Teacher CV: UK Format, Sections, and Filled Examples

What Makes a UK Teacher CV Different from a US Resume

The first thing to understand is that in UK education hiring, the document is called a CV, not a resume, and that distinction carries real structural implications. A US teacher resume is typically one page, opens with a brief objective, and omits professional development unless it directly supports a specific role. A UK teacher CV is standardly two pages of A4, opens with a personal statement, and includes a dedicated CPD (Continuing Professional Development) section that hiring panels actively read.

Four features mark a UK teacher CV as immediately credible to a British school:

• Personal statement: Three to five sentences at the top, naming your subject specialism, key stage experience, and one measurable outcome. This replaces the US "objective."
• QTS / registration number: Qualified Teacher Status is a legal requirement to teach in maintained schools in England (GOV.UK). Scotland uses GTCS registration, Wales uses EWC, and Northern Ireland uses GTCni. Your registration number or reference goes in Personal Details, not buried in the Education section.
• ECT status: The Early Career Teacher framework replaced the old NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) label in September 2021, extending induction from one year to two (DfE). Listing yourself as "NQT" after that date signals an outdated CV.
• Enhanced DBS reference: All school staff working with children require an Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check (GOV.UK). School HR teams verify this before shortlisting. Your CV should state current DBS status, not a certificate number.

If you are applying for a US teaching position, our teacher resume examples page covers US-format documents. This article is entirely UK-focused.

UK Teacher CV Format and Structure

UK teacher CVs follow a consistent section order that school HR teams and MAT recruiters expect. Deviating from this order does not hurt your chances directly, but it does slow down the shortlisting process when a hiring panel has 80 applications to review.

Length, Font, and Formatting

Two pages of A4 is the standard. NQTs and ECTs in their first year may fit one page, but two pages is acceptable and rarely penalised. Font should be 10-11pt body text in a clean serif or sans-serif face (Calibri, Arial, Georgia, or Garamond all parse correctly in UK ATS platforms). Margins should be 2cm on all sides, consistent with A4 document conventions. Use UK date format: month written out or abbreviated, then year (e.g., September 2023 or Sep 2023, not 09/2023, which is ambiguous internationally).

Avoid tables, text boxes, columns, and headers/footers if you are applying through a job board. These elements cause extraction failures in CV-Library, Reed, and TES parsing pipelines. We cover this in detail in the ATS section below.

How to Write Each Section: Filled Examples

Personal Statement

The personal statement is the section most applicants write last and most hiring panels read first. It should be three to five sentences. Name your subject and key stage in sentence one. Add a measurable outcome in sentence two. Close with a forward-looking statement about the school or role in sentence three.

Personal Details Block

Teaching Experience Section: Ofsted Bullet Framing

UK hiring panels read experience bullets differently from their US counterparts. Naming the school's Ofsted rating gives context for the complexity of your environment. Referencing key stage and subject explicitly is important because many schools filter applications by KS specialism before shortlisting. Use the metric-action-context structure: what you measured, what you did, and where you did it.

CPD and Professional Development Section

CPD is listed as a named section on UK teacher CVs, not folded into experience. Include course name, provider, date, and a one-line outcome where possible. Safeguarding training and prevent duty awareness refreshers should always appear, as schools are required to verify these under KCSIE.

Education and Qualifications Block

Teacher CV Examples by Role

UK teaching encompasses a wide range of roles with distinct CV conventions. Below are the key variations and what each version should emphasise.

ECT (Early Career Teacher) CV

ECTs replaced NQTs in September 2021. If you completed your PGCE or School Direct route in 2022 or later, you are an ECT, not an NQT. State your ECT year status clearly: "ECT Year 1 in Progress (September 2025)" or "ECT Induction Complete (August 2026)." Lead with your PGCE placement outcomes since you will have limited paid experience. Include your mentor's school and Ofsted context for each placement.

For ECTs, the personal statement should acknowledge the induction stage directly rather than obscuring it. Schools expect ECTs and budget for them. Claiming more experience than you have creates problems at interview.

Primary School Teacher CV

Primary CVs should specify which year groups you have taught and your phonics knowledge. Since the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check became statutory, schools want to see SSP experience named explicitly. KS1 SATs and KS2 SATs coordination experience is valuable for upper primary roles. SEN experience, especially EHCP management and one-to-one wave three intervention, is increasingly a shortlisting criterion in inclusive schools.

Secondary School Teacher CV

Secondary CVs lead with subject and key stage range. The NFER Teacher Labour Market Report 2025 found secondary recruitment was 11% below target, with MFL carrying the highest vacancy rate at 3.2% and physics filling less than 30% of funded ITT places. If you teach a shortage subject, name it prominently in your personal statement. Include A-level teaching experience where applicable, as this distinguishes candidates for sixth form roles. Exam board experience (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC) is worth naming in the Skills section.

Supply Teacher CV

Supply CVs serve two audiences: supply agencies (who shortlist you) and schools (who review the agency's shortlist). Keep your personal statement broad across key stages unless you are agency-specialising. List your DBS Update Service status prominently: supply schools rely on this to confirm you are clearable quickly. Note any LA or MAT frameworks you are registered on.

