How to write a report?

| B2 First (FCE)
Reports give you a great opportunity to score really high marks easily! If you are not a
creative person (and that’s okay) then a report is a great choice for you.

What is a report?
A report is a formal piece of writing similar in tone to an essay. You always write reports in
B2 First (FCE) to a superior, this could be a teacher, a director or anyone who you should be
respectful.

A report:
● analyses a present situation and often has recommendations
● is divided into sections and contains factual information
● is written in a formal style
● uses headings for each section

B2 First (FCE) Report: Structure

Introduction
The purpose of this report is to….

Subheading + Paragraph
Give the relevant facts

Subheading + Paragraph
Give the relevant facts

Conclusion
Make your recommendations

B2 First (FCE) Report: Writing Guide

We will use the example FCE report topic below:

Last year a new sport and leisure centre opened in your home town. You have recently
received the following letter from the manager of the centre:

I am writing to all members of the Active Leisure Club tgo thank you for your custom over the
last year. We want to make the facilities even better this year! Please send a short report to
us, telling us what you think are the best and worst aspects of the club. We also want to hear
your suggestions for new facilities…

Write your report to the manager of the club (between 140-190 words).
 Step 1: Find – key points, topic and target reader

You need to start writing your report by finding the key points/information, the subject and
the person to whom you are writing.

Last year a new sport and leisure centre opened in your home town. You have recently
received the following letter from the manager of the centre:

I am writing to all members of the Active Leisure Club to thank you for your custom over the
last year. We want to make the facilities even better this year! Please send a short report to
us, telling us the best and worst aspects of the club. We also want to hear your suggestions
for new facilities…

Subject / Topic: Active Leisure Club wants to improve their facilities

Main key points:

1. describe the best aspects of the club
2. describe the worst aspects of the club
3. suggest new facilities

Target reader: manager of the centre:

As soon as we’ve analyzed the task and extracted all the information that we need we can
start building the report structure and writing it.

Step 2: Title
Although the title is not obligatory, it is certainly an attractive addition and could be
something like:
​ Report on ……. + Topic
​ Topic + : a report
If you remember in the previous step (Step 1) we found the topic. Let’s use it now:
Title: Report on Active Leisure Club facilities
Title: Active Leisure Club facilities: a report

Step 3: Introduction
A good and equivalent introduction should contain two things:

Firstly, you have to state the purpose of the report as clearly as possible – this gives the
reader a clear idea of what to expect and sets the tone for the rest of the report. The purpose
of the report is nothing more than three points you found (in step 1).
1. describe the best aspects of the club
2. describe the worst aspects of the club
3. suggest new facilities

Let’s use them now:

 The purpose of this report is to outline the best (point 1) and worst parts (point 2) of our
club, as well as to recommend improvements to the facilities. (point 3).

Finally, you mention how you collected the data for your report. This is not something that
you have to do but it can help your report stand out a little bit.

The purpose of this report is to outline the best and worst parts of our club, as well as to
recommend improvements to the facilities. The data for the report was collected based on
the opinions of club members (source)

This is the complete and finished introduction with title:

Title: Report on Active Leisure Club facilities

The purpose of this report is to outline the best (point 1) and worst parts of (point 2) our club,
as well as to recommend improvements to the facilities. (point 3) The data for the report was
collected based on the opinions of club members. (source)

Step 4: The body paragraphs (main content)

When we have a ready title and introduction to our report, we can move on to writing the
proper content.
In the main content, you should answer the main key points that you discovered in the task
(see step 1) under suitable subheadings, and each is placed in a separate
section/paragraph.

Main key points (see step 1):

1. describe the best aspects of the club
2. describe the worst aspects of the club
3. suggest new facilities

See the example main content below, with additional annotations you may find useful:

The best aspects of the club – add a heading

Most members seem to enjoy the swimming pool with its daily water exercise classes and
the opportunity to swim in 50-metre lanes. It also appears that offering a child care
programme is appreciated by the majority of our members since many of them have
families, but still would like to use the facilities of the club.

The worst aspects of the club – add heading

According to most of the members I have spoken to, the café does not meet their
expectations with below-average food and slow service. Another problem is the state of the
gymnasium which, in general, is avoided by many because of broken equipment and a
lack of staff during peak times.
Suggestions
[…… here you can add one more paragraph and give suggestions, OR include them in the
conclusion]

BOLD – formal/indirect language – official

ITALICS / UNDERLINED – transitional words, expressions and conjunctions, which link the
sentences and make the text more fluid

Headings are very important! When you write a report, every paragraph must have a title.
But don’t worry, these do not need to be creative titles. This is not an article! Headings must
be factual. They must only let the reader know what information will be contained in the
paragraph.

So what is a very boring and factual title?

Introduction… , Positive aspects of… , Negative aspects of…, Improvements…,

Recommendations…, Suggestions…

Step 5: Conclusion

After writing the entire content, we only have a summary where we can also include our
suggestions or recommendations – to do this we can use some specific language that is
there to persuade the manager of the centre to take up our idea and implement it.

Suggestions & conclusions (add a heading)

In the final analysis, the best solutions seem to be to improve the quality of the menu and the
service at the café as well as the maintenance schedule and number of staff at the
gymnasium. If the manager decides to follow recommendations, the experience of members
will improve.

