Teacher CV: examples and a step-by-step guide for UK schools

Example CV

Example

Hannah Price

Secondary Science Teacher (Chemistry specialist), QTS

hannah.price@example.com · 07700 900236 · Nottingham

Summary

Science teacher with QTS and four years' experience across KS3, KS4 and A-level chemistry, ECT induction completed in 2024. Teach five Year 10 and 11 groups a week; in summer 2026, 81% of my GCSE combined science pupils reached grade 4 or above, against a department average of 72%. Lead the KS3 science scheme of work and run a weekly STEM club for 25 pupils. Looking for a chemistry or science post with A-level teaching from September 2027.

Experience

Teacher of Science

Sep 2022 - Present

Riverside Park Academy (11 to 18, 1,200 pupils) · Nottingham · Permanent, full time

• Teach science to KS3 and KS4 groups and A-level chemistry to Year 12 and 13.
• Raised the share of my GCSE combined science pupils at grade 4 or above from 64% (2024) to 81% (2026) with weekly retrieval quizzes and targeted catch-up groups.
• Rewrote the Year 7 and 8 scheme of work with practical-first lessons, now used by eight colleagues.
• Form tutor to 28 Year 9 pupils; first point of contact for parents and pastoral concerns.

Trainee Teacher, PGCE placements

Sep 2021 - Jun 2022

Two Nottinghamshire secondary schools · Nottingham · School placements

• Planned and taught KS3 and KS4 science, including a Year 11 group with high SEND needs.
• Co-ran a GCSE chemistry revision programme for 40 pupils before mock exams.

Laboratory Technician

Jul 2019 - Aug 2021

Trentside Water Testing · Derby · Full time

• Ran routine water analyses to accredited methods; trained two apprentices on lab safety.

Education

PGCE Secondary Science (Chemistry) with QTS. ECT induction completed July 2024

Sep 2021 - Jun 2022

University of Nottingham · Nottingham

BSc (Hons) Chemistry, 2:1

Sep 2016 - Jun 2019

University of Leicester · Leicester

Skills

• KS3, KS4 and A-level chemistry
• Adaptive teaching for SEND and EAL
• Assessment and data tracking
• Practical work and lab safety
• Behaviour management
• Safeguarding training (updated 2026)
• Google Classroom and Arbor

Languages

• English native speaker
• French B1 · intermediate

Interests

Run the school STEM club and a Year 8 trip to the National Space Centre · Fell running

Hannah has four years in a secondary academy and wants a post with more A-level teaching. Her teacher CV fits on two pages and answers a head of department's first questions in the first lines: qualified or not, what she teaches, to whom, and with what results.

What this teacher CV example does well:

• QTS is in the job title and the education line, and the ECT induction is marked as completed;
• the key stages and subjects are named precisely, so the reader knows which timetable she can cover;
• results are given as figures she can explain at interview, with a comparison point;
• responsibilities beyond the classroom (scheme of work, form group, club) each get a line;
• the career before teaching stays, in one line, because it backs her subject knowledge.

Three shorter profiles and their strongest lines, with made-up names and schools.

Teaching in Scotland? Replace QTS with your GTC Scotland registration (provisional or full) and use Scottish stages (P1 to P7, S1 to S6). GTC Scotland states that registration is a legal requirement for teachers employed in Scottish schools.

• Your qualified status. You need qualified teacher status (QTS) to teach in maintained primary, secondary and special schools in England; academies and independent schools can employ teachers without it, but most still prefer it (Get Into Teaching). Write “QTS” next to your training, with the year.
• Your ECT induction. In England, induction lasts the equivalent of two school years, usually six terms (DfE statutory guidance). Say whether it is completed, in progress (“ECT2”) or still to start.
• Phase, key stages and subjects: “KS2, Years 3 to 6” or “KS3 to A-level physics”.
• Safeguarding: the date of your latest training. The National Careers Service lists enhanced background checks among the requirements for teaching; you don't need your DBS certificate number on the CV.
• Teaching without QTS? Say so plainly (“unqualified teacher, independent sector”). Get Into Teaching describes an assessment only route to QTS for people who have taught for a significant time, for example 2 years, in more than one school.

1. Contact details: name, town, phone, email. No photo, age or date of birth.
2. Job title and personal profile: the post you want and four sentences on your status, experience and impact.
3. Teaching experience: schools, roles, key stages, results and responsibilities, most recent first. Training placements go here too.
4. Education and qualifications: PGCE or teacher training with QTS, degree, A-levels in one line.
5. Skills: subject, adaptive teaching, assessment, behaviour, software your school uses.
6. Extra-curricular and CPD: clubs, trips, national professional qualifications, recent training.
7. References: usually your current headteacher; “available on request” is fine on the CV.

For an ECT or a career changer, put education and training before experience. After a few years, experience goes first. More on the last section in our guide to references on a CV.

Four sentences: your status and experience, what you teach, one result, the post you want. Avoid “passionate educator”: every other teaching CV says it. More examples in our CV personal statement guide.

Every teacher plans lessons and marks books. What sets your teacher CV apart is what changed because of you: progress, attendance, a new scheme of work, a club that grew, a colleague you mentored. Use figures you can explain at interview, and never use a pupil's name.

• Progress and outcomes: grades, value added, reading ages, the share meeting the expected standard.
• Inclusion: adaptive teaching for SEND and EAL pupils, work with the SENCO and teaching assistants.
• Responsibilities: subject lead, head of year, form tutor, ECT mentor, exam entries, a trip or a club.
• Whole-school work: a scheme of work, a reading programme, a behaviour or homework policy.

Pick the skills the job advert and the person specification ask for, and back each one with a line in your experience. Our guide to skills for a CV has the general list; for teaching, these come up most often:

• Application forms. Some school adverts ask you to apply through the school's own form or through Teaching Vacancies, the Department for Education's job site for schools and colleges, where you can save jobs and apply. Your CV is then the master copy: keep dates, roles and grades identical in both.
• Supporting statement or letter. Answer the person specification point by point, with examples. Our guide to competency-based interview questions helps you shape them.
• Pay. From 1 September 2026, the qualified teacher pay range for maintained schools in England runs from £34,069 to £52,835 outside London, and from £41,729 to £64,684 in Inner London, with teaching and learning responsibility payments of up to £17,819 (Get Into Teaching). Academies and independent schools can set their own pay.
• The interview. Read the invitation for what the school expects on the day, and practise your answers out loud with the mock interview.

• Two A4 pages at most; one is enough for an ECT.
• One column with standard headings, so online forms and screening systems read it in order.
• A clear font, size 11 or bigger, as the National Careers Service advises.
• No photo, age, date of birth, marital status or nationality.
• PDF, named “Firstname-Lastname-Teacher-CV.pdf”, unless the school asks for Word.

Before you apply, run your teaching CV through the AI CV checker: it spots a missing job title, a profile that is too long and the advert's keywords you haven't used.

• No QTS or registration status anywhere on the first page.
• “Taught Years 7 to 11” with no result, responsibility or subject detail.
• Pupils' names or identifiable details in examples.
• Every INSET day listed: keep the training that matches the post.
• A CV that contradicts the application form on dates or grades.
• One teaching CV for primary and secondary posts: the vocabulary is different.

In the Kandiq CV builder, add QTS and your safeguarding training as certifications, and each school as an experience entry. Paste the school's advert and “Improve my bullets” rewrites your lines in its words, leaving a marker wherever a figure is missing rather than inventing one. For the supporting letter, the cover letter generator starts from the same advert.