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CV & Careers · CourseToJob

Graduate scheme CV versus the application form

When the graduate scheme form outranks the CV, what to put on each, and when to skip a builder. Desk-researched August 2026.

CourseToJob guide · content date . Tool instructions reflect the CourseToJob service. Editorial method.

Quick answer

Fill the scheme form like it is the job. Keep the CV a one- or two-page twin of the same facts. Skip duplicating 800 words into both. Skip this page if you are applying for an experienced-hire role with no form — use the flagship CV guide.

Other situations: Skip for academic CVs, for schemes that forbid a CV upload, and for conversion courses that are not graduate schemes. If the portal says “do not attach a CV”, do not attach a CV.

What goes on the form versus the CV?

Form: motivation, strengths, situational questions, equalities, eligibility. CV: education with predicted or actual grade, placements, jobs, two or three projects with scope. Do not hide a 2:2 in the PDF while the form tells the truth. They will meet.

ArtefactJobFailure
Application formAnswer the question they typedPasting a CV into a 150-word box
CV uploadDates and proofs at a glanceInfographic, photo, contradicting dates
Video / SJTSeparate stageReading the CV on camera

Graduate tips that are not form-specific: graduate CV tips.

How should education sit when the form already has UCAS data?

Still list institution, degree, class or predicted class, and two relevant modules or a dissertation. Skip every GCSE once you have A-levels and a degree in progress, unless the scheme asked for English and Maths grades. The form may ask GCSEs again — answer there.

Predicted grades must be the prediction you would defend with a tutor. Inflating a predicted 2:1 is a later integrity problem. Student page: student CV.

Which projects survive a scheme sift?

Ones with a user, a constraint, and a result. Society treasurer with a real budget beats “member of six societies”. A dissertation method beats a list of module codes. If the scheme is technical, name the tools you used, not the tools you watched a YouTube video about.

Example shape: “Built a booking tool for a 40-person society; 200 sign-ups; Python and a spreadsheet; I owned the data, not a teammate’s GitHub.” That line belongs on both form and CV.

Example page: graduate CV example.

Should you use a builder for a scheme CV?

Yes if Word tables are wrecking the paste test. No if you already have a clean one-pager and the form is the work. A builder will not write your motivation answer. Skip paid AI mills that invent placement metrics.

Load a demo in our builder only to learn the layout, then delete it. Duplicate a master per scheme. CV builder. Pay question: should you pay.

What happens to the CV after you press submit?

Often little, until a centre or a hiring manager opens a pack. Some schemes barely use it. That is not permission to upload a joke file. Dates that disagree with the form are a trust problem. Keep one source of truth.

If you get a centre invite, reprint the same PDF you uploaded. Do not “improve” numbers overnight.

Default method: how to write a CV.

Should you rush a builder the night before the deadline?

No. The form answers are the work. A builder at 23:40 produces placeholders and a missed equalities box. If layout is already clean, stop. If it is not, use Classic, paste, export, sleep. A late perfect PDF does not reopen a closed campaign.

Duplicate the master after you submit so you remember what you sent. Dashboard duplicate exists for that. Dashboard.

Related tools and reading

Frequently asked questions

If the form has all my jobs, why upload a CV?

Because some schemes still open the PDF in an assessment centre pack. Keep it consistent with the form. If they forbid an upload, obey. A second novel that contradicts dates is worse than no file.

Should the CV be one page for a scheme?

One page if the evidence fits. Two if you have a placement, a real job, and a project that the form already uses. Do not 8pt a two-page life onto one sheet to look keen. Scheme recruiters have seen that trick.

Can I use the same CV for every scheme?

You can reuse a master. You must retarget the profile and the top three bullets to that scheme’s strengths. A mail-merge “passionate about your values” line is a reject. Duplicate the file per scheme.

Do I include a photo because the scheme has an assessment centre?

No. Centres that need a face will take one there or use a separate ID process. A photo on the CV adds bias and does not help a sift. The exception is not “I want them to remember me”. Skip it.