Your CV is only one part of an actuarial application, but it is often the first document a recruiter or actuary uses to understand what you have done.
The aim is simple: make your education, experience, technical skills and evidence easy to find, and give the reader enough substance to want to move you to the next stage.
Who reads your CV?
A person, skimming. Graduate recruiters may be working through a large number of applications, so the important information needs to be easy to find quickly. UK graduate employers received around 140 applications per vacancy in the ISE's 2025 survey. At an actuarial consultancy that usually means a small early-careers team plus qualified actuaries from the department.
How much the CV carries varies by employer. WTW's form is light (personal details, a CV upload and eligibility questions), so whatever earns you a test invitation is on the CV itself, and each office is a separate application. LCP's form adds written competency questions and allows one department per cycle. Barnett Waddingham takes the CV and eligibility answers first, then sends one link with mathematical questions, job-fit questions and recorded video questions.
One strong CV covers the whole cycle, with a line or two changed where a role differs. What changes between employers is the form around it, so know what each form asks you to write separately.
Check the eligibility questions carefully
Eligibility questions are the checks you answer before a human opens the file: right to work, degree classification, willingness to work in the advertised location, and any maths requirement. Some eligibility questions can automatically prevent an application from progressing, so answer them carefully and against the wording of the advert.
Two ways to trip.
Guessing the academic bar. The standard published bar is a 2:1 in a numerate subject, or a 2:1 in any subject plus A-level Maths at grade A or B, and firms vary from it in both directions. In the 2026 cycle LCP asked for a 2:1, with some departments also wanting an A in an A-level STEM subject; Lloyd's of London a 2:1 in a numerate degree; Hymans Robertson published no minimum grades and recruits on potential from any university and any subject. Read the advert rather than assuming a house standard. Then state your grades plainly on the CV, A-levels included: several entry rules run on the A-level Maths grade, and a missing grade reads as a hidden one.
Sponsorship. If you need visa sponsorship, check the policy for the specific employer and programme before applying. Sponsorship varies between firms and can also vary between programmes within the same firm. Use the Acttuary visa sponsorship tracker and the current GOV.UK rules rather than relying on an old salary threshold in a CV article.
How should you list exams and exemptions?
A short factual block near the top, with current codes and dates. The person reading is often a qualified or part-qualified actuary, so a wrong subject code is visible in a second.
| Your position | How to write it |
|---|---|
| No exams yet | Leave it out. UK graduate schemes do not normally expect exam passes before you apply: you are hired first, and your employer funds the exams. |
| Exemptions from an accredited degree | "Eligible for Route A exemptions: CS1, CM1, CB1" plus the university. Eligible, not awarded, until you have claimed and paid. |
| Exams passed or sat | "CS1 passed, April 2026. CM1 sat September 2026, result due December." April results publish in July, September results in December. |
| A failed sitting | Leave it off. Resits are normal, and there is nothing to gain from listing one. |
Two details separate the researched candidates from the rest. Use current subject names and codes only: the CT, CA and ST series went with the 2019 reform. And remember that exemptions are claimed rather than conferred, with a time limit from the date of your award, so write "eligible for" until you have claimed.
Our IFoA exams guide has the full subject structure, the exemption rules and the fees.
Which technical skills count, and at what level?
Excel is assumed. UK analyst adverts typically list strong Excel as essential and Python or R as desirable but not essential, and Lloyds Banking Group's actuarial scheme lists "Excel / VBA, Python, R, Prophet, Power BI", Excel first. None of the major UK schemes we reviewed makes prior coding an entry requirement: Allianz's pricing scheme teaches its tools (Emblem, Radar, SAS, Python, SQL, R) through its own accreditation programme. Coding strengthens an application without being required for one.
Treat every skill you list as something you may be asked about.
- Excel. Name what you can actually do: for example lookups, pivot tables, data checks or a model you built. "Microsoft Office proficient" tells the reader nothing.
- Python or R. Give one concrete example of using the language rather than simply listing it. "Python: cleaned and analysed three seasons of football results with pandas, grouping, merging and charting" survives a probe. A five-language list invites the reviewer to pick the one you know worst.
- SQL. Include it if you can explain what you have used it for.
Leave Prophet, ResQ, Emblem, Igloo and Tyche off unless you have used them. They are licensed systems taught on the job, and nobody expects them from an applicant. Knowing which corner of the profession each serves (Prophet, RiskAgility FM and AXIS for life; ResQ for general insurance reserving; Emblem and Radar for general insurance pricing; Igloo, Tyche and ReMetrica for capital) is for the interview, in conversation rather than on the page.
One more line, if you can earn it: evidence that you check your work. "Built a model with separate inputs, workings and results, plus a reconciliation check against the source" reads like a sentence an actuary wrote.
How do you show actuarial interest without experience?
You do not need actuarial work experience to show that you have researched the career.
Useful evidence can include:
- an actuarial or financial project;
- relevant societies or competitions;
- attendance at employer events;
- technical projects;
- work experience in another sector where you used analysis, accuracy or communication;
- an application or cover-letter answer that shows you understand the practice area.
On the CV itself, prioritise evidence of what you have done. Save detailed market commentary for application questions and interviews.
One naming point worth checking: Lloyd's of London is the specialist insurance market; Lloyds Banking Group (no apostrophe) is a retail bank.
How do you write the bullets?
Give the reader an action and an outcome. "Managed the society's £3,800 annual budget across 15 events; renegotiated the venue contract, cutting per-event cost by 22%" beats "Treasurer, University Investment Society". WTW's recruiters say examples can come from any part of life: university projects, part-time jobs, volunteering, sports teams. A part-time job where you cashed up a till is direct evidence of accuracy with money.
Use numbers where they genuinely add information. Do not force a percentage into every bullet.
What structure should it use?
For most students and recent graduates, one page is usually enough. Use a clear reverse-chronological structure and make the information relevant to the role easy to find. The free CV template is a worked example of a UK actuarial application CV, and you can type your own details over it.
A sensible order, rather than the only one:
- contact details;
- education, with grades and relevant modules;
- experience;
- technical skills;
- relevant activities and projects;
- actuarial exams or exemptions where applicable.
If you include a profile, keep it short and specific. A generic paragraph about being hard-working and analytical adds little. No photo and no skills bar charts.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Keyword-stuffing for the applicant tracking system | Put that time into the eligibility questions and the written competency answers |
| "Microsoft Office proficient" | Name the functions, and expect to be asked |
| Old or invented subject codes | Current codes only: no CT or ST series, no SP3 |
| Exemptions listed as awarded | "Eligible for", claimed inside the time limit |
| A profile that could belong to anyone | Two lines that say what you have done and what you are applying for |
| Several applications to one firm | LCP: one department. WTW: one per location |
When should you send it?
Many graduate employers recruit on a rolling basis, so prepare your core CV before the main application windows open. Tailor it where the role genuinely differs rather than rewriting the whole document for every employer.
The grad scheme tracker holds the current opening and closing dates in one place.
Want feedback on your own CV?
Start with the free CV check. It takes a few minutes and highlights the areas we would look at first.
If you want detailed written feedback, the paid CV review is completed and checked by a qualified actuary (FIA), with specific changes to make to the structure, wording and content.