How to write the education section of a CV
List each qualification newest first with its name, institution, place and dates. Add a grade or honours only when they help, mark an unfinished degree as expected or by credits, and drop school results once you hold a degree.1
Written 13 October 2026. CitedCV. How we write our guides
Copy the facts from your transcript before you write a line
Open your degree certificate or official transcript and copy four things exactly: the award's name (BSc, BA, MEng, Associate of Science), the subject, the institution with its city, and the start and end dates. Then note the grade in the form the document gives it, whether that is a 3.42 on a 4.0 scale, a 2:1 or a Turkish 3,10/4,00. Writing from memory is how a minor becomes a major or a predicted grade turns into a final one.
The minimum every entry carries
- The qualification's name, the school, college or university, and the dates you attended: the three items the National Careers Service lists for any education entry.
- Location and the minor as well, with the graduation date as month and year: Carnegie Mellon's career centre adds these for US resumes.
- A grade, honours, modules, a dissertation or a final-year project only where they help with this particular job.
Order and depth: what one entry should hold at each stage
Where the whole section sits on the page (above or below experience) is covered on the guide to writing a resume. Inside the section the rule is the same everywhere: newest first. Harvard lists information under each heading in reverse chronological order, and Carnegie Mellon says to list schools from most recent to least recent if you attended more than one.
How much detail a degree line needs
De Montfort University's careers guide suggests giving some detail of the course when it is relevant to the work: subject areas, a selection of modules, the title of a dissertation or project, and the expected or actual result. It adds that CVs for technical, scientific or academic posts are expected to give a more detailed breakdown. Edinburgh Napier asks students to include modules, dissertations, skills or projects that match the job description or person specification.
| Your stage | What the entry holds | What to cut |
|---|---|---|
| Still studying | Degree, subject, university, city, start date and expected end date; grade so far if it helps; two to four relevant modules; a project or dissertation title | School results, unless the posting asks for them |
| Graduated in the last two or three years | Degree, final grade or class, dates; one line on a dissertation or project if it fits the role | Coursework the job does not use |
| Five or more years of work | One line per degree: award, subject, institution, year | Grade, modules, school |
| Technical, scientific or academic post | More detail than usual, as De Montfort notes: methods, project, thesis title | Nothing relevant; length is expected here |
GPA, degree class and honours: show, explain or leave out
A US grade point average
Carnegie Mellon says that if your GPA is 3.0 or above it is a good idea to include it. The University of Northern Iowa uses the same 3.0 line but makes an exception: students in mathematical or financial fields such as accounting and actuarial science should list their GPA even when it is below 3.0. The University of Iowa's guide for education students asks for the scale next to the number, as in 3.2/4.0. MIT tells first-year students to write 'GPA: N/A' until they have an official GPA, because the first semester is graded pass or no record.
A UK degree classification
Edinburgh Napier says graduates typically include their degree classification, such as a 2.1. De Montfort's sample CVs show students writing 'Predicted 2:1' or 'Expected 2:1' beside the degree. Prospects warns that altering a degree grade from a 2:2 to a 2:1 counts as degree fraud. That warning has teeth: HEDD, the UK verification service run by Jisc, lets employers check a graduate's place of study, award, grade and dates of attendance with the graduate's consent.
Honours, dean's list and scholarships
Carnegie Mellon counts the Dean's List, scholarships, publications, exhibits, grants and special awards as honours, listed newest first with the month and year received. Northern Iowa treats academic honours and study abroad as optional extras inside the education section. The University of Iowa's education guide keeps honours in the education entry when there are three or fewer and moves them to a separate section when there are more.
A grade from another country
Write the grade in its own scale with the maximum beside it (3,10/4,00 or 82/100) rather than converting it yourself. If an official body has compared your degree, the guide on foreign degree recognition shows how to add that one phrase; the guide on Turkish grades in Germany covers the Bavarian formula.
Unfinished, in progress or paused: honest wording
Still studying
Give the expected end date: Edinburgh Napier asks for the expected completion date, and Northern Iowa for the expected graduation date. 'Expected June 2027' tells a reader exactly where you stand; a bare '2023 to 2027' can be read as a finished degree.
Left before finishing
The career offices disagree here. Purdue's Online Writing Lab says to list the dates you attended and any credits you earned, with the sample line 'Ivy Tech Community College, Lafayette, IN, August 24, 2006 - May 9, 2008, 18 credits in Industrial Technology – Welding'. The University of Iowa's education guide says not to list a school if you did not finish a degree there.
Our reading of the two: include the study when the coursework matters for the job or when leaving it out would open an unexplained gap, and write it so nobody can mistake it for a degree: subject, years, credits or modules completed, no award name. If the gap itself needs a line, the page on employment gaps covers that.
High school, A-levels and GCSEs: when they drop off
- Northern Iowa: do not list high school, and list a community college only if you earned a degree there.
- University of Iowa: relevant high school experience is acceptable for freshmen and sophomores.
- Harvard's resume template, written for undergraduates, leaves room for high school information under Education.
- Edinburgh Napier: include school qualifications if you recently finished school; most graduate applications do not need them unless the job description lists them.
When a UK posting asks for GCSE English and Maths, a single summary line answers it. De Montfort's samples write '8 GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and Mathematics' rather than listing every subject. If school is your highest qualification, the high school student CV page shows a full first CV.
