5 CV examples · UK · Updated October 2026
Graduate CV Examples and Templates (UK)
A strong graduate CV proves you can do the job before you have done it full time. Lead with a sharp personal profile, put your degree and classification near the top, then turn placements, part-time work, societies and projects into evidence an employer can score.
Graduate CV at a glance
- Best format
- Reverse-chronological, single column, degree named in your headline
- Length
- One or two sides of A4; one often suits new graduates
- Top skills
- Written communication, Data analysis (Excel), Teamwork and leadership, Organisation and prioritising
- Key qualifications
- Degree with classification (e.g. 2:1), A-levels or equivalent qualifications, GCSE English and Maths (4/C) or equivalent
5 graduate CV examples for 2026
Below are 5 graduate CV examples, from no experience to mature graduate, plus personal statement examples for a graduate CV, skills, bullet points, a format table and free A4 Word templates you can adapt. Each one is shown at true A4 size and comes with a free single-column Word template. Open any example to read it in full.
Swipe to see all 5 examples →
Zainab Hussain
History Graduate, BA (Hons) 2:1
Leeds · zainab.hussain@email.com · 07700 900184 · linkedin.com/in/zainabhussain
Profile
History graduate (BA Hons, 2:1, University of Leeds) with three years of part-time customer service and a student ambassador role. Writes clear, well-evidenced reports, handles complaints calmly and presents confidently to groups. Seeking a graduate scheme or entry-level role in operations, HR or the public sector.
Employment History
Customer Assistant (Part-Time), Wharfeholme Foodstores, Leeds Sep 2023 – Present
- Serve up to 300 customers a shift on tills and self-checkout, 16 hours a week since first year at university.
- Resolve refunds and complaints at the customer service desk, calming difficult situations and earning named praise in 4 mystery shopper reports.
- Apply Challenge 25 on every age-restricted sale, with no failed test purchases since starting.
- Trained 5 new starters on till procedures and stock rotation, cutting their sign-off time from 4 shifts to 2.
Student Ambassador, University of Leeds, Leeds Oct 2023 – Jun 2026
- Led campus tours and Q&A sessions for groups of up to 30 prospective students and parents across 12 open days, tailoring each tour to its group.
- Delivered a student finance talk at 6 partner schools in West Yorkshire, adapting examples and pace for Year 12 audiences new to university.
- Answered 150+ live chat enquiries during Clearing 2025, logging each one accurately in the CRM.
Sales Assistant (Christmas Temp), Bramwell & Pike Books, Bradford Nov 2022 – Jan 2023
- Recommended titles and processed sales through the busiest 8 weeks, signing up 90 loyalty customers.
- Merchandised 3 front-of-store promotion tables daily, keeping prices accurate for weekly audits.
Education & Qualifications
BA (Hons) History, University of Leeds, 2:1, 2026
A-levels: History (A), English Literature (B), Sociology (B)
9 GCSEs at grades 9-5, including English (7) and Maths (6)
Training & Certificates
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (Silver), 2019
Key Skills
Research and report writing · Customer service · Complaint handling · Cash handling · Presenting to groups · Event support · Excel (pivot tables) · Canva and social media · Time management · Team working
Dissertation and Leadership
- Dissertation: women’s work in Bradford’s wool mills, 1890 to 1914, from census and archive records (mark 72)
- Treasurer, History Society (2024 to 2025): ran the budget for 9 socials and a 3-day Edinburgh trip
Why this example works
- Turns part-time retail work into evidence graduate recruiters score: customer volume, complaint handling, Challenge 25 compliance and training new starters.
- Names the degree and 2:1 in the headline and the university in the profile’s first line, so academic ability registers before work history.
- Student ambassador bullets prove presenting and communication skills with audience sizes and event counts instead of adjectives.
Tobi Adeyemi
Commercial Analyst
Birmingham · tobi.adeyemi@email.com · 07700 900562 · linkedin.com/in/tobiadeyemi
Profile
Commercial analyst with two years on a retail graduate scheme, analysing trading, pricing and promotions for a 140-store home and garden chain. Economics graduate (BSc Hons, 2:1, University of Nottingham) and Microsoft-certified Power BI data analyst, skilled in Excel modelling and SQL and confident presenting to buying directors. Seeking a pricing or commercial analyst role with more ownership of category and range decisions.
