How to Write a Report for Junior Cycle English

Junior Cycle English · Functional Writing

A report is one of the most practical things you can be asked to write. Someone needs information, and they need it set out clearly so they can decide what to do next. Get the structure right and the marks tend to follow.

When It Comes Up

In Section B you may be given a writing task with a specific purpose, and a report is a common one. You might be asked to write a report for your principal on a school event, for a committee on a problem, for the local paper on something that happened in your area, or for the student council on the results of a survey.

The key word is for. A report is always written for someone. That reader has a reason for wanting it. Keep that person in your head the whole way through, and your writing will stay on track.

What a Report Is For

A report informs. Its job is to give a named reader the facts they need so they can act on them. That is the whole point of it.

So a report is not a story. It is not a diary entry, and it is not an opinion piece where you pour out how you feel. It is formal, factual and organised. You can finish with recommendations, and often you should, but the heart of a report is clear information, set out in a way that is easy to use.

The Structure: Intro, Findings, Recommendations

A report has a shape, and the shape does a lot of the work for you. Use these four parts.

• A title. State plainly what the report is about. No drama, just the subject.
• A short introduction. One or two sentences saying who the report is for and what it covers. This sets the scene and shows the examiner you understand the task.
• Findings under clear headings. This is the body. Break it into sections, each with its own heading, and put your facts there.
• A conclusion or recommendations. Pull the findings together and, where it fits, suggest what should happen next.

Plan these parts before you write. Two minutes spent deciding your headings will save you from a muddled answer.

Getting the Register Right

Register means the tone you choose. For a report it is clear, impersonal and controlled. Facts come before feelings.

Write in full, steady sentences. Avoid slang and avoid getting emotional. Instead of “the canteen is an absolute disaster and everyone hates it”, you write “many students reported long queues and a limited choice of food”. Same problem, but the second version reads like a report. It is calm, and it gives whoever reads it something solid to act on.

Using Headings

Headings are your friend in a report. They are one of the few writing tasks where you are actively expected to break the page up. A heading tells your reader exactly where to look, and it shows the examiner that you have organised your material.

You can also use a short bulleted list inside a section to set out findings cleanly, the way the survey results below are laid out. Do not overdo it. A wall of bullet points stops being a report and starts being a list. Use headings to divide, and use full sentences to explain.

A Worked Snippet

Here is the opening of an invented report, written for the student council on a survey about the school canteen. Notice the plain title, the introduction that names the audience and the subject, and the steady, purposeful tone.

Report on the School Canteen Survey

This report is presented to the student council. It sets out the findings of a survey of 200 students carried out in May, and it recommends three changes to improve the canteen at lunchtime. Invented example, illustrating title, introduction and register

That opening does its job in three sentences. It names what the report is, who it is for, what it covers, and where it is going. Whoever picks it up knows immediately what they are holding.

The Mistakes That Cost Marks

Most weak reports go wrong in the same few ways. Watch for these.

• Drifting into story or feelings. The most common slip. You start describing your day or reporting feelings instead of facts. Pull back to the facts.
• No headings, no structure. One long block of text is not a report. Break it up.
• Forgetting the recommendations. If the task hints at a problem, the person who asked for it wants to know what you suggest. Give them that ending.
• Vague findings. “Things could be better” tells nobody anything. Use detail: numbers, examples, specifics.

Using This in the Exam

How to use it: Before you write a word, jot down your title and three or four headings in the margin. Write one or two sentences of introduction naming who it is for and what it covers, fill each headed section with specific facts, then finish with clear recommendations. Stay impersonal the whole way through. If a sentence sounds like a story or a rant, rewrite it as a fact.

In Short

A report informs a named reader so they can act. Keep it formal, factual and organised. Give it a title, a short introduction, findings under clear headings, and a conclusion with recommendations. Stick to facts, use headings to signpost the way, and never let it slide into a story. Do that, and you have written exactly what the task asked for.