Teacher CV: what schools actually read first

A head teacher scanning applications is answering one question first: can this person teach the subject, at the level, for the board we follow. Make that answer impossible to miss.

Subject, level and board in the headline

"Physics Teacher — HSC and A Level (Edexcel)" answers all three in six words. Compare it with "Experienced and passionate educator", which answers none.

If you have taught more than one board — National Curriculum, Cambridge, Edexcel, IB — list them. Board experience is not transferable in the way people assume, and schools screen on it.

Results, stated carefully

Exam outcomes are the strongest evidence a teacher has, and also the easiest to overstate. State them precisely and only where you owned the cohort:

• "Raised A grade attainment in HSC Physics from 34% to 51% across three cohorts."
• "Board pass rate maintained above 95% for four consecutive years."

If your contribution was partial, say so. A head of department will ask.

Curriculum and assessment work

This is what separates a teacher from a senior teacher. Anything you designed that outlived your own classroom belongs here: schemes of work, assessment frameworks, question banks, remedial programmes, anything adopted department-wide or school-wide.

The co-curricular record matters more than people think

Schools hire for the whole role. Debate teams, science clubs, olympiad coaching, sports, house systems, trips organised. If a team you coached placed in a competition, name it and the year.

Training and technology

Teacher training certification — NAEM, board-specific training, ICT in education — belongs in its own section with the provider and year. Since 2020 schools also screen for platform experience: name the learning management system rather than writing "digital teaching".

Class sizes and load

Concrete numbers make the scale of your work visible: how many sections, how many students, weekly teaching load, whether you also carried a form tutor or counselling role.

Layout

The Faculty template is a measured single column with teaching competencies, results and curriculum work given room. Schools rarely use automated screening, but a clean single column is easier for a human to scan too — and many international schools do filter.

Check the finished file with the ATS checker.