Employment History
Graduate Commercial Analyst, Brindleford Home & Garden, Birmingham Sep 2024 – Present
- Rebuilt the weekly trading pack in Power BI, saving 6 hours a week of manual Excel work.
- Analysed 18 months of garden furniture promotions and showed multibuys diluted margin; switching to price cuts lifted category margin by 2.1 points.
- Rotated through buying, pricing and supply chain, presenting a costed recommendation to the commercial director at the end of each six-month rotation.
Commercial Insight Intern, Castlemere Energy, Solihull Jun 2023 – Aug 2023
- Analysed survey data from 2,400 small business customers in SQL and Excel to find the main reasons they switched energy supplier.
- Presented findings to the insight team in week 10; two recommendations went into the winter 2023 customer retention plan.
- Automated a monthly churn report with Excel macros, cutting a day’s work to 40 minutes.
Barista and Shift Lead (Part-Time, Term Time), Canalside Bean Co., Nottingham Oct 2021 – May 2024
- Served up to 250 customers a shift, working 14 hours a week during university terms.
- Promoted to shift lead in 2023, opening the café and running breaks for a team of four.
Education & Qualifications
BSc (Hons) Economics, University of Nottingham, 2:1, 2024
Training & Certificates
Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300), 2025
Key Skills
Trading analysis · Promotion analysis · Excel modelling · SQL (BigQuery) · Power BI and DAX · Sales forecasting · Rebate reconciliation · Category management
Why this example works
- Leads with the current role and its results, because two years in, experience outranks the degree for the next employer.
- Every bullet carries a business number (hours saved, margin points, money recovered), the language commercial hiring managers use.
- The internship and café job stay but shrink to short entries, proving consistency without taking space from current results.
Daniel Kowalczyk
Graduate Mechanical Engineer, BEng (Hons) First
Derby · daniel.kowalczyk@email.com · 07700 900731 · linkedin.com/in/danielkowalczyk
Skills & Tools
Personal Profile
First-class mechanical engineering graduate from Loughborough University with a 12-month manufacturing engineering placement at an aerospace and automotive components supplier. Skilled in SolidWorks, GD&T, ANSYS FEA and structured root cause analysis, with Formula Student design experience. Associate Member of IMechE, applying for graduate engineer schemes with a clear route to Chartered Engineer (CEng).
Employment History
Suspension Design Lead (Formula Student), Loughborough University, Loughborough Oct 2025 – Jun 2026
- Optimised the rear upright using ANSYS FEA, removing 0.6 kg while keeping a safety factor above 1.5.
- Produced toleranced manufacturing drawings for 14 suspension parts machined by a team sponsor.
- Defended the suspension design and its test data to industry judges in the competition’s design event.
Placement Engineer (Manufacturing), Derwentholme Precision, Derby Jul 2024 – Jul 2025
- Led an 8D investigation into burrs on an aerospace bracket, cutting scrap from 4.2% to 1.1%.
- Redesigned a fixture in SolidWorks to hold two parts per cycle, raising cell output by 18%.
- Wrote PFMEAs and control plans for 3 new part numbers, all approved first time by the customer.
Warehouse Operative (Summer), Haddonmere Logistics, Castle Donington Jun 2023 – Sep 2023
- Picked and packed up to 1,200 units a shift on RF scanners, consistently above the site target.
- Suggested a slotting change for fast-moving lines that the shift manager adopted across 2 aisles.
- Trained 3 new starters on scanner use and safe manual handling during their first week on site.
Education & Qualifications
BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, Loughborough University, First, 2026
Diploma in Industrial Studies (DIS), awarded for the industrial placement year
A-levels: Maths (A*), Physics (A), Further Maths (A)
10 GCSEs at grades 9-6, including English (7) and Maths (9)
Training & Certificates
Associate Member, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (AMIMechE), 2026
Project and Outreach
- Final-year project: 3D-printed lattice heat sink with 22% lower thermal resistance than a solid design (76)
- STEM Ambassador since 2023: runs bridge-building workshops for Year 8 pupils at Derby schools
Why this example works
- Treats the placement year like a real engineering job, with the problem, the method and a measured result in every bullet.
