education history

Your education and qualifications are an important aspect of your CV. It can be especially important if you have had more educational experience than work experience. Where you decide to position this section on your CV will depend entirely on how important it is as a selling point. If you have had more work experience than education, then your educational achievements will probably appear below your work history. If however you are a recent graduate with excellent exam results, then this will probably appear towards the top of your CV. Your CV is about how best to sell yourself to an employer, so you can decide which aspects are more beneficial for showing what a great candidate you are.

Your education history does not need to take up much space on your CV. Unlike your work experience, where you will need to outline your job description, job title and other things, your educational achievements will just need a grade/ pass level and the subject this was obtained in. If you have carried on your education to a degree level or higher then you may wish to add extra detail on specific aspects of your course, such as the subject of your dissertation, a research project you completed or details of any industry experience/training that formed a part of your qualification.

Along with educational achievements, this section should also include any short courses, qualifications or awards you have obtained that may be relevant. You should put your educational achievements in reverse chronological order so that the most recent qualification is at the top of the list. Avoid wasting space listing all of your GCSEs, this information can be summarised in a short sentence as a way of making your CV less cluttered. You can always give more space to higher qualifications that may be more relevant to the job you are applying for.

Here is an example of what your educational history may look like:

Education History

2005-2009
University of Edinburgh
2:1 BA (Hons) English Literature

-Completed 8000 word dissertation: The impact of feminism on Nineteenth Century Literature.
-Studied a variety of literary periods including the medieval era through to contemporary fiction.
-Assisted the organisation of the drama society production of The Duchess of Malfi.

2003-2006
Joe Bloggs College of Arts, London

A-Levels in: Sociology (A),

English (A),

History (B)

AVCE ICT (C)

2001-2003
John Smith Secondary School, London

11 GCSE Grades A*-C including Maths, Science and English.

Additional Qualifications

June 09- Completed a Shorthand Course at Journalist Colleg