How to Write a UK CV — Format, Length & What to Include (2026)

What makes a UK CV different

If you are applying for jobs in Britain and have previously worked or studied elsewhere, your existing CV almost certainly needs updating before you submit it. UK employers have conventions around length, layout and personal information that differ significantly from US, European and many international formats.

The word "CV" stands for curriculum vitae — Latin for "course of life." In the UK, CV and résumé are sometimes used interchangeably, but the standard document for most job applications is a two-page CV. A one-page document is generally considered too brief for experienced candidates; three pages is occasionally acceptable for senior or academic roles.

One important 2026 update: over 75% of UK recruiters now use Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software to screen CVs automatically before a human reads them. This means your CV must be optimised for both machines and people — a document that reads beautifully but fails ATS parsing will not be seen at all.

UK CV vs US résumé — the main differences

If you are relocating from the United States, the differences between a UK CV and a US résumé are significant enough that starting from scratch is often easier than adapting what you have.

The three CV formats — which to use

Most UK CVs follow one of three formats. Choosing the right one for your circumstances matters more than it used to, partly because ATS software handles them differently.

Reverse-chronological — the standard for most candidates. Work experience listed most recent first. Works best for consistent career progressors and is the format ATS systems expect. This is the right choice for the majority of applicants.

Skills-based (functional) — leads with a skills section rather than work history. Useful for career changers or those with limited work experience, but less common in UK recruitment and often viewed with slight suspicion by experienced recruiters. Use with caution — some ATS systems handle it poorly.

Hybrid (combination) — opens with a strong skills summary, then moves into reverse-chronological experience. Increasingly recommended in 2026 for those returning to work after a career break, changing sectors, or applying for roles where skills matter more than job titles. Works well with modern ATS systems when structured correctly.

The standard UK CV structure

A well-structured UK CV follows a predictable order. While some variation exists across industries, deviating significantly from this structure may make your application harder to skim-read — and most hiring managers spend less than ten seconds on an initial review.

1. Contact details

Your name, city (not full address), professional email address and phone number. Include your LinkedIn URL if your profile is up to date and relevant to the application. Do not include your date of birth, nationality, marital status, or a photograph — these are not expected and including them can expose employers to unconscious bias concerns under UK equality law.

2. Personal profile

This is the first thing most UK employers read after your name. Three to five sentences at the top of your CV, summarising who you are professionally, your key strengths, and the type of role you are seeking. Write it in the first or third person consistently — both are acceptable in the UK, but do not mix them.

This section should be tailored for each application — a generic profile is immediately noticeable. Avoid vague phrases like "hardworking self-starter" or "excellent communicator" without backing them up with specifics. Aim for credible, specific claims that reflect what is in the rest of your CV.

3. Work experience

Listed in reverse chronological order — most recent role first. For each position include: job title, employer name, location, and employment dates (month and year). Under each role, use short bullet points to describe your achievements — what you actually delivered, not just what your job was.

UK employers respond well to achievement-focused bullet points that use numbers and outcomes. A useful framework is: Action → What → Scope → Result. Even if you cannot give an exact figure, scale works — volume, complexity, team size, budget, region.

For roles more than fifteen years ago, a single-line entry (job title, employer, years) is usually sufficient unless that experience is directly relevant to the application. Do not go back further than about fifteen years for standard roles — older experience adds length without adding value.

4. Education

Listed in reverse chronological order. Include the institution name, qualification, graduation year, and grade if it is strong — a First or 2:1 at a UK university is worth stating. For graduates applying for their first professional role, education typically moves above work experience. For everyone else with meaningful work history, it belongs below.

5. Skills

A short section listing hard skills — software, tools, programming languages, professional certifications, and language proficiency. Do not list soft skills like "communication" or "teamwork" here; these should be demonstrated through your experience bullet points rather than stated baldly. Language skills are worth including if they are genuinely at a professional level — specify your proficiency clearly (native, fluent, working proficiency, conversational).

Formatting and presentation

UK employers receive high volumes of CVs, particularly for popular roles. Clear formatting makes the difference between a document that gets read and one that gets skipped — and increasingly, between one that passes ATS parsing and one that does not.

Length — the two-page rule

Two pages is the standard for most candidates with several years of experience. One page is appropriate for recent graduates or those with minimal work history. Three pages is very occasionally acceptable for senior executive or academic CVs, but as a general rule, if you are going to three pages, something needs cutting.

