A RAN node can indicate to a UE that a compact measurement report is to be used for beam measurements in a measurement report. A compact measurement report uses beam index numbers to indicate a position in a reference set. The reference set has a listing of resource indicators for beam measurements. As such, a reported beam measurement associated with a beam index number is also associated with the resource indicator positioned in the reference set indicated by the beam index number. The beam index numbers can be transmitted using fewer bits than are used for a resource indicator. The payload for a measurement report such as a L-SINR or L-RSP L1 measurement report is thereby reduced when the measurement report is transmitted as a compact measurement report.