What Does a CV Look Like? UK Layout and 6 Full CVs

By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published 2026-10-30 · Updated 2026-10-30

7 min read

A UK CV is a plain, single-column document on one or two A4 pages: your name and contact details at the top, a short personal profile, then work experience and education in reverse date order, then skills. No photo, no date of birth, no design tricks. Below is the layout section by section, and six complete CVs at different levels so you can see how it looks once filled in. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.

I have read a stack of CVs where the designer had clearly enjoyed themselves and the reader could not find the job titles. A CV that looks boring is a CV that gets read.

A first CV, start to finish

Start with the simplest case: a school leaver with a weekend job. Everything fits on one page, and the order is the one every UK CV follows.

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Or start from one of our free resume templates

What the national careers service says a CV should look like

The National Careers Service says "It’s good to make your CV clear and easy to read." Its advice on how to write a CV is to use a clear font such as Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri in size 11 or bigger, keep the same style throughout, and use headings and bullet points. It lists the sections: contact details, an introduction, education history, work history and references.

The standard UK CV layout, top to bottom

• Name and contact details. Name as the largest text, then town, phone and email. The National Careers Service says "You should not include your age, your date of birth, whether you're married or your nationality." A photo is not expected either.
• Personal profile. Two to four lines on who you are and the job you want.
• Work experience. Reverse date order. Prospects says "List your work experience in reverse date order, making sure that anything you mention is relevant to the job you're applying for."
• Education. Qualification, institution and dates. Put it above work experience if you are a student or recent graduate.
• Skills. Languages, software and certificates, kept short.
• References. Write "References available on request". Do not paste someone else's contact details.

On length, Prospects quotes a university careers team: "We recommend CVs are no longer than two A4 pages". One page is fine for a first CV. More than two pages is a signal you have not edited.

Five more CVs, by situation

These show how the same layout bends. Each is complete, with the same six parts.

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What all six CVs have in common

• Reverse date order for every job and qualification.
• No photo, age or date of birth. The National Careers Service lists this directly, as above.
• Numbers where they exist: 80 customers, 60 invoices, 14 staff. Where there is no number, the line states the task plainly.
• One font and one style. Nothing in a text box, a table or a column.
• A profile that names the job. Two lines, not a paragraph.

For more filled-in examples, see our CV examples page. If you have no work history yet, our CV example with no experience and the guide to a personal statement with no experience cover that case. If you are not sure whether to call it a CV or a resume, read CV vs resume.

The University of Manchester Careers Service, in its CV guide, says: "Our advice is to make your applications personal and specifically tailored to the employers needs." The layout stays the same from job to job. The profile and the top bullets change.

Fonts, margins and length

A safe setup for a UK CV:

• Font: Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman, size 11 for body text.
• Margins: about 2 cm on all sides, so it prints cleanly on A4.
• Headings: bold and slightly larger, the same style each time.
• File: a PDF so the layout does not change on the reader's screen, unless the advert asks for Word.

Mistakes that make a CV look wrong

• Two columns and text boxes. Many application systems read them in the wrong order.
• Icons and rating bars for skills. Four out of five dots tells the reader nothing.
• A long paragraph for a profile. Keep it to a few lines.
• A photo. It is not expected in the UK, and it is one more thing for the reader to judge.
• Inconsistent dates. Pick one format, such as Sep 2024, and keep it.

Frequently asked questions

What does a CV look like in the UK?

It is a one or two page A4 document in a clear font, with your name and contact details at the top, then a profile, work experience, education and skills in that order.

What should a CV look like for a first job?

One page, with the profile, education and any part-time work or volunteering. Put education above work experience if you have little work history.

How long should a UK CV be?

One page for a first CV, and no more than two A4 pages for most people. Cut older and less relevant roles before you add a third page.

Should I include a photo on my CV?

No. A photo is not expected in the UK. Leave it out and use the space for experience.

Is a CV the same as a resume?

In the UK, CV is the normal word for the document you send to apply for a job. A resume is the US word for a similar document.

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