UK CV and cover letter: the format for international applicants

Quick take: a UK CV is usually two pages of A4 with no photo, no date of birth, no marital status and no nationality. Start with a short profile, list jobs newest first with results rather than duties, and state your right to work (or that you need sponsorship) in one plain line. The cover letter is one page, written to the job advert, not a second copy of the CV.

Most UK CV guides are written for people who grew up with the UK format. If you learned to write a CV in Lagos, Delhi, Karachi or Nairobi, the bigger job is knowing what to remove. A CV that follows a good format from home can look outdated or unprofessional to a UK recruiter, before they read a word about your experience.

What to take out

The National Careers Service says a UK CV should not include your age, date of birth, marital status or nationality (National Careers Service: CV sections, checked 7 October 2026). Employers are not allowed to treat candidates differently because of most of these, so recruiters do not want to see them.

The section order

1. Name and contact details. Phone with country code, a professional email, your town or city (not your full address) and a LinkedIn link if it is up to date.
2. Profile. Three or four lines on who you are, what you are good at and what you want next.
3. Work experience. Newest first: job title, employer, town and country, month and year from and to.
4. Education. Degree, university, country, grade and year. Put this above work experience if you graduated in the last year or two.
5. Skills. Software, languages (with a level, for example "English: IELTS 7.5"), certifications.

A profile that works:

Chartered accountant with six years in audit at a mid-sized Lagos firm, leading teams of up to five on clients in manufacturing and banking. Moved to the UK in 2026 on a Graduate visa after an MSc in Finance at the University of Leeds. Looking for an audit senior role where IFRS experience across two regulators is useful.

Results, not duties

UK recruiters skim. A bullet that lists a duty tells them what the job was; a bullet with a result tells them what you did with it.

Name your employers' context in a few words when a UK reader will not know it: "Access Bank (one of Nigeria's largest commercial banks)". Write out local terms: "SS2 (students aged about 16)" or "NYSC (Nigeria's one-year national service)".

Grades from other countries are fine as they are. If an employer asks how your degree compares to a UK one, UK ENIC issues a paid Statement of Comparability (UK ENIC).

Right to work: say it once, plainly

UK employers have to check that you can work here before you start, so leaving it out does not help. Put one line under your contact details or at the end of the profile:

• "Right to work: Graduate visa, valid until July 2028."
• "Right to work: British citizen."
• "I will need Skilled Worker visa sponsorship."

Do not add your passport number, visa reference or share code. You give the share code to the employer when they do the check. If you need sponsorship, apply to employers who hold a sponsor licence and to jobs that meet the salary and skill rules; the English part of that visa is covered in IELTS for a UK work visa.

The cover letter

One page, three or four short paragraphs, written for this job. Use the recruiter's name if the advert gives it.

Dear Ms Clarke,

I am applying for the Audit Senior role advertised on your website. I have six years of audit experience, most recently leading engagement teams for banking clients, and I recently completed an MSc in Finance at the University of Leeds.

Your advert asks for experience of IFRS 9 and of supervising junior staff. At my last firm I led the IFRS 9 transition work for two commercial banks, and I supervised and reviewed the work of up to five associates on each audit.

I hold a Graduate visa valid until July 2028 and can start with one month's notice. I would welcome the chance to discuss the role.

Yours sincerely,

Chidi Okeke

Paragraph one: the job and who you are, in two sentences. Paragraph two (and three if needed): take two or three things the advert asks for and give one piece of evidence for each. Last paragraph: right to work, start date, and a short close.

Many applications now go through online forms with a "supporting statement" box. Write it the same way: follow the order of the person specification and give evidence for each point.

Language and tone

• Neutral, not over-formal. "I am applying for" rather than "I humbly wish to apply". The formal vs informal English guide has the phrases that read as old-fashioned in the UK.
• UK spelling. Organise, programme, colour, travelled. Set your spell checker to English (UK). The commonly confused words guide lists the UK and US differences.
• Past tense for past jobs, present tense for your current one, and no "I" at the start of every bullet.

Before you send it

• Two pages or fewer, in a clear font at size 11 or above, saved as a PDF unless the employer asks for Word.
• No photo, date of birth, marital status or nationality.
• Every job has a title, employer, place and dates; every gap over six months has a short reason.
• The profile and cover letter use words from this job's advert.
• A right-to-work line.

Where IELTS fits: a UK CV does not need a test score, but a work visa often does, and some employers in health and teaching ask for one. If you are preparing for IELTS General Training, the letter checker marks your Task 1 letters, and the same neutral tone is what a cover letter needs.