How to write a CV for students

What to include on a student CV

A strong student CV usually fits on one page and leads with education, because that is your most relevant and recent achievement. Around it, you add the experiences that show skills — even if they did not come from a formal job.

• Contact details — name, email, phone, city, and links to LinkedIn or GitHub.
• Personal summary — two or three lines on who you are and what you're looking for.
• Education — your degree, expected grade, relevant modules and academic highlights.
• Projects — coursework and personal projects described by outcome and skills.
• Experience — part-time work, internships, volunteering and society roles.
• Skills — tools, technologies and languages relevant to the role.

How to structure and order your CV

Order sections by relevance, not by date alone. For most students that means: summary, education, projects, experience, then skills. If you're applying for something technical, projects can move above education-detail so your practical skills are seen first.

Keep formatting simple and consistent. One clean font, clear headings, and plenty of white space beat a heavily designed layout that confuses both readers and screening software.

Write achievement-focused bullet points

Start each bullet with an action verb and, where you can, include a number or result. “Built a weather app in Python used by 30 classmates” says far more than “did a Python project.”

Tailor it to each application

Mirror the language of the job description. If a role asks for teamwork and data analysis, make sure those words appear naturally in your projects and experience.