Markup is not vital. You may have been talking to some of the publishers, whom I've told they don't need to worry about markup, as they don't study HTML. Obviously ECP students do, but the assessment of this project is mainly based on the report, and the sample is just that- a way to demonstrate the kind of thing you would be working with. So don't make it a priority.

Yes you absolutely must stick to the word limit. I know it's hard to cut, but this is a really important skill to have. If somebody like a senior editor in a publishing firm asks you for a report of a certain length they expect you to stick to it, as they are generally busy, and don't want to read any more content than they asked for. Thus I take the same view. Sorry!

Claire

I emailed Claire about markup/word count. This is the response so - better get editing!