Deputy Headteacher (DOS) CV: what to include

Lead with teaching and responsibility

Open with a short profile naming your qualification, years of teaching, subjects and the leadership responsibilities you have carried. For each post, list the subjects and levels you taught, then the responsibilities beyond teaching: head of department, examination coordination, mentoring, timetabling support or club leadership.

Give evidence of results and improvement

Specific examples carry weight: "Led the science department through a period in which examination performance improved", "Introduced a marking schedule that brought book checks back on time", or "Mentored two new teachers through their first year". Describe what you did and what changed, without overstating your part in a team effort.

Show academic administration experience

This post runs the academic machinery of a school, so mention any experience with timetables, examination organisation, compiling and analysing results, records of syllabus coverage and reporting to parents or the district. Even assisting with these tasks is worth stating clearly.

Include professional development

List training in leadership, curriculum, assessment or mentoring, with dates, and any continuous professional development you have led for colleagues. Leading a school-based session is strong evidence of readiness for this post.

Name the systems you have actually run

This post is judged partly on administration, so be specific about what you have operated: the timetable you built and what you built it in, how results were compiled, which records you kept, and how reports reached parents. A panel can picture that work immediately, and it separates you from candidates whose leadership claims are entirely about people.

Keep it verifiable

Everything on this CV is checkable with your current school, and a panel will check. Give dates that match your service record, describe responsibilities in the words your school would recognise, and choose a referee who actually saw the work you are claiming.

Structure

• Personal and contact details as the application requires.
• Profile of three or four lines.
• Teaching experience, most recent first, with responsibilities.
• Education and teaching qualifications with dates.
• Professional development and training.
• Referees, ideally including a headteacher who has seen your leadership.

Mistakes to avoid

• Listing only subjects taught, with no leadership evidence.
• Claiming results as personal achievements when they were a department's.
• Leaving out academic administration experience because it felt routine.
• Unclear dates that make your years of experience hard to count.