SEN Teacher / SENCO CV

SEN and SENCO CVs should name specific conditions you have experience with (autism spectrum, ADHD, SEMH, dyslexia, physical disability) and the intervention programmes you have delivered (Precision Teaching, Lego Therapy, sensory circuits). SENCO applicants should note whether they hold the National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO or the newer NPQ for SENCO), as this has been a statutory requirement for new SENCOs in maintained schools since 2009, updated under the SEND and AP Improvement Plan 2023.

UK ATS for Teaching Jobs: CV-Library, Reed, and TES

Large academy trusts, multi-academy trust (MAT) central recruitment teams, and supply agencies all receive applications through applicant tracking systems. Three platforms dominate UK teaching recruitment: CV-Library, Reed, and TES (Times Educational Supplement). Each parses CV data differently, and teacher CVs create specific parsing edge cases because of their document conventions.

The practical implication: submit a single-column .docx file with all section headings as plain text (not styled as Word heading styles that create XML formatting flags). Place your QTS reference number in the body of the Personal Details section, not in a header or text box. Write dates as "September 2023 to July 2025" rather than "09/23-07/25." These small changes prevent the most common extraction failures on UK teaching job boards.

Optimize My Resume to check how your teacher CV parses against ATS formatting rules before you upload to any job board.

Keyword Strategy for UK Teaching Job Boards

ATS keyword matching on teaching job boards typically focuses on: subject name (e.g., "Biology," "French," "Design and Technology"), key stage ("KS2," "Key Stage 2"), qualification type ("QTS," "PGCE," "BEd"), and role type ("class teacher," "form tutor," "SENCO," "head of department"). Mirror the exact terminology from each job advert. If the school uses "class teacher" in the advert, use "class teacher" in your experience section, not "classroom teacher."

DBS Check, Safeguarding, and QTS: What to Include and Where

DBS Wording Options

Do not copy your DBS certificate number onto your CV. Schools require their own DBS check or Update Service verification; your certificate number from a previous employer does not transfer automatically. The correct wording in your Personal Details section is one of the following:

• If registered on the Update Service: "Enhanced DBS Certificate, registered on the DBS Update Service (issued [Month Year])"
• If not registered: "Enhanced DBS Certificate (issued [Month Year], [previous employer name])"
• If your certificate is more than three years old: "Enhanced DBS — renewal required; available for new school check" is cleaner than omitting DBS entirely
• If you are a new applicant with no school DBS yet: "No current DBS certificate; willing to apply immediately upon offer" is honest and expected for career changers

QTS Placement on the CV

QTS goes in two places: once in Personal Details (the reference number and award date) and once in the Education section (alongside your PGCE or BEd entry). Duplicating it this way means it is visible whether the hiring panel skim-reads from the top or scans the qualifications block. Do not list QTS as a standalone bullet in your Skills section; it is a legal qualification, not a competency.

Overseas-Trained Teachers Applying for QTS

If you trained outside England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, you will need to apply for QTS via the Apply for QTS in England service (GOV.UK). Until QTS is awarded, your CV should list your overseas teaching qualification in full (e.g., "Bachelor of Education, University of Ontario, Canada, 2019"), note your QTS application status ("QTS application in progress, reference [number]"), and state whether you hold a visa permitting teaching employment. Schools can employ overseas-trained teachers in the independent sector without QTS; maintained schools require it.

Skills Section for Teachers

The Skills section on a UK teacher CV is not a list of soft skills. Hiring panels take for granted that applicants can communicate and are passionate about education. Use the Skills section for specific technical and professional competencies that distinguish you from other applicants in your subject or phase.

Group skills by category rather than listing them in a single column. Hiring panels can scan categorised skills faster than a flat list, and grouping demonstrates that you understand your own professional profile. Avoid generic entries such as "good communication," "team player," and "enthusiastic": these add length without adding information.

Common UK Teacher CV Mistakes

Many applicants carry US resume habits into UK teaching applications. The most frequent errors are structural, not content-related, which means they are easy to fix once you know what to look for.

Run your completed teacher CV through Optimize My Resume to catch formatting, keyword, and structural issues before submitting to TES, Reed, or a MAT direct portal.

UK Teaching Market Context

Understanding the supply and demand picture for teaching posts helps you position your CV strategically. The DfE School Workforce Census 2024 counted 468,300 FTE teachers in England's state-funded schools, with 2,200 unfilled teaching posts as of November 2024. That figure is five times higher than the 452 recorded in 2010, reflecting sustained recruitment pressure that gives applicants in shortage subjects meaningful leverage.

The average UK teacher salary is £31,374 (DfE 2024 data via resume.io), rising significantly with TLR (Teaching and Learning Responsibility) allowances, SEN supplements, and leadership pay ranges. If you hold a TLR or are seeking one, name the responsibility and the TLR band in your experience section: "TLR2b — Head of Year 9 (Pastoral Lead for 220 pupils)."

The 30-33% early-career attrition figure (NFER 2025) means schools are increasingly focused on retention indicators during shortlisting. If you have stayed at a school for more than three years, or if you have progressed from class teacher to subject lead or pastoral lead, make that trajectory visible in your experience section. Stability and career progression within a school are positive signals to hiring panels at Outstanding-rated schools with competitive applicant pools.

Frequently Asked Questions