Six worked education entries
Each entry belongs to an invented person. Copy the pattern, never the details.
| Situation | The entry as written | Why it is written this way |
|---|---|---|
| US senior, strong GPA | B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN | Expected May 2027 | GPA 3.6/4.0 | Dean's List, fall 2025 and spring 2026 | Expected date, GPA above 3.0 with its scale, honours with their terms |
| UK final-year student | BSc (Hons) Computer Science, University of Leeds, 09/2023 to 06/2026 (expected) | Predicted 2:1 | Dissertation: scheduling clinic appointments with constraint solvers | Modules: Databases, Algorithms | Predicted class labelled as predicted; one dissertation line, two modules that match the job |
| Left a degree after two years | Business Administration (no degree awarded), Anadolu University, Eskişehir, 2019 to 2021 | 120 ECTS completed, including Financial Accounting and Statistics | No award name, credits stated, modules chosen for a finance job |
| Two degrees | MSc Data Science, University of Amsterdam, 2024 to 2025 | BSc Mathematics, Hacettepe University, Ankara, 2019 to 2023 | Newest first; the older degree drops to one line |
| Twelve years of work | BA Economics, University of Manchester, 2012 | One line: no grade, modules or school at this stage |
| Grade from a 100-point scale | Lisans (BSc) Civil Engineering, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, 2018 to 2022 | GPA 78/100 | Original scale kept with its maximum, nothing converted |
Every name, grade and title above is invented for illustration. Any line you write must match your own transcript; a 'predicted' or 'expected' label stays until the result is final.
Sources, read on 13 October 2026
- Carnegie Mellon University Career and Professional Development Center, Resume essentials (PDF): education entry contents, the 3.0 GPA line, honours, order.
- University of Northern Iowa Career Services, Resume basics (PDF): high school, expected graduation date, GPA rule and its exception for math and finance.
- University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center, Education resume guide: unfinished degrees, GPA scale, honours placement.
- Purdue Online Writing Lab, Résumé sections part 2: credits earned on an unfinished programme, with the sample line quoted above.
- Edinburgh Napier University, CVs and cover letter guide; De Montfort University, Careers success toolkit (PDF): UK degree class, predicted grades, modules, school results.
- Prospects, How to write a CV (posted May 2025): degree fraud warning; HEDD home page: what employers can verify.
Where this page stops
- Academic CVs for PhD, postdoc or faculty applications, where thesis, publications and grants take whole sections.
- Converting a Turkish or other grade into another country's scale: see the grades guide and the degree recognition guide.
- Certificates, online courses and licences: they have their own page, linked below.
- A CV with school as the only education: see the high school student CV page.
Next steps
Write the entries from the transcript, decide on grade and honours with the rules above, then read the section against the posting: if it asks for a degree subject or a minimum grade, that line should be easy to find.
CitedCV's form keeps each education entry as degree, field, institution, location, start and end dates, GPA and up to six notes, and writes the section only from what you enter and confirm. It does not check a transcript, so the grade it prints is the one you typed.
Questions people ask
Should I put my GPA on my resume?
Yes if it is 3.0 or higher, according to Carnegie Mellon and Northern Iowa; write it with its scale, such as 3.4/4.0. Northern Iowa tells accounting and actuarial students to list it even below 3.0.
How do I list an unfinished degree on my resume?
List the subject, institution and years attended, plus the credits or key modules you completed, with no degree name. Purdue OWL gives this format; some offices, such as the University of Iowa, say to leave it off.
How do I write expected graduation on a resume?
Write 'Expected' and the month and year, for example 'Expected May 2027', next to the degree. Edinburgh Napier and Northern Iowa both ask for the expected date.
Should I put high school on my resume if I am in college?
Usually not after your second year. Northern Iowa says not to list high school; the University of Iowa accepts relevant high school experience for freshmen and sophomores.
Should I put my predicted grade on my CV?
Yes, if it helps, labelled clearly as predicted, as in De Montfort's sample 'Predicted 2:1'. Change it to the final class as soon as you have it.
Where do honours go in the education section?
Inside the education entry when you have a few, as Northern Iowa allows; in a separate Honours section when there are more than three, as the University of Iowa's guide suggests.
Should I list GCSEs on my CV after university?
Only if the posting asks for them, and then as one summary line such as '8 GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and Mathematics', the form De Montfort's samples use.
Can employers check my degree grade?
Yes, in the UK through HEDD, which lets employers verify the award, grade and dates of attendance with your consent. Write the grade exactly as awarded.
Sources
- Carnegie Mellon University Career and Professional Development Center, Resume essentials (PDF)www.cmu.edu/career/documents/quick-tips/resume.pdf
- University of Northern Iowa Career Services, Resume basics (PDF)careerservices.uni.edu/sites/default/files/docs/resume_basics.pdf
- University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center, Education resume guidecareers.uiowa.edu/education-resume-guide
- Purdue Online Writing Lab, Résumé sections part 2owl.purdue.edu/owl/job_search_writing/skilled_labor_job_search_resources/resumes/resume_sections_part_2.html
- Edinburgh Napier University, CVs and cover letter guidemy.napier.ac.uk/careers-support/cvs-applications-and-interviews/cvs-and-cover-letters/cvs-and-cover-letter-guide
- De Montfort University, Careers success toolkit: CV preparation and examples (PDF)www.dmu.ac.uk/documents/study-documents/undergraduate-study-documents/employability-and-careers/cv-writting.pdf
- Prospects, How to write a CVwww.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/how-to-write-a-cv
- HEDD, Higher Education Degree Datacheckhedd.ac.uk/
- Harvard College Mignone Center for Career Success, Create a strong resumecareerservices.fas.harvard.edu/resources/create-a-strong-resume/
- MIT Career Advising & Professional Development, Resumescapd.mit.edu/resources/resumes/
- National Careers Service, CV sectionsnationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections