PAT Report cover page

« Previous step: Brainstorming the 2024 topic

When reports and tender documents are submitted in the business world, they are likely to be one document in a pile of many! Your cover page may be your one chance to say: “Read ME!” before your hard work is consigned to a pile on a desk marked “REJECTED“. This work can only be completed once you have your PAT topic.

1. Details

The following full details must be included on your cover page — do not use abbreviations (“CAT”, “PAT”, etc.) and capitalise correctly:

• All grades:
  • your full name & surname
  • your grade
  • the full name of your school, e.g. SACS High School
  • the full subject name: Computer Applications Technology
  • the PAT Topic
  • the due date, in long date format, e.g.: 25 July 2024
• Grade 10 & 11:
  • the Focus Question (below the Topic)
• Grade 11 & Grade 12:
  • Controls must be used for all information on the Cover Page
  • a control for a meaningful abstract (Grade 11’s leave this empty until Phase 3)
• Grade 12:
  • the Learner Guide instructs you to add the abstract itself to the Control in Phase 1

2. Layout

I am no creative artist, but a basic layout like the one below is a great start for a cover page. Notice specifically:

• I have used generous vertical whitespace (using paragraph before and paragraph after spacing) to use the entire page — read the post Whitespace in design for more
• I have used horizontal alignment to group the paragraphs logically; it is a bad idea to only use left, right or center alignment.
• Remember: center-aligned text is difficult to read, so don’t center-align everything!

I have included a screenshot with formatting marks displayed to demonstrate that I have NOT used blank paragraphs (the Enter key) to create vertical spacing!

3. Fonts

Additionally, I have used font size to emphasize the topic. The most vital information is the Topic and the Focus Question. You will probably want to make the Topic text as large as possible while keeping it on one line. The same goes for the Focus Question: make the text as large as possible while keeping it on one line.

Remember:

• Do NOT use underline on your text
• fonts must be professional-looking
• do not use fonts that only have capital letters (except for your topic if your topic is very short)
• use font size to provide emphasis: the most important text is the topic
• use 2 (NOT more than 3) font sizes only: one size for your Topic, one size for your Focus Question and a smaller size for all the rest of the text
• consider using the largest font size possible on the topic text while still keeping the topic on one line!

4. Styles

Grade 11 & 12s should attempt to create and apply their own custom styles on the cover page and then link those styles to the Controls used. Remember that you may only use 2 different font styles in your document (see item 6 on page 42 of the Grade 12 Learner Guide 2021), so don’t go crazy with font styles on your cover page!

The Grade 10 Learner Guide does mention using WordArt and Shapes in the design of your cover page (examples in the gallery at the bottom of this post) with the reminder that this is a “professional report”.

5. Controls

Grade 11 & 12s must use Controls:

• Page 13 of both the Grade 12 & Grade 11 Learner Guides (2022) reads: “A professional-looking, well-structured, custom-designed cover page using appropriate content controls”.

Controls (with the correct titles/names) must be used for all the information on your cover page. Interestingly enough, whilst the curriculum specifies that we learn to use only form controls from Legacy Tools in Microsoft Word, the only way to create a control with a title as required is to use the newer, Rich Text Content Control.

The 2021 Learner Guide no longer specifies that your Controls have titles (see section 1 of the Marking Rubric on page 42). This means you can use the legacy controls as per the curriculum.

In the screenshot above we see the Rich Text Content Control ➋ and the Legacy Tools button ➌ on the Developer Ribbon ➊

Use formatting, but NOT Styles (unless you create special Styles, especially for your cover) on your cover! If you do go the extra mile and create or use appropriate Styles, remember that you can even “attach” a Style to a Rich Text Content Control!

6. Cover page image

You should include a striking graphic, relevant to your topic, on your cover page. You will most likely center-align the image. Do not simply fill the page with an image!

Remember to give credit for the image. I recommend placing the credit for a cover page image beneath your Table of Contents or your Table of Figures. If you download the image from the internet, credit it using the URL as a minimum.

7. Page numbering

There must be no page number on your cover page. Read the section on page numbering in the post Phase 1 report outline.

8. Borders

The style guide in the Grade 12 Learner Guide refers to the cover page, saying: “This should be the only page on which a page border is used.” and “Avoid ‘arty’ borders and backgrounds/Do NOT use Word Art/Text Art.”

If you choose to add a border to your cover page: graphic elements are in — full borders are out! In my layout example above, I used a thick page border on only the left side of the page to create such an effect.

9. Examples

The following gallery includes examples using the design techniques discussed earlier on but with some added creativity! Word features used in the below designs are:

• Shapes
• SmartArt
• Gradient Fill
• Tables

Next step: Focus Question »