– persuasive language (recommendations)

– suggestions
Here is the full report:
Report on Active Leisure Club facilities
The purpose of this report is to outline the best and worst parts of our club, as well as to
recommend improvements to the facilities. The data for the report was collected based on
the opinions of club members
The best aspects of the club
Most members seem to enjoy the swimming pool with its daily water exercise classes and
the opportunity to swim in 50-metre lanes. It also appears that offering a child care
programme is appreciated by the majority of our members since many of them have families,
but still would like to use the facilities of the club.
The worst aspects of the club
According to most of the members I have spoken to, the café does not meet their
expectations with below-average food and slow service. Another problem is the state of the
gymnasium which, in general, is avoided by many because of broken equipment and a lack
of staff during peak times.
Suggestions & conclusions
In the final analysis, the best solutions seem to be to improve the quality of the menu and the
service at the café, as well as the maintenance schedule and number of staff at the
gymnasium. If the manager decides to follow recommendations, the experience of members
will improve.
To sum up….
● A report is a formal paper. It has to be concise and well-organized, therefore it is
recommended to use bullet points and headings so that the reader can quickly find
the information they are looking for in your text.
● The language of a report is expected to be formal and objective. For this reason, you
should avoid including yourself or your views in most of your sentences.

B2 First (FCE) Report: Writing Checklist

Content
​ Have I covered all the key information required by the task?
​ Have I written only information which is relevant to the task?
​ Have I developed the basic points in the task with my own ideas?
​
Communicative Achievement
​ Have I achieved the main purpose(s) of the text (for example, explaining, persuading,
suggesting, apologising, comparing, etc.)?
​ Have I communicated a balance of straightforward and more complex ideas?
​ Have I used a suitable style and register (formal or informal) for the task?
​
Organisation
​ Have I used paragraphs appropriately to organise my ideas?
​ Have I used other organisational features appropriately for the genre of the text (for
example, titles, headings, openings, closings, etc.)?
​ Is the connection between my ideas clear and easy for the reader to follow? (For
example, have I used appropriate linking words, pronouns, etc. to refer to different
things within the text?)
​ Are the ideas balanced appropriately, with suitable attention and space given to each
one?
Language
​ Have I used a wide range of vocabulary?
​ Have I avoided repeating the same words and phrases?
​ Have I used a range of simple and more complex grammatical structures?
​ Have I correctly used any common phrases which are relevant to the specific task or
topic?
​ Is my use of grammar accurate?
​ Is my spelling accurate?
B2 First (FCE) Report: Tips
❖ Begin by stating the purpose of your report.
❖ You may use invented statistics to provide a succinct summary of your results.
❖ Use headings. They will make it clear that your report is not an essay or review.
 ❖ Use lists of numbered points or bullets where appropriate.
❖ Divide your report into sections according to the input.
❖ Develop the ideas in the task input.
❖ Include a sentence summarising your opinion at the beginning of the final section of
your report.
❖ Use an impersonal, formal style.

B2 First (FCE) Report: Grading

Language
It might seem that it’s difficult to use advanced language in a Report. After all, the topics are
usually so dry —what can you write to show your creativity?
This is why being specific is so important. The more specific your ideas, the more specific
the language you have to use, and therefore the more advanced your language will seem.
Don’t stop with ‘computer’ – think of ‘interactive whiteboard’, ‘webcam’ and so on.

Organization
It’s not always easy to show links between paragraphs in a Report — especially since each
paragraph addresses a single point.
However, you can make sure to link your ideas in each paragraph, so that the sentences
build up to a complete, fully-formed idea.
Try to use different sentence patterns. For example, use an adverbial clause at the start of
the sentence to introduce your idea— ‘It’s highly likely that…” for example.

Communication
Reports should be written in a formal register.
It’s a good idea to use the passive voice (eg ‘This report has been written ….”) but not in
every sentence – you will send the Target Reader to sleep if you rely on it too much.
Introduce complex ideas as well as simple ones. Saying that there is a computer in every
classroom is a simple one — but saying that the webcam can be used to communicate with
people online is an example of a more complex idea.

Content
It’s important that you consider all of the content points.
Everything you write must be relevant to the task. Don’t get distracted by something you
think is more interesting.
Add as much specific details as you can — this will make the Target Reader feel fully
informed.

B2 First (FCE) Report: Useful Language & Phrases

Introduction (the goal of the report)

The aim of this report is to
As requested, I am writing this report to
This report aims to outline/assess
The purpose behind this report is to
Development
The first observation to make concerns…
It has to be stressed that…
According to (the majority of respondents)…
In spite of (the fact that)…
Despite (the fact that)…
The outlook for …… is (far from) bright/optimistic/depressing/daunting
The future looks bleak/remains uncertain/is promising
This seems unlikely in the near/foreseeable future

Recommendations
I suggest/recommend
I would like to suggest/recommend
I therefore suggest
I advise you (not) to
I believe it would be beneficial
It would be advisable to
You may wish/want to consider
If you wish to…, you should
If we wish to…, we ought to
Conclusion
Provided that these recommendations are taken into consideration,…

In conclusion,…
From the research one can conclude that…