CV examples UK: 10 real templates by sector (2026 guide)

A UK CV example is a structured, two-page document showing exactly how to present your experience for the British job market, including reverse-chronological format, no photo (per the Equality Act 2010), and ATS-friendly headings. In our analysis of 500+ UK CVs uploaded to SpeedCV's ATS checker in Q1 2026, the difference between a CV that gets shortlisted and one that gets binned often came down to following sector-specific conventions, not just generic advice. This guide gives you 10 real CV examples by sector, mapped to UK hiring realities — from NHS Band 5 nurses to Civil Service Fast Stream applicants and Tesco Christmas temps.

Table of contents

• What makes a UK CV different
• The 10 sector examples
• UK CV structure: section by section
• Career breaks, disability disclosure and ex-Forces translation
• 5 mistakes that bin your CV
• How to choose your template
• FAQ

What makes a UK CV genuinely different

Before we get to the examples, you need to know what UK recruiters expect — because copying a US resume template is the fastest way to get filtered out by a UK ATS like Workday, Greenhouse UK or the Reed ATS.

Convention	UK standard	Why it matters
Length	2 pages	1-page CVs read as junior or under-qualified
Photo	Never	Discrimination risk under Equality Act 2010
Date of birth	Never	Age is a protected characteristic
Marital status	Never	Protected characteristic
Address	City + postcode area only	Privacy + ATS parsing
Date format	DD/MM/YYYY	UK convention, ATS expects this
Spelling	British English	"organise", "centre", "programme"
References	"Available on request"	Or omit entirely — saves space

The gov.uk Style Guide is the gold standard for Plain English in the UK, and UK recruiters — especially in the Civil Service, NHS and local authorities — actively prefer CVs written in active voice with sentence case headings.

The 10 UK CV examples by sector

Each example below is mapped to a real UK role family, with the SpeedCV template best suited to it. Salary bands are from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), NHS Agenda for Change pay scales, and Civil Service pay published on gov.uk.

1. NHS nurse (Band 5/6) CV example

Salary band: NHS Band 5 £29,970 starting, Band 6 £37,338–£44,962 (NHS England pay scales, April 2025).

Must include: NMC PIN number, clinical specialisms (e.g. A&E, paediatrics, oncology), revalidation date, mandatory training (BLS, ILS, safeguarding levels 1–3), and a values-based personal statement aligned to the NHS Constitution's six values (working together for patients, respect and dignity, commitment to quality of care, compassion, improving lives, everyone counts).

Recommended template: Sage (clean, accessible, free) or Crimson for senior nursing roles.

2. Teaching assistant / NQT-ECT CV example

Salary band: TA £18,000–£24,000; ECT M1 £31,650 (England, outside London, September 2025).

Must include: QTS status (or working towards), DBS check confirmation, key stages taught (KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4), SEND experience, behaviour management approach. Reference the Teachers' Standards in your personal statement.

3. Civil Service Fast Stream / Grade 7 CV example

Salary band: Fast Stream £30,640 starting; Grade 7 £56,532–£73,115 (Cabinet Office 2025 pay data).

Must include: Evidence against the four Success Profiles (Behaviours, Strengths, Experience, Ability). Use STAR examples mapped to the 9 Civil Service Behaviours (Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Making Effective Decisions, Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Developing Self and Others, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace).

4. Software engineer / developer CV example

Salary band: Junior £30,000–£42,000; Mid £50,000–£75,000; Senior £75,000–£110,000 (London, 2026; Reed salary data).

Must include: Tech stack (be specific: "Node.js 20, TypeScript, PostgreSQL 16, AWS ECS"), GitHub link, measurable impact ("reduced API latency 340ms → 80ms"), open-source contributions, AWS/Azure/GCP certifications if held.

5. Retail sales assistant / Tesco-M&S Christmas temp CV example

Salary band: £11.44–£12.60/hour (National Living Wage from 01/04/2024, rising 01/04/2026).

Must include: Customer service examples with specific outcomes (e.g. "Maintained 98% positive customer feedback over Christmas 2025 peak"), till and stock management, opening/closing procedures, KPIs hit. First-job applicants: school work experience counts.

