Another 25% of your marks come from coherence and cohesion, which refers to how well you organize your ideas and how smoothly they are connected. A well-planned report has a logical flow and is easy to read. Without planning, your report may become disjointed or confusing, as ideas are presented in a random order.

Why does planning improve Coherence & Cohesion?

• Organizes your thoughts: When you plan your report, you are essentially creating a blueprint for how your ideas will be structured. This allows you to group similar ideas together, ensuring that each paragraph has a clear focus and purpose.
• Creates logical flow: Planning helps you decide the order in which to present information. For example, after introducing the task and providing an overview, you might choose to first describe the most significant trend, followed by less important details. This logical progression makes it easier for the examiner to follow your argument.
• Ensures smooth transitions: Planning allows you to think about how to link your ideas. Without planning, it’s easy to write paragraphs that feel disconnected from each other. However, during the planning stage, you can decide which linking words or phrases to use to create smooth transitions (e.g., “in contrast,” “similarly,” “however”).

How to plan for better structure:

• Decide on paragraph divisions: Generally, your report will follow a four-paragraph structure: an introduction, an overview, and two details paragraphs. During your planning time, decide what information will go into each section.
• Group similar ideas together: Make sure that each paragraph focuses on a clear and specific aspect of the data. For example, one paragraph might focus on the data from one country or year, while the next compares it to another country or time period.
• Use appropriate linking words: Think about the linking words you will use to connect ideas between sentences and paragraphs. These help to create Coherence in your report. For example, “On the other hand” can be used to contrast two different trends, while “Furthermore” can be used to add more information about a single trend.