Fonts, spacing and layout

• Use a clean, professional font at 10–12pt for body text. Calibri, Garamond, Georgia and similar neutral fonts read well and parse cleanly through ATS.
• Keep margins at approximately 1.5–2cm on all sides. Do not reduce margins to squeeze content onto fewer pages — it makes the document harder to read.
• Use consistent formatting throughout: the same heading style, the same bullet style, the same date format.
• Use standard section headings: "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills" — creative alternatives like "Where I've Been" or "Things I Know" will not be correctly parsed by ATS software.
• Avoid tables, text boxes, headers and footers for key content — ATS systems frequently cannot read text placed in these elements, meaning critical information is lost.
• Use a single-column layout where possible. Two-column CVs can confuse older ATS parsers that read left-to-right line by line, joining content across columns incorrectly.
• Save and send as a PDF unless specifically asked for a Word document. PDFs preserve formatting across devices. Some older ATS systems prefer Word — follow the employer's instructions.
• File name should include your name: Jane-Smith-CV.pdf — not CV-2025.pdf or my-cv-final-v3.pdf.

Use British English throughout

This is easy to overlook if you have lived and worked in the US or another English-speaking country. UK employers will notice Americanisms. Run your finished CV through a British English spell-checker before submitting — the "English (United Kingdom)" setting in Microsoft Word or Google Docs will catch most issues.

Tailoring your CV and ATS optimisation

A generic CV sent to every employer will almost always underperform a tailored one. UK employers, particularly those using ATS software, look for specific keywords from the job description. A CV that mirrors the language and priorities of the role it is applying for will progress further through both automated screening and human review.

You do not need to rewrite your entire CV for every application. The sections that should change are your personal profile, the ordering of bullet points within each role (put the most relevant ones first for each application), and possibly the skills section. The structure and core content can stay consistent.

ATS optimisation — practical rules

• Use the exact job title from the posting if it accurately describes what you do — ATS systems match on this.
• Mirror the language in the person specification — if they say "stakeholder management", use "stakeholder management" rather than a synonym. ATS systems do not always recognise equivalents.
• Avoid putting key information in headers, footers, tables or text boxes — ATS systems frequently cannot read these.
• Use standard section headings: "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills" — creative alternatives may not be parsed correctly.
• Do not keyword-stuff — inserting keywords unnaturally or repeating them excessively can trigger spam filters in modern AI-powered ATS systems and raises red flags for human reviewers.
• Submit as PDF or Word as directed — follow the employer's instructions; some older systems do not handle PDFs well.

The covering letter

A covering letter (the UK term — "cover letter" is the US equivalent) is expected for many UK job applications, particularly in professional and graduate roles. Even when listed as optional, a well-written covering letter is an opportunity most strong candidates take.

A UK covering letter should be one page, addressed to a named person where possible, and structured as: why you are interested in this specific role and company; what you bring that is relevant; and a brief, confident closing. It is not a retelling of your CV — it is an argument for why you are the right person for this particular job at this particular organisation.

If you are relocating to the UK

International candidates face a few specific challenges when applying for UK jobs. Addressing them clearly on your CV reduces uncertainty for the employer.

Right to work

UK employers have a legal obligation to check that anyone they hire has the right to work in the UK before they start. You are not required to state your immigration status on your CV, but if you have the right to work already — for example, through a Skilled Worker Visa, a Graduate Visa, or British citizenship — stating this clearly in your personal profile or covering letter removes a significant point of uncertainty. Something like "existing right to work in the UK" or "relocating with a confirmed Skilled Worker Visa" is sufficient. See our work visas guide for the full picture of routes available.

Address and location

If you are applying from overseas and have not yet moved, either omit your address entirely or list the UK city you are moving to with a note such as "relocating to London, April 2026." Many UK employers are cautious about candidates still abroad — not because of discrimination, but because of the practical risk that an international move falls through. A clear statement that your relocation is confirmed and imminent reduces this concern.

Overseas qualifications

Write out the full name of your degree and institution. For companies that are well known globally — KPMG, Google, McKinsey, major multinationals — no explanation is needed. For regional or less well-known companies, add a brief descriptor in brackets: "Senior analyst at Infosys (India's largest IT services company, 300,000+ employees)" is more informative to a UK recruiter than the name alone.