Use this teacher resume example to see how to present experience, skills, and measurable results. Adapt the structure, add your details, and download a PDF in ResumeQuill.
Secondary English teacher with 6 years in state schools. Raised average GCSE English scores from grade 4.2 to 5.8 across two cohorts. Experienced in differentiation, SEN support, and curriculum design. QTS holder.
EXPERIENCE
English Teacher (Head of KS4) — Oakfield Academy2020–present
Raised average GCSE English Language grade from 4.2 to 5.8 across 2 cohorts (92 students)
Designed and delivered new KS4 creative writing curriculum adopted across the English department
Lead Year 11 form tutor: 94% attendance maintained for form group
Mentored 2 NQTs through induction year; both rated "Good" in Ofsted lesson observations
English Teacher — Riverside Secondary School2018–2020
Taught English Language and Literature to Years 7–11
Introduced reading enrichment programme increasing library engagement by 40%
Supported 12 students with EHCPs through adapted lesson materials and LSA coordination
BA English Literature · 2017
PGCE Secondary English · 2018
Resume summary examples
The summary is the first thing a recruiter reads. Pick the version that matches your experience and swap in your own numbers.
Entry level
Newly qualified teacher with a full year of placement across two schools, teaching 5 classes of 28 to 32 students. Raised average attainment in a low-performing set by one grade over two terms and ran the department's revision club.
Mid level
Qualified teacher with 6 years in secondary education, teaching 6 classes a week and leading the key stage curriculum for the subject. Took pass rates from 68% to 89% over three cohorts and rewrote the scheme of work now used by the whole department.
Senior level
Head of department with 12 years' teaching and 5 years leading a team of 7. Moved the subject from below to above the school average across three years, mentored 4 trainees to qualified status and rebuilt assessment so intervention starts in week three rather than after mocks.
How to write a teacher resume
Quantify student outcomes wherever you can
Teaching resumes often stay vague — "improved student attainment", "raised achievement". Specific numbers change the impact completely. Grade improvements across a cohort, attendance percentages, exam results, reading age gains — all of these are measurable and memorable. If you have data from assessments or reports, use it.
Show curriculum ownership, not just delivery
There's a difference between "delivered the curriculum" and "designed and delivered a new KS4 curriculum adopted across the department." The latter signals leadership and initiative. Mention any schemes of work you created, programmes you introduced, or cross-department contributions you made.
Qualifications belong near the top
QTS, PGCE, and current DBS clearance are non-negotiable for UK teaching roles. Put them in a dedicated Qualifications section immediately after your profile — before your experience. Hiring managers check these first.
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Ready-made resume bullet points
Copy a line, replace the numbers with yours and keep the verb at the front — that is what makes an achievement readable.
Raised pass rates from 68% to 89% across three cohorts of 120+ students
Moved a bottom set from an average of grade 3 to grade 5 in two terms by restructuring the sequence around prior gaps
Rewrote the scheme of work for the full key stage, now used by 7 teachers across the department
Cut persistent absence in a tutor group of 30 from 14% to 5% through weekly contact with families
Led the department's marking and feedback policy, reducing teacher marking time by 4 hours a week without lowering feedback quality
Mentored 4 trainee teachers through qualification, all of whom secured posts before completing
Ran an after-school intervention for 22 borderline students, 19 of whom achieved their target grade
Introduced low-stakes weekly retrieval, raising end-of-unit scores by an average of 11 percentage points
Managed behaviour for a class flagged as the most challenging in the year group, with referrals down 60% in a term
Coordinated a subject trip for 90 students across two year groups, including risk assessment and staffing
Key skills for a teacher resume
Hard skills
Curriculum planning: schemes of work, sequencing, differentiation
Assessment: formative and summative, data analysis, target setting
Safeguarding and pastoral care, including family contact and referrals
Soft skills
Holding a room of thirty teenagers without raising your voice
Telling a parent something they do not want to hear, and keeping them on side
Adapting a lesson in real time when it becomes clear nobody has understood
Taking observation feedback as information rather than as judgement
Keywords for ATS
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against the wording of the posting. Use the terms you genuinely know.