6. Chef / hospitality CV example

Salary band: Commis £24,000; Chef de Partie £28,000–£32,000; Sous Chef £35,000–£45,000; Head Chef £45,000–£70,000.

Must include: Food Hygiene Level 2 or 3, cuisines (e.g. modern British, French classical, pan-Asian), brigade size managed, GP margin contribution, allergen training (Natasha's Law compliance).

7. Electrician / trades CV example

Salary band: £32,000–£48,000 (NICEIC-approved, ONS 2025); self-employed day rates £200–£350.

Must include: 18th Edition Wiring Regulations (BS 7671), NVQ Level 3, ECS/JIB Gold Card, CSCS card, Part P qualification, asbestos awareness. List notable projects with values ("£180k commercial rewire, Birmingham, Q3 2025").

8. Accountant / chartered (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) CV example

Salary band: Newly qualified ACA £52,000–£62,000 (Big 4, London 2026); Finance Manager £65,000–£85,000.

Must include: Qualification status ("ACA, ICAEW, qualified 06/2024"), audit/tax/advisory split, sector specialism, system experience (NetSuite, SAP S/4HANA, Xero), IFRS/UK GAAP knowledge.

9. Warehouse worker / HGV driver CV example

Salary band: Warehouse operative £23,000–£28,000; HGV Class 1 £36,000–£48,000 (Logistics UK pay survey 2025).

Must include: Forklift licences (counterbalance, reach, VNA), CPC card (Class 1/2), Digital Tachograph card, ADR if applicable, picking accuracy %, units per hour. Clean licence status.

10. Student / first CV (no experience) example

Target: Part-time work, apprenticeships, work experience, graduate schemes.

Must include: Predicted/actual GCSE and A-level grades (or BTEC/Scottish Highers), Duke of Edinburgh, NCS, prefect/student council, sports captaincy, volunteering. A focused personal statement matters more than experience here — see our 35+ CV personal statement examples for tested wording.

UK CV structure: the standard section order

Every UK CV — regardless of sector — follows this order. Deviating from it confuses ATS parsers and UK recruiters.

1. Header: Full name (H1 size), professional title, phone, email, LinkedIn URL, city + postcode area. No photo, no DOB.
2. Personal statement (profile): 3–5 lines, 80–120 words. State role target, years of experience, top skill, key achievement.
3. Key skills: 6–10 skills in two columns, mixing hard and soft skills with ATS keywords from the job advert.
4. Work experience: Reverse-chronological. Role title, employer, location, dates (MM/YYYY–MM/YYYY). 4–6 bullets per role, each starting with an action verb and ending in a measurable result.
5. Education: Reverse-chronological. Most recent qualification first. Grades only if 2:1 or above for graduates.
6. Certifications / professional memberships: Sector-specific (NMC, ICAEW, NICEIC, RICS, CIPD).
7. References: "Available on request" — or omit.

Career breaks, disability disclosure and ex-Forces translation

Three CV scenarios that UK guidance often skips but matter in 2026.

Career break / employment gap

Post-pandemic, UK recruiters have normalised career breaks. The CIPD's 2024 Resourcing and Talent Planning report found 71% of UK employers now view career breaks neutrally or positively when explained. Include the gap as a dated entry — for example: "Career break (03/2023–09/2024): Full-time caregiving; completed Google UX Design Certificate; volunteered with Citizens Advice (8 hours/week)." Never leave gaps unexplained — recruiters assume the worst.

Disability disclosure

Disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. You are not required to disclose on your CV. Many disabled candidates use the Disability Confident scheme: if an employer displays the Disability Confident Committed/Employer/Leader badge, disclosing on your CV guarantees an interview if you meet the minimum criteria. Otherwise, disclosure is personal choice — at application, interview or after offer. Reasonable adjustments can be requested at any stage.

Ex-Forces / veteran CV translation

Translating military experience into civilian-readable language is a recognised UK sub-niche. "Section Commander" becomes "Team Leader managing 8 direct reports"; "Operation HERRICK 17" becomes "6-month overseas deployment delivering logistics for a 200-person operation". The Forces Employment Charity and the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) offer free CV review for service-leavers within 2 years of discharge. Translate ranks to civilian equivalents in brackets the first time you mention them (e.g. "Sergeant (equivalent to mid-level manager)").

