Structure of a Report
The structure and content of a report will depend on the type of report and its purpose. You should always check your assignment brief carefully for guidance on this. More detailed guidance on the structure of different types of reports can be explored using the Further Reading section.
Section headings and subheadings are used to provide the formal structure of a report and to guide the reader through it. Headings should be concise and clearly indicate the content of each section, enabling the reader to dip into the report to find the content they require.
A general outline of the structure of a report is shown below.
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Title Page | Clear and informative title of report |
| Abstract or Executive Summary | Summary of purpose, methodology/methods, findings, conclusions, and key recommendations |
| Table of Contents | Including section titles and page numbers for the starting page of each section |
| Introduction | Background, review of key literature, purpose and aims of the report (including scope and limitations of what you are doing), brief outline of the approach and methods. |
| Main Body (with Section headings) Eg. Methodology, Methods, Results, Discussion This will vary depending on the type and purpose of the report. |
Can include methodology (the general approach taken informed by theory), methods used to collect information or data, presentation of results, discussion, and interpretation of results. Note that the discussion is usually the most important part of any report and is often the longest section. |
| Conclusion and Recommendations | Conclusion which demonstrates how the aims of the report have been met. Recommendations for changes in practice, actions, or further research. Recommendations should be clearly based on the conclusions. |
| Reference List | |
| Appendices | Supporting information, eg. detailed or additional data, further tables, and charts. Note that the report should be able to stand alone without the appendices so don’t include any essential information here. Appendices should be given titles and numbered. They must be referred to in the main body. |
Check your assignment brief to see if there is specific guidance on how to format your headings. If not, to make your headings stand out use a slightly larger font size. All sections of a report from the Introduction to the Conclusion are usually numbered (1, 2, 3 etc). Where subheadings are used multilevel numbering will be needed (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 etc). You can add these numbers manually to your headings but to make this easier when using Word you can apply Heading Styles and use automatic Multilevel Numbering.
For example:
1. Section Heading
1.1 Subheading
1.2 Subheading
