Academic CV - a few questions

[lablife]

I have a few questions about my academic CV. For context I am a recent graduate applying to PhDs so don't have any publications or teaching experience my CV is focussed on my undergraduate and master's degrees. I don't expect any one of you to answer all of the questions I have written as I know there are a lot (!) but I would appreciate any advice you have to offer. :)

• I have a few assignments at university I got a high grade in, for example I have one I achieved 90% in which is relevant to the PhD I am applying for, can I dedicate a whole bullet point to briefly explaining what the assignment was (e.g. "Wrote a review of X as part of module Y which achieved 90%")? I will be including a list of all module grades as part of my application which is why I'm not sure if I should mention it, but it would be nice to draw attention to the fact that my highest grades were in assignments relevant to my area of interest.

• One of my points is about presentation skills, is it appropriate to again mention grades to back up my point ("gave presentations in a variety of formats including presenting X to Y which achieved 80%").

• I was told by my tutor in a casual conversation at graduation that I was top of my cohort but I don't have any proof of that, is it still appropriate to write that or should I just presume my tutor (who is one of my referees) will mention it in my reference?

• I changed degrees after my first year at university so I have a Certificate of Higher Education in a different subject. I will be including it otherwise I would have a gap in my education, but should I mention any skills developed during that? I got a first in all of the modules and did take some relevant modules that still help me to this day but I don't have a classification or transcript as it was only a Certificate of Higher Education.

• I graduated in November last year and it's been quite a difficult year due to COVID. I had planned on it being a productive year of travelling and getting some relevant research experience, however that has not happened and instead I have been working in a primary school's reception class (so completely unrelated to my course and career goals). Given that it's an academic CV usually I wouldn't include it as it's not relevant, but I feel I need to explain what I have been doing the last year? I am also applying for research jobs in the meantime.

Thank you!

That's a lot of questions, but I'll try to answer a few

• yes, include details of modules and grades.
• yes, include presentation skills
• don't include 'top of the class' if you don't have evidence. your tutor can write that in a reference
• do include your CHE and school job even if not directly relevant. Are there any skills from those that are relevant, even just 'people skills'?

And finally, one of the most important thing I look for in a PhD student is someone who has read some of my papers and has a clear idea of what they want to study. So do the background reading for the positions you are applying for.