15,000 Job Seekers Now Use Cafy: What Students Have Taught Us

By Cafy Careers | 28 October 2026 | 7 min read

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Key takeaways

• Cafy has passed 15,000 job seekers across the UK. When we last shared a number in August it was 7,000, so it has more than doubled since.
• Students keep telling us the same thing: the hard part was never effort, it was not knowing which roles were worth applying for.
• The AI CV Builder tailors your CV to each job description and shows your ATS score and missing keywords before you apply.
• The free plan needs no card. If you are on a Graduate visa, check the 31 December 2026 deadline in the visa section below.

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So, what happened?

A little while ago, 7,000 students and graduates had signed up to Cafy and we wrote about it. We said then that the number mattered less than the reasons behind it. That still holds. Today the number is 15,000, and honestly, the reasons are what we want to talk about again.

Reaching 15,000 isn't something we take for granted. Each of you chose to try Cafy while the job search was already stressful, and we'd like to say a proper thank you for that.

This post covers what we have learned, what students actually use, where we think Cafy is genuinely strong, and where we still have work to do.

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Why is the UK job search so hard for students?

Ask any final-year student how applications are going and you will hear some version of the same story. Forty applications, three replies, no idea why. It feels like a talent problem. Mostly, it is an information problem.

• Sponsorship is hard to see. The Home Office keeps a register of licensed sponsors, but most students have never opened it, and job boards rarely tell you whether an employer can sponsor a visa.
• CVs vanish. Many employers screen applications with applicant tracking systems (ATS) first. Nobody explains what those systems look for, so students rewrite the same CV again and again without knowing what is wrong with it.
• Everything is scattered. Job listings in one tab, a spreadsheet in another, CV advice somewhere else, and a running list in your head of who might sponsor.

None of that is about how good you are. It is about time. And for international students on a visa clock, time is the one thing that doesn't wait.

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What is Cafy?

Cafy is an AI job search platform for people looking for work in the UK. It brings a job match browser extension, a job board, an AI CV builder, an ATS checker, a cover letter generator, a career path planner, LinkedIn optimiser and an automatic application tracker into one dashboard. If you need visa sponsorship, it also checks employers against the Home Office register of licensed sponsors.

You don't need a visa to use it. Every tool works for any job seeker in the UK. The sponsor tools are there for the people who need them.

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What do students actually use Cafy for?

Here is the honest rundown of what sits inside the platform right now.

• Smart Job Match Extension. Gives you a fit score and keyword analysis for a job posting while you browse, so you can decide if it is worth the hour it takes to apply.
• AI CV Builder. Start from scratch or import your current CV, then tailor it to the job description with AI suggestions. More on this below.
• Career Path. Shows career matches, skill gaps and what to do next, which is handy if you are not sure where you fit yet.
• Part-Time Jobs. A board of flexible UK roles, useful for students who need work around their studies.
• Sponsor Job Board. A job board that lists only employers on the register of licensed sponsors.
• Application tracker. Keeps every role, deadline, note and follow-up in one place without manual data entry.
• 1:1 career counselling. Sessions with people who have been through the UK sponsored job market themselves.

We also have an ATS CV checker, a cover letter generator and a LinkedIn optimiser, which you can find on the site.

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Is Cafy the best AI CV builder in the UK?

We are biased, so take this as our opinion and judge it yourself. But yes, we believe Cafy is the best AI CV builder in the UK for students and graduates, and here is why we think so.

• It works from the job description. Instead of one generic CV sent to everyone, the builder gives you suggestions based on the specific role in front of you.
• It shows its working. You see your ATS score and the keywords from the job description that your CV is missing, so you know what to fix rather than guessing.
• It is built for UK applications. The whole platform is aimed at the UK job market, from the CV to the sponsor checks.
• It fits into the rest of your search. Your tailored CV, your cover letter and your tracker all live in the same dashboard.
• It is free to start. The free plan includes 3 AI uses, 1 CV import, 5 PDF downloads and unlimited editing. No card needed.

One more thing, and we mean it. AI suggestions should always be checked before you send anything. Read every line, keep it accurate, and keep it in your own words. A CV that sounds like you and matches the role will beat a polished one that doesn't.

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What have students told us?

The best feedback hasn't been about one clever feature. It has been about relief.

Priyanka at the University of Manchester told us she used to spend hours checking whether companies sponsored visas before applying, and now knows straight away which roles are worth her time. Shanoob at the University of Liverpool said the fit score was the feature he didn't know he needed, because he could see where he matched a role and what to improve. Rithika at the University of Exeter said she thought her CV was good until Cafy showed her why she wasn't getting responses.

Raphael at Oxford University said the biggest win was time. And Balaji at Manchester put it in a way we keep coming back to: for the first time he felt he had a complete system for landing a sponsored role, not just another job board.

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Why does the Graduate visa deadline matter?

A lot of Cafy users are on, or heading towards, the Graduate visa. It gives you 2 years (3 for PhD graduates) to work in the UK without needing sponsorship first. That window is there so you can find a Skilled Worker role before it ends.

Here is the part to take note of. According to our own guide, bachelor's and master's graduates who apply for the Graduate visa on or after 1 January 2027 will receive 18 months instead of 2 years. PhD graduates keep 3 years. The change depends on your application date, and you can only apply once your university confirms you have completed your course, so check your own timeline early. Rules change, so please check the current GOV.UK guidance or speak to a qualified immigration adviser before you decide anything. Whatever your timeline, the same logic applies. Every week spent on employers who can't sponsor is a week off your runway. Use the window to target employers on the register, build your track record, and plan your switch early.

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What does 15,000 not mean?

It doesn't mean the problem is solved. A sign-up isn't a job offer, and plenty of the people who joined are still early in their search, still building a shortlist, still on their first tailored CV. No tool can promise you an offer, and we won't pretend otherwise.

What we can say is that Cafy exists to take the guesswork out of which employers can sponsor, which applications are worth your time, and where your CV is letting you down. The number we care about most is the quiet one: how many people end up in the right role because the search stopped feeling like a lottery.

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How much does Cafy cost?

There is a free plan with no card required. It includes an unlimited job tracker, 5 AI cover letters and emails, 5 extension uses, 3 AI CV uses, 5 PDF downloads and 1 Career Path roadmap. Paid plans start at £0.99 a week for the part-time jobs board. Premium is £34 a month, makes every tool unlimited and adds the full sponsored jobs board and LinkedIn optimiser. Check the pricing page for the latest details.

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Help us make it better

If you use Cafy, we'd really like to hear from you. Tell us what works, what doesn't and what you wish it did. Your feedback shapes what we build next, and it helps the next person land their job faster.

Share your feedback at cafy.careers/feedback, or start for free at cafy.careers.