A postgraduate assessor is not marking how much you know about a case or topic; they are marking what you do with it. The UK's qualification frameworks set out what a master's degree (level 7) should show (QAA, 2024). In plain words, and as our own gloss: you understand current problems in your field critically, you deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, you make sound judgements when the data is incomplete, and you explain your conclusions clearly to specialists and non-specialists alike. Business reports test exactly these things, because a manager rarely has complete data either.

Three kinds of writing sit behind every mark. Description says what is: the facts, the figures, what a source says. Analysis explains why it is so and what it means: it connects facts, finds causes and shows how one thing affects another. Evaluation judges: which evidence is strongest, which option is better on the criteria you set, what the weaknesses are and what should be done. You need some description, because a reader needs the facts in front of them, but at postgraduate level it earns little on its own. Most marks go to analysis and evaluation.

The quickest way to move up is to ask "so what?" of your own sentences. A sentence that only reports a figure is description. Ask "so what does this mean?" and the answer is analysis. Ask "so what should we conclude, or do?" and the answer is evaluation. A good paragraph often contains all three, in that order, with most of its words in the last two.

Read the marking rubric before you write, not after. A rubric is the table that tells you what each grade band looks like and how the marks are split between criteria. Look first at its command words. "Describe" asks for an accurate account; "analyse" asks you to break something down and explain how its parts work; "evaluate" or "critically evaluate" asks for a judgement backed by evidence; "recommend" asks you to choose and say what should happen. Then read the top band and underline what it asks for that the middle band does not. Words such as "critical", "justified" and "well-evidenced" usually appear there. Those differences are your checklist while you write.

A business report is written for a decision-maker who is busy, may read only the first page and needs to act. That shapes everything about it. An essay builds an argument in flowing prose and usually ends with its conclusion; a report puts its main findings and recommendation first, divides the content into numbered sections with headings, and lets each reader go straight to the part they need. Many postgraduate assessments ask for a report precisely because it tests whether you can write for that reader.

Most business reports use a version of this structure. The title page gives the title, who it is for, who wrote it and the date. The executive summary is a short, stand-alone version of the whole report: its purpose, key findings, recommendation and main risk, written for someone who reads nothing else. It usually comes to around a tenth of the word count and is written last. The introduction states the purpose, the decision question, the scope (what the report covers and what it leaves out) and how the report is organised. The analysis sets out what the evidence shows, section by section, with the evidence judged as you learnt in Module 3. The options section compares the realistic choices against your criteria. Conclusions and recommendations state what you conclude and what should be done; implementation and risks says how, by when, at what cost and what could go wrong. The references list every source cited, and the appendices hold the detail: full calculations, survey questions, raw counts.

Number the headings (1, 1.1, 1.2) so readers and markers can find their way. Each section should do one job, and its heading should say what that job is: "3. Demand evidence for Option A" tells the reader more than "3. Discussion". Keep anything the reader must see to follow the argument in the main text. An appendix supports the argument but cannot make it, because many markers read appendices only to check, and some do not count or mark them at all.

Before writing a word of prose, set a word budget. Give the analysis and options the largest share, because that is where analysis and evaluation earn marks, and keep the introduction and conclusion short. Always follow your assignment brief where it asks for a different structure: the shape above is a strong default, not a rule.

Good report writing argues. Each paragraph should make one point and back it, and a simple pattern helps: point, evidence, explanation, link. The point is the paragraph's first sentence, the topic sentence, and states what the paragraph claims. The evidence gives the figure, finding or source that supports it, with a citation. The explanation is your reasoning: why the evidence supports the point, and what limits it. The link connects the point back to the decision question or on to the next paragraph. It is the explanation that turns description into analysis, so give it at least as many words as the evidence.

Signposting guides a busy reader. Headings show the route; topic sentences show where each paragraph is going; linking words show the relationship between ideas: "however" for a contrast, "as a result" for a consequence, "by contrast" for a comparison. A reader who reads only your topic sentences should still be able to follow the argument.

Match the strength of your language to the strength of your evidence. This is called hedging, and it is a skill, not a weakness. "The survey proves customers want our bakes in farm shops" claims too much from 412 loyal customers; "the survey suggests some loyal customers would buy our bakes in a farm shop" claims what the evidence supports. Words such as "suggests", "indicates", "on this evidence" and "if the forecast holds" show a marker that you know how far your evidence goes. Don't hedge everything, though: where the arithmetic is certain, state it plainly.

