Europass CV Guide: How to Write It for European Scholarships (With Template)

The Europass CV is a standard CV format promoted by the European Union. Many European universities and scholarship programmes, including several DAAD and Erasmus Mundus programmes, request it or recommend it because it makes applications easy to compare. You can create it free of charge on the official Europass website.

When do you need a Europass CV?

• When the scholarship or programme explicitly asks for it (always follow this instruction)
• When applying to programmes in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and other European countries that recommend it
• When you want a structured format that clearly shows language levels using the CEFR scale

If a programme does not ask for Europass, a well-designed academic CV is often a better choice.

How to create it

1. Go to the official Europass website and create a free profile.
2. Fill in your personal information, work experience, education, language skills and other skills.
3. Choose a CV template and select which sections to include.
4. Download it as a PDF.

Template content (fill this in)

PERSONAL INFORMATION
Name: [First Last]
Nationality: [Country] | Date of birth: [only if requested]
Email: [email] | Phone: [+00 ...] | Address: [City, Country]
LinkedIn / Portfolio: [link]

ABOUT ME (3–4 lines)
[Field] graduate with [x] years of experience in [area]. Skilled in [2–3 skills]. Seeking to pursue a master's in [field] to [goal linked to the programme].

WORK EXPERIENCE
[Month Year – Present] [Job title], [Organisation], [City, Country]
• [Main responsibility]
• [Achievement with a number]

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
[Year – Year] [Degree], [University], [City, Country]
Final grade: [CGPA/percentage] | Thesis: [title]

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Mother tongue: [language]
Other languages:   Listening  Reading  Spoken production  Spoken interaction  Writing
English             C1         C1        B2                 C1                  C1
[Certificate: IELTS Academic 7.0, Month Year]

DIGITAL SKILLS
[Microsoft Office, Python, SPSS, AutoCAD, GIS]

PUBLICATIONS / PROJECTS / CONFERENCES
[Citation or project title, short description]

HONOURS AND AWARDS
[Year] [Award], [Organisation]

VOLUNTEERING
[Year – Year] [Role], [Organisation] – [impact]

How to make your Europass CV stand out

• Write a strong “About me” section. Connect your background to the programme in three or four sentences.
• Show results under each job. Europass layouts can look plain, so strong content matters even more.
• Rate languages honestly using CEFR levels (A1 to C2) and add certificates.
• Delete empty or irrelevant sections. The editor offers many sections; you do not need all of them.
• Keep it to two or three pages.
• Sign and date it if the programme asks (DAAD often requires a signed CV).

Common mistakes

• Leaving the default skills text in place
• Adding a photo or personal details that are not requested
• Listing duties instead of achievements
• Inconsistent dates between the CV and your other documents

Pair your CV with a strong letter using our motivation letter template, and see how it is used in practice in our DAAD guide.

What Europass is, in simple words

Europass is a free online tool from the European Union. You create a profile with your education, experience and skills, and the tool turns it into a CV that you can download as a PDF. The layout is standard, so readers across Europe find each section in the same place. You can save several versions of your CV and update them later without starting again.

Europass or your own format?

• Use Europass when the programme or scholarship asks for it by name. Some European programmes do, including some Erasmus Mundus master’s courses.
• Use your own academic CV when the call simply says "CV". A clean one-column academic CV is accepted everywhere and gives you more control.
• When in doubt, read the document list of the programme again, or ask the programme office. Sending the wrong format can make an application incomplete.

Section by section: what to write

Personal information

Give your name as in your passport, a professional e-mail address, your phone number with the country code, and your city and country. A photo is optional. Add one only if the programme asks for it. You do not need your ID number, religion or marital status.

Education and training

Start with your most recent degree. For each one give the title, the university, the city and country, the dates, your grade with its scale, and two or three items that matter for the programme: your thesis title, key courses or a ranking.

Work experience

Include jobs, internships, teaching assistant roles and serious volunteer work. For each entry, write two or three bullet points that start with a verb and end with a result. Example: "Trained 25 community health workers to use a mobile data form; reporting errors fell by a third."

Language skills

Europass uses the European framework with levels from A1 to C2, and asks about five skills: listening, reading, spoken interaction, spoken production and writing. Be honest. Panels can check your level in an interview. If you have a test score, add the test name, the score and the date.

Digital skills

Group them: data tools, programming, design, office software. Name the tool and what you did with it. "Python (pandas) for cleaning survey data in my thesis" says much more than "good computer skills".

Other sections

Europass lets you add sections such as publications, projects, conferences, honours and awards, and volunteering. Add only the ones where you have real content. Empty or weak sections make the CV longer, not better.

Keep it to two pages

The Europass tool makes it easy to add everything, and many Europass CVs become four or five pages long. For a master’s scholarship, aim for two pages.

• Remove school-level details if you have a university degree.
• Keep only the two or three best bullet points for each entry.
• Delete skills that every applicant has.
• Choose a simple template with small margins and no large coloured blocks.

Strong and weak lines

Before you download: a final check

1. Does the top of page one show your degree and your strongest result?
2. Are all dates in the same format, newest first?
3. Do the dates and titles match your transcript and your motivation letter?
4. Is the language level honest and supported by a test where you have one?
5. Did you download the PDF and open it to check the layout?
6. Is the file named with your name and the programme?

A short filled-in example

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Sep 2022 - Jun 2026  BS Environmental Science
University of [Name], [City], Pakistan
CGPA 3.72 out of 4.00 (ranked 3rd of 64)
Thesis: Plastic waste flows in the Ravi river, Lahore

WORK EXPERIENCE
Jun 2025 - Aug 2025  Research Intern
[Organisation], [City]
- Collected water samples at 14 sites and recorded results in Excel
- Wrote a six-page summary used in the organisation's annual report

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Urdu: mother tongue
English: C1 in all five skills (IELTS 7.0, May 2026)

DIGITAL SKILLS
QGIS (mapping for thesis), Excel (pivot tables), R (basic statistics)

Notice that each entry has dates, a place and a result, and that the language level is supported by a test.

Adapting one Europass profile for different programmes

You do not need a new profile for each application. Keep one complete profile, then make a copy of the CV for each programme and change three things. Reorder the bullet points so that the most relevant comes first. Remove experience that has nothing to do with the programme. Adjust the skills section to match the skills that the programme names. Save each version with the programme’s name, so that you never upload the wrong one.

Dates and gaps

Europass shows your entries in time order, so gaps are easy to see. If you have a gap of more than six months, add a short entry that explains it honestly, such as exam preparation, family responsibilities or a job search. Use months and years for every entry, and check them against your certificates.

What to send with your Europass CV

A CV is rarely enough on its own. Most European programmes also ask for a motivation letter, transcripts and references. Use the same dates, job titles and project names in all of them, and write your motivation letter separately for each programme. See our motivation letter template for the structure.

Frequently asked questions

Can I edit my Europass CV later?

Yes. Your profile stays online, so you can update it and download a new version whenever you need one.

Is Europass free?

Yes. It is a free tool from the European Union.

Is a Europass CV required for Erasmus Mundus?

It depends on the programme. Each consortium sets its own document list. Some ask for Europass and others accept any clear CV.

Do I need a photo?

No, unless the programme asks for one.

Can I use Europass outside Europe?

You can, but most universities outside Europe expect a standard academic CV. See our academic CV template.

How long should it be?

Two pages for most master’s applicants. Research applicants with publications may need three.