Physiotherapist CV example
Physiotherapy hires on registration, specialism and caseload: musculoskeletal, sports, neuro or pelvic health.
Free to edit. PDF download included with access.
- Sector
- Healthcare and care
- Template used
- Helsinki
- ATS level
- ATS verified
- ATS keywords
- 5
Document preview
How the CV looks once laid out
The same example content, laid out in the recommended template: single column, selectable text and no tables or graphics that break automated parsing.
Sample document. Open it in the editor to change template, language and sections without losing the content.
Andrew Gill
HCPC-registered physiotherapist in musculoskeletal and sports
andrew.gill@mail.com · 07700 900789 · Edinburgh · linkedin.com/in/andrew
Professional summary
HCPC-registered physiotherapist with seven years across private clinics and a sports club. I deliver 18 sessions a day, lead return-to-play rehabilitation and cut average discharge time for grade I muscle injuries to 5 weeks. Trained in dry needling, manual therapy and musculoskeletal ultrasound.
Experience
Physiotherapist
Employer name · City · 2019 – Present
- Cut average discharge for grade I muscle injuries from 7 weeks to 5
- Delivered 18 sessions a day with 94% home programme adherence
- Designed the rehabilitation protocol for a club of 120 registered athletes
Education
Qualification or certificate for the role
Training centre · Year
Skills
Manual therapy | Dry needling | Exercise prescription | Return-to-play rehabilitation | Musculoskeletal ultrasound | Functional assessment
Languages
- EnglishNative
- SpanishB2
01
Professional headline
This is the line that decides whether they keep reading: a specific role and years of experience, never an adjective.
HCPC-registered physiotherapist in musculoskeletal and sports
02
Example professional summary
Three or four sentences with your specialism, one figure and your goal. It sits right under the headline.
HCPC-registered physiotherapist with seven years across private clinics and a sports club. I deliver 18 sessions a day, lead return-to-play rehabilitation and cut average discharge time for grade I muscle injuries to 5 weeks. Trained in dry needling, manual therapy and musculoskeletal ultrasound.
03
Achievements that work in this role
Past-tense verb, what you did, measurable result. Three to five per role, strongest first.
- 01Cut average discharge for grade I muscle injuries from 7 weeks to 5
- 02Delivered 18 sessions a day with 94% home programme adherence
- 03Designed the rehabilitation protocol for a club of 120 registered athletes
04
Skills to include
Written as plain text: rating bars are invisible to automated filters.
- Manual therapy
- Dry needling
- Exercise prescription
- Return-to-play rehabilitation
- Musculoskeletal ultrasound
- Functional assessment
05
ATS keywords
The terms filters search for in this role. Place them inside your experience, not in a list at the end.
- physiotherapy
- manual therapy
- musculoskeletal
- rehabilitation
- HCPC
Work them naturally into your experience — these are the terms screening software scans for.
06
Tips for this CV
What separates a CV for this trade from a generic one.
- 01
Put your registration number and qualification at the top — no registration, no job.
- 02
Name the specialism and patient group, not just 'general physiotherapy'.
- 03
Quantify daily sessions and discharge times; that's what clinics assess.
07
What a physiotherapist CV is
Short definition, ready to quote.
A physiotherapist CV is the one or two page document used to apply for a physiotherapist role in healthcare and care: it brings together the professional headline, the profile summary, experience with measurable results and the competencies the trade expects you to evidence, such as Manual therapy and Dry needling. Unlike a generic CV, it is ordered around what the applicant tracking system and the hiring manager look for in a physiotherapist: the words used in the advert and the numbers of the actual job.
08
Keywords and where to place them
Each term works best in a specific place in the document. Repeating them all at the end scores nothing.
| Keyword | Where to place it |
|---|---|
| physiotherapy | In the professional headline |
| manual therapy | In the profile summary |
| musculoskeletal | Inside an achievement with a figure |
| rehabilitation | In the skills list |
| HCPC | In training or certifications |
09
How this physiotherapist CV gets through the filters
What the example above does right, point by point.
- The headline reads «HCPC-registered physiotherapist in musculoskeletal and sports»: the job title (physiotherapist) appears literally in the first line, not as a creative synonym.
- The trade's keywords —physiotherapy, manual therapy, musculoskeletal— sit inside the experience and summary, where the filter reads them in context.
- Every achievement carries its figure. «Cut average discharge for grade I muscle injuries from 7 weeks to 5» is the pattern to copy: volume, timeframe and result.
- Skills such as Manual therapy, Dry needling, Exercise prescription are written as plain text, never as rating bars or stars, which no parser can read.
- The Helsinki template is single-column and rated ATS verified, so the sections come out in order.
10
What hiring managers look for in a physiotherapist
The three points that separate two candidates in this trade.
Setting and caseload
Musculoskeletal, neuro, respiratory, pelvic health and older people's rehab are different practices. Give the setting, the patient type and the volume: “18 appointments a day in a private MSK and sports rehab clinic”.
Techniques and post-graduate training
Name techniques with the course that backs them: manual therapy, dry needling, exercise prescription, lymphatic drainage, taping. Without the training behind it, the technique does not count.
Outcomes and adherence
This is what separates two physiotherapists: discharge within planned timeframes, home exercise adherence, average sessions per episode, return-to-sport rates. One such figure changes how the CV reads.
11
Common mistakes on a physiotherapist CV
The ones that repeat in this role, each with its fix.
- 01
Listing techniques with no clinical context
Twenty techniques with no condition attached reads as a course catalogue. Group by caseload and explain where each one fits: a clinical lead is looking for reasoning, not inventory.
- 02
Leaving out HCPC registration
HCPC registration is what allows you to practise and to be insured. It belongs with your contact details, alongside your degree, university and year.
- 03
Ignoring caseload and clinic diary
In private practice a physiotherapist also sustains their own diary. Managing bookings, discharges and follow-ups, or holding a high return rate, is a direct commercial argument.
- 04
Hiding the documentation side
Assessment, goals, notes and outcome measures are mandatory and prove rigour. Name the system you used and say you worked to measurable goals per episode.
12
What a physiotherapist earns
So you can tell whether an advert is at market rate before applying.
- Usual range
- NHS Band 5 typically £29,000-£35,000; private clinics often pay a base plus a percentage per session
- What moves the figure
- Setting (sports, neuro, domiciliary) and the session-based pay model move the final figure more than years in practice.
- Where the figure comes from
- Ranges observed in UK physiotherapy adverts through 2026 against published NHS bands.
Frequently asked
Questions about a physiotherapist CV
- Does HCPC registration go on the CV?
- Yes, with your contact details. It is the licence to practise and clinics need it for insurance, so it should never be buried at the bottom.
- Which post-graduate courses carry the most weight?
- The ones matching the setting you are applying to: manual therapy and dry needling for MSK, exercise prescription for rehab, respiratory techniques for acute, pelvic health for women's health. A course outside the setting adds nothing.
- Should I state my rate?
- Not on the CV. It belongs in the conversation, once you know the diary volume and the session percentage on offer.
- How do I present placement experience as a new graduate?
- As supervised clinical practice, with the site, hours and rotations. For a new graduate it is the section holding the CV up, so it goes before any unrelated job.
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