How to Write a School Leaver CV That Gets Interviews (UK)
For 16-18, just finished or finishing school, applying for your first part-time job, apprenticeship or sixth-form scheme. Most first-CV mistakes come from leaving out everything that wasn't a 'proper job': reliability, customer skills and persistence are exactly what entry-level employers screen for. Here's how to write a School Leaver CV that gets read, plus a free tool that builds one for you in a few minutes.
Build your school leaver CV for free, in a few minutes.
Answer 13 simple questions, get a UK-format Word document. No credit card needed.
What counts as experience on a School Leaver CV
The first CV question is always “what do I have to put on it?” The honest answer is: more than you think. For a school leaver, everything on this list earns its place on the CV when described properly.
- Saturday or holiday work (retail, hospitality, paper rounds, babysitting)
- School work-experience week placements
- Regular voluntary commitments (sports team, school newspaper, charity work)
- School responsibilities: prefect, sports captain, school council, peer mentor
- Significant academic projects (BTEC coursework, school competitions, Duke of Edinburgh)
What recruiters look for in the top third
A recruiter spends seven seconds with the top third of your CV before deciding whether to read on. For a school leaver, the top third has to answer these questions instantly:
- Your school and the years you attended
- Your GCSE or BTEC subjects with grades (or predicted grades)
- One concrete commitment that shows reliability: a sports team, a Saturday job, regular volunteering
Words and phrases a School Leaver CV should include
Applicant Tracking Systems and recruiters scan first CVs on exact-match terms. Hand-curated for this audience:
- GCSE
- BTEC
- work experience week
- part-time job
- Saturday job
- volunteering
- school council
- Duke of Edinburgh
- teamwork
- reliability
Before and after: one school leaver claim
Weak
Worked at a local shop on weekends.
Strong
Worked Saturday shifts at an independent newsagent for 14 months while studying for GCSEs, opening the shop alone on busy Saturday mornings, handling cash payments and serving an estimated 100+ customers per shift.
The weak version says 'I had a job'. The strong version says 'reliable, trusted with the keys and the till, customer-facing, all while keeping up with school'. Same job, three times the evidence an employer can act on.
Build your School Leaver CV in a few minutes
TAILOR’s CV Builder asks 13 simple questions about your school, experience, strengths and what you’re looking for, then builds a UK-format CV in a Word document for you to download and edit.
Absolutely free. No credit card needed. No watermark.
Start building my CV →School Leaver CV FAQ
I haven't had a paid job yet. What do I put in the work experience section?
Fill it with school work experience, volunteering, school responsibilities (prefect, sports captain, peer mentor) or significant projects. A two-week placement at a local solicitor's office in Year 10 belongs in this section, named with the firm and the things you actually did. The employer cares whether you can show up, follow instructions and work with people; that evidence exists even without a payslip.
Do I need to put my GCSE grades on a CV at this age?
Yes. At 16-18, GCSE results are the strongest academic evidence you have. List them in the education section: school name, dates attended, then each subject with its grade. If you have predicted A-Levels or BTEC results, list those alongside as 'predicted'. Honest is always better than vague.
How long should a school leaver CV be?
One page is plenty. At 16-18 your evidence is real but limited; pad it onto two pages and the recruiter notices. Lead with your education and one strong commitment in the top third, then list the rest in a tighter format below.
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