is validated automatically.
Continuous-testing in the UK
Continuous testing directly supports multiple UK compliance requirements. Cyber Essentials secure development: automated security scanning (SAST, dependency vulnerability checking) in every CI run prevents insecure code reaching production. DTAC Domain 3 (NHS): automated test suites provide evidence of testing discipline. WCAG 2.1: automated accessibility scanning (Axe, Lighthouse) in CI catches regressions before they reach staging. FCA PS21/3: continuous testing reduces the risk of production incidents by catching regression errors in staging before they affect real users.
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