- Opens with a technical skills strip, so the tools and standards engineering schemes screen for (SolidWorks, ANSYS, GD&T to BS 8888, PFMEA) register first.
- IMechE membership and the CEng goal in the profile signal commitment to a structured development scheme.
Why this example works
- States the Graduate visa and its end date in the profile, answering the right-to-work question before a recruiter has to ask.
- Overseas experience is written in UK terms, with clients, data volumes and results, so it reads as real experience.
- Leads with UK work since the MSc, showing an employer here has already trusted her with live data.
Owain Jenkins
Business Management Graduate, Operations and Projects
Cardiff · owain.jenkins@email.com · 07700 900648 · linkedin.com/in/owainjenkins
Personal Profile
Business management graduate (BA Hons, 2:1, The Open University) with 13 years in retail, including five as manager of a 60-colleague home and DIY store turning over £9 million a year. Studied part time over six years while working full time. Has led a store refit and a stock system rollout as live projects, holds the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification and is seeking a graduate project or operations management scheme.
Core Competencies
Project planning and scheduling · Budget and P&L management · Risk and issue logs · Stakeholder communication · Change management · Team leadership and coaching · Recruitment and onboarding · Stock and supply chain control · Health and safety (IOSH) · KPI reporting in Excel · Process improvement · Supplier and contractor management
Employment History
Store Manager, Coedmawr Home & DIY, Cardiff Mar 2021 – Present
- Delivered a £480,000 store refit over 10 weeks while still trading, finishing 4 days early and £22,000 under budget.
- Project-managed the rollout of handheld stock devices to 4 stores in the region, training 85 colleagues and going live on the planned date.
- Raised stock accuracy from 91% to 98% by redesigning cycle counts and delivery checks, cutting write-offs by £64,000 a year.
- Reduced colleague turnover from 38% to 21% in two years through structured inductions, fairer rotas and monthly one-to-ones.
- Achieved the region’s top health and safety audit score in 2024 and 2025, with no RIDDOR-reportable incidents.
Deputy Store Manager, Coedmawr Home & DIY, Newport Jun 2018 – Mar 2021
- Ran daily operations for a £6 million store and deputised for the store manager, holding full accountability during a 3-month vacancy.
- Planned and launched click-and-collect in 2020, setting up processes that handled 300 orders a week within a month.
- Kept the store trading safely through COVID-19 restrictions by redesigning the layout, queue system and staff bubbles in under a week.
- Built the seasonal labour plan from sales forecasts, holding wage costs within 0.5% of budget for three years running.
- Coached 4 supervisors through the company’s management programme; 3 have since been promoted to deputy manager.
Department Supervisor, Cefnhaven Sports, Cardiff Aug 2015 – Jun 2018
- Supervised a team of 9 across footwear and clothing, setting daily sales targets, briefing each shift and covering key-holder duties.
- Grew footwear sales by 12% year on year by introducing a free gait analysis service and weekly product training for the team.
- Managed weekly deliveries and replenishment, cutting backroom overstocks by a third through tighter ordering based on sales data.
- Led the store’s annual stocktake twice, planning counts and staffing so both finished within the target variance.
Sales Assistant, Cefnhaven Sports, Cardiff Sep 2013 – Aug 2015
- Served customers across footwear and clothing, regularly ranking in the store’s top three for weekly sales and add-on products.
- Handled cash, card and returns accurately, with no till discrepancies above tolerance on any shift.
- Promoted to department supervisor after two years, ahead of the usual timescale, having covered supervisor shifts for six months.
