📝 Summary Writing — the format

Reduce a passage to its relevant points, in your own words, with nothing of your own added.

Writing for: An examiner counting points. Style earns little here; selection and concision earn everything.

Which are you writing?

Length: Usually a stated limit between 100 and 200 words. The limit is enforced.

Audience: An examiner counting points

The format, in order

1
Identify the focus
Re-read the question and underline exactly what is being asked for. Points outside it score nothing.
2
Select points
Work through the passage marking only points that answer the question.
3
Rewrite in your own words
Change the vocabulary and the sentence structure. Lifting phrases loses the language mark.
4
Join concisely
Link points with connectives into continuous prose. No bullet points unless asked.
5
Check the count
Cut examples, repetition and anything you added yourself.

What the marks are for

Content

✓Number of relevant points identified
✓Only material that answers the question asked
✓No personal comment, opinion or added example

Language

✓Own words throughout — vocabulary and structure both changed
✓Points compressed rather than copied
✓Continuous, connected prose
✓Within the word limit

What loses marks

✗Lifting phrases wholesale from the passage — the most costly error in the task
✗Including points that are interesting but do not answer the question
✗Adding your own opinion or evaluation
✗Keeping the original's examples, which eat the word count
✗Exceeding the limit, after which further points are not read

Phrases that work

Furthermore, … / In addition, …
However, … / By contrast, …
As a result, … / Consequently, …
Use participle phrases to compress: 'Having lost funding, the project…'

Before you hand it in

0 / 8

Re-read the question before writing a word
Only points that answer the question included
Vocabulary changed, not just reordered
Sentence structures differ from the original
No examples, quotations or illustrations
No opinions or comments of your own
Continuous prose, not notes
Word count checked and within limit

Command words cheat sheet

Study notes on the Learning Portal

Where this is examined

· Cambridge IGCSE First Language English (0500) — reading
· Cambridge IGCSE ESL (0510)
· Cambridge O Level English Language (1123)
· Cambridge Lower Secondary English

Word counts, paper numbers and mark allocations are set by the syllabus for your session and change between series. Always check your current syllabus and your teacher's guidance before relying on a length or a mark split given here.

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