How to Write a School Leaver CV (Template & Example)

Starting your first job search at 16 can be a challenging experience. You might wonder how to compete with others when you’ve never had a job before. But here’s the truth: everyone starts somewhere, and employers know that school-leavers like you bring fresh energy, enthusiasm, and potential.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the essential steps to create a compelling school-leaver CV that boosts your confidence and gives you the best chance of landing your first job.

Create an effective CV in minutes. Choose a professional CV template and fill in every section of your CV in a flash using ready-made content and expert tips.

Create your CV now

Create a professional CV now!

NO

YES

Create your CV now

We created the sample on the right using our builder. See other good CV examples like this one.

School-leaver CV template (copy & personalise)

Here’s how to write a CV, specifically, a school-leaver CV, using the template provided above:

1. Choose the right CV format

When preparing for a job interview, you’re expected to look neat and presentable, even if the role doesn’t involve working with the public. Why? Because your appearance reflects your professionalism and attention to detail.

The same applies to your CV layout and formatting. A well-presented school-leaver CV tells employers that you care about the opportunity and take yourself seriously. The CV tips below will show you how to get it right.

Key sections for a school-leaver CV template

A CV for a school-leaver must prove that you’re prepared to enter the ever-changing UK job market. Keep it concise, limit it to one page, and structure it around these key sections:

• Contact information: Include your full name, phone number, email address, and LinkedIn profile or portfolio.
• Personal statement: Write a short paragraph that summarises your strengths, career goals, and what you can offer an employer.
• Education: List your school name, subjects studied (GCSEs, A-levels or equivalent), and dates attended. Mention predicted or achieved grades and relevant coursework or subjects.
• Skills: Include both hard and soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, time management, and basic IT skills.
• Work experience: Mention part-time jobs, volunteering, or internships. Focus on what you learned and how those experiences show you’re ready for a professional environment.
• Extracurricular activities: List school projects, sports teams, and clubs you are involved in. Highlight leadership roles, achievements, or examples of commitment and teamwork.
• Hobbies and interests: Briefly include activities that demonstrate positive qualities such as creativity, persistence, or curiosity.

How to format a school-leaver CV template

A great school-leaver CV isn’t just about the content—it is also about a neat presentation. Use the formatting tips below to make yours appealing and easily readable:

• Stick to one A4 page and use the whole space.
• Leave your contact details at the top of your CV, where they’ll be easy to find.
• Use clear section headings, so employers can easily find key details.
• Choose a suitable CV font like Arial, Calibri, or Noto in size 11 or 12.
• Space out your sections to avoid clutter.
• Apply bullet points for easy reading.
• Tailor your school-leaver CV for each job application, matching the language and skills to the job description.
• Highlight transferable skills that apply to most entry-level jobs, like teamwork, reliability, and communication.
• Consider a skills-based CV format if you have limited work experience—it lets your strengths shine.
• Always save or export your work in PDF, unless you’ve been told otherwise.

2. Write a captivating school-leaver CV personal statement

You’ll often hear advice about making eye contact, offering a firm handshake, and speaking clearly in a job interview—all aimed at creating a strong first impression. But in reality, your school-leaver CV, especially a CV introduction, is what employers see first. That’s where your first impression truly begins.

Your school-leaver CV personal statement, sometimes called a personal profile, is your chance to summarise any experience you have, highlight your relevant skills and qualities, and show what you can bring to a new employer. It’s where you begin making the case for why they should choose you.

Your CV summary should focus on what you can offer the company, not just what you hope to gain from the job. Even when describing your goals, show how they align with the company’s objectives.

Write a tailored personal statement for each job application. Aim for 3–4 sentences (about 50–150 words) that answer these questions:

• What kind of school-leaver are you? Are you currently studying?
• Do you have any work experience? If so, how much and in what field?
• What’s your most impressive achievement (at work, while volunteering, etc.)?
• What do you hope to contribute to this role and employer?

If you have no experience or achievements yet, replace the middle points with a brief statement of your beliefs or a CV objective. This should explain how your values and goals match those of the company.

Remember, your application will likely be scanned by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) before a person reviews it. Increase your chances by including the company name, job title, and keywords from the job advert.

It’s easier to write your personal statement after completing your work experience and skills sections. Keep this in mind and come back to it once those parts are ready.

School-leaver CV example: personal statement

A strong CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.

Create your CV now

2. Present any experience you have in your school-leaver CV

Experience isn’t everything, but it does matter. If you're writing a CV with no experience whatsoever, it’s fine to leave this section out entirely. That said, volunteer roles and school work experience placements absolutely count, so never skip them!

