Teacher CV: What to Include and How to Write It

What to put on a teacher CV: licences, subjects and grade levels, curricula, honest classroom results, professional development and safeguarding training.

A teaching CV is read by people who know exactly what they need to see. They look for the subjects and age groups you have taught, the curriculum, the licence or professional status you hold, and what changed for your students. Schools also read it with safeguarding in mind, so vague dates and unexplained gaps stand out.

Below, we take each part in turn, suggest a layout and cover the teaching cover letter. The advice applies whether you teach a national curriculum or work in a British, American or IB school, in the Arab world or abroad.

First, check what the school asks for

Before you write, check how the school recruits. In England, statutory guidance tells schools and colleges not to accept a CV without an application form, since a CV alone does not tell them enough (Keeping children safe in education 2026). The government's Teaching Vacancies application form, for example, asks whether you have qualified teacher status (QTS) and when you gained it. For safeguarding reasons, it also asks you to explain any gaps in employment.

Even where a form is used, your CV is the master record you copy from, so keep the two consistent.

Put qualifications and licences near the top

List your degree and your teaching qualification under their official names, such as a PGCE, a B.Ed. or a postgraduate diploma in education, with the institution and the year. Then give your licence or professional status a short section of its own: the issuing body, the subject or phase it covers, and its dates.

What counts depends on where you teach:

• England: according to Get Into Teaching, most schools in England require QTS. Qualified teachers from outside the UK can teach in England for up to 4 years without it. UK ENIC's statement of comparability is the document that shows how your qualifications compare with the standard required in England.
• United Arab Emirates: the Ministry of Education announced in 2020 that, from the end of that year, anyone teaching in the UAE would need its professional licence to practise.
• Saudi Arabia: the professional licence exam for teaching jobs, run by the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC), has two parts: a general pedagogical test and a specialised test in your subject.
• Egypt: the Professional Academy for Teachers was set up by presidential decree in 2008 as an independent public body and runs continuing professional development for teachers and school staff. List its programmes and certificates where they apply to you.

Requirements change, so confirm the current rules with the relevant authority. A licence line can be this simple (an example format):

Teacher licence · Mathematics, secondary · [issuing authority] · valid [month year] to [month year]

If a qualification or licence is still in progress, say so and give the expected date. England's Teaching Vacancies advice tells new teachers the same: name your current course and when you expect to qualify.

Be precise about subjects, ages and curricula

Schools shortlist by fit. Teaching Vacancies notes that schools want to hear about your experience across subjects, age groups and kinds of school. So each teaching role on your CV should say what you taught, to whom, and under which curriculum:

Mathematics Teacher · [School name], [City] · British curriculum, KS3 to KS4 (IGCSE) · Sep 2021 – Present

Use the vocabulary of the curriculum you are applying to:

A few details worth getting right:

• British curriculum. England's national curriculum is organised into key stages:
  • KS1: Years 1 and 2 (ages 5 to 7)
  • KS2: Years 3 to 6 (ages 7 to 11)
  • KS3: Years 7 to 9 (ages 11 to 14)
  • KS4: Years 10 and 11 (ages 14 to 16), when most pupils take GCSEs or other national tests
• IB. The International Baccalaureate runs four programmes:
  • the Primary Years Programme for ages 3 to 12
  • the Middle Years Programme for ages 11 to 16
  • the Diploma Programme for ages 16 to 19
  • the Career-related Programme for ages 16 to 19

Only schools the IB has authorised, known as IB World Schools, can teach them, so name the programme you taught.

• American curriculum. Give grade levels and name any Advanced Placement courses. The College Board authorises schools through the AP Course Audit before a course can carry the "AP" designation. AP teachers write their own syllabi or use approved ones, so if you designed an AP syllabus, give it its own line.
• National curricula. Translate stage names and add the grades, for example "intermediate stage (Grades 7 to 9)" if that is how your system counts them.

Precision matters because schools in one city can follow very different systems. In the 2022–23 school year, private schools in Dubai offered 17 different curricula, according to data from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority released by the Government of Dubai Media Office.

Show classroom results honestly

Schools want evidence of impact, and they know results have many causes. In England, the Teachers' Standards expect teachers to use data to track progress, set targets and plan the next lessons. Teaching Vacancies advises showing, for each example you give, what it changed for pupils.

A result line is credible when it has context, a measure and a source:

1. Name the group and the measure: the class or year group, the subject and the assessment (a mock exam, an internal test, an external exam).
2. Give the starting point and the period, not only the final figure.
3. Say where the data comes from, for example "department data, 2024–25".
4. Share credit when a result came from a team effort.
5. Never identify pupils: no names, photos or details that point to a child.

