Report writing appears on the writing paper at both Level 2 and Level 3, and it is one of the easiest tasks on the entire exam to lose marks on. Not because candidates do not understand the topic. Because they do not understand the format.

A report is not an essay with subheadings stuck on top of it. It has its own structure, its own register, and its own grammar requirements, and examiners are trained to check all three before they even engage closely with your ideas. Most candidates spend their preparation time on vocabulary lists and almost none on format, then lose marks they could have kept with very little extra effort.

This guide sets out exactly what a strong STANAG 6001 report needs: how to identify the right type of report before you start writing, how to structure it for your level, the register rules examiners check first, and the grammar and vocabulary that actually move your score.

Identify Your Report Type Before You Write a Word

Every STANAG report falls into one of three categories: an assessment report, which evaluates a situation and weighs its strengths and weaknesses; an informative report, which sets out facts and developments without making a judgement call; and a proposal report, which argues for a specific course of action.

Before you write anything, decide which one the task is actually asking for. This single decision shapes your verbs, your structure, and the opening sentence of your report, so getting it wrong at the planning stage costs you marks before you have written a single paragraph.

Unlike an essay, a report states its aim immediately, in the very first sentence. There is no warming up. Use direct, formal verbs: to assess, to evaluate, to examine, to outline, to provide a critical assessment of, to make recommendations regarding.

Match Your Structure to Your Level

The same task type, a report, appears on both Level 2 and Level 3, but what counts as a strong answer is different at each level. Knowing the gap matters as much as knowing the format itself.

Get the Register Right. Examiners Check This First

A report is addressed to a commanding officer, a superior, or colleagues, and that relationship has to be visible in your language from the first line. Four rules govern formal register on this task, and breaking any of them signals to the examiner that you have not internalised the format, regardless of how accurate your grammar is elsewhere.

• No contractions. Write “it is” rather than “it’s”, “do not” rather than “don’t”.
• No direct questions to the reader.
• No second-person “you”. Depersonalise instead, using “one”, the passive voice, or the relevant party by name, such as “personnel” or “the unit”.
• Passive voice wherever the action matters more than who carried it out, which in a report is most of the time.

A small shift in phrasing makes a large difference to how formal a sentence reads.

Build Every Section Around a Title and Subheadings

Unlike a formal letter or an essay, a report needs an overall title, and every section within it needs its own subheading. Skipping either is one of the fastest ways to lose marks for format, and it is entirely avoidable.

Most tasks also expect a dedicated recommendations section, and the phrasing you choose there should match your level.

Use Grammar That Actually Earns Marks

Vocabulary gets most of the attention in exam preparation, but examiners are scoring grammatical range as closely as anything else. These are the structures that consistently appear in strong reports.

Passive voice, across tenses

Joint exercises are coordinated annually across participating nations.

Several training modules were redesigned following the assessment.

New protocols have been implemented across three member states.

Modal verbs, matched to function

Prediction: Interoperability will improve once standardised protocols are adopted. Budget constraints may limit the pace of implementation.

Strong recommendation: Commanders must prioritise joint training exercises.

Standard recommendation: Additional resources should be allocated to logistics coordination.

Obligation, not recommendation: Personnel had to complete the revised certification process before deployment.

Conditionals, especially the mixed conditional at Level 3

If the original timeline had been maintained, current readiness levels would be considerably higher.

Advanced structures for Level 3

Having been delayed by supply shortages, the programme is now several months behind schedule.

The unit had never operated under these conditions before the exercise began.

The new protocol, which was introduced after the most recent review, has reduced reporting delays significantly.

Upgrade Your Vocabulary, Stop Translating From Your Own Language

The verb “to be” appears constantly in first drafts, and every time it does, the report sounds a little more basic. Train yourself to spot it and replace it: constitute, represent, embody, and account for all do more precise work than a flat “is”.

Verb plus preposition: to account for, to result in, to contribute to, to comply with, to be derived from, to culminate in.

Collocations: to pose a threat, to mitigate risk, to set a precedent, to gain momentum, to bridge a gap, to streamline a process.

Phrasal Verbs You Are Allowed to Use

Most phrasal verbs are too informal for a report, but a small set is standard in formal English, including military reporting, and using them correctly signals genuine fluency rather than a memorised list.

to point out, to carry out, to find out, to look forward to, to put forward, to set out.

Choose Linking Words With a Purpose, Not as Filler

Opening every paragraph with firstly, secondly, and thirdly organises a text, but it does not demonstrate range, and leaning on moreover as the only connector available reads as repetitive rather than fluent. Choose linking words for the logical job they actually do.

• Contrast: despite, in spite of, although
• Result: due to, plus a noun, therefore, as a result
• Addition: furthermore, in addition
• Emphasis: in fact
• Example: for instance, such as. Avoid “like” in formal writing, it belongs in speech.

A Two Minute Edit Checklist Before You Submit

• Have you addressed every point in the task instructions, not just most of them
• Is your aim stated clearly in the first sentence
• Does every section have its own subheading
• Have you used passive voice wherever the action matters more than the actor
• Have you avoided contractions, direct questions, and “you” throughout
• Does every linking word serve an actual logical purpose
• Have you checked subject-verb agreement for singular and plural subjects

Final Word

A strong STANAG 6001 report is not about sounding clever. It is about matching a precise format consistently, and that format can be learned and practised like any other skill.

Every structure in this guide is practised in full inside the dedicated report lesson for your level: the Level 2 Report and Memo lesson or the Level 3 Report Writing lesson, alongside the grammar and vocabulary drills you need to apply them under exam conditions.

NATO, Military and armed forces candidates can access the same Level 2 and Level 3 writing lessons and training directly at www.jfltenglishacademy.com.

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Tea Browne is the founder of STANAG English Academy and JFLT English Academy.