A teaching application has its own rules. Schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) screen for things a generic CV guide never mentions, and the written application usually carries as much weight as the CV itself. Whether you're an ECT applying for your first post or an experienced teacher moving on, here's how to write a teaching application that gets you to interview.

What schools and MATs actually screen for

A teaching application is typically read against:

The person specification, the school's list of essential and desirable criteria. As with NHS and Civil Service roles, this is the marking scheme.
The school's ethos and values, schools and MATs hire teachers who visibly fit their context, whether that's a particular pedagogical approach, a community focus or a specific intake.
Safeguarding and suitability, non-negotiable. Your application must reflect that you understand it.
Evidence of impact on pupils, not just what you taught, but what changed for the children.

A CV that lists subjects taught and year groups, with no mapping to the person spec and no evidence of impact, gets filtered.

ECT versus experienced, what changes

For Early Career Teachers, the structure leans on:

Your training placements, schools, key stages, what you delivered and what pupils gained
Your degree and QTS route
Evidence of the potential schools hire ECTs for: reflectiveness, responsiveness to feedback, subject knowledge, classroom presence
A supporting statement that maps your placement experience against the person spec

For experienced teachers, the structure leans on:

A track record of pupil progress and attainment, with evidence
Any responsibilities beyond the classroom, leading a subject, mentoring, interventions, clubs
Progression and the reason for the move, framed positively
A supporting statement that shows readiness for this role, at this school

The supporting statement does the heavy lifting

Most teaching applications include a supporting statement (or letter of application), and this is where the decision is largely made. It should:

Map your evidence to the person specification, criterion by criterion
Show genuine knowledge of the specific school, its context, its values, why you want this post
Lead with impact on pupils, not duties performed
Be tailored every single time, a reused statement is obvious and it costs you

Safeguarding and evidence, the non-negotiables

Every teaching application must reflect a clear understanding that safeguarding is central to the role. Reference it appropriately. Be honest and complete about your employment history, gaps are scrutinised in education recruitment, so explain them rather than leave them.

And evidence everything. "Improved literacy outcomes" is a claim. "Raised the proportion of the class meeting age-related expectations in reading from 68% to 84% over the year" is evidence. Use the data you have.

A worked example

Person spec criterion: "Able to use assessment to inform planning and raise attainment."

Weak: "I use assessment regularly in my teaching."

Strong:

"Used half-termly assessment data to regroup my Year 4 maths sets and target a focused intervention at the lowest-attaining group. By the end of the year, that group's proportion meeting age-related expectations had risen from 55% to 79%."

It names the criterion, gives a real example and quantifies the impact on pupils. That's a teaching application that scores.

Common reasons teaching applications get filtered

Listing what you taught, not the impact on pupils
Supporting statement that ignores the person specification
No evidence of knowing the specific school
Reused statement, sent to multiple schools
Unexplained gaps in employment history
No clear acknowledgement of safeguarding

Score your teaching application before you send it

A teaching application is assessed against a person specification, and the CV underneath it still has to hold up. TAILOR's free CV Health Check scores your CV on its own (ATS-readiness, bullet quality, formatting) and flags your top fixes in about 30 seconds, no card.

Schools tell you what they're looking for in the person specification and the advert. An application that answers it, evidences impact on pupils and clearly fits the specific school is the one that gets the interview.

Teaching CV UK: Application Guide for ECTs and Experienced Teachers