The Initial Report

(1,000-1,500 words) 

The aim of this report is to inform the supervisor of the current project status and to review the feasibility of the project and objectives.  It is important that this procedure concentrates on the key issues and that it requires the minimum of effort on the student’s part. The report should give a summary of the overall project status.  It should include a header page and three sections: current situation, problem areas and key work during the next period. 

Current situation

In this section, describe the completed work.  This should include an account of the literature survey to date – what books and articles have been consulted and how the material fits in with what one is planning to do. This should be supported by a Bibliography in Harvard Reference format (or equivalent) as described in the project lectures and on the projects pages of the CMS Student Intranet. 

Problem Areas

The problem areas should describe the critical factors that will affect the meeting of target dates. Now is the time to bring to your supervisor’s attention any problems that have arisen so far.  This includes problems in obtaining equipment and software – and access to key people. This acts as an early warning system and focuses attention on the matters requiring urgent attention. 

If it is found that the project scope was too ambitious and some aspect of it needs to be revised then there is still time to make changes so you have a chance of completing on time. Any changes will need to be approved by your project supervisor. 

Key work during the next period

In this section specify methods, tasks and activities plus the estimates of time to complete them. Indicate the actual progress and identify any deviation from the original proposal and plan.  

The Initial Report should be uploaded via the link on the project pages on the CMS Student Intranet.