A clear CV layout helps an employer find the information they need without having to search for it. It also makes your experience easier to follow, whether a person reads your CV directly or software processes it first.
There’s no single format that suits every role. But for most UK applications, a simple, single-column layout with familiar headings is a useful starting point. You can then adjust the order and emphasis to fit the job advert.
A standard UK CV structure
For someone with relevant work experience, this order works well:
- Contact details
- Personal profile
- Key skills
- Work experience
- Education and qualifications
- Relevant optional sections
If you’re early in your career, or your education is more relevant than your work history, place education above work experience. The National Careers Service CV guide also recommends putting education first when you have limited work experience.
1. Contact details
At the top of the first page, include your name, phone number, professional email address and, if useful, a LinkedIn profile or portfolio link. You can include your town or region if it helps explain your location, but a full home address is usually unnecessary.
For most UK applications, leave off your age, date of birth, marital status and nationality. A photograph is not normally needed either, unless the employer specifically asks for one.
Put your contact details in the main body of the document, not in a header, footer or floating text box. Some recruitment systems may not extract those areas reliably.
2. Personal profile
Use a short profile to show the type of work you do and the experience most relevant to the role. Aim for a few focused lines rather than a general statement about being hardworking or enthusiastic.
For example, a fictional profile for an office role might say:
Administrator with three years’ experience supporting busy customer service teams. Confident managing appointment records, responding to enquiries and updating spreadsheets. Now looking to bring this experience to a healthcare setting.
Use details you can support. Avoid claims that sound impressive but don’t explain what you’ve done.
3. Key skills
Choose skills that appear in the job advert and that you can demonstrate. A short list makes them easy to scan, but don’t rely on a block of keywords to do the job of your experience section.
For instance, if a role asks for customer communication, include that skill only if you can point to relevant work. Then show where you used it in a bullet point.
Our guide to skills for a CV covers how to choose and support skills with evidence.
4. Work experience
List roles in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent. For each one, include your job title, employer and dates. Then use concise bullet points to show your work and, where possible, what changed as a result.
Start bullets with clear action words such as “organised”, “reduced” or “trained”. Add a number when you know it and can stand behind it. If you don’t have a reliable figure, describe the scope accurately instead.
Include relevant volunteering, placements or projects when they help demonstrate your fit. You don’t need to give every role equal space: spend more room on experience that matches the vacancy.
For a practical method of choosing what to emphasise, read our guide to tailoring your CV to a job description.
5. Education and qualifications
Include the qualification, institution and dates. Put relevant professional qualifications or licences where an employer can find them easily. If a particular qualification is essential for the role, it may deserve a more prominent place than less relevant education.
6. Optional sections
Add optional sections only when they strengthen your application. Depending on the role, these might include:
- Certifications or licences
- Projects or achievements
- Volunteering
- Languages
- Publications or professional memberships
Interests can be useful if they show relevant skills or give meaningful context. You don’t need to include a references section unless the employer requests one. Don’t put someone else’s contact details on your CV without their permission.
How to lay out a CV so it’s easy to read
A straightforward layout helps both the person reading your CV and, where used, the software processing it. These basic formatting choices are a sensible starting point:
- Use a readable font. Arial, Calibri, Helvetica and Georgia are familiar choices. The National Careers Service recommends a clear font at 11 point or larger.
- Keep styles consistent. Use the same style for headings, dates and bullets throughout.
- Use clear headings. Labels such as “Work Experience”, “Education” and “Key Skills” are easier to recognise than creative alternatives.
- Keep paragraphs short. Break detailed information into bullet points where that improves readability.
- Leave enough space. Use consistent margins and spacing. Don’t shrink the text to squeeze in low-priority details.
- Use a consistent date format. For example, use “Mar 2022 to Aug 2025” for each role rather than switching between formats.
- Proofread the final document. Check spelling, dates and contact details, and make sure the formatting hasn’t shifted when you saved the file.
One-page or two-page CV?
One page can work if you’re applying for your first role or have a small amount of relevant experience. It’s not a goal in itself, though. Removing useful evidence just to fit one page can make your CV less informative.
For many applicants, two pages provide enough space to show relevant experience without making the document crowded. Focus on whether each section helps support your application, rather than trying to meet an exact word count.
A longer CV may suit some senior or specialist roles, but don’t add detail simply to fill space. If a page is nearly empty, review the layout. If it’s packed, look for repeated duties or older information that matters less to the role.
Keep the layout ATS-friendly
An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is software some employers use to store and process applications. Different employers use different systems, so no layout can guarantee how a CV will be handled. A simple format is generally easier to process and easier for people to read.
For online applications, aim for:
- One column, read from top to bottom
- Standard section headings
- Text in the document body, not headers, footers or text boxes
- No tables, skill-rating graphics or decorative icons
- A Word file or a PDF with selectable text, following the employer’s instructions
You can check whether text is selectable by opening your saved file and trying to highlight and copy a sentence. If you can’t select the text, it may be a scanned image rather than a text-based document.
Read our ATS-friendly CV guide for more on layout choices and common misconceptions about application software.
What to leave off
Remove details that don’t help the employer assess your fit for the role. This may include:
- A full home address, date of birth or marital status
- A headshot, unless specifically requested
- Long lists of generic duties
- Unexplained abbreviations or decorative graphics
- Old or unrelated details that take space from stronger evidence
- Claims, figures or skills you can’t support
If you’re unsure whether to keep something, ask: does it help show that I can do this job? If not, it may not need to be on this version of your CV.
Fictional example: cleaning up a cluttered layout
Before
About Me / My Journey
Alex Green | 07xxx xxx xxx | alex@example.com
Reliable, friendly, motivated and a great team player
Things I Did
Helped customers. Did stock. Answered phone. Used computer.
Education and Job Stuff
Shop Assistant: High Street Store (2022 to present)
College course: 2021
Skill bars: Customer service 80% | Excel 60%
After
Alex Green
07xxx xxx xxx | alex@example.comProfile
Shop Assistant with experience helping customers, doing stock work, answering the phone and using a computer.Key skills
Customer help · Stock work · Answering the phone · Computer useWork Experience
Shop Assistant, High Street Store | 2022 to present
- Helped customers.
- Did stock work.
- Answered the phone.
- Used a computer.
Education
College course: 2021
The second version uses clear headings, puts information in a familiar order and replaces skill bars with words. It also avoids adding results or figures that the fictional example hasn’t established. In your own CV, add specific outcomes where you can verify them.
Check your CV layout before you send it
Before applying, take a minute to check that:
- Your most relevant information appears on the first page.
- The section order makes sense for your experience and the role.
- Each job has a clear title, employer and dates.
- Bullets describe useful evidence, not only routine duties.
- The document is readable on screen and when printed.
- The saved file follows the employer’s requested format.
- Your wording reflects the advert where it accurately describes your experience.
You can use the free CV scan to check your CV layout and spot unclear details. No account, email or card is needed. It’s a check to help you review your application, not a prediction of whether an employer will shortlist you.
If you’d like help adapting your CV to one role, Evident’s Tailored CV service is paid for once. See current prices on the homepage. It asks up to five questions about relevant experience your CV may not show, then drafts wording for you to review and approve. No tool can guarantee an interview or job offer, and you remain responsible for checking that every detail is accurate.