Teacher CV: what a headteacher checks first
Shortlisting for a teaching post is usually done by a panel against a person specification, with a scoring grid. Your CV is read to find evidence for rows on that grid — and written well, it makes that easy.
Most school applications run on the school's own form, with a supporting statement and a CV attached. The panel is checking eligibility, then evidence against the person specification. Understanding that changes what belongs where: eligibility facts go at the top, and everything else earns its place by matching something the school asked for.
The facts that decide eligibility
- QTS status, and the route — PGCE, School Direct, Teach First, assessment only. Include your TRN if you have one.
- Key stages and subjects you can teach, stated plainly. "KS2, with subject leadership in maths" is what a panel needs.
- Safeguarding: enhanced DBS on the update service, and your most recent safeguarding training with its year.
- Right to work, if it is not obvious from your history.
- ECT status: whether you have completed induction, or which year of it you are in.
Write to the person specification
The advert almost always links a person specification splitting requirements into essential and desirable, and shortlisting is scored against it. Anything essential that you meet should be findable without hunting. This is the single highest-value thing you can do and most applicants skip it.
Evidence a panel can score: Year 4 teacher, Ashgrove Primary (2-form entry, 46% pupil premium) · 09/2021 – present — Maths lead across KS2: redesigned the calculation policy, ran weekly coaching for three colleagues, KS2 maths attainment rose from 61% to 74% expected standard over two years.
Nothing to score: Year 4 teacher, Ashgrove Primary, 2021–present — Responsible for planning and delivering the curriculum, assessment, and maintaining a positive classroom environment.
The weak version describes the job every teacher holds. The strong version names the context, a responsibility beyond your own classroom, and a result. Panels shortlist on the second kind because it is the only kind that distinguishes applicants.
Describe the school, not just the role
A class teacher post in a two-form-entry primary with high pupil premium is a materially different job from one in a small rural school or a selective independent. Roll size, phase, intake and any specialism tell a reader whether your experience transfers to their setting. One parenthesis per school does it.
- Phase and roll: "11-18 comprehensive, 1,400 on roll" or "single-form-entry primary, 210 pupils".
- Intake context where it is relevant: pupil premium proportion, EAL proportion, SEN provision on site.
- Any specialism: teaching school, MAT, faith school, grammar, alternative provision, special school.
- Ofsted judgement only if it is recent and relevant — it dates quickly and is public anyway.
Impact without inventing numbers
Attainment data is the obvious evidence, but it belongs to a cohort rather than to you, and a panel of teachers knows that. Claim it carefully and pair it with what you actually did. Where you have no data, describe the change you made and who else it reached — that is still evidence of impact beyond your own room.
Defensible: Introduced a phonics catch-up programme for 14 Year 1 pupils below expectation; 11 met the phonics screening standard in June.
Overclaimed: Raised whole-school literacy standards and transformed outcomes across the key stage.
Length, and what to leave out
- Two pages. This is a firm convention in teaching rather than a preference, and a longer CV signals someone who has not edited.
- No photo, no date of birth, no marital status. UK convention, and safer recruitment guidance discourages anything inviting bias.
- Full employment history with months, including non-teaching work and breaks. Gaps must be visible and explained.
- GCSEs: English and maths grades only. Panels check these for eligibility on primary posts and do not need the rest.
- Referees: your current headteacher will be asked, and schools expect this. Naming two referees with roles is standard.
- Do not list every CPD course you have attended. Name the ones relevant to the post and the year.
The structure above works as a two-page layout with QTS, key stages and safeguarding in the top third. Build your CV
Before you send it
- Can a panel find your QTS status, key stages and DBS in the first third of page one?
- Does every essential criterion on the person specification appear somewhere findable?
- Is each school described with phase, roll and any relevant intake context?
- Does each role carry at least one thing you changed, not only duties you held?
- Is your employment history complete, with months, and every gap named?
- Is it two pages?
Frequently asked questions
How long should a teaching CV be?
Two pages. This is a stronger convention in education than in most sectors — shortlisting panels read many applications against a scoring grid, and a longer CV is read less carefully rather than more.
Do I need a photo on a teacher CV?
No. UK CVs do not carry photos, and safer recruitment practice discourages anything that could introduce bias into shortlisting. Leave off date of birth and marital status for the same reason.
Should I put my TRN on my CV?
Yes, alongside your QTS status. It is a straightforward verification point for the school and saves an email. Include the route you qualified through and whether you have completed ECT induction.
How do I explain leaving a school after one year?
State the reason plainly — a fixed-term contract ending, a maternity cover, a relocation, a restructure. Fixed-term and cover posts are extremely common in teaching and carry no stigma, but an unexplained single year invites a less generous assumption.
Does the CV or the supporting statement matter more?
The statement, for most posts. It is where you address the person specification directly and where the panel scores you. The CV carries the verifiable record — roles, dates, qualifications, school contexts — and should not repeat the statement in list form.