Education & Qualifications
BA (Hons) Business Management, The Open University, 2:1, 2025 (part time, 2019 – 2025)
A-levels: Business Studies (B), Geography (C), English Language (C)
Training & Certificates
APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ), 2025 · IOSH Managing Safely, 2019 · Mental Health First Aider (MHFA England), 2023
Degree Highlights
- Final-year project: business case for automated stock replenishment across a 4-store cluster, awarded a First-level mark (74)
- Modules in operations management, project management, accounting and organisational leadership
Professional Development
- Studying for the APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ), with the exam booked for February 2027
- Shadowed the regional projects team for 5 days in 2025 to learn their gated approval and reporting process
Volunteering and Languages
- Treasurer and volunteer coach at a junior rugby club in Cardiff since 2019: runs a £15,000 annual budget and secured a grant for new kit
- English (native) and Welsh (conversational)
Why this example works
- Puts the new degree and APM qualification in the profile, so the career change reads as planned rather than accidental.
- Frames refits and system rollouts as projects with budgets, deadlines and results, the evidence project hiring managers look for.
- Two pages are justified: 13 years of retail and management results would be wasted squeezed onto one.
Graduate personal profile examples
Copy the personal profile that matches your level, then swap in your own experience, settings and results.
Sociology graduate (BA Hons, 2:2) with two years of part-time hospitality work and a weekly volunteer role at a community food bank. Organised and calm under pressure, with survey design and Excel skills from a 10,000-word research dissertation. Seeking an entry-level graduate role in housing, local government or the charity sector.
Accounting and Finance graduate (BSc Hons, 2:1) with a 10-week summer internship at a regional audit firm and the AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping. Comfortable reconciling ledgers, building Excel models and explaining numbers to non-finance colleagues. Applying for graduate schemes in audit, tax or advisory with study towards ACA or ACCA.
Chemistry graduate (MChem, First) with a 12-week research placement in analytical chemistry and hands-on HPLC, GC-MS and LIMS experience. Writes clear method reports, follows COSHH and good laboratory practice, and works well in mixed teams. Seeking a graduate analytical or quality control scientist role in pharmaceuticals or food manufacturing.
MSc Marketing graduate (Distinction) with a consultancy project for a Manchester start-up and two years of digital marketing experience in Vietnam. Plans paid and organic campaigns, reads Google Analytics 4 data and writes copy that converts. Holds a UK Graduate visa with no sponsorship required and is seeking a digital marketing executive role.
Psychology graduate (BSc Hons, 2:1, BPS-accredited, eligible for GBC) who studied part time while working eight years as a teaching assistant supporting pupils with SEND. Experienced in behaviour plans, progress records and working with parents and outside professionals. Now seeking a trainee Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner or assistant psychologist role in the NHS or a mental health charity.
Best skills for a graduate CV
List the skills the job advert and person specification name, in the same wording, and prove the important ones in your employment history.
Hard skills
- Research and report writing
- Data analysis in Excel (pivot tables, XLOOKUP)
- Presenting to groups
- Project planning and coordination
- Basic SQL or Python
- Statistical analysis (SPSS, R)
- Market and competitor research
- Budget tracking
- Social media and content creation
- Customer service and complaint handling
- Minute taking and administration
- CAD and technical drawing (engineering)
Soft skills
- Communication, written and spoken
- Teamwork across different groups
- Problem solving
- Time management and prioritising
- Adaptability and willingness to learn
- Resilience under pressure
- Commercial awareness
- Attention to detail
Systems and equipment
- Microsoft 365 (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams)
- Google Workspace
- Power BI or Tableau
- SPSS, R or Python
- Canva
- Trello or Asana
- SolidWorks or AutoCAD (engineering)
Qualifications and training
- Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (Bronze, Silver or Gold)
- APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ)
- AAT Level 2 Certificate in Bookkeeping
- CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice
- Associate Membership of a professional body, such as IMechE
Graduate CV bullet point examples
Strong bullets pair an action verb with a specific task and a measurable result. Adapt these to your own numbers.
Part-time and casual jobs
- Handled cash and card payments for up to 180 customers a shift in a city-centre pub, with till balances accurate for 18 months.
- Opened the café alone on Saturdays, completing food safety checks, stock preparation and the till float before the 8am opening.
- Rebuilt the shop’s weekly staff rota in Google Sheets, cutting last-minute shift gaps from 6 a month to 1.
Placements and internships
- Benchmarked 40 competitor websites during a 10-week marketing internship, producing a report the team used in its 2026 rebrand.
