Write an Executive Summary


Owner: Dr Fang Duan
Number of students: 1
Formative Deadline: Friday W25

Learning Outcomes

To develop students’ ability to effectively communicate complex technical information in written form. Engineering students should be able to produce clear, concise, and well-structured executive summary for reports and research papers that meet professional and academic standards.

Knowledge Requirements

For Knowledge, you should complete the “Executive Summary” Moodle quiz available on this unit’s Moodle page.

Application Requirements

In relation to a specified written existing piece of work, to claim this skill your page must include:

  1. A copy of the written piece
  2. An executive summary that captures the following key information (250-500 words):
  3. Context
  4. Methodology
  5. Results
  6. Conclusion
  7. Impact

Synthesis Requirements

To claim this skill at the synthesis level in relation to a specified written piece of work, your page must include:

  1. A copy of the written piece.
  2. An executive summary (250–500 words) that follows the required structure (Context, Methodology, Results, Conclusion, Impact).
  3. A justification (50–100 words) explaining why this executive summary format was chosen as the most effective way to communicate the value of the work compared with other possible approaches (e.g., full technical report, presentation slides, infographic).
  4. A critical reflection (50–100 words) on how well the executive summary achieved its objective within the wider context of the project or system. This should include: a. What worked well. b. What could be improved. c. How the skill of executive summary writing contributed to a broader project goal or communication strategy.

Knowledge Opportunities

After the lecture W22

Application Opportunities

Project week 3 W24


Labs Demonstrating This Skill

Labs Contributing Towards This Skill