B2 First (FCE) Report: Writing Guide
Many people believe that reports are boring, but reports give you a great opportunity to score
really high marks easily. If you are not a creative person (and that’s okay) then a report is a
great choice for you in part two of the B2 First writing exam.
What is a report?
A report is a formal piece of writing similar in tone to an essay. You always write reports in B2
First (FCE) to a superior; this could be a teacher, a director or anyone who you should be
respectful to.
A report
- analyses a past situation or an experience and often has recommendations
- is divided into sections and contains factual information
- is written in a formal style
- uses headings for each section
Step 1: Find key points, topic and target reader
You need to start writing your report by finding the key points/information, the subject and the
person to whom you are writing. As soon as we’ve analysed the task and extracted all the
information that we need we can start building the report structure and writing it.
Step 2: Title
The review should start with the title and there are simple ways to write it:
- Report on ……. + Topic
- Topic +: a report
Step 3: Introduction
You have to state the purpose of the report as clearly as possible – this gives the reader a clear
idea of what to expect and sets the tone for the rest of the report. The purpose of the report is
nothing more than three points you found (in step 1)
Step 4: The body paragraphs (main content)
When we have a ready title and introduction to our report, we can move on to writing the
proper content.
In the content, you should answer the main key points that you discovered in the task (see step
1) under suitable subheadings, and each is placed in a separate section/paragraph. Headings
are very important. When you write a report every paragraph must have a title but don’t
worry, these do not need to be creative titles. This is not an article. Headings must be factual.
They must only let the reader know what information will be contained in the paragraph.
Step 5: Conclusion
After writing the entire content, we write a summary where we can also include our
suggestions or recommendations – to do this we can use language to persuade whoever the
report is for to take up our recommendations.
MODEL ANSWER
The gym you work for has been losing members recently and would like to know why they are
leaving. The gym manager has asked you to write a report about why these customers are
leaving. In your report you should specify what the problems are and should give
recommendations for improvement.
Write your report 140 – 190 words.
Improving Our Gym
Introduction
The aim of this report is to explain the main reasons why members are leaving the gym. After
interviewing some clients, we have identified some serious problems.
Limited opening hours
Some members have complained that the gym opens a little late for them. For this reason,
workers cannot exercise before going to work. If the gym opened at 7 a.m., clients could
exercise easily before going to work.
The changing rooms
Many of the lockers are broken so customers cannot leave their belongings in a safe place.
Also, some of the showers are not working properly so members have to queue before having
a shower. In order to solve this, I suggest replacing all lockers and showers immediately.
Lack of parking spaces
Some previous members have joined gyms which have a parking lot. Although we cannot build
a parking lot, we can offer a parking area for bicycles. As a result, this might encourage
members to use their bikes to come to the gym.
Conclusion
To sum up, I believe that if we take care of these problems, members will be happier and will
decide to stay with us.
