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Creative Writing Crash Course
Report Writing

As a student, you will be required to write reports for different purposes. Whether it's to inform your teacher of your findings during a science project or to persuade your audience of something in an argumentative essay, the ability to write a clear, concise report is critical.
In this lesson, we'll discuss the basics of how to write a report and provide helpful tips along the way. So read on if you're writing your first report or want some pointers on improving your writing skills!
Types of Report Writing Tasks in the 11 Plus Exam
You could be asked to write three types of reports in the 11 Plus exam: an information report, an explanation report or a discussion report. Let's look at each one in a bit more detail.
An information report relays factual information about a particular subject. This type of report is often used in the sciences to communicate the results of an experiment. When writing an information report, it's essential to use clear and concise language so your reader can easily understand the data you are presenting. This can be an information leaflet, a school newsletter etc.
An explanation report seeks to explain how or why something happens. This type of report is common in history and social studies classes. When writing an explanation report, using specific and concrete examples to support your claims is important.
A discussion report presents different points of view on a particular issue. This type of report is often used in English and language arts classes. When writing a discussion report, it's important to be objective and present both sides of the argument fairly. This can be a newspaper article or a speech.
The Five Ws and One H
One helpful way to organise your report is using the Five W's and One H methods. This stands for:
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Who - who is involved?
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What - what happened?
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When - when did it happen?
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Where - where did it happen?
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Why - why did it happen?
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How - how did it happen?
Using this method, you can ensure you cover all the essential details in your report. Depending on the report type, some of these questions may be more relevant than others.
For example, in an information report about a new species of animal, the "who" and "what" would be most important, while in a discussion report about world hunger, the "why" and "how" would be most important.
Once you've decided which questions are most relevant to your report, you can start brainstorming some answers. This will help you to structure your information logically and make sure you don't forget any crucial details.
Tips for Writing a Great Report
Now that we've gone over the basics of report writing let's look at some tips to help you write an excellent report:
1. Use Clear and Concise Language
When writing a report, it's important to use language that is easy to understand. This means avoiding jargon and using simple sentence structures. Remember, the goal is to communicate your findings clearly, not impress your reader with big words!
2. Be Objective
If you're writing a report that presents different points of view on an issue, it's essential to be objective. This means showing both sides of the argument fairly and not letting your personal opinion influence your writing
3. Use Evidence to Support Your Claims
When making claims or assertions in your report, back them up with evidence. This could be data from experiments, quotes from experts, or statistics from reliable sources. Using evidence will make your report more convincing and credible.
4. Stay on Topic
Keep your focus narrow and present only the relevant information to your report. Otherwise, you risk losing your reader's attention if you start writing extra information that has only little or nothing to do with the topic.