- Supported an audit team on 6 client engagements during a summer internship, testing purchase invoices and documenting findings in the audit software.
- Created a SQL query library during a placement year that new analysts still use to pull monthly sales data.
Dissertation, projects and research
- Designed and ran a 300-respondent survey on commuting habits for a geography dissertation, analysed in SPSS and awarded a mark of 72.
- Led a 5-person group project designing a recycling scheme for student halls, presented to the university sustainability team and piloted in 2 halls.
- Built a Python web scraper and dashboard tracking 1,200 rental listings for a final-year computing project, graded at First level.
Societies, volunteering and leadership
- Raised £3,200 for a local hospice as fundraising officer for a student society, organising a charity dinner for 150 guests.
- Captained the university netball second team for a season, organising training, transport and fixtures for 14 players.
- Volunteered 3 hours a week as a reading helper at a Sheffield primary school, supporting 6 pupils in Year 3.
Graduate scheme and first-job results
- Mapped customer onboarding as a graduate scheme project, removing 3 duplicate checks and cutting average account set-up from 9 days to 5.
- Reviewed 200 complaint files in a first-rotation compliance audit, writing 5 recommendations the risk committee adopted in full.
- Buddied 4 new graduate trainees through their first rotation and ran the cohort’s monthly learning session.
Action verbs for a graduate CV
Start each bullet with a precise verb instead of “responsible for”.
- Analysed
- Organised
- Coordinated
- Researched
- Presented
- Prioritised
- Delivered
- Launched
- Led
- Trained
- Built
- Designed
- Tested
- Improved
- Reduced
- Increased
- Resolved
- Drafted
- Collaborated
- Supported
- Recruited
- Negotiated
- Mentored
- Streamlined
- Automated
- Modelled
- Reconciled
- Raised
- Achieved
- Secured
Find more by category with the free action verb finder.
Best CV format for a graduate
Use a single-column, reverse-chronological CV on A4: personal profile, experience, education, then extras. Name your degree, class and university in your headline and the profile’s first line so they register first. One page suits most new graduates, including many with a placement or master’s; mature graduates often need two.
| Your situation | Format | Length | Lead with |
|---|---|---|---|
| New graduate, no relevant experience | Reverse-chronological, degree and class in the headline | 1 page | Profile naming degree, class and university |
| Final-year student applying for graduate schemes | Reverse-chronological, expected class in the headline | 1 page | Expected classification, A-levels and best module marks |
| Placement year or internship graduate | Reverse-chronological, placement written up as a full role | 1 page | Placement results and technical skills |
| Master’s or international graduate | Reverse-chronological | 1 page | UK degree, right to work and earlier experience |
| Graduate 1-3 years into work | Reverse-chronological, experience first | 1 page | Current role results, then degree |
| Mature graduate or career changer | Reverse-chronological, new degree named in the profile | 2 pages | Degree, transferable results and new qualifications |
Every example above follows these rules, on A4 and without a photo, date of birth or full address.
How to write a graduate CV that gets shortlisted
A graduate CV gets shortlisted when it gives evidence for the skills in the job advert, not a list of duties. Recruiters skim for your degree, classification and proof of teamwork, communication and problem solving, so put those where the eye lands first.
Make your degree impossible to miss: name the subject, classification (or expected class) and university in your headline and the first line of your profile. Education can then follow experience, with relevant modules and your dissertation title and mark when they fit the role.
Treat every placement, part-time job, society role and group project like a job. Give each one a title, dates and two to four bullets that start with an action verb and end with a result.
Personal statement for a graduate CV
A personal statement for a graduate CV, usually called a personal profile, is three to five lines near the top saying who you are, what you offer and what you want. It is not your UCAS personal statement and should never run to paragraphs.
Use this order: degree and classification, one or two strengths backed by evidence, then the role, scheme or sector you are targeting. Write without pronouns and stay specific: ‘Economics graduate with SQL and Power BI’ beats ‘motivated team player’.
Rewrite the last line for each application so it names the employer’s sector or scheme. Copy-ready personal profile examples for five graduate situations are on this page.
