Physiotherapist CV Example in 2026 [Free Checklist]

Your profile should be short enough to read quickly, but specific enough to separate you from a generic healthcare applicant. Mention your current level, HCPC status, main setting, patient groups, and the clinical evidence you want the reader to remember.

A good profile might say you are a Band 5 physiotherapist with rotational NHS experience across MSK, orthopaedics, stroke rehabilitation, and respiratory wards. It might say you are an MSK physiotherapist with experience in assessment, exercise prescription, manual therapy within scope, triage, and patient education. It might say you are a sports physiotherapist who combines pitch-side first aid, rehabilitation planning, return-to-play criteria, and injury-prevention work.

Keep the tone factual. Recruiters see vague phrases such as passionate, motivated, patient-centred, and excellent communicator in almost every healthcare CV. Those words only help when the next sections prove them through assessments, caseloads, outcome measures, MDT working, patient education, discharge planning, or clinical governance.

For example:

HCPC-registered physiotherapist with NHS rotational experience across orthopaedics, stroke rehabilitation, MSK outpatients, and community discharge support. Confident completing subjective and objective assessments, setting measurable goals, progressing exercise programmes, documenting clearly on electronic patient records, and working with occupational therapists, nurses, consultants, and social workers to support safe recovery.

That profile works because it names the registration status, settings, clinical actions, systems, and team context. It also avoids claiming advanced expertise that the experience section cannot support.

The experience section carries most of the weight in a Physiotherapist CV. Start with your most recent role, then include the employer, setting, dates, and a short line explaining the service. Use bullets to show what you assessed, how you planned care, who you worked with, and what changed for patients or the service.

Do not list every modality or condition without context. A bullet that says “treated MSK patients” is too broad. A stronger bullet explains the patient group, level of responsibility, and type of evidence:

• Assessed adults with lower back, shoulder, knee, and post-operative presentations in MSK outpatients, using clear safety-netting, home exercise plans, and escalation routes for red flags.
• Supported stroke rehabilitation on a 22-bed ward, progressing transfers, balance, gait re-education, and family education as part of MDT discharge planning.
• Completed respiratory physiotherapy interventions on acute wards under senior supervision, documenting assessment findings, treatment response, and escalation decisions on the electronic patient record.

If you are newly qualified, you can use placements as evidence, but be clear about the setting and supervision. Recruiters do not expect a newly qualified applicant to look like a Band 6 specialist. They do expect honest scope, safe reasoning, willingness to learn, and examples of patient communication.

If you are experienced, focus less on task lists and more on decision making. Show the complexity of the caseload, service pressures, leadership, supervision, audit, patient outcomes, waiting-list work, pathway improvement, or specialist assessment skills.

Your degree and registration details matter because physiotherapist is a regulated UK profession. The Health and Care Professions Council sets standards of proficiency for physiotherapists and expects registrants to practise within their scope, keep records, communicate effectively, and work appropriately with others. You can link to the HCPC physiotherapist standards where useful in a supporting article, but your CV should keep the detail concise.

Place education and registration near the top if you are newly qualified, completing a preceptorship, returning to practice, or applying after overseas qualification. For experienced applicants, the section can sit below experience, but your HCPC status should still be visible.

Include:

• BSc or MSc Physiotherapy, university, dates, and key placements if relevant.
• HCPC registration number if you are registered and comfortable including it.
• CSP membership if relevant to the role and true.
• Specialist CPD that matches the job, such as acupuncture, injection therapy, respiratory courses, paediatric handling, neurorehabilitation, falls prevention, sports trauma management, motivational interviewing, safeguarding, or leadership training.
• Mandatory training only when it supports the role or is requested, such as manual handling, basic life support, infection prevention, information governance, safeguarding adults and children, or lone-working training.

Avoid listing every webinar you have attended. Select CPD that shows direction and relevance. A private MSK role does not need a long list of acute respiratory teaching unless it supports the job. A community rehabilitation role does need evidence of falls, frailty, moving and handling, discharge planning, risk assessment, and working across home environments.

Skills should make your scope easier to understand. Split them into role-specific skills and working strengths so the reader can find clinical evidence without wading through a generic healthcare list.

Useful clinical skills can include subjective and objective assessment, exercise prescription, rehabilitation progression, neurological assessment, gait analysis, balance work, respiratory assessment, airway clearance techniques within scope, manual therapy within scope, pain education, falls prevention, mobility aids, equipment recommendations, discharge planning, outcome measures, documentation, and risk escalation.