teaching
curriculum planning
lesson planning
assessment for learning
differentiation
classroom management
behaviour management
student outcomes
attainment
safeguarding
pastoral care
special educational needs
formative assessment
data tracking
intervention
parents' evenings
subject leadership
mentoring
exam preparation
education technology
Qualifications and checks to put up front
Schools check qualification, subject, age range and safeguarding before reading anything else. Put all four where they are found in the first few seconds — the title line or the section directly under it.
Teaching qualification with awarding institution and year
Subject specialism and age range you are qualified to teach
Degree with subject and classification
Safeguarding training with the date of the most recent update
Background or criminal record check status
First aid or paediatric first aid with expiry
Exam board training or examiner experience
Subject-specific or SEN courses with years
Never leave safeguarding training undated, and never imply a qualification for an age range you are not registered for. If a check is in progress rather than complete, say so with the date it was applied for — schools deal with that constantly and it reads as organised.
The numbers a teaching resume can carry
Teaching produces more measurable outcomes than most resumes show. These four turn "planned and delivered lessons" into something a head of department can size up.
Attainment and progress
Pass rates, average grades, progress against target — always with the cohort size and the period. "68% to 89% across three cohorts of 120" places you; "improved results" does not.
Teaching load and range
Classes per week, class sizes, year groups and whether you taught outside your specialism. This is how a timetabler reads whether you fit the vacancy.
Attendance and behaviour
Persistent absence in your tutor group, referrals, exclusions avoided. Schools hire for this as hard as for results, and almost nobody puts numbers on it.
Leadership beyond your classroom
Trainees mentored, teachers using a scheme of work you wrote, clubs and trips run, staff you led. It shows range without claiming a title you do not hold.
What the interview day will involve
Almost every teaching interview includes the same four elements, and each one maps to a claim on your resume. Prepare them with the outcomes you wrote down.
A taught lesson, usually 20 to 30 minutes with a class you have never met. They are watching your routines and your response when something goes wrong, not your slides.
"Tell us about a student you turned around." Have one with the starting point, what you tried, what failed, and where they ended. Vague answers here undo a strong lesson.
A safeguarding scenario. The expected answer is process, not judgement: what you record, who you tell, and how quickly. Never say you would handle it yourself.
"How do you use assessment to change what you teach next?" This separates teachers who mark from teachers who adapt, and it is the question most often answered badly.
What to write in each section
Profile
Three lines: qualification, subject and age range; the setting you teach in; and one measurable outcome — attainment, progress, attendance. Subject and phase go in the first line, because that is the filter every school applies before reading further.
Experience
Per school, give the type of setting, the year groups and the number of classes before the bullets. Then outcomes with cohort sizes, plus what you led beyond your own classroom: a scheme of work, an intervention, a trainee you mentored. Say if you taught outside your specialism — schools value it and it is often a requirement.
Skills
Separate curriculum, assessment, behaviour and additional needs. Keep safeguarding on the list with the year of your most recent training; for schools it is a compliance item as much as a skill.
Education
Teaching qualification first with the year and the awarding institution, then degree and subject, then continuing professional development. Add safeguarding training with its date and any subject-specific courses — a recent course in your subject signals current practice more than an old degree does.
Strong verbs for this resume
Start every achievement with a verb in the past tense. These are the ones that fit this role and read as work, not as a job description.
Taught
Planned
Assessed
Differentiated
Raised
Mentored
Intervened
Coordinated
Adapted
Tracked
Led
Supported
Key tips
Exam results and grade improvements with cohort size
QTS, PGCE, and DBS clearance prominently placed
Mention SEN/EHCP experience if applicable
Any curriculum design, form tutor, or department leadership roles
CPD and relevant training in a separate section
Mistakes that cost interviews
Lessons described, outcomes missing
"Planned and delivered engaging lessons to mixed-ability classes" is the job. What a head teacher reads for is what changed: attainment, progress against target, attendance, behaviour referrals. Give the before and after, and the size of the group.
