Academic report writing

I’m studying an Access to HE (nursing) course and need to write an academic report with a maximum of 2000 words. My course provider hasn’t told me much about how to do this. I’m confident with essays but have never written an academic report before. Do I need to do a title and contents page for this and will they be included in the word count? Any other advice? I’m pretty clueless. Thank you!

I’m studying an Access to HE (nursing) course and need to write an academic report with a maximum of 2000 words. My course provider hasn’t told me much about how to do this. I’m confident with essays but have never written an academic report before. Do I need to do a title and contents page for this and will they be included in the word count? Any other advice? I’m pretty clueless. Thank you!

For Access to HE reports, a title and contents page are usually optional and don’t count towards the word limit. Structure your report with an introduction, main body with clear headings, and a conclusion. Keep it formal, evidence based, and use references properly. Plan your sections first and write clearly and concisely to stay within 2000 words.

Thank you so much, this is really helpful! ☺️

Hi @LaurynTD !
It's hard to answer without knowing exactly what your assignment brief says and more context on what your assignment is. With any assignment there should be some form of briefing which gives you a good explanation of what's expected and what needs to be included, alongside some form of formal mark scheme too so you know how you can achieve your marks.
I see you've said your course provider hasn't told you much about it which sounds like a real pain. I'd recommend reaching out to whatever form of teacher/tutor/staff member you have that teaches you on your course and asking for more specific guidance on what they're expecting from you. An academic report is usually some form of structured writing with different sections depending on what exactly your assignment asks for and your teacher (or the person who will mark it) wants to see. I appreciate you've not been given much detail so far but it is your course provider's responsibility to ensure you have enough information and guidance to be able to complete your assignments so chasing this up with them should be your first step. If you attend classes in person then once you get to class you could ask to speak to them at the end about the assignment. If not then you could email them or use whatever you would usually to communicate and maybe ask for a quick meeting if this is something they can offer. It may be that the information is out there already and you just need guiding to it 😊
Great that you're feeling confident with essays, sounds like you'll be on track once you've got a bit more info!
Becky
University of Salford Student Rep

Thank you for your reply! That’s a really good idea, I’m going to send an email to my tutor. It’s distance learning. It’s split into three sections, and the main topic is equality, diversity and inclusion in healthcare. Should I be using subheadings and splitting it into smaller paragraphs compared to essays? Thanks again!