A one-page first CV with Profile, Education and Experience sections, tagged GCSEs, Volunteering and Netball, with a pencil and a 1 page sticker PROFILEEDUCATIONEXPERIENCE GCSEs Volunteering Netball 1 page

The short answer

A first CV is one page with five parts: your name and contact details, a short profile, your education, the things you've done (part-time work, volunteering, clubs, responsibilities at school or at home) and your skills. You don't need a job history. You need evidence that you're reliable, willing to learn and good with people, and school, hobbies and home life are full of it.

This guide is for anyone in the UK writing their very first CV, usually at 15 to 18: for a Saturday job, a part-time job, work experience, an apprenticeship or a college place. If you're finishing a degree, our graduate CV guide is a better fit.

What employers look for when you have no experience

When a shop, cafe or employer hires someone for their first job, they aren't comparing career histories. They know you haven't got one. They're trying to answer four simple questions:

  • Will you turn up? On time, every shift, without being chased.
  • Can you be trusted? With money, with customers, with keys, with younger children.
  • Will you get on with people? Customers, colleagues and the manager.
  • Will you learn quickly? And ask when you're not sure.

Every line on your first CV should help answer one of those questions. "Captain of the under-16s netball team" answers two of them (you turn up and people trust you). "I like going out with friends" answers none, so it doesn't earn its place.

What to put on your first CV, section by section

1. Your name and contact details

Put your name at the top in large text. You don't need the word "CV" as a heading: the employer knows what it is. Underneath, on one line, add:

  • Your town (your full address isn't needed)
  • Your mobile number, with a voicemail greeting you'd be happy for a manager to hear
  • A sensible email address, ideally your name. If yours is a nickname from Year 7, set up a new one

Leave off your age, date of birth, a photo, your National Insurance number, nationality and marital status. The National Careers Service advises against including age, date of birth, marital status or nationality, and employers will ask for anything they genuinely need (such as proof of your right to work) later on.

2. A short personal profile

Two or three sentences under your name that say who you are, what you're looking for, and one or two things that make you a good bet. A simple formula:

  • Who you are: "Year 11 student at Hillside Academy"
  • Proof you're reliable or good with people: "who has run the school tuck shop for a year"
  • What you want and when you're free: "looking for a Saturday job in retail, available every weekend and school holiday"

Write it for the job you're applying for, not for "any job". For more ways to phrase it, see our personal statement examples, which include versions for school leavers and students.

3. Education

With no work history, education goes near the top. Include your school or college, the years you've been there, and your qualifications with grades:

  • GCSEs: list them with grades, English and Maths first. If you've taken nine or ten, you can summarise: "9 GCSEs at grades 9 to 5, including English Language (7) and Maths (6)".
  • Predicted grades are fine if your exams haven't happened yet. Label them clearly: "(predicted, exams June 2027)". Never present predicted grades as results.
  • In Scotland, list National 4s and 5s (and Highers if you have them). In Wales, include the Welsh Baccalaureate or Skills Challenge Certificate if you took it.
  • At college or sixth form, add your current course: A levels, a BTEC, a T Level (a two-year technical course with an industry placement) or another vocational course.

You can also add one or two achievements from school if they're relevant: a subject prize, a 100% attendance award, a Sports Leaders qualification, a first aid certificate or a Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

4. Experience (yes, you have some)

Call this section "Experience" or "Experience and responsibilities". It's for anything where someone trusted you to do something and you did it. All of these count:

  • Work experience placements (Year 10 or sixth form)
  • Babysitting, pet sitting, dog walking or a paper round
  • Helping in a family business or on a market stall
  • Volunteering: a charity shop, food bank, sports club, church, mosque or gurdwara, a community event
  • School roles: prefect, school council, peer mentor, reading buddy, helping at open evenings
  • Scouts, Guides, Cadets, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award
  • Coaching or helping run a junior team
  • Caring for a family member
  • Selling things online, running a social media account, making something people use

Write each one with a heading line (what you did, where, when) and two or three short bullet points that start with a doing word: served, organised, looked after, counted, helped, trained, sorted. Compare these:

Weak: "I did work experience at a vet's."

Stronger: "Work experience, Oakbridge Veterinary Surgery, Leeds (one week, June 2026). Greeted pet owners and booked them in at reception. Cleaned and restocked consultation rooms between appointments. Helped the nurses feed and settle animals recovering after operations."

The second version is longer but every part of it tells the employer you can be trusted with people, routines and responsibility. That's the whole job of this section.

5. Skills

List five to eight skills that matter for the job, and make sure each one is backed up somewhere else on the CV. Good first-CV skills are specific: "handling cash and giving change", "Spanish (GCSE level)", "Google Docs and Sheets", "first aid (St John Ambulance course, 2026)", "making hot drinks and using a coffee machine". Vague words like "hard-working" and "team player" aren't wrong, but they mean more when your experience section already shows them. Pick the ones the job advert mentions first.

6. Interests (optional)

Interests are more useful on a first CV than on any other, because they're often your best evidence. Keep it to one or two lines and be specific: "Play netball for a local club and train twice a week" says more than "sport". Our guide to hobbies and interests on a CV has examples.

7. References

You don't need to list anyone's contact details. Line up one or two people who'll say good things about you (a teacher, tutor, coach or volunteering supervisor) and ask them first. See references on a CV for who to ask and what to say.

