How to List Education on Your CV in 2025: Tips and Examples

Recruiters tend to scan the education section on CV quickly. Therefore, knowing how to list education on your CV is crucial to stand out. 

If the section doesn’t grab recruiters’ attention right away, your qualifications might get overlooked, even if you’re the perfect fit for the role. Also, education on CV can carry significant weight in the final decision, especially if you’re dealing with high competition.

In this article, we will teach you how to write about education in CV, what details to include, and what common mistakes to avoid for maximum effect.

Why Should You List Education on a CV?

You should list education on a CV because some jobs require their employees to hold specific degrees and won’t hire candidates without them. Even when that’s not the case, education can give your application a boost, especially when you lack relevant professional experience.

In general, education isn’t considered the most important section in a CV; according to the paper written by Wright et al. of Cornell University, work experience takes precedence. Most recruiters are primarily interested in whether your previous roles have prepared you for the position you’re applying for rather than in your degrees.

Even so, the CV education section can carry significant weight in the final decision, especially when there are several equally qualified candidates. In addition to that, you should consider the following factors:

How to Format the Education Section in Your CV

You should format the education section in your CV in the following way:

Or, in other words, it should look like the example below:

In most cases, this is sufficient, but you can always elaborate further in bullet points under each entry if you believe extra information can improve your chances. This is also where you can include your honours, outstanding achievements, and relevant courses.

As a rule, you should put two of your most recent degrees on your CV; for example, a master’s and a bachelor’s. They should be listed in reverse chronological order, starting from your most recent and, therefore, most relevant degree.

If you’re still a student or don’t have a master’s degree, you should include your GCSEs and A-Levels in the same format shown above.

For A-Levels, it’s advisable to emphasise the subjects you’ve taken along with the final grades (if they are B and higher). You don’t have to do the same for GCSEs, though, unless you want to highlight a particularly impressive grade in a relevant subject.

Also, don’t include primary school on your CV; it’s completely irrelevant to your employment and will only take up space. Recruiters like to be able to find crucial information with just a skim, so they aren’t too fond of filler.

How to List Unfinished or Ongoing Education

You can list unfinished or ongoing education in exactly the same way as completed degrees, except that you have to indicate it isn’t done. That’s pretty simple to do; simply write “Present” instead of the end date in the entry.

So, this is what that should look like:

Alternatively, you can include the expected date of graduation, like so:

This doesn’t apply to partially completed degrees that you don’t plan on finishing, though. In such cases, you should indicate the years of attendance and specify how much of the coursework you’ve completed.

So, that might look like this:

Where to List Education on Your CV

Where you decide to list education on your CV will depend on your career level, qualifications, and professional background. Some candidates may need to highlight their education due to a lack of experience, while others should prioritise job-related entries.

In the following section, we will examine the CV layout of three different types of candidates: students and recent graduates, experienced professionals, and career changers.

#1. Students/Recent Graduates

In student CVs, education plays a particularly important role because it compensates for the lack of work experience. Students and recent graduates are at the beginning of their careers, so they typically have only limited experience in part-time jobs, internships, and volunteering, if any.

As a result, their CVs’ primary focus should be education, which should be placed above the work experience section and directly underneath the personal statement. This section should be more detailed than for other types of applications, encompassing grades and honours, relevant courses, and most significant achievements.

Here’s a simple example:

#2. Experienced Professionals

Experienced professionals can put less emphasis on their education, as they have work experience to highlight instead. As a rule, recruiters consider this section more relevant, especially if the candidate has an extensive background in the field for which they are applying.

Therefore, professionals are encouraged to place education underneath the work experience section. They may even put the skills section first, depending on what they want to highlight.

Furthermore, there’s no need to include as many details as students do in their education sections. The name of the institution, degree type, and period of attendance are enough; further elaborations are generally unnecessary, as you’ll discuss your significant achievements in the work experience section.

#3. Career Changers

For career changers, the skills section is the most important because it draws attention away from the fact that they may lack relevant work experience and qualifications. So, it should be placed first, right beneath the personal statement, and then followed by the other two.

In this case, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to list education on your CV before your work experience or after. If education entries are more relevant to the position you’re applying for, feel free to include them first; otherwise, place them lower in the document.

As for the section’s content, you can only briefly mention the basic information, or you can add more details if you can think of something relevant. For instance, if you’ve done projects that demonstrate your transferable skills (i.e., leadership) during your studies, make sure to mention them under the appropriate entry.

How to List Professional Training and Certifications

You can list professional training and certifications in a few ways, but the most common one is the following:

As you can see, it’s enough to include the name of the certification or training, the entity that provided it, and the year you obtained it. However, you can provide additional clarification when listing certifications on a CV if you believe the names alone aren’t transparent enough.

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Listing Your Education

Common mistakes to avoid when listing your education include the following:

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If you still need help writing the education section, use our CV builder to create the entire professional application within minutes. Simply enter the required information, follow the instructions, and choose your desired CV format and design. You’ll be ready to submit the document to your potential employer in no time.

And if you want to write your application by yourself, take some inspiration from our CV examples. We offer a large selection for various industries, roles, and career levels, so you are sure to find an option that suits you.

Final Thoughts

Education is a standard component of any CV format, so you need to know how to include it in the most effective way. Hopefully, our article has shed some light on this, so that your next application captures recruiters’ attention and secures you an interview invitation.

How to List Education on Your CV FAQ

#1. Should I put education or work experience first on a CV?

Whether you should put education or work experience first on a CV depends on your career level and professional background. For instance, if you’ve been employed in the field for a while, you should prioritise your work experience, as this tends to be more relevant. However, if you’re a recent graduate or a student, highlight your education to draw attention away from your lack of experience.

#2. Should I put 2.2 on my CV?

You can put 2.2 on your CV, but you don’t have to, as is the case with other UK university honours. Typically, candidates include only 2.1 degrees and higher, since these tend to make a difference. For 2.2, you can decide on your own, unless the employer specifies in the job advertisement that honours must be included.

#3. Should I include predicted grades on my CV?

You should include predicted grades on your CV if you’re still studying, but make sure to let the employers know they aren’t final. Also, prepare to back up these predictions with concrete reasoning and evidence, especially if you are invited to an interview.

#4. Do I need to include GCSEs and A-Levels?

You should include GCSEs and A-Levels, unless you have several degrees of tertiary education to add to your CV. Generally speaking, master’s and bachelor’s degrees are more relevant to employers, so listing them is sufficient in most cases. However, if you’re a student and don’t have two tertiary degrees to include, secondary school achievements can fill in the gaps.

#5. How do I list unfinished degrees on my CV?

You list unfinished degrees on your CV the same way you’d list any other degree, but indicate that you’re in the process of completing them. An easy way to do this is to include the expected graduation date or simply put “Present” instead of the month and year of graduating.