Free school leaver cover letter template

For your first full-time job or a trainee role after GCSEs, A levels or college. A full example and what to mention in yours.

  • Free to copy
  • Matches your CV design
  • With your signature
Write yours free See the example
A school leaver cover letter in the Bristol design, with a made-up name and a typed signature

School leaver cover letter example

Ellie Dawson, Trainee Office Assistant, first full-time job · just finished A levels

Dear Mrs Pickering,

I saw your advert for a Trainee Office Assistant on your website, and I would like to apply. I finished my A levels this summer in Business, English Language and IT, and I am looking for a first full-time job where I can learn how a busy office runs and grow with the company.

For the last two years I have worked Saturdays at a garden centre, on the till and in the café. I take payments, answer the phone when the office is closed and help customers find what they need, often trade customers in a hurry. My manager now asks me to show new Saturday staff how to use the till.

At sixth form I was a student receptionist one afternoon a week, signing in visitors, taking messages and sorting the post. I am confident with Word, Excel and Outlook from my IT course, where my coursework project was a stock spreadsheet for a small shop. I also completed my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

You are a family-run business that talks about training its own staff, and that is a big part of why I am applying. I can start straight away and would be glad to come in for an interview at any time.

Yours sincerely,
Ellie Dawson

Or write yours from the job advert

What to mention in a school leaver cover letter

Keep it to one page. Pick what the advert stresses most, and give an example for each point.

Writing the CV too? See the school leaver CV template and our school leaver CV example.

Tips for yours

  • Write it yourself, in your own voice. Employers expect a school leaver to sound like a school leaver, not a manager.
  • Ask a teacher, a parent or someone you trust to read it before you send it, and check the employer’s name and the job title.
  • Emailing it? Put the job title and your name in the subject line, and attach your CV as a PDF.

  1. What you have just finished

    Your GCSEs, A levels, T levels or college course, with your grades, or your predicted grades if results day is still to come.

  2. What you are looking for

    A first full-time job, a trainee role or a job with training. Employers like to know you want to learn.

  3. Any experience at all

    Saturday or holiday jobs, work experience, volunteering, babysitting or helping in a family business, with what you actually did.

  4. A sign that people trust you

    Training new staff, handling cash, holding keys, or a school role such as prefect or peer mentor.

  5. Why this employer

    One line from their website or from what you know about them locally.

  6. When you can start

    Straight away, or the date you finish school or college.

School leaver cover letters: your questions

Do school leavers need a cover letter?

Not always, but it helps whenever you send a CV by email or the advert asks for one. A few short paragraphs about why you want the job and what you have done so far can make up for a short CV.

What do I write in a cover letter with no work experience?

Use school, college, clubs, sport, volunteering and anything you do to help at home or in your community. Say what you did and what it shows, for example being trusted with money at a school event. Our guide to your first CV with no experience has more ideas.

Should I mention my grades in the cover letter?

Briefly, if they help, for example English and maths, or a subject linked to the job. The full list belongs on your CV.

How should I sign off?

Yours sincerely if you started with the person’s name, Yours faithfully if you started with Dear Sir or Madam, or Kind regards in a short email.

Keep going

Cover letters for other jobs: Nurse Healthcare assistant Care worker Teacher Teaching assistant Retail Customer service Hospitality Administrator Receptionist Accountant Project manager Sales Marketing Software developer Electrician Warehouse Apprenticeship Part-time job Career change

Your turn. Write yours

Paste the job advert and make the draft your own. Download it in your CV’s design, with your signature.

Write yours freeSee the example