• Use a chronological CV format. This means listing your experience in reverse order, from most recent to oldest. 
• Create a subheading for each role using this template:

[Job Title]

[Company Name, Location]

[Dates of Employment]

• Add up to six bullet points under each job. Don’t just list your duties; focus on your professional achievements. Link them to specific benefits, such as saving time, reducing waste, or enhancing customer satisfaction. 
• Use the Problem-Action-Result formula to help you structure each point. Start each one with a strong verb like ‘created’, ‘reduced’, ‘negotiated’ to keep it punchy and active.

School-leavers CV examples: work experience section

3. Set your school-leaver CV education section up for maximum impact

What else to include in a CV? As a school-leaver, your education section is likely the main focus of your CV, as your education is your strongest asset at this stage.

Keep it concise and relevant. Stick to a reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent education. If you’ve begun a university degree, NVQ, or other tertiary qualification, use the following school-leaver CV template to list all your degrees:

[Degree Type] [Degree Name](Degree Class), [Years Attended]

[Institution Name], [Institution Location]

To list your secondary education, use the templates below. Include an expected graduation date if you are still studying:

A-levels: [Subject Name 1], [Subject Name 2], [Subject Name 3]

[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]

[n] GCSEs (including Mathematics and English)

[School Name], [School Location], [Years Attended]

It’s a good idea to mention Mathematics and English among your GCSEs specifically. Many employers look for passes in these subjects as a basic requirement. There’s no need to list other GCSE subjects, but please include all your A-levels. 

Finally, if you have little to no work experience, consider placing your education section above your work history to give it more prominence.

School-leaver CV template: education section

4. Use your school-leaver CV to showcase skills

Your school-leaver CV should include a list of skills that covers everything mentioned in the job advert—and ideally goes a bit further. But a plain list won’t be enough.

Unless you’re fortunate, you’ll need to send out multiple applications before you start getting interview invites. That’s just the nature of job hunting. To save time, it’s worth creating a ‘master list’ of your skills now, which you can tailor for each new CV you send out:

• Open a new document and list as many of your skills as you can. It’ll help to think in terms of soft skills and hard skills. Given your lack of experience, soft skills will predominate on your CV— this is as expected, and you’ll pick up more hard and technical skills on the job.
• Add a sentence for each skill that explains how you’ve demonstrated it. Ideally, this would be in a work setting, but examples from school, volunteering, extracurricular activities or hobbies are also valid.
• Delete any skills you can’t support with an example.
• Save the document—you’ll be able to update it over time and copy relevant items into future CVs as needed.
• Select 5–10 of the most relevant skills from your master list and include them in your school-leaver CV. Make sure you cover everything mentioned in the job advert, but don’t exaggerate; your CV should always be honest.

CV template for a school-leaver: skills

5. Add extra sections to your school-leaver CV template

There’s a simple way to make your CV more distinctive: add extra sections beyond your work history and education. Awards you’ve received, extracurricular activities, languages you speak, even your hobbies and interests are all fair game, with one crucial caveat.

Whatever you include needs to be relevant to the role you’re targeting. Foreign languages are almost always worth mentioning, thanks to their broad workplace value. For hobbies and activities, choose ones that reflect skills employers look for.

For example, participating in a Japanese poetry recital might not sound relevant to a call centre job at first glance. But from a recruiter’s point of view, it demonstrates confidence in public speaking and the ability to control tone and delivery, both valuable skills in customer service.

CV for a school-leaver: additional sections example

6. Include a cover letter with your school-leaver CV for a 16-year-old

Unless you’ve been explicitly asked not to include one, your job application should always consist of two main parts: your school-leaver CV and a personal cover letter tailored to the specific role. Once your CV is ready, you're already halfway there.

A strong school-leaver cover letter should be between half an A4 page and one full A4 page in length—roughly 250 to 400 words. It should follow the standard UK business letter format, including a proper header, salutation and sign-off to frame the content.

The body of your letter is where structure meets style. In the opening paragraph, introduce yourself and explain why you're applying. Use the main body paragraphs to highlight what you can bring to the role, drawing on relevant skills, achievements, or enthusiasm—even if you lack formal work experience.

All that’s left to do then is wrap up any loose ends, thank the recruiter for taking the time to give your application the attention you believe it deserves, and end with a confident CTA. A call to action (or CTA) is when you take the initiative and suggest a follow-up conversation.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

Create your CV now

Need a different CV example? Apart from a CV for a school leaver, check these guides:

• Cleaner CV Example
• Customer Service CV Example
• CV for a 16-Year-Old
• CV for a Part-Time Job
• Gardener CV Example
• Groundworker CV Example
• PhD CV Example
• Labourer CV Example
• Plumber CV Example
• Student CV Example
• Teaching Assistant CV Example
• Volunteering CV Example
• Waiter / Waitress CV Example
• Warehouse Operative CV Example

Haven't found what you're looking for? Check all our CV examples.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with LiveCareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.

Sources

• National Careers Service, Interview tips
• Oxford University Careers Service, Understanding the Job and Employment Market
• UMSL, Tips for Mastering Applicant Tracking Systems