UK CV
UK CV Format vs US Resume: A Complete Comparison
How a UK CV differs from a US resume in practice — page length, the personal statement, education ordering, what British recruiters specifically look for, and the cues that signal "outsider" when you get them wrong.
If you're applying for a UK job — whether you're a UK candidate, a US candidate moving to London, or applying from anywhere else — you need to send a UK CV, not a US resume. The two documents look superficially similar but differ in length, structure, and several subtle conventions that British recruiters notice immediately.
This guide covers the practical differences in detail: what to add to your existing resume to turn it into a proper UK CV, what to remove, and the specific cues that signal you understand the British hiring norm. Includes a side-by-side comparison and a checklist for converting a US-format resume to UK format.
Page length: 2 pages is the UK standard
A UK CV runs to 2 pages by default, including for mid-career candidates. A 1-page CV in the UK reads as either junior or under-prepared; a 3+ page CV reads as padded unless you're applying for senior leadership or academic roles. Find the 2-page sweet spot.
Compare to US: 1 page is the default for under 10 years of experience, with 2 pages reserved for senior+. A US candidate sending a 1-page CV to a UK recruiter often looks light on substance even if the content is strong, because the British convention assumes 2 pages of context.
When converting a 1-page US resume to a 2-page UK CV, you don't just stretch the formatting — you add genuine content: a personal statement at the top, more detail in each role description (3-5 bullets per role becomes 5-7), an Education section that may include relevant modules and dissertation topics, possibly a brief "Languages" or "Other" section if relevant.
The personal statement: a uniquely British convention
A UK CV opens with a "personal statement" or "professional summary" — 3-5 lines (~50-80 words) summarising who you are, your years of experience, and what kind of role you're looking for. This is broadly equivalent to the US "summary" but is more universally expected on UK CVs than on US resumes.
Strong personal-statement examples (drawn from real anonymised CVs):
Mid-career marketing manager: "Marketing manager with 7 years' experience scaling B2B SaaS demand-gen programmes from £1M to £8M annual ARR. Specialise in paid acquisition, conversion-rate optimisation, and full-funnel marketing automation. Currently seeking a senior marketing role at a Series B-C SaaS company in London or hybrid."
Recent graduate: "First-class Computer Science graduate (Imperial College London) with strong foundations in distributed systems, machine learning, and cloud infrastructure. Author of three production-deployed personal projects and a contributor to two open-source libraries. Seeking a graduate software engineering role with a focus on backend systems."
Weak personal-statement patterns to avoid: vague hyperbole ("hardworking and passionate professional looking for a challenging opportunity"); the word "synergy" or "results-driven" used uncritically; statements that don't mention years of experience, target role, or substantive specialisations.
Education section: what UK recruiters actually scan for
UK recruiters at any seniority pay attention to the Education section more closely than US recruiters typically do. Specifically:
Universities are categorised — Oxbridge, Russell Group, "good post-92", and overseas equivalents. A First or 2:1 from a Russell Group university is a different signal from a 2:2 from a post-92 university for many graduate-scheme employers, even though both are valid Bachelor's degrees. List your university name plainly; don't hide the institution.
Degree class matters longer — UK candidates typically include their degree class (First, 2:1, 2:2, Third) for the first 5-10 years of their career, sometimes longer for very senior consulting / banking roles. US candidates almost always drop the GPA after 3 years.
A-levels for recent graduates — UK candidates typically include A-level results (and sometimes GCSE results) on a graduate or 1-2 year-out-of-university CV. By 5+ years post-graduation, drop them.
Module / course detail for recent graduates — list 4-6 final-year or honours modules relevant to the target role, sometimes with the dissertation title. By 3-4 years post-graduation, drop modules and dissertation entirely.
Senior candidates (10+ years) shrink Education to 1-2 lines and move it to the bottom of the CV, same as US convention.
Section ordering and naming
Standard UK CV section order:
1. Contact details (name, location, email, phone, LinkedIn)
2. Personal statement (~50-80 words)
3. Key skills (5-10 bullet points or a tag-style list)
4. Professional experience (most-recent first, 5-7 bullets per role)
5. Education (more detailed for under 5 years from graduation)
6. Optional: certifications, languages, voluntary work, hobbies
Section heading conventions: "CV" not "Resume" if labelled at all (most UK CVs aren't labelled — your name is the title); "Professional Experience" or "Career History" rather than just "Experience"; "Key Skills" rather than "Skills"; "Education and Qualifications" rather than just "Education" if you have professional certifications too.
Don't use the word "resume" anywhere on a UK CV — it reads as American import. Don't use the heading "Career Objective" on a UK CV — that's a US convention rarely seen on the UK side.
What to omit from a UK CV
Three things to leave OFF a UK CV that some candidates include:
Photo — UK CVs do NOT include a photo, with very rare exceptions for hospitality and modelling-adjacent roles. Including a photo on a tech, finance, marketing, or general-business UK CV reads as out-of-place and can trigger bias-protection concerns at large employers.
Date of birth, marital status, nationality — universally omit. Same reason as US: bias protections + space-waste. The exception is candidates explicitly applying for visa-sponsored roles where indicating UK work-eligibility status (e.g. "British citizen", "Indefinite Leave to Remain", "Skilled Worker visa holder eligible from MM/YYYY") is a useful and standard cue. Date of birth still omit.
Full home address — most UK CVs now show city + postcode area only ("London SW1") not full street address. Again partially privacy, partially space-waste.
"References available upon request" — every UK employer assumes this. Drop the line.
Converting a US resume to a UK CV: a checklist
If you have a polished US resume and need to convert it for UK applications, here's the practical step-by-step:
1. Add a personal statement at the top (50-80 words covering years of experience, specialisations, target role).
2. Expand the Experience section — increase bullets per role from 3-4 to 5-7. Add scope details (team size, budget, geography) that the US version may have trimmed for the 1-page constraint.
3. Re-rank Education — if you graduated within the last 5 years, expand the Education section with degree class, key modules, and dissertation if relevant. Drop GPA (UK uses degree class, not GPA).
4. Localise dates — write "March 2024 — Present" rather than "03/2024 — Present" to be unambiguous.
5. Localise spelling — "specialise" not "specialize", "organisation" not "organization", "behaviour" not "behavior". British recruiters notice American spelling immediately.
6. Remove the photo if your US version had one (it shouldn't, but some candidates from continental Europe carry it).
7. Pad to 2 pages — not by stretching formatting, but by adding genuine substance (case studies, quantified outcomes, the additional bullets from step 2).
8. Switch to a UK-conventional template — Classic, Minimal, or Modern from VitaeKit's 12 templates all read as UK-appropriate; Bold and Creative read as more US-startup.
Frequently asked questions
Is "CV" capitalised or lowercase?
Should I include a photo on my UK CV?
How long should a UK CV be?
Do I include my A-level results on a UK CV?
What's the difference between a UK CV and a "European Europass CV"?
Should I include hobbies and interests on a UK CV?
Related guides
Resume vs CV: which to send and when
The definitional difference between resume and CV across the US, UK, EU, and MENA — terminology, length, content depth.
Regional resume & CV formatting
Practical formatting differences across all major regions — the broader companion to this UK-specific guide.
How to write quantified bullet points
UK CVs run longer than US resumes — extra bullets need to land. The verb + noun + measurable outcome formula every reviewable bullet uses.
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