The UK CV format, for international students
Two A4 pages, most recent first, no photograph and no date of birth. An annotated example, the conventions behind each line, and a template to start from.
Example CV for a fictional graduate
Casey Marlowe
London
casey.marlowe@example.com
+44 7700 900417
linkedin.com/in/example
Right to work: Student visa; available for full-time work from July 2027
Profile
MSc Finance student at LSE with a summer of private credit analysis at a Chicago fund.
Looking for a graduate analyst role in corporate finance or credit in London.
Education
MSc Finance, London School of Economics and Political Science2026 to 2027
London
- Predicted result: Merit
- Courses include corporate finance, asset pricing and financial econometrics
BA Economics, University of Michigan2022 to 2026
Ann Arbor, USA
- GPA 3.8 out of 4.0 (US grading scale)
- Senior thesis on bank lending to small firms after interest rate rises
High school diploma2022
Illinois, USA
- Advanced Placement: Calculus, Economics, Statistics
Experience
Summer Analyst, Private Credit, Kestrelmoor CapitalJune to August 2025
Chicago, USA
- Built a cash-flow model for a mid-market loan, used by the deal team in its credit memo
- Screened 40 borrowers against the fund's lending criteria and summarised each on one page
- Presented a sector note on speciality food manufacturers to the investment committee
Research Assistant, Department of Economics, University of MichiganSeptember 2024 to May 2026
Ann Arbor, USA
- Cleaned and merged three public datasets on small-business lending in Stata and Python
- Drafted the data appendix for a faculty working paper
Part-time Tutor, Quillfen TutoringSeptember 2023 to May 2025
Ann Arbor, USA
- Taught statistics and economics to six school students each week
- Asked to train two new tutors in my second year
Positions of responsibility
Treasurer, undergraduate economics society, University of Michigan2024 to 2025
- Organised the society's budget and termly speaker events with alumni in finance
Volunteer tax preparer, community tax clinic2024
Ann Arbor, USA
- Prepared simple tax returns for local families under supervision
Skills
Excel: three-statement and discounted cash flow models, pivot tables
Python (pandas), Stata, PowerPoint
CFA Level I candidate, sitting in 2027
Languages
English (native)
Spanish (professional working proficiency)
Interests
Distance running: completed the Chicago Marathon in 2024
Food writing: a monthly column for a student newspaper
References
References available upon request
- Name and contact details only: no photograph, date of birth, nationality or marital status.
- A right-to-work line in the header gives your visa type and any limit on your hours, so nobody has to guess.
- A profile is optional and brief: why you fit this kind of role, not a list of skills.
- Still studying? Give the result you expect, as in "Predicted result: Merit". Many employers set a minimum grade.
- A grade from outside the UK system needs explaining: give the scale, because UK recruiters do not use GPA.
- School qualifications stay, kept to a line or two each.
- Every section runs in reverse chronological order: the most recent role at the top, the oldest at the bottom.
- UK English throughout: summarised, modelling, organised. A UK recruiter notices US spelling.
- Two A4 pages is the usual UK graduate CV, so page two starts here. Banks often want one page: keep a one-page version ready.
- Referees can wait: employers ask for them later. One line, or none if you need the space.
A UK CV: two pages, most recent first
A UK graduate CV runs to two A4 pages, in reverse chronological order. It is the format every story in Applications assumes, and the one Manchester’s careers service (opens careers.manchester.ac.uk) calls the most common style for the UK.
Most recent first applies inside every section too: the master’s above the bachelor’s.
We recommend CVs are no longer than two A4 pages
Two pages is a ceiling, not a target. Oxford’s careers service (opens ox.ac.uk) says one or two full pages. A thin second page reads as padding: cut to one strong page instead.
The exception that matters on a finance master’s is banking.
Banks prefer CVs to be one page only.
So keep a one-page cut of the same CV for bank applications, built from the same facts.
More on the order of the pagesLess on the order of the pages
Oxford names investment banks among the employers that expect one page, and tells students to check the application guidance for a page limit before they send anything. The order of the two-page version is the example’s: contact details, profile, education and experience on page one; responsibility, skills, languages, interests and references on page two. A recruiter skimming the page meets your present before your past.
More on A4 paperLess on A4 paper
Paper size sounds trivial until a recruiter prints your file. Oxford notes that North America replaces A4 with US Letter, which is wider and shorter. A Letter document printed in the UK can lose its margins or break a line across pages. Set the page to A4 before you start writing, not after.
