IGCSE English summary question (0500 Paper 1): method, example and checklist

Where the summary sits and how it is marked

Cambridge suggests spending about 15 minutes reading the three texts before answering. Dictionaries are not allowed.

What a selective summary is

The word that matters is selective. The question names a focus, for example 'the challenges faced by early desert explorers' or 'what makes the festival popular with visitors', and only points on that focus earn marks. A text of several hundred words usually contains ten or more relevant ideas mixed with description, anecdote and opinion that is not relevant. Your job is to find the relevant ideas, merge any that overlap, and present them in a short, organised paragraph.

Reading marks reward the number and precision of relevant ideas, including ones that are implied rather than stated. Writing marks reward organisation and concise expression: points grouped logically, linked with connectives, in your own words. 'Own words' does not mean replacing every word with a synonym. Technical terms or words with no sensible alternative can stay; what you must not do is copy whole phrases or the writer's sentence structure.

In 2027 papers, Question 2(b) then asks a short question about the attitudes or opinions in the same text, worth 5 marks. It tests inference and evaluation rather than retrieval, so the reading you do for the summary pays twice.

A six-step method

1. Underline the focus words in the question and write them at the top of your planning space.
2. Read Text B once for sense, then again with a pen, numbering every point that answers the focus. Aim for ten to fifteen.
3. Cross out examples, repetitions and anything outside the focus. Merge points that say the same thing.
4. Group what is left into two or three themes (for example: physical dangers, practical problems, effects on the team).
5. Write one continuous paragraph, theme by theme, using your own phrasing and connectives such as 'as well as', 'not only', 'which meant'.
6. Count your words. If you are over 120, remove adjectives and examples before you remove points.

Worked example

Source extract (written for this page): 'The first morning on the dunes taught us respect. By ten o'clock the sand was too hot to touch and the water we had calculated for the day looked suddenly small. Our camels, unbothered, refused to move until they had rested in what little shade the ridge gave. Maps were almost useless; a dune drawn last winter had walked a kilometre east. At night the temperature fell so sharply that we slept in every layer we owned, and the wind filled our food bags with sand. Yet the silence, and a sky crowded with stars, made each of us want to stay another week.'

Question focus: the difficulties of travelling in the desert. Points found: extreme daytime heat; water supply felt insufficient; animals set their own pace and needed rest; maps unreliable because dunes move; very cold nights; wind and sand spoiled food. The final sentence about silence and stars is not a difficulty, so it is left out.

Model summary (67 words): 'Travelling in the desert was hard because the daytime heat quickly became intense, making supplies of water that had seemed sufficient feel inadequate. Progress depended on the camels, which stopped whenever they needed rest. Navigation was unreliable, since shifting dunes made existing maps out of date. Nights brought the opposite problem, with temperatures low enough to require all available clothing, while wind blew sand into the food.'

Why it scores: six relevant points, grouped from day to night, in fresh wording ('shifting dunes made existing maps out of date' rather than 'a dune drawn last winter had walked'), with connectives that make it read as one paragraph. A real Text B is longer, so a full answer would carry more points within the same 120 words.

Common mistakes

• Copying sentences or the writer's images. Figurative phrases such as 'the dune had walked' must be explained plainly.
• Including examples and anecdotes instead of the general point they illustrate.
• Adding your own opinion or an introduction such as 'This text is about'. Every word should carry a point.
• Writing a list or bullet points. The task asks for continuous writing.
• Going well over 120 words. Material beyond the limit is unlikely to be credited, and it shows weak selection.
• Missing implied points. If the writer says the water 'looked suddenly small', the point is that supplies seemed insufficient.
• Spending too long. Keep the whole of Question 2 within your time budget for a 20-mark question.

How one-to-one lessons help with the summary

The summary is a skill that improves quickly with feedback, because every mistake is visible on the page. In lessons a tutor gives the student a text and a focus, then compares their list of points with a full list, so the student sees which ideas they missed and why: usually implied ones, or points hidden inside an example. Next comes paraphrase practice, rewriting single sentences in plain words, then grouping and linking.

Once the method holds, the tutor times it, sets a strict word count and marks against the reading and writing criteria, so the student knows where their 15 marks went. For 2027 candidates the tutor adds 2(b)-style questions on attitude and opinion, which most current revision guides do not yet cover.

Self-check

• Did I underline the exact focus of the question?
• Have I found at least eight to ten relevant points in the text before writing?
• Is every sentence about the focus, with no examples or opinions?
• Have I grouped points rather than following the order of the text?
• Is it one continuous paragraph in my own words?
• Is it 120 words or fewer?