Hi Ash,
Would I be right in presuming you will need to produce a number of such reports, or do you expect it to be only one?
That said, without knowing the specifications required by the OU it is difficult to advise. But, basically, you have two options for academic writing: (1) stay with the native rich-text and compile to RTF, DOCX or ODT; (2) go the MultiMarkdown > Pandoc route leading to many high-quality outputs. which, if you haven’t worked that way, will come with a learning curve.
If you choose (1), I’d spend time checking out the various templates in the Non-Fiction category to see which is closest to your needs and then spend the time to make your own modified version of it, complete with compile format.
If you choose (2) I would spend a bit of time browsing the MultiMarkdown and Latex forum where there is plenty of advice.
And do yourself a favour, and use a bibliography manager; for a lot of us Mac-users, Bookends is the one to go for, but if cost is an issue, Zotero is an alternative. But do read this Wiki on reference software.
Mark