No photograph, no date of birth
A UK CV gives your name and contact details and stops there. Warwick’s careers service (opens warwick.ac.uk) lists what to leave out: date of birth, marital status, gender, nationality and a photograph.
| On the page | Off the page |
|---|---|
| Name, town or city, email, phone | Photograph |
| A LinkedIn address | Date of birth or age |
| Where you have studied and worked | Marital status, gender, religion |
| A right-to-work line, if it helps | Nationality, unless it shows a right to work |
If your last CV carried a photograph, take it out.
You should not be asked for a photo in the UK.
More on nationality and other detailsLess on nationality and other details
Kent’s careers service adds age, race, religion, sexuality and disability to the list of what to leave off, in case of discrimination. Nationality is the line people hesitate over. Manchester calls it optional, and suggests showing the countries where you have studied and worked instead. Oxford says to leave it off unless you want to show you have the right to work in the country.
More on the profileLess on the profile
The profile under your name is optional. Manchester describes it as a brief outline of your motivation and what sets you apart, three to six lines, not a list of skills. The example uses two: what Casey has done, and what Casey wants next. If you cannot make two lines do that work, leave the profile out and let your education open the page.
Put every grade in terms a UK reader knows
UK recruiters read grades in UK terms, so give them a way in.
You will need to explain your education and grades if you did not do your pre-university education in the UK.
For a degree in progress, state the result you expect. LSE Careers’ CV guide (opens info.lse.ac.uk) suggests “predicted result 2:1”, as many employers set a minimum class.
| What you have | How the example writes it |
|---|---|
| A master’s still in progress | Predicted result: Merit |
| A bachelor’s degree, finished | The result as awarded, with its scale |
| A grade on another scale | GPA 3.8 out of 4.0 (US grading scale) |
| School results | One or two lines each |
A scale tells a UK reader what the number means; “3.8” alone does not.
More on predictions and conversionsLess on predictions and conversions
Berkeley’s guide for students heading to London is blunt: the UK does not use GPAs. On a master’s, the prediction matters a little less: the LSE guide says it is usually more important for undergraduates than postgraduates. Your first degree’s result, stated plainly with its scale, still carries real weight. If you are unsure how your grade converts, give the grade and its scale and let them stand. An honest scale reads better than a guessed equivalent.
More on school resultsLess on school results
School results stay on too, briefly. Oxford’s checklist asks whether A-levels and GCSEs are summarised on one or two lines each, and the same suits a high school diploma or a national school-leaving exam. Name the qualification as it is known where you sat it, then the grades, and move on.
Rewrite it for every advert
A CV that works is rewritten for each advert. Manchester’s advice holds for two pages too: be concise and focused on the requirements for the job.
Before you tailor a CV to an advert, getavisasponsor.com has a guide to reading an advert's sponsorship wording (opens getavisasponsor.com).
Four passes turn a general CV into one for this job:
| Pass | What you do |
|---|---|
| First | Mark every skill and qualification the advert names |
| Second | Reorder the bullets inside each role so the closest match comes first |
| Third | Use the advert’s own words where they truthfully describe what you did |
| Fourth | Read it once for spelling, set to UK English |
Check for spelling and grammar, make sure it is UK English if you are applying for position in the UK.
Save each version under the employer’s name. When the interview invitation arrives weeks later, you will want to read exactly what they read.
More on UK spellingLess on UK spelling
UK English catches more people than it should. Analyse, organise, modelling and programme (for a scheme or a course) all differ from their US spellings, and a quick reader notices. Set your word processor to English (United Kingdom) before every send, and keep a note of which version went to which employer, so the spelling fix travels with each copy.
Show what you did, not what the team did
Each line should say what you did and what came of it. As Prospects advises for interviews: make clear what you did and decided, even in a team.
The same line, twice; only the second says whose work it was.
| Vague | Specific |
|---|---|
| Involved in credit analysis for the team | Built a cash-flow model for a mid-market loan, used in the credit memo |
| Responsible for borrower research | Screened 40 borrowers against the fund’s criteria, one page each |
| Helped with a sector report | Presented a sector note to the investment committee |
avoid embellishing the truth at all costs, any lies or invented examples can be easily checked.
Everything on the page is something an interviewer may ask you to talk through, so read each line as an assessment centre panel would. If your draft began as a US resume, the differences that matter are set out side by side.
More on writing each lineLess on writing each line
Start each line with a past-tense verb for finished roles, and keep it to one line where you can. Numbers you can stand behind help, such as how many borrowers or students; numbers you cannot explain in an interview do not. Read each line and ask what you would say if an interviewer pointed at it. If the answer is a team’s work, rewrite it as yours or cut it.
