Teacher CV Keywords: What UK Schools and Trusts Look For

Here's something that surprises people moving into teaching: many UK schools won't ask for your CV at all. They'll send you their own application form, or a local authority one, and the CV you spent a weekend polishing never gets read.

Academy trusts and supply agencies often do want a CV, though, and more trusts now run applications through online recruitment systems that search and filter by keyword. Either way, the same words matter. A headteacher shortlisting 40 applications scans for the same things a system would: your status, your phase and subject, safeguarding, and evidence that pupils make progress in your classroom.

This guide covers the keywords that count, grouped by what they prove, and how to turn each one into evidence a shortlister will believe.

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CV or application form: know which you're writing

Before you think about keywords, check exactly what the advert asks for. Sending a CV when a school wants its own form is one of the quickest ways to be left off a shortlist.

• Maintained schools and local authorities usually use a standard application form with a supporting statement.
• Academy trusts vary. Some use a trust-wide form, others an online portal, and some accept a CV with a covering letter.
• Supply and recruitment agencies almost always want a CV, and their consultants search their databases by keyword.
• Independent schools often ask for a CV and letter, sometimes alongside a form.

The keywords below work in all of these. On a CV they go in your profile, experience and skills sections; on a form they go into your supporting statement and employment history.

Key Takeaway: Follow the application format the school asks for exactly, then put the right keywords wherever that format lets you.

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Status and qualifications

Put these near the top, in the exact terms schools use:

• QTS (Qualified Teacher Status), with the year awarded, and your teacher reference number (TRN) if the form asks for it
• ECT (Early Career Teacher) and which year of induction you're in. ECT replaced "NQT" in England in 2021 and induction now lasts two years, so use the current term
• PGCE, School Direct, SCITT or Teach First route, with your phase and subject specialism
• Enhanced DBS, and whether you're on the Update Service
• Additional qualifications, such as the NASENCO award for SENCOs or an NPQ (National Professional Qualification) for leadership

A line like this in your profile does a lot of work in very few words: "QTS (2023), second-year ECT, secondary science with a physics specialism, enhanced DBS on the Update Service." A shortlister knows within seconds whether you fit.

Key Takeaway: Your status, phase, subject and DBS belong in the first few lines, written in current terminology.

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Keywords by what they prove

Every keyword on a teaching application should answer a question the school is already asking. Grouping them this way stops you listing jargon for the sake of it.

What the school wants to know	Keywords to use (where true)
Can you teach well?	adaptive teaching, differentiation, assessment for learning, scaffolding, modelling, retrieval practice, questioning
Do pupils make progress?	pupil progress, attainment, data tracking, intervention, target setting, GCSE or SATs outcomes
Can you manage a class?	behaviour management, behaviour policy, positive relationships, routines, restorative approaches
Do you know the curriculum?	National Curriculum, schemes of work, curriculum planning, exam specifications (AQA, Edexcel, OCR), Key Stage
Can you support every pupil?	SEND, EHCP, EAL, pupil premium, disadvantaged pupils, inclusion
Are pupils safe with you?	safeguarding, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), child protection training, Prevent
Are you a good colleague?	CPD, mentoring, collaborative planning, form tutor, pastoral, parental engagement, extra-curricular

Adaptive teaching is worth a note. The Department for Education's current frameworks use "adaptive teaching" rather than "differentiation", so using the newer term shows you're up to date. It does no harm to include both where it reads naturally, because some job adverts still use the older word.

The quickest way to know which terms a particular school cares about is to read its advert and person specification closely. CVPilot's keyword extractor pulls the key terms out of a job description, so you can check your application covers them.

Key Takeaway: A keyword in a list proves you know the word. The same keyword in a sentence about your classroom proves you do the thing.

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Turning keywords into evidence

This is where most teaching applications fall short. They describe duties rather than impact, which reads the same for every candidate. Compare these pairs:

Teaching and progress

Weak: Responsible for teaching Year 9 English.

Stronger: Planned and taught a Year 9 English scheme of work on persuasive writing, using modelling and retrieval practice, with most of the class meeting or exceeding their end-of-year targets.

SEND

Weak: Experience with SEND pupils.

Stronger: Adapted lessons for six pupils with EHCPs, working with the SENCO and two teaching assistants to set and review targets each half term.

Behaviour

Weak: Good behaviour management.

Stronger: Applied the school's behaviour policy consistently with a challenging Year 10 group, reducing on-call referrals over the spring term.

Wider contribution

Weak: Helped with extra-curricular activities.

Stronger: Set up and ran a weekly Key Stage 3 debating club, which entered a regional competition in its first year.

Use real numbers where you have them. If you don't, specific detail does most of the same job: year group, subject, strategy and outcome.

Key Takeaway: For every duty on your application, add the strategy you used and what changed for pupils as a result.

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Keywords by role

The core list applies to everyone, but each role has its own vocabulary that shortlisters look for.

Primary teacher

EYFS, phonics (name the validated scheme you use, such as Little Wandle or Read Write Inc.), early reading, KS1 and KS2 SATs, multiplication tables check, cross-curricular planning, subject leadership.

Secondary teacher

Subject specialism, KS3, GCSE, A level, exam specification, coursework or NEA, moderation, Progress 8, departmental responsibilities.

SEND and inclusion roles

SENCO, EHCP, annual reviews, provision mapping, graduated approach, access arrangements, multi-agency working.

Middle leaders

Head of department, subject lead, curriculum intent, line management, quality assurance, lesson observations, department development plan, budget.

Teaching assistant

Small group intervention, 1:1 support, phonics groups, behaviour support, SEND, supporting the class teacher, and HLTA status if you have it.

For a fuller list, our teacher keywords page breaks the terms down further.

Key Takeaway: Match your vocabulary to the specific role, and name schemes, specifications and frameworks rather than describing them vaguely.

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Application forms and supporting statements

If the school uses an application form, the keywords go into your supporting statement. Most schools ask you to address the person specification, so do exactly that.

Take each criterion in order and give a short, specific example for it. Shortlisters often tick off the criteria one by one, so make each one easy to find. Using the criterion's own wording as a short heading or opening phrase helps.

Safer recruitment checks

Keep your employment history complete and explain any gaps. Schools are expected to check this for safeguarding reasons under Keeping Children Safe in Education, so gaps will be asked about. A single line such as "career break to care for a family member" is enough.

KCSIE also asks schools to consider an online search on shortlisted candidates. Make sure your public social media matches the professional you describe in your application.

Key Takeaway: Answer the person specification point by point, and leave no unexplained gaps in your history.

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Getting past the online filters

If a trust or agency uses an online system, a clean layout matters as much as the words. Text boxes, columns and graphics can scramble when the system reads your CV, and keywords inside them may be missed.

• Use standard headings: Profile, Teaching Experience, Qualifications, Training
• Write acronyms in full at least once, for example "Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)"
• Save as the file type requested, usually Word or PDF

Before you apply, paste your CV and the advert into CVPilot's free ATS checker to see which terms from that job you're missing and whether your formatting reads cleanly.

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Quick checklist

• QTS, ECT status or route, phase and subject at the top
• Enhanced DBS mentioned
• Safeguarding training listed, with KCSIE named
• Current terms used (ECT, adaptive teaching)
• Every keyword backed by a classroom example
• Person specification addressed point by point
• No unexplained gaps in employment history

Ready to optimise your CV? Try CVPilot free and see your ATS score in under 60 seconds.