Graduate CV templates (UK)Six layouts for a first CV that has to look deliberate.
These graduate CV templates are built for a short history: education near the top, part-time work and projects given room, and a layout that looks intentional on one page rather than stretched across two.
All 57 CV templates- layout families
- 9layout families
- render-tested templates
- 57render-tested templates
- output formats
- 2output formats
- shared record
- 1shared record
6 of 57 · sample: Sarah Mitchell
6 of 57 templates · sample candidate: Sarah Mitchell, Senior Marketing Manager
What a graduate CV format needs
A graduate CV format is reverse-chronological like any other, but the order of sections changes. With little paid experience behind you, your degree, grade or expected grade, relevant modules and dissertation carry the first half of page one. Work experience, placements, societies and volunteering follow. Part-time and casual jobs count: list them with dates and one line on what you actually did.
Length follows content. One page is normal for a school leaver or a graduate with a single placement; two pages are fine with a year in industry and real projects to describe. Our guide on how long a CV should be covers what to cut first, and the UK CV formatting guide covers fonts, margins and dates.
The graduate CV templates in the library
Clapham and Wimbledon are classic single-column layouts, the safest choice for graduate schemes that ask you to upload a CV into an online form. Greenwich uses a timeline, which suits a CV built around a degree, a placement and a part-time role, because the dates do the organising. Fulham adds a coloured banner header for a little more presence, and Lewisham is compact for a graduate with more to fit than usual.
Putney puts skills in a left-hand sidebar. Two-column layouts read well to a person, so keep that one for a CV you hand over at a careers fair or send to someone you have already spoken to. Every preview is a real render of the same sample candidate, so you are comparing layouts on identical content. See the whole set on the CV templates page.
A graduate CV template in Word, without retyping
These are not blank files to download and fill in. You upload the CV you already have, as PDF or Word, and get it back in the template you pick, exported as a PDF and an editable Word document. The PDF is the exact layout; the Word file is a close approximation you can keep editing.
Your first conversion is free, with no card, every stock template and all four AI modes. If you are applying to several schemes and want a fresh version as you go, Personal Pro is £5 a month for ten conversions.
A small, governable design system.
Organisation defaults flow into a strict template definition the renderer can reproduce safely — the same definition drives the preview and both exports.
- Layout
- Classic, sidebar, banner, timeline, minimal, executive, compact or curved
- Type
- Renderer-supported heading and body font pairs
- Brand
- Primary, accent, text and muted colour tokens
- Structure
- Visible sections, labels, order, dividers and density
- Logo
- Approved placement and bounded physical size
- Output
- The same definition drives preview, PDF and DOCX
Build it from controlled choices, then reuse it across the desk.
Custom templates are included from Starter upward and are managed by organisation owners.
CV templates, answered.
Your first conversion is free, with every template and all four AI modes included.
Try one with your CVWhat is the best graduate CV format in the UK?
Reverse-chronological, with education first: degree, grade or expected grade, relevant modules and your dissertation, then work experience, placements and activities. Keep it to one or two sides of A4 in a single column, and leave off your photo and date of birth.
Is there a truly free CV template?
Microsoft Word's built-in templates are free to download and fill in yourself. Ours work the other way round: you upload your existing CV and get it back in the layout. The first conversion is free with no card, and you receive both Word and PDF.
Should a graduate CV be one page?
Only if one page holds everything relevant without shrinking the type. A graduate with a placement year, projects and a part-time job usually needs two pages, and that is normal in the UK.
Should a CV include a photo?
Not for UK applications, unless the role is in acting or modelling. Employers often remove photos before shortlisting, and the space is better used for evidence. Our templates have no photo slot; an optional initials monogram is available instead.
Can I use a graduate CV template for a graduate scheme application?
Yes. Choose a single-column template such as Clapham or Wimbledon, because application systems read the text in order. You can test any CV by copying its text into a plain editor and checking it reads top to bottom, as described in our ATS-friendly CV template guide.