CourseToJob guide · content date . Tool instructions reflect the CourseToJob service. Editorial method.
Quick answer
Lead with education, then projects, then part-time or volunteering. One page is enough for most students. Skip unpaid “internships” you invented. Skip this page if you already have two relevant placements — use the graduate guide and a two-page layout instead.
Other situations: Not for postgraduate research CVs that must list papers. Not for US undergrad resumes that expect a one-page campus format with GPA conventions this UK-first guide does not use.
What order should a student CV use?
Contact, a four-line profile aimed at the job or scheme, education, selected projects, then work or volunteering. Skills can sit after education. Experience-first layouts waste the only strong block you have — the degree. Keep it to one page unless a placement block needs two.
Example page: student CV example. Template: Compact.
How do you write project bullets with no job?
Treat a project like a job: action, method, result. Name the tool, the size of the dataset or audience, and what you shipped. “Worked on a group project” is a duty. “Built a Python scraper for 3,000 rows and presented findings to a 12-person seminar” is evidence.
Societies, sport captaincies and caring responsibilities follow the same rule: scope plus outcome, not membership.
Do part-time jobs belong on a student CV?
Yes when they show reliability, cash handling, shifts, or customer load. Two or three bullets beat a duty dump. Skip them only when you already have two relevant internships and the page is full. Hospitality is not a stain; unexplained empty years are.
Hospitality examples: waiter, barista, retail assistant.
What should students leave off?
Photos, full address, every GCSE grade, “references on request”, and hobbies with no proof. Skip unpaid titles you gave yourself. Skip a two-page CV of padding. The National Careers Service CV-section guidance (checked 13 August 2026) still applies: write for a job type, not for your entire life.
Next step after graduation: graduate CV tips.
What belongs on a one-page student CV, in order?
Contact, a four-line target profile, education with a few relevant modules, two or three projects or societies with scope, then part-time work. Skills can follow education. Leave photos, full address, every GCSE grade and “references on request” off. If that still overflows, you are listing memberships instead of roles.
| Block | Keep | Cut |
|---|---|---|
| Education | Degree, dates, predicted/achieved class, 3–6 modules that map | Every seminar title; primary school |
| Projects | Tool, size, what you shipped | “Worked in a group” |
| Part-time | Shifts, till, stock, customer load | Duty lists copied from the job spec |
| Interests | One line if it proves a skill the advert names | Generic “socialising and travel” |
Example: student CV example. Layout: Compact.
How should you show predicted grades and ongoing courses?
Write “Predicted 2:1” (or your real prediction) until results land, then replace it the same week. Do not round a predicted 2:2 up. Ongoing modules belong as “current” with no fake classification. If you failed a year, do not invent a seamless date range — month-and-year honesty is enough until someone asks.
After you have a degree and a placement, switch to the graduate CV shape. Two pages is then normal for schemes that asked for two.