A full first CV example

Here's how those sections fit together for Ellie, a fictional Year 11 student in Leeds applying for a Saturday job in a high street shop. Her name, school and details are made up, but the content is typical of what a 16-year-old can genuinely put down.

ELLIE CARTER
Leeds | 07700 900482 | ellie.carter@example.com

Profile
Friendly and reliable Year 11 student looking for a Saturday job in retail. I've helped run the school tuck shop for a year, serving queues and handling cash, and I volunteer every Sunday in a charity shop. Available every Saturday and during school holidays.

Education
Hillside Academy, Leeds | 2022 to present
GCSEs (predicted, exams June 2027): English Language 6, Maths 5, Combined Science 6-6, History 7, Spanish 5, Food Preparation and Nutrition 6, Art 7

Experience
Volunteer, Hope Street charity shop, Leeds | March 2026 to present
- Sort, price and display donated stock for three hours every Sunday
- Serve customers at the till and keep the shop floor tidy
- Trusted to help open up with the manager after two months

Tuck shop assistant, Hillside Academy | September 2025 to present
- Serve up to 60 students during a 15-minute break, working with one other volunteer
- Count the float and takings at the end of each day and record them for the teacher in charge

Babysitting for two local families | 2025 to present
- Look after children aged 4 and 7 on weekday evenings, including tea and bedtime

Skills
Handling cash and giving change | Customer service | Working calmly at busy times | Spanish (GCSE level) | Google Docs and Sheets

Interests
Netball: play for the school team and a local club, training twice a week. Baking: ran a cake stall at the school Christmas fair that raised £140 for charity.

References
Available on request.

Notice what Ellie's CV does well. Her profile names the exact job and her availability. Her experience shows cash handling, customers and trust. Her interests back up "reliable" and "good with people" with real detail. And it fits on one page.

Staying on for A levels and aiming for an apprenticeship or a first full-time job? The school leaver CV example shows a fuller version with A levels, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and a work experience placement.

What if your experience section is empty?

If you genuinely can't think of anything, start with a longer education section (subjects you enjoy, a project you're proud of, any responsibilities in class) and a strong interests section. Then give yourself something to add in the next few weeks:

  • Ask a local charity shop if they take volunteers. Many will take students for a few hours a week.
  • Offer to help at a school event: open evenings, sports day, a fundraiser or a show.
  • Help a neighbour with gardening, dog walking or shopping, regularly. Regular is the key word.
  • Start the Duke of Edinburgh's Award if your school or a local group runs it. Volunteering and skills are built into it.
  • Do a short free course online in something useful for the job, such as basic first aid awareness or a typing course.

Even four weeks of volunteering gives you a heading line and two or three bullet points, and it gives you something to talk about in an interview.

Common first CV mistakes

  • Going over one page. Two half-empty pages look worse than one full page. Cut repetition and tighten spacing.
  • Copying the template text. Employers have read "I am a hard-working individual who works well alone and as part of a team" many times, and it tells them nothing about you.
  • Listing hobbies with no detail. "Football, music, friends, gaming" tells them nothing about you.
  • Presenting predicted grades as results. Always label them. Employers do check certificates for some roles.
  • Sending the same CV to a shop, a nursery and a garage. Change the profile and reorder your experience so the most relevant thing comes first.
  • Spelling mistakes and the wrong company name. Read it out loud, then ask someone else to read it too.
  • A photo or selfie. Not expected on a UK CV, and it can lead to unfair judgements.

How to send your CV, or hand it in

Online: save it as a PDF and name the file properly, for example Ellie-Carter-CV.pdf. If you're emailing it, write a short message in the email itself:

Subject: Saturday Sales Assistant - Ellie Carter

Dear Ms Patel,

I'd like to apply for the Saturday Sales Assistant job advertised in your window. I'm a Year 11 student at Hillside Academy and I've been helping run our school tuck shop for a year, so I'm used to busy queues and handling cash. I'm free every Saturday and in the school holidays. My CV is attached.

Thank you for considering my application.

Kind regards,
Ellie Carter
07700 900482

In person: print a few copies on plain white paper. Go in at a quiet time (mid-morning on a weekday, not the lunchtime rush), dress neatly, and ask if you can leave your CV for the manager. If the manager is there, introduce yourself and say what you're looking for in one sentence. If you've heard nothing after a week, pop back or phone to check it reached them.

For the part-time job route in more detail, including availability and examples for cafes and supermarkets, see our part-time job CV guide for students. If you're aiming for an apprenticeship, read how to write an apprenticeship CV.

Make your first CV in about 10 minutes

If you'd rather be guided than start from a blank page, Mojo's My first CV builder asks you a few easy questions (what the CV is for, your school, things you've done, what you're good at) and turns your answers into a proper one-page CV with a profile written for you. It works on your phone, and making, saving and downloading your CV is free with a free account. It never asks for your age or a photo.

Already written one? Check your CV free: add the job you're applying for and in about 30 seconds you'll get a CV Score out of 100 and the fixes to make first.

First CV checklist

  • Fits on one page, with your name at the top (not the word "CV")
  • Town, mobile and a sensible email address; no age, date of birth, photo or full address
  • A two or three sentence profile that names the job you want and when you're available
  • Education with grades, and predicted grades clearly labelled
  • At least two experience entries with bullet points that start with doing words
  • Five to eight specific skills, each backed up elsewhere on the CV
  • Interests with detail, or left out
  • Saved as a PDF called Firstname-Lastname-CV.pdf
  • Read out loud and checked by someone else for spelling
  • Referees asked before you apply