Summary

A summary restates the key points of a text concisely and in your own words, leaving out examples, repetition and detail. It tests whether a reader can identify what matters and express it clearly and briefly. In IGCSE English, summary is a separate skill.

It has its own marks for choosing the right content and for writing it fluently without copying.

The summary task rewards two things: choosing the correct points, and rewriting them in your own words within a length guidance. Lifting phrases from the passage, or including your own opinion, loses marks.

A paragraph explaining three causes of a city's traffic can be summarised in a single, tightly written sentence for each cause.

Underline the points that answer the question, group related ones, then rewrite them in fresh wording. Check you have stayed within the length guidance and added nothing of your own. Practise by reducing a paragraph to one sentence in your own words.

Then check that you kept the point and dropped the example. That is exactly the discipline the summary task rewards.

You may also find The summary under time 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 First Language English tuition page explains how lessons run. When you are ready, the paid one-hour trial is the first step.