CV - Education

[Underpr3ssure]

I do not have a degree, but have professional qualifications. I left school 30 years ago! This is the first CV I have had to prepare for 20 years. I've googled for answers but I'm struggling to find a definitive answer.

Can I completely ignore my A-levels and GCSEs as they don't have any relevance to my work (now I'm in my late forties)?

Obviously I will include my professional qualifications but would you expect to see a mention of my education?

Thank you

I just put “O Levels in…” & listed them and did the same with my A Levels. I made a “skills based CV” and it worked!

I’ve left my school qualifications off my CV for years. Only relevant in the first five years of working at most

I’ve sifted through about 50 CVs this weekend and I’d say only about 10% included A Level and/or GCSE!

Personally I only really want to see a degree or recent qualifications that are relevant for this role, but it might be different for others. I prefer to see experience, not job hopping every 3-6 months etc!

Thank you everyone. Very helpful. I'll think I'll leave the school stuff off. @MrsPinkCock (what a name!) I have got a lot of experience, so I'll concentrate on that instead.

I would say it depends on the job and person specification
for example, if the person spec says it is essential to have GCSE maths and English at C or above then you will have to show you have that qualification. I generally put a simple line along the lines of 10 GCSE’s including English and Maths at grade B-C as that covers all my GCSE’s rather than listing them individually.

If you are applying for a job that very specifically asks for qualifications from further back, put them in. Otherwise don't.

It's highly unlikely that I got my MA without my BA, my BA without my A-levels, or my A-levels without my GCSEs. All potential employers would know that my MA means that I am 99% certainly capable of the other qualifications, therefore they only need to know about my MA.

If they specifically asked for "English GCSE" say, I would put it in, because they could guess I probably have it, they have asked because they want to know. If you don't it frankly looks like you are either hiding something or can't read the form! They might well just discount forms that don't mention it.

I just put:

• 10 GCSEs, including English and Maths, 3 A-levels

I couldn't have done my degree and other qualifications without having English and Maths, but I have been specifically asked about those - when i was in my 40s. Some recruiters have their methods, I suppose.