Set up your report

Start with a report name, then choose the standard outline or tailor the setup before you begin writing.

Name this report to begin. You can set up the rest now or continue with the standard outline and adjust it later.

What kind of assignment is this?

Are you collecting primary data?

Include a Deviations from the Terms of Reference section

Name This Inception Report

Client organization (optional)

Optional report context

Add only details you know. Section prompts use relevant fields and show what was included.

Sector and subsectorGeographyProgramme, intervention, or systemPopulation groups or participantsCommissioning bodyPeriod coveredIntended users and decisionsConstraints or sensitivitiesExisting data sourcesProposed primary-data sources

Word document details

Prepared byVersionConfidentiality labelInclude the ToR coverage appendix in a working-draft export

Start from a Terms of Reference

Paste the client's ToR to keep it beside your draft. Recognized headings suggest places to start; review every source passage and requirement yourself.

Terms of Reference text

1. Understanding of the Assignment

Use this help for the section selected in your starting route.

What to Cover in This Section

Summarize the program being evaluated, its objectives, geographic scope, duration, implementing partners and intended participants, then state what the evaluation is for and who will act on the findings.

Key Points to Address

Context and background
The problem or need behind this assignment
Intended users of the result and the decisions it will inform
Documents and data reviewed to date
Program description: objectives, partners, geography, period
Populations we expect to hear from directly

Client check: The client is checking whether you have read the background material and understood the assignment, rather than restating the terms of reference back to them.

Context included in this prompt

Assignment type: Evaluation

Your AI Prompt

You are an experienced monitoring, evaluation and learning consultant.
Help draft the "Understanding of the Assignment" section of an inception report.
What this section needs to cover:
Summarize the program being evaluated, its objectives, geographic scope, duration, implementing partners and intended participants, then state what the evaluation is for and who will act on the findings.
Key points to address:
- Context and background
- The problem or need behind this assignment
- Intended users of the result and the decisions it will inform
- Documents and data reviewed to date
- Program description: objectives, partners, geography, period
- Populations we expect to hear from directly

What the client will check:
The client is checking whether you have read the background material and understood the assignment, rather than restating the terms of reference back to them.

Context included (writer-supplied):
- Assignment type: Evaluation
Write clear, client-ready prose. Do not invent missing facts, dates, figures, commitments, or findings. Do not infer unstated context. State what is unknown and flag anything that needs confirmation.

Review Your Draft

Use the checklist here, or copy a tailored prompt. Your document stays editable without an external service.

Check Understanding of the Assignment

The client is checking whether you have read the background material and understood the assignment, rather than restating the terms of reference back to them.

Have you addressed context and background?

Have you addressed the problem or need behind this assignment?

Have you addressed intended users of the result and the decisions it will inform?

Have you addressed documents and data reviewed to date?

Have you addressed program description: objectives, partners, geography, period?

These marks record your judgment. They do not certify the document.

Relevant review lenses

Adapted from linked M&E Studio guidance and rubrics for reflection, not a score or requirement.

Source Requirement Traceability: Can each supplied requirement be found in the plan, an explicit unresolved item, or a proposed deviation with a decision owner? Check the source text, including unrecognized passages. Source: Inception Report Playbook Guidance

Customize a Review Prompt

ScopeWhat should the response do?Ask me questions before rewriting when information is missingInclude relevant review lenses and source references in the copied promptAdditional direction

Included: Understanding of the Assignment. Authored tables are included. Nothing is silently shortened.

Prompt preview and edit

Review Inception Report using only the supplied document and context.
Treat this as a draft. Do not invent facts, baselines, sample details, commitments, findings or requirements. Do not infer requirements from an institution name. Mark missing evidence as unresolved.
Scope: Understanding of the Assignment.

Writer-supplied context:
- Assignment type: Evaluation
- Primary data collection: Yes

Review questions:
Understanding of the Assignment:
- The client is checking whether you have read the background material and understood the assignment, rather than restating the terms of reference back to them.
- Have you addressed context and background?
- Have you addressed the problem or need behind this assignment?
- Have you addressed intended users of the result and the decisions it will inform?
- Have you addressed documents and data reviewed to date?
- Have you addressed program description: objectives, partners, geography, period?
- Summarize the program being evaluated, its objectives, geographic scope, duration, implementing partners and intended participants, then state what the evaluation is for and who will act on the findings.

Additional editorial review lenses adapted from linked M&E Studio guidance and rubrics. Use only where relevant; these are prompts for judgment, not binding standards:
- Source Requirement Traceability: Can each supplied requirement be found in the plan, an explicit unresolved item, or a proposed deviation with a decision owner? Check the source text, including unrecognized passages. Source: Inception Report Playbook Guidance (/mestudio/inception-report).

Output: Give a concise list of gaps or contradictions, the evidence supporting each finding, and targeted questions for the writer. Keep professional judgment separate from missing facts. Do not produce a replacement document.
If material information is missing, ask targeted questions first and wait before rewriting.

Draft material:
## Understanding of the Assignment [understanding]
(No prose supplied.)

Review and Use a Response

Paste any response here, edit it, then choose where to apply revised content. Questions and change notes should stay out of the replacement text.

Destination section or table

Current content for comparison

## Understanding of the Assignment [understanding]
(No prose supplied.)

Proposed replacement