This guide shows how to pick main points, rewrite them in your own words and stay within the limit.
Why this skill matters for ESL
A summary asks you to give the main ideas of a text briefly and in your own words. ESL papers across boards test related skills.
The reading strand of Cambridge 0510 includes selecting and organising information. The Pearson 4ES1 specification also sets reading and writing tasks.
Task formats change between syllabuses, so check what your own paper asks. The method below works for any task that wants a short, accurate account of a text.
Four steps
- Find the focus. The question usually names the focus, such as the problems people face or the benefits of a plan.
- Mark the main points. Underline one idea in each paragraph that fits the focus. Ignore examples and descriptions.
- Rewrite each point. Change the sentence pattern and the words, but keep the meaning exact.
- Join and trim. Link the points with simple connecting words. Count the words and cut anything repeated.
If this is where marks are going missing, a trial hour with an experienced teacher can work on it one-to-one.
What to leave out
Leave out examples, quotations and extra detail. Leave out your own opinion too. A summary reports the text, not your view of it.
Here is our own practice text. A town built a new cycle lane. Cycling rose by a third in a year, and local shops reported more visitors.
The focus is “the effects of the cycle lane”. A good summary is: “More people now cycle, and nearby shops have more customers.” It uses fresh words and keeps both results.
Typical errors
- Copying sentences from the text.
- Including examples as if they were main points.
- Changing the meaning while changing the words.
- Writing too much about one paragraph and ignoring another.
- Losing marks for grammar slips in a short answer.
Practise it
Choose a short news article. Write a two-sentence summary in your own words, then check each point against the text. Our guides to selecting points and keeping to the word limit go deeper.
How our teachers help in 1-to-1 lessons
Students usually get stuck when they change the words but also change the meaning, or when they cannot decide what to leave out. In 1-to-1 lessons, our teachers check your selection first, then your wording, one sentence at a time. See our English as a Second Language tuition, or book a paid one-hour trial lesson and bring a summary you have written.