Write a concise summary that selects the relevant points from a span of text, in your own words and within a word limit

What this dot point is asking

The summary task asks you to compress a defined span of a passage into the relevant points, in your own words and within a strict word limit. It is the most mechanical of the comprehension skills and the most reliably scorable, because the marks are awarded for distinct points captured. The central insight is that a summary is points-based: you are selecting the writer's actual points, excluding examples and repetition, paraphrasing them, and fitting them into the word count, in that order.

The answer

Respect the boundaries of the question

A summary question defines exactly what to summarise: a topic (for example, "the reasons given for and against X") and a span of text. The first discipline is selection at the boundary: include only material that answers the question and falls within the specified span. Points outside the scope, the writer's anecdotes, asides or framing, earn nothing and waste words.

Extract distinct points

Within the boundaries, identify each separate point. A point is a distinct idea or reason; the same idea restated for emphasis is one point, not two. Work through the span systematically, marking each new point as you meet it. This is where most marks are won or lost: the score is essentially the count of relevant distinct points you capture and express.

Exclude examples and repetition

Two kinds of material are deliberately cut:

• Examples. An illustration supports a point but is not itself a point. "Cars cause pollution, such as the smog seen in many large cities" contributes one point (pollution); the smog illustration is dropped.
• Repetition. A writer often restates an idea in new words for emphasis. The summary records it once.

Cutting these is what makes room, within the word limit, to capture more genuine points.

Paraphrase, link and count

Three finishing moves turn extracted points into a summary:

1. Paraphrase. Express each point in your own words, as in any paraphrase task, to demonstrate comprehension rather than lift.
2. Link. Connect the points with light connectives so the result reads as continuous prose, not a list, often signalling groupings (the points "for", then those "against").
3. Count and trim. Stay within the word limit. If over, cut redundant words and merge overlapping points; never cut a distinct point to save space if you can compress wording instead.

Examples in context

Example 1. Where the marks hide. Two candidates summarise the same span on the drawbacks of social media. One writes elegant prose but captures only four of the seven points, padding with a vivid example the writer used. The other writes plainer prose but captures all seven distinct points, paraphrased and within the limit, by ruthlessly cutting the example and the one repeated idea. The second scores far higher, because the summary mark rewards points captured, not stylistic polish, the defining feature of this task.

Example 2. Merging to fit the limit. Faced with a 100-word limit and eight points, a candidate notices that "saves money" and "is more cost-effective" are the same idea restated, and that two environmental points can be merged into one clause about reduced emissions and waste. Merging the genuine overlaps frees the words needed to include every remaining distinct point, showing that staying within the limit is a compression problem, not a reason to abandon points.

Try this

Q1. Explain why an example in the passage should usually be excluded from a summary. [2 marks]

• Cue. An example illustrates a point but is not itself a separate point, so including it consumes words that should be used to capture another distinct idea within the limit.

Q2. A passage states a benefit twice in different words. How many times does it appear in your summary, and why? [2 marks]

• Cue. Once: a restated idea is a single point, and recording it twice both wastes words and misrepresents the number of distinct points the writer actually makes.

Q3. Explain why a summary that captures more points usually scores higher than one with better prose but fewer points. [3 marks]

• Cue. The summary mark is points-based, awarded for each distinct relevant point captured and paraphrased within the limit, so coverage of the points matters more than stylistic elegance, provided the writing remains clear and in your own words.