One line on the visa, one on references
One line near the top saves a recruiter a question. Manchester’s guidance on talking to employers about your visa (opens careers.manchester.ac.uk) suggests the heading or contact details: visa type, end date and any work restrictions.
Worked examples: your visa status on a UK CV.
Never misrepresent your visa status or provide false information to potential employers.
More on the wordingLess on the wording
What the line says depends on where you stand. On a Student visa, it names the visa, its limit in term time and when full-time work becomes possible. On a Graduate visa, it names the month the visa ends. The application form usually asks again in its own words; answer it truthfully there too, so the two match.
More on referencesLess on references
References come last, or not at all. Manchester says referees’ contact details are not normally essential, because an employer asks for them later. “References available upon request” is optional; Prospects notes that most employers assume it, so it can go if space is short.
This week
- Download the CV template and set the page to A4
- Take out any photograph, date of birth and marital status
- Write each grade with its scale, and add a predicted result
- Cut a one-page version if you are applying to banks
- Add a right-to-work line, using the three examples
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Sources
- University of Manchester Careers Service: Step 1: Creating your CV The 2 page reverse chronological CV is the most common style of CV for the UK and is suitable for most situations.Nationality is optional but it is good to mention the countries in which you have worked and studied to show you have a global mind-set.A personal profile is optional; it can be used to give the reader a brief outline of your motivation for applying and showcase your unique selling points, it is not a list of skills. It should be brief 3-6 lines.Some employers may request a 1 page CV, the rules are the same but you need to be very concise and focussed on the requirements for the job.It is not normally essential to have your referees contact details on your CV, or even put references available on request. An employer will request these later. Read
- University of Oxford Careers Service: CVs Keep it to one or two full pages (academic CVs may be longer), check if there is specified page limit in the application guidanceSome employers (e.g. investment banks) expect just one page, so check beforehandA curriculum vitae (CV), or résumé in North America, is a concise summary of your skills, experience, achievements, and education. ... Default page size, A4 (21 cm x 29.7 cm) is replaced by Letter (8.5″ x 11″ or 21.59 cm x 27.94 cm)Nationality, unless you want to show that you do have the Right to Work in the country in questionAre A-levels and GCSEs summarised on one or two lines each? Read
- Prospects (Jisc): How to write a CV 'We recommend CVs are no longer than two A4 pages,' says the careers service team at the University of Chester.You don't need to provide the names of referees at this stage. You can say 'references available upon request' but most employers would assume this to be the case, so if you're stuck for space, leave this out. Read
- LSE Department of Finance: Careers advice (MSc Finance and Economics offer holders) Banks prefer CVs to be one page only. Read
- University of Warwick Careers: CVs Make sure your sections are in reverse chronological order (with the most recent experience at the top and the oldest at the bottom).For UK CVs, you shouldn’t include date of birth, marital status, gender, nationality, or a photograph.Check for spelling and grammar, make sure it is UK English if you are applying for position in the UK. Read
- University of Kent Careers and Employability Service: Writing a CV UK CVs do not tend to include a photograph. It is recommended that you do not include any personal information such as age, date of birth, gender, race, religion, sexuality, marital status, or disability, in case of discrimination. Read
- LSE Careers: CVs, cover letters and application forms (guide, 2021) You should not be asked for a photo in the UK.In most situations this is more important for undergraduates than postgraduates as many employers specify a certain class of degree as an entry requirement. ... You can use a phrase such as “predicted result 2:1”. Read
- University of Manchester Careers Service: CVs for international students You will need to explain your education and grades if you did not do your pre-university education in the UK. What is it equvalent to in the UK educational system? Read
- University of California, Berkeley, Global Internships: London resume guide In the UK, resumes are called CVs (short for Curriculum Vitae). ... In the UK we do not use GPA's Read
- University of Manchester Careers Service: Talking to employers about your visa Include your visa status on your CV. You can typically add this information to the heading or your contact details section. Mention the type of visa you hold (or are eligible to apply for), its expiration date, and any relevant work restrictions if applicable.Never misrepresent your visa status or provide false information to potential employers. Read
- University of Warwick Careers: Job applications (international students) Answer responsibly: It’s your duty to respond truthfully and adapt responses to match your personal situation. Read
- Prospects (Jisc): Competency-based interviews Focus on your role in the situation. It's okay to acknowledge teamwork, but make clear what you specifically did and decided.Also, avoid embellishing the truth at all costs, any lies or invented examples can be easily checked. Read
Read next
Pictures on this page
- The City of London skyline across the Thames, September Photograph: User:Colin and Kim Hansen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped
