How to Start a Report Introduction

Start a report introduction by naming the problem or question your report addresses. Give enough context to explain why you are investigating it, then state the report’s purpose and boundaries. Add a brief method or section outline where your assignment requires one.

Table of Contents

Report introduction example

Illustrative example: the school, proposal and documents below are fictional. This is a writing example, not a report of research conducted by AcadFundu.

A school library committee is considering opening the library later on two weekdays. This report assesses three possible timetables to help the committee decide whether to run a trial. It compares the options against staffing cost, supervision requirements and access after lessons, using the proposed timetables and a draft staffing budget. The assessment covers weekday opening only; weekend access and building alterations are outside its scope. The report sets out the comparison criteria, examines each option and presents a recommendation for the committee.

Each part has a job:

Context: the first sentence identifies a specific proposal, rather than making a broad claim about the importance of libraries.
Purpose and audience: the second tells us what decision the committee needs help with.
Approach: the third names both the comparison criteria and the documents used. A real report would need those documents; do not claim to have reviewed material you have not seen.
Scope: the fourth stops readers expecting a plan for weekend access or construction work.
Roadmap: the last sentence shows where the report goes next without announcing an unsupported result.

What should the introduction include?

The University of Sussex’s report-writing guidance identifies the background, rationale, question, approach and limits as relevant introduction material. Use these as checks, not as five compulsory subheadings:

Background: what does this reader need to know before the report makes sense?
Purpose: what will you investigate, explain or evaluate?
Scope: which setting, period, options or issues are included and excluded?
Approach: what evidence or method informs the investigation? Keep procedural detail in the appropriate later section.
Organisation: would a brief outline help the reader navigate a longer report?

How to write your opening sentence

Compare these two invented openings for the same library report:

Too vague: “In today’s world, libraries play a very important role in education.”

More useful: “This report assesses three options for extending weekday access to the school library.”

The second identifies a task the report can actually complete. If the committee’s proposal needs explaining first, use the contextual opening in the longer example. Neither sentence needs a dramatic hook or an invented statistic.

Introduction or executive summary?

An introduction establishes the investigation. An executive summary gives a condensed account of the completed report, including its main findings and recommendations. Monash University’s business-report guide explains these as separate sections.

For the fictional library report, “This report assesses three possible timetables” states its purpose. “The comparison supports a trial of option B” would state a finding—but it would be dishonest to add that sentence before doing the comparison. Do not turn the introduction into a second executive summary unless your required format calls for that.

Adapt the introduction to your assignment

Check the brief before borrowing a structure. Monash’s general report guide notes that report conventions differ by discipline and audience.

Laboratory report: introduce the scientific question and relevant background. State a hypothesis if the task asks for one; the library example is not a lab-report template.
Business or feasibility report: identify the decision, intended reader and options being evaluated.
Placement report: identify the placement context and the aspect of work being examined, without disclosing confidential information.

There is no useful universal sentence count. Include what the brief and reader need, then remove material that belongs in the literature review, methods or findings. Revise the introduction after drafting the body so its promises match the report you actually wrote.

Before you submit

Replace “this report discusses many issues” with the actual question or task.
Check that every method, document and source you name was genuinely used.
Cite factual background claims using your required referencing style.
Remove promised sections that are missing from the finished report.
Keep examples as examples: do not present the fictional library paragraph as your own investigation.

For source attribution, see how to reference a website in Harvard style. Our academic writing resources collect related guides.