A report is a Part 2 option written for a superior, such as a manager, a teacher or a committee, or for a group of peers. It describes and evaluates a situation, often based on a survey, a visit or an experience, and ends with recommendations.
The register is formal and impersonal, and the text is organised under headings. Picture your reader as a busy person who needs clear findings and sensible advice, not a story.
Report tasks give you two or three questions to cover, plus an invitation to add your own ideas. Turn each question into a headed section, so nothing is missed and the examiner can see it at once.
Base your content on invented but realistic evidence: a survey of 80 students, interviews with staff, over half of respondents. Figures make findings convincing, as long as they stay plausible.
Reports focus on findings, not feelings. Use passives and impersonal phrases (it was found that, the majority of respondents, it would appear that) and avoid contractions, exclamation marks and chatty asides.
Your own voice can appear in the recommendations (I would suggest), but keep it measured. Hedging words such as largely and relatively make judgements sound careful rather than vague.
Start with a title and an introduction that states the report's purpose and method. Then use short, informative headings for each section, and finish with Recommendations or Conclusion.
Keep each section focused on one topic, and link ideas inside it with furthermore, however, as a result, in contrast. Bullet points may be used sparingly, but full sentences show more of your language.
A strong report does more than list facts: it judges them. Say what works, what does not and why it matters, with evaluative language such as particularly effective, a notable weakness or of limited value.
Make sure each recommendation follows from a finding. If the survey shows students skip meals during exams, recommend something that solves exactly that problem.
Show C1 range with reporting verbs (indicated, revealed, expressed concern), passives, reduced relative clauses and the subjunctive after recommend: it is recommended that the school introduce.
Quantifiers need care: a significant proportion, just under a third, the vast majority. Check agreement (the majority of students are) and prepositions (an increase in, access to).
Content: all points covered, with recommendations. Communicative Achievement: formal, objective and useful to the reader. Organisation: title, headings, logical order. Language: range and accuracy.
Common traps: writing it like an essay with opinions everywhere, forgetting the recommendations, headings that do not match the content, and a long introduction that eats up your words.
For your psychology course, you have surveyed students about their sleep. Write a report describing how much sleep students get and what affects it, and recommending how the college could help.
Report on student sleep habits Introduction The aim of this report is to examine how much sleep students at our college get and what prevents them from sleeping well. The findings are based on a questionnaire completed by 120 students from all year groups. How much students sleep The survey revealed that lack of sleep is a serious problem for many students. Only a quarter of respondents regularly sleep the recommended eight hours, while almost two in five manage fewer than six on weekdays. Unsurprisingly, the figures were worst during exam periods, when a significant number admitted to studying until well after midnight. Main causes By far the most common reason given was the use of phones late at night, mentioned by over half of those surveyed. Many students reported checking social media in bed, often without realising how much time had passed. Heavy workloads were the second most frequent explanation, particularly among final-year students with several deadlines in the same week. Recommendations In light of these findings, it is recommended that the college run a short workshop on sleep and study habits at the start of each term, as many students appear to be unaware of how tiredness affects memory. It would also be advisable for teachers to coordinate deadlines so that major assignments do not all fall in the same week. Were these measures introduced, students would be likely to feel less exhausted and perform better in their exams.
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