No cohort size behind the numbers
"Improved results by 20%" could be a class of 8 or a year group of 200. Always attach the number of students and the period: three cohorts of 120 is a different claim from one small set, and the difference is what places your experience.
Qualification and subject buried
Schools filter on the qualification, the subject and the age range before anything else. If a recruiter cannot see all three in the top third of page one, the resume does not survive the first pass, however good the rest is.
Pastoral and behaviour work left out
Many resumes cover only academic delivery, but schools hire heavily on behaviour and pastoral capability. Tutor group work, attendance improvement, safeguarding involvement and family contact all belong on the resume — their absence is read as inexperience.
No experience yet?
Newly qualified, your placements are your experience. Write them like posts: the school type, the year groups, the number of classes, and what actually happened — attainment in a set you taught, an intervention you ran, a display or club you set up. Add your qualification with the awarding institution and date, current safeguarding training, and the age range you are qualified for. Include any tutoring, coaching or youth work with the numbers, because managing a group and tracking progress is the same skill a school is hiring for.
Three or four sentences are enough: why this role, what you have already done, what you want next.
Dear Head Teacher, I am applying for the teaching post in your department. I have six years in secondary education, currently teaching six classes and leading the key stage curriculum for my subject. Over three cohorts of 120 students pass rates moved from 68% to 89%, largely by restructuring the sequence to close prior gaps before they compound. Your advert mentions rebuilding assessment — I rewrote our marking policy, which cut teacher marking time by four hours a week without reducing feedback quality. My safeguarding training is current and my resume sets out the year groups and outcomes for each post.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, including supply and short-term placements — they show range and commitment. Note the subject, year groups, and any notable contributions.
Focus on placement results, modules you led, and any measurable student outcomes from your training year. Include your PGCE subject and institution prominently.
Yes — clubs, sports, trips, and enrichment activities signal commitment beyond the classroom and are valued by school leadership.
State it in one line with dates and the reason — parental leave, caring responsibilities, travel — and move on; schools see breaks constantly, and an unexplained gap worries them far more than an explained one. If you kept your DBS current, took supply work, or completed CPD during the break, say so, because it shows you stayed close to the classroom.
Yes, if they are recent and strong — consistently rated Good or Outstanding in lesson observations is concrete evidence a panel can verify at reference stage. Only cite your school's overall Ofsted grade when you contributed directly, for example if your department's results were singled out in the report.
Lead with what transfers: behaviour routines, assessment, curriculum sequencing, family communication. Then name the gap honestly and what you have done about it — observations in the new phase, a course, a term of cover. Schools move teachers between phases regularly; what stalls an application is pretending there is no difference.
Group them: "Supply teaching across 6 secondary schools, Sep 2022 – Jul 2023" with the phases and subjects covered, then detail the two longest placements. A list of fourteen separate entries reads as instability; one grouped line with the range reads as breadth.
State the dates and what you did, then the return: refresher training, safeguarding updated, supply or cover work completed. Returning to teaching is common and schools have routes for it. An unexplained gap alongside an expired safeguarding certificate is what causes the hesitation.
How else this resume is searched for
Job titles differ between companies. If the posting uses one of these names, mirror its exact wording in your resume headline.
Secondary school teacher
Primary school teacher
Subject teacher
Head of department
Teaching assistant
Supply teacher
Tutor
SEN teacher
Templates that suit this role
Any of these layouts keeps the sections above in the order a recruiter expects and exports to a clean PDF.
Every sample is written from real job postings for the role, not from a template: the sections, the wording and the order follow what employers actually ask for.
Achievements are phrased the way applicant tracking systems parse them — a verb, a result, a number — and the layout is checked to export cleanly to PDF.
The page is reviewed and updated when hiring practice for the role changes; the date above the example is the last review, not the publication date.
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