There is no universal ATS score. Every CV checker uses its own scale, and the systems employers actually use don’t give your CV a mark out of 100. They read your CV into fields that recruiters then search and filter. A good result means your CV is read correctly and uses the advert’s own wording for its essential criteria.
If you’ve run your CV through a checker and been told 68%, or 74%, or 81%, it’s natural to wonder whether that’s good enough. Here’s what that number does and doesn’t tell you, and what to check instead.
What an ATS actually does with your CV
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software employers use to receive and manage applications. When you apply, it does two main things:
- It parses your CV. It reads the file and tries to split it into fields: your name and contact details, job titles, employers, dates, education and skills.
- It makes those fields searchable. A recruiter can then search the applicants for a skill, a qualification or a job title, filter by criteria, and open the CVs that match.
Some systems add knockout questions (for example, “Do you have the right to work in the UK?”) or rank candidates against the advert. But in most cases a person still decides who gets shortlisted. The system’s job is to make your CV findable and readable for that person.
So the risk isn’t “the robot gave me 60%”. It’s that your CV was read badly, or that it doesn’t contain the words the recruiter searched for.
Why checker scores disagree
Run the same CV through three checkers and you’ll often get three different numbers. That’s because each one:
- weights different things (some care mostly about keywords, others about formatting);
- compares against a different job description, or none at all;
- uses its own scale, so 70% on one tool isn’t the same as 70% on another.
None of them is reading your CV the way a specific employer’s system will. A checker’s number is a summary of that checker’s own rules. It’s useful for spotting problems, but it isn’t a pass mark.
The two things that actually matter
1. Does your CV parse correctly?
If the system can’t read your CV properly, nothing else matters. Common causes of bad parsing:
- Two-column layouts, where text from both columns gets merged line by line.
- Text in headers, footers, text boxes or tables, especially contact details.
- Image-based PDFs, such as a scanned document or a design exported as a picture. There is no text to read at all.
- Unusual section headings. “Where I’ve been” instead of “Experience” can confuse a parser.
- Dates in inconsistent formats, which can scramble your work history.
A quick test you can do now: open your PDF, select all the text, copy it, and paste it into a plain text editor such as Notepad. If it comes out in a sensible order, with your job titles, employers and dates where they should be, a parser will usually manage too. If it comes out jumbled or empty, fix that before anything else.
2. Does your CV use the advert’s own words?
Recruiters search for what the job needs, usually in the advert’s wording. If the advert asks for “stakeholder management” and your CV says “worked with partners across the organisation”, a search may not find you.
- Take the advert’s essential criteria and list them.
- For each one, find where your CV shows it, in similar words.
- Anything you can’t point to is a gap: either you have the experience and haven’t said so, or it’s a genuine gap.
Don’t paste in keywords you can’t back up. The person who reads your CV next will expect evidence for each one. There’s more on this in matching job descriptions without keyword stuffing.
Free CV checkers: what to look for
If you use a free checker, a useful one does three things: it reads your CV against the specific advert you paste, not a generic list; it tells you what it measures and how it weights it; and it names each problem with a fix rather than just giving a number. Be wary of any checker that shows you a score and then asks for payment before telling you what is wrong.
So, is 70% or 80% good?
On its own, the number can’t tell you. A useful way to read any checker’s score:
- If it shows parsing problems, fix those first. They matter more than anything else.
- If it shows missing keywords from the advert, add the ones you can genuinely evidence.
- If parsing is clean and the essential criteria are covered, stop optimising the score and spend the time on stronger examples and results. That’s what the human reader will judge, and a CV has to work for both.
A higher score after fixing real problems is a good sign. A higher score from stuffing in words you can’t back up isn’t.
How Zappli’s score works
We publish how our score is built so you can judge it for yourself. Zappli scores your CV out of 100 against the job advert you paste, across six weighted factors:
| Factor | Weight | What it checks |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword Coverage | 25% | Whether the advert’s requirements appear in your CV |
| Experience Quality | 22% | Whether your bullets show results, not just duties |
| Parse Fidelity | 20% | Whether your CV can be read cleanly into the right fields |
| Career Progression | 13% | Whether your CV communicates a clear trajectory (not how senior you are) |
| Recruiter Readability | 12% | Whether a recruiter would have enough to decide to meet you |
| Structure Completeness | 8% | Whether the expected UK CV sections are present |
Every issue is named with its fix. The score is a guide to what to improve. It doesn’t promise an interview, and no score can.
Quick answers
Is 70% a good ATS score?
It depends entirely on the checker. Use the score to find specific problems (parsing and missing advert wording) rather than as a pass mark.
Is 80% a good ATS score?
On most checkers it suggests few obvious problems, but check that your CV parses cleanly and covers the advert’s essential criteria before relying on it.
How do I tell if my CV is ATS friendly?
Copy all the text from your PDF into a plain text editor. If it reads in a sensible order with titles, employers and dates intact, it’s likely to parse well. Then check it uses the advert’s wording for each essential criterion.
Can an ATS read a PDF?
Most modern systems read text-based PDFs well. Image-based PDFs and complex layouts cause problems. If the advert asks for a Word document, send Word.
A Faster Way
Everything in this guide can be done by hand. The copy-paste parse test and a list of the advert’s essential criteria will catch most problems, and plenty of people fix their CVs that way.
Zappli does the same checks in one step: paste the advert, upload your CV, and it scores the match across six published factors and names every issue with its fix. The free tier needs no card and no account, and gives you an ATS score plus three CVs and three job matches as a lifetime allowance, a demonstration rather than a trial.
If you want more, passes are £9.99 for 7 days, £24.99 for 30 days or £49.99 for 90 days. One payment only, never auto-charged, and nothing to cancel. Zappli is paid by candidates, never by employers. If a free diagnosis sounds more useful than checking line by line, pick whichever of these is closest to where you are.
Free ATS score
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