Computer Science CV: 6 UK Examples From Student to Senior

By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published 2026-10-07 · Updated 2026-10-07

7 min read

A good CV for computer science jobs in the UK is two pages at most, opens with a short profile naming the kind of role you want, and proves your skills with projects, placements and results rather than a long list of languages. The constraint is evidence: every technology you list should appear somewhere you used it. Prospects advises building "a portfolio of your projects, such as those involving programming, building a website or game, contributing to open-source projects, or showcasing your work on platforms such as GitHub." Below are six complete computer science CV examples, from first year student to senior engineer. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.

Every computer science CV I have seen starts the same way: a skills box listing eleven programming languages, three of which the applicant used once in a first year lab. The reader does what anyone would do and assumes the other eight are the same.

What a computer science CV needs, in order

The section order changes with experience. A student leads with education and projects; an experienced engineer leads with work history. The National Careers Service says that "If you’re applying for your first job, you can focus on skills you’ve learned through projects, work experience or volunteering." That is the rule for most computer science students.

Student: personal profile for a summer internship (55 words)

Second year Computer Science student at the University of Leeds looking for a summer software engineering internship. Built a timetable clash checker in Python used by around 300 students on my course, and lead the backend for our society's events app. Comfortable with Python, Java and SQL, and currently learning React for a group project.

Tailor my CV to this job

The profile is short and specific. Prospects describes a good one as focusing on the sector: "A good CV profile focuses on the sector you're applying to, as your cover letter will be job-specific." For a fuller guide to that opening block, see our CV personal statement with no experience.

Computer science student CV example

Projects do the work that job history does for everyone else. Give each one a name, the tools, what it does and one result.

Student: projects section, second year (110 words)

PROJECTS

Clash Checker, Python and Flask (personal project, 2 months) - Web app that compares a student's module choices against the published timetable and flags clashes - Used by around 300 students on my course in its first term; fixed 14 reported bugs from user feedback

Society Events App, Kotlin and Firebase (team of 4, backend lead) - Designed the database schema and wrote the booking and waiting list logic - Wrote unit tests for every booking rule after a double booking bug at our first event

Hackathon entry, JavaScript (24 hours, team of 3) - Built a bus delay map from open transport data; placed second of 20 teams

Computer science graduate CV with a placement year

A year in industry is the strongest thing a graduate can show, so it goes above education. Prospects notes that a computer science course "may include a year in industry, which will give you the opportunity to develop commercial skills and build up a network of contacts."

Complete Graduate: experience section after a placement year example, 88 words, laid out as it would sit in the application form

Graduate: experience section after a placement year (88 words)

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING PLACEMENT, Northgate Insurance, Bristol (12 months) - Worked in a team of 6 on the claims portal, writing Java services and React screens - Rebuilt the document upload step so customers could add photos from a phone; support tickets about uploads fell by about half over the following quarter - Added automated tests to a legacy pricing module, taking it from no tests to coverage of the main pricing rules - Presented the upload redesign to the claims operations team and trained two new placement students

Put the degree directly underneath, with the classification (or predicted classification), the dissertation title and two or three relevant modules. Leave out modules that every computer science course teaches.

Career changer CV for computer science roles

If you are moving into tech from another field, lead with a profile that names the change, then a projects section, then your earlier career rewritten to show transferable work.

Complete Career changer: former accountant moving into data engineering example, 68 words, laid out as it would sit in the application form

Career changer: former accountant moving into data engineering (68 words)

Chartered accountant with six years in audit, moving into data engineering after completing an MSc Computer Science conversion course. Built a pipeline in Python and SQL that reconciles bank statements against ledger exports, the same task I did by hand for years. At my firm I automated our audit sampling spreadsheet in VBA, which the team still uses. Looking for a junior data engineering role in financial services.

The earlier career stays on the CV, shortened to two lines per job, with the automation and analysis work kept and the rest cut.

Experienced computer scientist CV example

With several years in work, the CV becomes a record of systems you built and decisions you made. Two pages is normal at this stage. Keep the skills section short and grouped, and let the bullets carry the detail.

Complete Senior: experience entry for a senior software engineer example, 90 words, laid out as it would sit in the application form

Senior: experience entry for a senior software engineer (90 words)

SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER, Halden Logistics, Manchester (4 years) - Led a team of 5 rebuilding the route planning service in Go, replacing an overnight batch job with plans updated every 15 minutes - Cut cloud hosting costs for the service by moving infrequently used data to cheaper storage, agreed with finance before rollout - Introduced code review guidelines and on call runbooks; on call pages for the team fell by about a third over the following six months - Mentored 3 junior engineers, two of whom have since been promoted

Complete Senior: grouped technical skills section example, 29 words, laid out as it would sit in the application form

Senior: grouped technical skills section (29 words)

TECHNICAL SKILLS Languages: Go, Python, TypeScript, SQL Cloud and infrastructure: AWS, Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes Data: PostgreSQL, Kafka, Redis Practices: code review, test driven development, incident response, system design interviews

Tailor my CV to this job

Mistakes that sink a computer science CV

The language wall. Listing every language you have touched. Name the ones you could be interviewed on, and show each in a project or job.
Coursework as achievement. "Completed modules in algorithms and databases" says nothing. A project built with them does.
No links. If you mention GitHub or a portfolio, link it, and make sure the top repositories have a readme.
One CV for every role. Prospects warns against "Failing to tailor your application", and in tech that means matching the stack in the advert.
A photo and date of birth. Most UK employers do not ask for either, so leave them off.

For the computer skills worth naming outside software roles, see our computer skills guide. If you have no work history at all, the CV example with no experience shows the student layout in full, and the US version of this page is the computer science student resume. For the letter that goes with it, see the computer science cover letter. CVBooster lets you fill in every CV section by hand and check its ATS score on the free plan once you have an account; AI writing help, templates and the finished CV are part of Pro. If you are applying in the US under the programmer title, our computer programmer sample resume shows six US versions by level.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a computer science CV be?

Two pages at most in the UK. One page is fine, and often better, for students and graduates with one placement. Experienced engineers usually need two to cover their systems and results. Going beyond two pages tends to mean old roles and full module lists are taking up space that should go to recent projects.

What should I put on a computer science CV with no experience?

A short profile naming the role you want, education with your predicted grade and relevant modules, and a projects section with two or three projects described by tools and results. Add hackathons, society roles and part time jobs. The National Careers Service says first job applicants can focus on skills learned through projects, work and volunteering.

Should I put my GitHub on my CV?

Yes, if it shows work you would be happy to discuss in an interview. Put the link in your contact details and pin your best two or three repositories with a short readme each. An empty profile or a page of unfinished tutorials does more harm than leaving the link out.

Is a computer scientist CV different from a software engineer CV?

Mostly in emphasis. A research or academic computer scientist CV puts publications, research projects and teaching higher, and can run longer. A software engineering CV puts shipped systems, the stack and team results first. Most graduates applying to industry roles should use the software engineering layout shown above.

Which skills should a computer science CV include?

The languages, frameworks and tools from the job advert that you have actually used, grouped by type, plus practices such as testing, code review and version control. Back each one with a project or job bullet. Soft skills like teamwork belong in the bullets as evidence, not in a separate list.

Looking for a worked example for your job title? Browse the resume examples by job title.

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