Examples (replace the brackets with your own verified facts, or leave the line out):

• Introduced weekly retrieval quizzes for two Year 10 chemistry classes; the share of pupils at or above target in the spring mock rose from [X]% to [Y]% (department data, [year]).
• Co-wrote the Grade 7 reading scheme of work now used across the department.
• Started an after-school robotics club for [number] students and entered a team in [competition name].

Not every strength is a number. Lesson observation feedback, moderation, a resource your department adopted, pastoral roles and clubs are evidence too. Prospects notes that employers in education like to see the "added extras" you could bring to school life.

Professional development: recent, relevant, specific

The Teachers' Standards include a duty to improve your teaching through suitable professional development. On a CV, that means a focused list rather than every session you have attended:

• Put the most recent and most relevant first: curriculum training, assessment, special educational needs, language support, technology for learning.
• Give the title, the provider and the year, plus hours where they are meaningful.
• Add what you changed as a result, if you can: "applied in redesigning Year 9 assessments".
• Group short sessions: "Six online courses on formative assessment, [provider], 2024–25."

Curriculum-specific training carries weight. The College Board, for instance, strongly advises teachers to complete professional learning in their subject before they first teach an AP course.

Safeguarding and child protection

Make it easy for a school to see that you are safe to work with children:

• List your safeguarding training with dates. In England, statutory guidance says every member of staff should be trained in safeguarding and child protection when they start. That training should be refreshed regularly, with updates at least once a year. A line such as "Safeguarding and child protection training, [provider], [month year]" answers the question before it is asked.
• Account for every period. Teaching Vacancies explains that, for safeguarding, schools need your whole work history. That includes non-teaching jobs and time out for travel or caring.
• Prepare for overseas checks. Schools in England may ask applicants who have lived or worked abroad for a letter from the teacher regulator in each country where they worked. That is often the education ministry. The letter confirms whether it has placed any sanctions or restrictions on the applicant (KCSIE 2026). Get Into Teaching suggests preparing early: ask the teacher regulator in the country where you trained for a letter confirming your status as a teacher.
• Keep your public profile consistent. The same guidance says shortlisted candidates should be told that the school may search for them online as part of its checks.

Never include details of child-protection cases or anything that identifies a pupil.

A layout that works

1. Name, a headline such as "Primary Teacher · Early Years and KS1 · QTS", and contact details.
2. A three- or four-line profile; see our guide to CV summaries.
3. Qualifications, licences and professional status.
4. Teaching experience, most recent first: school, city, curriculum, subjects, grades or key stages, dates, and three to five bullets.
5. Education.
6. Professional development and certifications.
7. Safeguarding training.
8. Wider contributions: clubs, trips, pastoral roles, work with parents.
9. Languages and references. The Teaching Vacancies form, for example, asks for two referees, one of them your current or latest employer.

Keep it easy to scan. For most classroom teachers, two pages is plenty.

Write a cover letter for this school

Our cover letter guide covers the structure. For teaching posts, a few points matter most:

• Tailor it to the school. Teaching Vacancies suggests drawing on the school's website, for instance its ethos and values.
• Map examples to the job description. Take two or three essential criteria and give one short example for each, with its impact on pupils.
• Show curriculum knowledge: how you plan, teach and assess in the programme you would teach.
• Mention safeguarding as part of your everyday practice, briefly and factually.
• Write in your own voice. The same guidance notes that AI tools can help with ideas and structure, but schools want to hear you, so don't lean on them too much.

In England, the personal statement at the heart of the application form plays much the same role, so the same preparation serves both.

How Tabhar helps

Tabhar's CV builder shows the printed page as you edit. It has sections for experience, education, skills, languages, courses and certifications, achievements, volunteering and publications. There is also a custom section you can use for curricula taught or safeguarding training. You can switch templates without changing your content. You can write in English or Arabic, with correct right-to-left layout for Arabic, and export to PDF or Word on every plan, including Free.

On paid plans, AI writing help can improve, shorten or rewrite a bullet. Suggestions appear as before and after, and any number that isn't in your CV is flagged, so your results stay your own. On paid plans, AI can also draft cover letters from the job title, the school's name, the job description and your linked CV. The keyword-relevance check for cover letters is free. On Pro and Elite plans, interview practice builds questions from your CV and a job description. It then scores your typed answers on six dimensions, including STAR structure and specificity. See the pricing page for plans. The ATS checker is free and needs no sign-up.

Related reading

• How to write a cover letter
• Common interview questions and how to answer them with STAR
• Which skills to put on a CV, and how to prove them

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