How to Write a Graduate CV (UK) — Complete Guide 2026

Every year, around 800,000 students graduate from UK universities. A large portion of them are writing a CV for the first time — or rewriting one that clearly isn't working. And the most common mistake isn't what they include. It's that they all include the same things in the same way, making it nearly impossible for recruiters to tell candidates apart.

This guide covers how to write a graduate CV that actually works in the UK market — what to include, how to structure it, and what most graduates get wrong.

What Makes a Graduate CV Different

A graduate CV is not a scaled-down version of an experienced professional's CV. The emphasis is fundamentally different:

Your education leads. Work experience — if you have any — is supporting evidence, not the main act. Transferable skills from university projects, part-time work, and extracurriculars do the heavy lifting where years of industry experience would normally go.

UK employers expect a clean, reverse-chronological format. No photo. No date of birth. No marital status. Just your skills and experience, clearly presented on one to two pages (one is preferred for most graduate roles).

If you're coming at this from even earlier — no work experience at all — we've written a dedicated guide for that situation which covers how to build a compelling CV from scratch.

The Structure That Works

Contact Details

Keep this section short and professional:

• Full name
• Phone number (check it's current — we've seen more wrong numbers on CVs than you'd believe)
• A professional email address. firstname.lastname@gmail.com works. partyking99@hotmail.com does not
• LinkedIn profile URL (customised, not the default string of numbers)
• City or region — no full postal address needed

Personal Statement

Four to five lines. This is your pitch, and it's the first thing a recruiter reads after your name. It should answer three questions: Who are you? What can you offer? What are you looking for?

Most graduate personal statements look like this:

"I am a hardworking and enthusiastic graduate looking for an opportunity to develop my skills and gain experience in a dynamic team."

That sentence could describe literally every graduate in the country. It tells the recruiter nothing. Here's what works better:

"Psychology graduate from the University of Manchester with research experience in behavioural economics. Skilled in statistical analysis using SPSS and R, with strong academic writing developed through a published dissertation on consumer decision-making. Looking for an entry-level research or data analyst role where I can apply quantitative methods to real-world problems."

The difference is specificity. Your degree, your actual skills with named tools, the kind of role you want. A recruiter reading this knows exactly what you offer in under ten seconds.

Education

For graduates, this is your strongest section. Give it the space it deserves:

• Degree title and classification — e.g., BSc Psychology, First Class Honours
• University name and attendance dates
• Relevant modules — three to five that connect to the role. Don't list everything; pick what matches the job description
• Dissertation or final project — especially powerful if it relates to the industry you're applying in
• A-levels or equivalent — listed briefly with subjects and grades

A common mistake: listing every module from every year. Recruiters don't want to read your entire transcript. They want to see that your academic work connects to what they need.

Work Experience

Even part-time and casual jobs belong here, but they need to be framed correctly. The difference between a weak and strong entry comes down to achievements versus duties.

This tells a recruiter nothing they didn't already know from your job title:

"Served customers and operated the till."

This tells them you're competent and reliable:

"Handled 100+ customer interactions daily in a fast-paced retail environment, consistently receiving positive customer feedback. Trained three new team members on point-of-sale systems and opening procedures."

For each entry, use: job title, company, dates, and two to four bullet points starting with strong action verbs — led, designed, organised, analysed, improved, managed.

Include internships, placements, part-time jobs, and freelance work. All of it counts.

Skills

A focused skills section serves two purposes: it gives the ATS keywords to match, and it gives a recruiter a quick summary of your capabilities.

Break it into categories:

• Technical skills — specific software, programming languages, tools, certifications. "Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, macros)" is useful. "Microsoft Office" is not
• Language skills — increasingly valued in the UK's multicultural job market. Include proficiency levels
• Relevant soft skills — but only if you can point to evidence elsewhere in your CV. "Leadership" means nothing on its own; "led a team of six as president of the debating society" does

For a deeper look at which skills matter most and how to present them, see our student skills guide.

Additional Sections

These are where you can differentiate yourself from other graduates with similar degrees:

• Volunteering — demonstrates values, commitment, and real-world skills. Treat it like work experience with proper bullet points
• Societies and leadership roles — if you organised events, managed a budget, or held an elected position, that's genuine management experience
• Personal projects — built an app? Run a blog? Started a small business? This shows initiative
• Awards and scholarships — academic recognition signals quality

UK Formatting Conventions

The UK has specific CV conventions that differ from other markets:

• Font: Calibri, Arial, or Garamond at 10-12pt. Nothing decorative
• Margins: 2-2.5cm on all sides
• No photo: Unlike Germany, UK CVs never include a photo
• No personal details: No age, gender, nationality, or marital status
• File format: PDF unless the application specifically asks for Word
• File name: "FirstName-LastName-CV.pdf" — not "CV-final-v3-UPDATED.docx"

Tailoring: The Step Most Graduates Skip

We see this constantly: a well-written CV sent to 50 different employers, with zero customisation for each role. The candidate wonders why they're not hearing back.

A generic CV sent to 50 employers will almost always produce worse results than a tailored CV sent to 10. For each application:

1. Read the job description line by line
2. Identify the key skills and requirements they're emphasising
3. Mirror that exact language in your CV — if they say "stakeholder engagement," use "stakeholder engagement," not "working with people"
4. Reorder your bullet points so the most relevant experience appears first

This is also where ATS compatibility matters. Most UK employers — including graduate schemes — use automated screening software. If your CV doesn't contain the right keywords in a parseable format, it may be filtered out before a person ever reads it. Our ATS guide covers the technical details.

Graduate Scheme Applications

If you're targeting competitive UK graduate schemes — the Big 4, Civil Service Fast Stream, NHS Graduate Management Training, or tech companies — there are a few specifics worth knowing:

Applications typically open between August and October, with deadlines between November and January. Many use rolling recruitment, meaning they close once places are filled — not when the advertised deadline arrives. Apply early.

A 2:1 is still the standard minimum for many top schemes, but this is shifting. Major firms like PwC and EY have dropped formal degree classification requirements, and several others evaluate candidates holistically. A 2:2 with strong extracurriculars, relevant experience, or exceptional application answers can still get you through.

Your CV is just the first stage. Expect online psychometric tests, video interviews, and assessment centres. Tailor your CV to get through the door, then prepare separately for each stage.

Commercial awareness comes up repeatedly in graduate scheme criteria. If you can reference industry trends, recent company news, or market challenges in your application, that signals engagement beyond just wanting a job.

For a focused guide on graduate scheme applications specifically, see our graduate schemes CV guide.

Before You Submit: A Quick Check

Run through these before sending:

• Is it one to two pages? (One is preferred for most graduate roles)
• Does your personal statement mention the specific role or industry?
• Have you included relevant modules and your dissertation?
• Are your bullet points focused on achievements, not duties?
• Have you matched keywords from the job description?
• Is the formatting clean and consistent throughout?
• Have you proofread it? Reading aloud catches things your eyes skip
• Is it saved as a PDF with a professional file name?

Start Building

Your graduate CV doesn't need to be a work of art. It needs to be targeted, well-structured, and honest about what you bring. Focus on the experience you have, frame it in terms of results, and tailor it for every application. That's what gets interviews.

Try Bemura's CV builder — choose a professional template, add your details, and use AI to tailor your CV to any job description in minutes.