Report Writing Structure
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Understand the topic
Who is audience?
Material – survey, journal, data
Chapters 1.0 / 1.1 for subs
Analyse material – what tell you / what learn / critique it
Write up – formulate ideas/ be direct
Executive summary – last thing you write – summarises whole report for someone busy who
does not have time to read whole thing
Title page (clear with relevant info, contents, breakdown subheadings too)
Contents
 Executive summary (page on its own, highlight key findings, 3-4 paragraphs,
 Introduction (set the scene, highlight key points to the problem, provide an overview of the
organisation, overview of topic investigating, highlight key stakeholders, and suggest why
the problem should be investigated)
 Methodology (Apply if writing an academic piece, applies to methods used to collect that
data)
 Results (May want to include data/financial information, short graphs acceptable, label
graph and include a short discussion underneath to explain what you have found)
 Conclusion and Recommendations (Not included in every report for ICS, identify key results,
action points to take, who the key stakeholders are to action some of these points)
 References
 Appendix (Any additional diagram, tables, or evidence goes here)
Key words that suggest a report is required
 Provide your assessment of…
 After reading care XXX, construct a diagnosis of….
 Using the material provide analyse…..
 We would welcome your recommendations on…..
Difference between a report and an essay?
Report
Used for work and academia
Diagnose, present findings, and provide
recommendations
Split into sections, sub sections, and separated
by chapters
Able to ass tables, diagram and graphs
Recommendations section at the bottom
Need a methodology – how data collected
Normally first person – I, we, us, my
Sources
 Websites
 Journals / Reports
 Text Books
 Google Scholar
Essay
Used for Academia
One piece of continuous prose to discuss
theories
No breaks, or chapters, flows in a continuous
way
Cannot add this material usually
Not in an essay
Not needed, it is a discussion on a topic
Normally in third person