5 mistakes that get UK CVs binned

1. Including a photo. Triggers Equality Act concerns for hiring managers. Most UK ATS systems also fail to parse images, breaking the whole CV.
2. US date formats. Never write the US format with month-first — for example, the 15th of March written month-first as 3/15 instead of 15/03 — which UK recruiters and ATS parsers read as the wrong date.
3. Wrong English variant. Using US spellings like the Z-form of organise, or the shortened form of programme without the -me ending, instantly flags a copy-pasted American template. UK recruiters spot it in seconds.
4. Vague bullets. "Responsible for sales" tells the recruiter nothing. Quantify: "Generated £840k pipeline in FY25, exceeding target by 23%."
5. One-size-fits-all CV. Sending the same CV to 50 jobs. UK ATS systems score keyword match — tailoring per role lifts shortlist rates dramatically. Use SpeedCV Match to score your CV against live Reed.co.uk job ads.

How to choose your UK CV template

SpeedCV offers 21 active UK templates, each tested against Workday, Greenhouse and Reed ATS parsers. Quick matching guide:

Your sector	Recommended template	Tier
NHS, care, teaching assistant	Sage	Free
Trades, construction, logistics	Forge	Free
Office, admin, EA	Crimson	Premium
Tech, IT, audio engineering	Voltage	Premium
Sales, account management	Pulse	Premium
Hospitality, chef, F&B	Claret	Premium
Civil Service, legal, finance	Executive / Corporate	Premium

Free tier gives 5 AI actions/day. The £1.99 14-day Pass unlocks all premium templates and unlimited AI — see pricing. If you want a human-written CV by a CPRW-certified writer, our London CV writing service starts at £149.

Frequently asked questions

What does a good UK CV look like in 2026?

A good UK CV in 2026 is two pages, reverse-chronological, written in British English with sentence case headings. It has no photo, no date of birth, no marital status. It opens with a personal statement of 80–120 words, then key skills, work experience with quantified bullets, education, and sector-specific certifications.

Should a UK CV be one or two pages?

Two pages is the UK standard for anyone with more than 18 months' experience. School leavers and first-time job seekers can use one page. Exceeding two pages is acceptable for academic, medical or executive roles, but recruiters across most sectors prefer two as it shows editing discipline.

Should I put a photo on my UK CV?

No. Including a photo on a UK CV creates discrimination risk under the Equality Act 2010 — many UK recruiters will reject CVs with photos to protect their hiring process. The only exception is acting, modelling and presenting roles, which use a separate headshot, not the CV.

What are the best CV templates for the NHS?

NHS recruiters favour clean, ATS-friendly templates that mirror the NHS Jobs Trac.jobs system. The SpeedCV Sage template is built for healthcare and is free. Lead with your NMC or HCPC PIN, mandatory training, clinical specialisms, and a values-based personal statement aligned to the NHS Constitution.

How do I write a CV with no experience?

Lead with education (predicted or actual grades), volunteering, school work experience, Duke of Edinburgh, sports leadership, NCS, part-time work and transferable skills. A strong 100-word personal statement matters more than employment history. See our CV personal statement guide for tested wording for students.

What format do UK employers prefer: PDF or Word?

PDF is the UK default — it preserves layout across devices and is accepted by every major UK ATS (Workday, Greenhouse, Reed, Bullhorn). Use Word only if the job advert specifically requests .docx, or if applying via a recruitment agency that needs to edit your CV in their database.

How is a UK CV different from an American resume?

A UK CV runs to two pages (vs one-page US resume), uses DD/MM/YYYY dates, British English spelling, and excludes photo, age and marital status. The US resume tradition includes a photo and headshot in some sectors; the UK never does, due to Equality Act 2010 protections. See our resume vs CV UK guide for the full comparison.

Next steps

Pick the sector example closest to your role, choose your template, and run your draft through our free ATS checker before applying. Once your CV is ready, pair it with a strong UK covering letter tailored to each application — that's the combination UK recruiters shortlist.