Write in concise British business English. Prefer short sentences, one idea in each. Prefer the active voice ("Kettle & Crumb would need a second deck oven") to the passive ("a second deck oven would be needed"), because it shows who acts. Cut words that add nothing: "in order to" becomes "to". Check whether your assignment allows the first person ("I recommend"); many business reports do, and some institutions prefer the third person.

Recommendations need the most care. A recommendation a decision-maker can act on says who should do what, by when, and why, and where it matters at what cost. "Consider growth options" is a wish; "commit to Option B by a named date, subject to a stated condition" is a decision. Every recommendation should follow from your analysis: if a reader asks "where did that come from?", the answer should be a section of your report. Finally, keep every figure consistent: a number in the text must match its appendix and the executive summary, rounded the same way each time.

Referencing does two jobs. It gives credit to the people whose work you use, and it lets your reader check your evidence. In Harvard style, an author–date system, each source is cited briefly in the text, as (Blakeslee, 2004), and listed in full in an alphabetical reference list at the end. Harvard style varies a little between institutions, so check which version yours uses. Many UK universities follow Cite Them Right (Pears and Shields, 2025), now in its 13th edition, and this module's examples follow it too.

A quotation repeats an author's exact words in quotation marks, with the page number in the citation: (QAA, 2024, p. 24). Use quotations sparingly, where the exact wording matters. A paraphrase puts the idea in your own words and sentence structure, and it still needs a citation, because the idea is still someone else's. Changing a few words of the original while keeping its structure is neither: it is close copying, and it can count as plagiarism.

Business reports often rely on sources that were never published. Cite Them Right treats unpublished internal documents as a reference-list entry ending with the word "Unpublished": the author or organisation, the year, the title in single quotation marks, then the organisation. Personal communications, such as an email or a conversation, are cited in the text with the sender and year. Cite Them Right also gives a reference-list format, but because a reader cannot trace them, many institutions leave them out: check yours, and ask permission before you quote someone.

Academic integrity means doing your own work honestly: acknowledging every source, working alone unless collaboration is allowed, and never presenting someone else's work, or a tool's, as your own. Plagiarism is the failure to acknowledge, as in copying without a citation or close paraphrase; buying or sharing work, and reusing your own assessed work without permission, are also misconduct.

The same applies to generative AI tools. The rules on using them in assessed work differ between institutions and they change often, so follow your institution's current policy and your assignment brief. Where use is allowed, two habits keep you safe. Check every fact and reference an AI tool gives you against the original source, and cite that source, not the tool. Say openly what you used it for in a short AI-use statement, for example: "I used [tool] to suggest a structure for section 2 and to check grammar. All analysis, figures and sources are my own and were checked against the originals." Where a tool's output appears in your report, Cite Them Right includes formats for referencing AI-generated material, though institutions differ on whether they want it in the reference list.

A first draft gets the argument down; editing makes it readable and correct. Leave time for it: a day between drafting and editing lets you read what you wrote rather than what you meant to write. Edit in passes, from the big picture to the small print, because there is no point polishing a sentence in a section you are about to cut.

Start with structure. Reverse outline the draft: list the topic sentence of every paragraph on a separate page. If the list does not read as a clear argument, move, merge or cut paragraphs until it does. Then write the executive summary, last, when you finally know what the report says.

Next, cut to the word limit. Check what your institution counts; reference lists and appendices are often excluded, while tables and headings vary. Cut description before analysis, repetition before evidence, and long phrases before ideas. If you are still over, ask whether every section earns its share of your word budget. Few markers reward a report that is well over the limit, and some stop reading at it.

Then check every number and claim. Recalculate each figure from its inputs, and compare it with the appendix and the executive summary. Round the same way everywhere, and say when a figure is rounded. Make sure each claim has a citation, and each citation an entry in the reference list. Numbers are where readers lose trust fastest: one wrong total makes them doubt every other figure.

Proofread last, one issue at a time: spelling, then punctuation, then consistency of terms and headings. Reading aloud slows you down enough to hear missing words, and changing the font or printing the draft helps you see it afresh. A spell-checker will not catch "from" for "form", or a misspelt name.

Finally, use feedback. Feedback on this assignment explains your mark; feed-forward is what you carry into the next one. When you get comments, sort them into two groups: those about this report only and those about your habits, such as description where analysis was needed, or missing page numbers in quotations. The second group is worth more. Write your top two habits at the top of your next draft and check for them before you submit. The Report Readiness Checklist (Report Readiness Checklist) turns these checks into a list you can work through, and shows what to fix first.