Selection

Selection is the skill of choosing the most relevant points, details or evidence from a text for a particular task. You leave out what does not matter. In a summary, selection means picking only the points that answer the question.

In analysis, it means choosing the most telling quotation to support an idea. Good selection shows judgement. It proves you can tell important information from minor detail and focus on what the task actually requires.

Poor selection, by contrast, wastes time on irrelevant material and buries the points that would earn marks.

In the summary task, marks depend directly on selecting the correct points. Strong selection is the difference between a focused answer and one that drifts. In analysis, choosing the most relevant evidence keeps your argument sharp and your quotations telling.

Examiners reward the judgement that good selection shows. It also saves time, letting you concentrate your effort on the material that genuinely answers the question in front of you.

Asked to summarise the causes of a flood, a student selects only the sentences that give causes. They ignore vivid description that does not answer the question.

Read the question carefully to know exactly what to look for. Then work through the text, choosing only the points or quotations that answer it, and mark or note them as you go. Leave out interesting but irrelevant detail.

In analysis, pick the single most telling piece of evidence for each point. Your selection keeps your answer focused and relevant.

You may also find Selecting points for a summary and Writing a summary within the word limit useful. Next, visit our skills guides for IGCSE English to see terms like this used in real answers. Our IGCSE English tuition page explains how lessons run. When you are ready, the paid one-hour trial is the first step.