Graduate CV with no experience
A graduate CV with no experience works by treating everything you have done as evidence. Part-time jobs, volunteering, ambassador work, society committees, sports teams, group projects and your dissertation all show skills graduate employers assess.
Retail and hospitality jobs carry more weight than most graduates think. Serving 200 customers a shift, handling complaints or training new starters proves reliability, communication and resilience, the skills behind most competency questions.
If you are a career changer or mature graduate, lead with the new degree and show how earlier results transfer, as the mature graduate example above does.
Keywords to include on a graduate CV
Many graduate employers screen applications online, so your CV needs the words in the job advert. Match the job title, named software and listed competencies, using the employer’s own wording wherever it is true for you.
Keep the layout simple: one column, standard headings and no text boxes, tables or graphics that applicant tracking systems misread. Save as Word or PDF, whichever the employer asks for.
- Degree subject, classification and university
- Software from the advert: Excel, SQL, Python, Power BI, SolidWorks
- Competencies: teamwork, communication, problem solving, commercial awareness
- Job titles: graduate analyst, graduate engineer, graduate trainee
- Professional bodies and qualifications: IMechE, CIPD, AAT, APM
Graduate schemes, degree class and right to work
Many graduate schemes open in the autumn of your final year, often from September, for start dates the following autumn. Expect an online application, aptitude or situational judgement tests, a video interview and an assessment centre.
Some graduate employers still ask for a 2:1, while others set no minimum degree class and rely on tests and interviews. Always state your classification, or your expected class if you are still studying.
International graduates should state their right to work. The Graduate visa needs no sponsor: applications from 1 January 2027 get 18 months (3 years after a PhD), while applications made by 31 December 2026 get 2 years.
What to include and leave off a UK graduate CV
| ✓ Include | ✗ Avoid |
|---|---|
| Degree title, university, classification and year (or ‘expected 2:1, June 2027’) | Photo, date of birth, age, nationality, marital status or full home address |
| Relevant modules, dissertation title and mark when they match the role | National Insurance number or student ID number |
| A-level grades or equivalents (Highers in Scotland), plus a one-line GCSE or National 5 summary including English and Maths | An objective about what you want from the employer instead of a personal profile |
| Placements, internships, part-time jobs and volunteering, each with results | Every GCSE listed separately with its grade |
| Society, sports or committee roles that show leadership or organisation | Phrases like ‘hard-working team player’ with no evidence behind them |
| Software and technical skills named in the job advert | Referees’ names and contact details |
| Right to work status if you are an international graduate | An old school email address or an unprofessional one |
| Professional memberships or qualifications in progress, such as IMechE, CIPD or AAT | Hobbies with no purpose, such as socialising or watching films |
How to write a graduate CV
- Choose the right structure. Use a single-column, reverse-chronological layout on A4 with clear headings. Name your degree, class and university in your headline and profile so they register first, and keep to one page unless a long work history genuinely fills two.
- Write a targeted personal profile. In three to five lines, state your degree and classification, two strengths backed by evidence and the role or scheme you want. Rewrite the final line for each employer so it names their sector.
- Set out your degree in full. In the education section, list your degree, university, classification and year, then relevant modules and your dissertation title and mark. Add A-levels or equivalents and summarise GCSEs or National 5s in one line, including English and Maths.
- Turn experience into evidence. Give every job, placement, society role and project two to four bullets. Start with an action verb, add numbers such as customers served or money raised, and finish with the result or what changed.
- Match the job advert. Mirror the job title, software and competencies named in the advert so recruiters and screening software find them quickly. Cut anything that does not support the role, including hobbies with no relevance.
- Add skills, training and right to work. Group hard skills and software in a key skills section, list certificates such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award or APM PFQ, and state your visa status clearly if you are an international graduate.
- Check, save and send. Proofread twice, ask your university careers service to review it, and save it as Word or PDF as the employer requests, with a clear file name such as Firstname-Lastname-CV.
Covering letter tip for a graduate
Open with the scheme or role and where you saw it, then give two reasons you chose this employer that show real research. Pick one example from your degree, placement or part-time job that proves the top skill in the advert, and close with your availability and degree completion date.
Start from our cover letter templates or draft one in seconds with the cover letter generator.
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