ATS-Friendly CV Format for UK Employers (2026)

Around 75% of CVs are filtered out by an applicant tracking system before a human ever sees them. Here's how to write a CV that survives the UK's biggest ATS systems.

What is an ATS?

An applicant tracking system parses your CV into structured fields and scores it against the job advert. UK employers using ATS at scale include Reed, Totaljobs, CV-Library, NHS Jobs (TRAC) and Civil Service Jobs.

The 8 ATS-friendly CV rules

1. Use standard section headings (Personal Statement, Work Experience, Education).
2. Submit a .docx file unless the advert says PDF only.
3. Avoid tables, columns, text boxes and headers/footers, parsers misread them.
4. Use a standard font: Calibri, Arial or Georgia, 10–12pt.
5. Spell out acronyms the first time ("Key Performance Indicator (KPI)").
6. Include keywords from the job advert verbatim in your skills and experience sections.
7. Use a simple reverse-chronological format, skills-based CVs confuse most parsers.
8. Save the file with your name and the role: Jane-Smith-Marketing-Manager-CV.docx.

Don't trust generic ATS scoring tools

Most online ATS checkers are scoring against a generic ruleset, not the UK ATS your target employer actually uses. The most reliable check is to mirror the job advert's language in your CV and use a parser-safe layout.