Report Writing
A report is a form of communication within businesses, organisations and workplaces.
It is a document with a specific target e.g. Headmaster, Manager and The Police.
The recipient of the report depends on the question.
Tips for writing a report
The title should be derived from the question and should highlight the subject of the report
as briefly as possible
Always state the purpose of the report in the first paragraph and your authority for
compiling such a report.
The introduction should answer: Who, What, Why and When.
The How and Why is answered in the body of the report.
Develop the given pegs as briefly as possible.
A single idea should be developed in a single paragraph.
The language should be formal and not colloquial.
For graphs, it is not enough to merely sate the figures as they are but provide an analysis
of the statistics.
Use words like: Firstly, secondly and finally to maintain the flow of your report and ensure
that those reading can easily follow through the report.
Whenever appropriate try to predict the future based on your understanding of current data
e.g.: We expect food production to continue to increase at Tola farm as demand is still
healthy and the economic environment has improved.
Make suggestions wherever appropriate e.g.: I would strongly recommend more timely
purchase of necessary inputs so as to avoid such problems in future.
Format and Example
To: The Officer in Charge
From: The Councilor
Date: 08 September 2022
Title: The patterns of road accidents in Warren Park D
This report serves to inform you about the trends of road accidents in Warren Park D from 2013
to 2018. The report will also give possible causes of the trend shown in the table and notify you
on some measures being taken to reduce the cases of road accidents in the ward.
The cases of accidents reported in 2013 were five hundred. The cases reported were very high and
that was attributed to reckless driving. Most drivers who were involved in the accidents did not
have licenses. Hence, they made many errors and sometimes did not even bother to obey traffic
rules.
In 2014 the cases of road accidents dropped significantly to two hundred and fifty. The huge drop
of the number of cases was as a result of the police who were very strict on the roads and those
who were found without licenses were heavily penalised by being sentenced to five years in jail.
Compiled by Mr. Chiwayanga and adopted from Zimsec Online Notes and English Language Module
Volume 1, Level II