Working strengths can include patient education, motivational communication, MDT collaboration, caseload prioritisation, supervision of students or assistants, family and carer involvement, reflective practice, clinical governance, and safe lone working.

Keep each skill honest. If you have observed or assisted a technique, do not present it as independent specialist practice. If you are applying for senior roles, show depth: service improvement, audit, staff supervision, complex caseloads, pathway development, clinical triage, and mentoring.

Most physiotherapist CVs should be two pages. One page can work for a student placement application or a very early-career profile, but two pages usually gives you enough room for registration, education, rotations, skills, CPD, and examples.

Use clear headings, consistent dates, and bullet points of one or two lines. Put the strongest clinical evidence on page one. Avoid heavy design, icons that confuse parsing, large photos, or tables that break on applicant tracking systems. A clinical lead is not looking for decoration; they are looking for safe practice, relevant scope, and evidence that you can contribute quickly.

Use links sparingly. A LinkedIn profile can help if it is up to date, but a CV should stand on its own. Do not link to patient case studies, photos, or materials that could compromise confidentiality.

For Band 5 or rotational NHS roles, show breadth, safe supervision, and readiness to move between services. Mention placements or rotations such as MSK, orthopaedics, neurology, respiratory, elderly care, community, paediatrics, or intermediate care.

The evidence should show you can assess patients safely, identify red flags, ask for senior support when needed, document clearly, manage time, and work with nurses, occupational therapists, doctors, therapy assistants, social workers, and discharge coordinators. If the job mentions NHS values or preceptorship, reflect that through examples of learning, feedback, reflection, and team working rather than simply saying you share the values.

For MSK roles, focus on assessment, clinical reasoning, exercise prescription, patient education, triage, pain management, red-flag screening, manual therapy within scope, and outcome monitoring. Mention common presentations only where true, such as lower back pain, shoulder pain, post-operative rehabilitation, osteoarthritis, sports injuries, tendinopathy, or work-related musculoskeletal problems.

Show how you help patients self-manage. Employers want to see that you can explain exercises clearly, adapt plans when symptoms change, and record the reasoning behind treatment. If you have worked with referral pathways, first contact practitioner services, occupational health, or private clinics, explain the setting and level of autonomy.

For neuro, stroke, or rehabilitation roles, show functional assessment, goal setting, transfers, balance, gait re-education, tone management, fatigue awareness, family education, and MDT planning. Mention outcome measures only when you have used them correctly, such as Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go, 10-metre walk test, Barthel Index, Functional Independence Measure, or local service measures.

The best evidence shows progress over time without exposing patient detail. You might write that you supported patients to progress from hoist transfers to assisted standing, or that you contributed to discharge plans by assessing mobility, home access, equipment needs, and carer education. Keep it grouped and anonymous.

For respiratory or acute roles, show safe assessment, monitoring, escalation, infection control, oxygen-awareness within scope, airway clearance techniques, early mobilisation, post-operative care, and communication with the wider ward team. Be precise about whether you acted independently or under senior supervision.

If you are early career, it is perfectly acceptable to say you supported or assisted with respiratory interventions while documenting treatment response and seeking senior review where needed. Accuracy builds trust. Overclaiming in acute care can make a CV feel unsafe.

Community physiotherapy needs a different emphasis from ward or outpatient work. Show lone-working awareness, home risk assessment, falls prevention, frailty, equipment, patient goals, carer communication, safeguarding, capacity, and coordination with GPs, district nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, and voluntary services.

Explain how you support independence. For example, you might mention exercise plans for strength and balance, reablement goals, discharge-to-assess pathways, mobility aid reviews, home environment considerations, and patient education that helped people stay safe between visits.

For sports or private practice roles, show assessment, rehabilitation planning, return-to-play criteria, diary management, patient retention through good education, referral relationships, and commercial awareness where relevant. Do not make the CV sound like a sales document, but show that you understand patient experience and service quality.

If you work in sport, include the level and environment: amateur club, academy, university sport, professional team, match-day cover, clinic-based rehabilitation, or pitch-side first aid. If you use specific tools or approaches, such as taping, strength testing, gym-based rehabilitation, running analysis, or load management, connect them to patient goals.

For senior roles, the CV should move beyond “I treat patients” and show service contribution. Include complex caseloads, supervision, student education, audit, guideline development, triage, training delivery, waiting-list initiatives, outcome data, leadership, and risk management.

