The exam-style question
This is a summary writing question, in the style of the First Language English papers. Read it as you would in the exam, then compare your plan with the model.
Read the passage below. Summarise, in your own words, the reasons the writer gives for the decline of the town market and the effects of that decline. (This is our original practice material.)
The Saturday Market
For sixty years the Saturday market had been the beating heart of the town. Then the new retail park opened on the bypass, with its wide car parks and covered walkways, and the crowds thinned almost overnight. Younger families, who once drifted between the fruit stalls, now preferred the certainty of air-conditioning and fixed prices.
Traders who had inherited their pitches from their parents found themselves packing away unsold produce by mid-morning. One by one the older sellers retired, and few younger ones came to replace them, deterred by the rising cost of a licence and the long, unprofitable hours. Within a decade the rows of canvas awnings had shrunk to a handful, and the square that had once hummed with bargaining fell quiet, its cobbles bare where the crowds had been.
Model response: Summary writing
A strong summary selects the points and rewrites them concisely. Notice how each sentence carries a distinct reason or effect, in the student's own words.
Reading a model answer helps. In a paid one-hour trial, a teacher helps your child write one like it on Summary writing.
Common errors we see
- Lifting whole phrases instead of rewriting in your own words
- Including examples and detail instead of just the points
- Adding your own opinion or explanation the question did not ask for
- Running over the word guidance because points are not grouped
How this maps to the mark scheme
Examiners mark against assessment objectives. These are the skills the paper rewards.
For summary writing, the objectives in play are listed below. The wording is summarised for Cambridge IGCSE First Language English (0500) on our qualification page.
- Understand explicit meanings.
- Select and use information for specific purposes.
- Organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect.
- Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures suited to context.
Marks go to the points you select, so choose only what answers the focus. They also go to how concisely you put those points in your own words.
Other boards word their objectives differently, but the same skills earn the marks. Your board's official syllabus gives the exact weighting.
Where to go next
Learn the method in our guide to summary writing, then try the summary writing practice tasks. You can browse every annotated model response or see how we teach this in our First Language English tuition.
When you have written your own answer, take it to a paid one-hour trial lesson and the teacher who would continue will mark it with you.