A Band 6 Physiotherapist CV should show developing specialist judgement and support for junior staff. A Band 7 or clinical specialist CV should show advanced reasoning, service development, multidisciplinary influence, governance, and the ability to improve pathways, not just manage a bigger caseload.

• Completed subjective and objective assessments for adults with MSK presentations, identifying red flags, setting functional goals, and agreeing treatment plans that combined exercise progression, education, and review points.
• Assessed post-operative orthopaedic patients on an inpatient ward, supporting mobility progression, stairs practice, equipment checks, and discharge planning with the wider therapy team.
• Contributed to stroke rehabilitation plans by assessing transfers, sitting balance, gait, fatigue, and home-support needs, then recording clear goals for MDT review.

• Delivered exercise and self-management advice for patients with persistent pain, adapting explanations to confidence, health literacy, and work or home demands.
• Supported patients and carers with mobility aid use, falls-prevention advice, and safe transfer techniques before discharge.
• Created simple home exercise plans for community patients, reviewing adherence, barriers, and progress at follow-up visits.

• Worked with occupational therapists, nurses, consultants, and discharge coordinators to prioritise patients for assessment and support safe, timely discharge.
• Liaised with therapy assistants to progress rehabilitation plans, update handovers, and maintain consistency between sessions.
• Escalated changes in symptoms, cognition, falls risk, or respiratory status promptly to senior clinicians or the medical team.

• Used recognised outcome measures and local documentation standards to monitor progress and adjust rehabilitation plans.
• Participated in a documentation audit, helping the team improve consistency of goal setting, consent notes, and treatment-response recording.
• Maintained accurate electronic records after each contact, including assessment findings, risks, advice given, treatment response, and next steps.

Clinical evidence needs care. You can show impact without naming patients, giving rare diagnoses, sharing exact incident details, or including anything copied from a clinical record. Keep examples grouped, anonymised, and focused on your action.

Use safe evidence such as caseload type, ward or clinic setting, broad patient group, outcome measure, service improvement, waiting-list contribution, education delivered, audit participation, or discharge-planning work. For example, “supported weekly falls-prevention group for older adults, adapting strength and balance exercises to ability level” is useful and safe. “Helped Mrs X after a fall on 3 March” is not appropriate.

When using numbers, choose service-level or grouped figures where accurate. You might mention average caseload, number of rotations, number of students supervised, audit sample size, waiting-list sessions supported, or group education sessions delivered. Do not invent numbers to sound impressive. A precise, modest figure is stronger than an inflated claim.

Be especially careful with sports, private practice, and community work. Do not name clients, teams, or high-profile cases unless the information is already public and relevant. Even then, ask whether it adds hiring value. Most of the time, it is better to describe the level of sport, injury type in broad terms, and your rehabilitation role.

The National Careers Service describes physiotherapists as professionals who assess and treat mobility problems caused by illness, injury, ageing, or disability. That broad scope is exactly why a UK Physiotherapist CV needs to show setting and specialism, not just the job title.

The HCPC standards of proficiency for physiotherapists are effective from 1 September 2023 and cover safe practice, scope of practice, legal and ethical boundaries, communication, working with others, record keeping, reflection, and evidence-based practice. Use this as a reminder to show professional judgement throughout your CV: scope, consent, confidentiality, escalation, documentation, CPD, and team working.

For NHS applications, align your evidence with the job description and person specification. If the role is rotational, show breadth and learning. If it is specialist, show depth and relevant outcomes. If it is community-based, show risk assessment, lone-working awareness, falls, frailty, and home environment considerations. If it is senior, show supervision, audit, service improvement, and clinical leadership.

For overseas-qualified physiotherapists, explain your qualification, country, HCPC registration route, UK clinical exposure, right-to-work status where appropriate, English-language evidence if relevant, and any supervised or assistant roles that show UK context. Keep the wording factual and avoid acronyms that UK recruiters may not recognise.

For private practice, sports, or self-employed work, add commercial context only where it supports the role. Useful evidence could include patient retention through education, diary management, referral relationships, outcome tracking, gym-based rehabilitation, or working with coaches. Avoid making the CV sound like marketing copy.

Useful supporting sources include the HCPC standards for physiotherapists, the National Careers Service physiotherapist profile, and NHS England information about allied health professions. Use them for context, but make the CV itself about your evidence.