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English•SHS Comprehension & Summary

Summary writing

Senior High 6 questions
AI-drafted from platform data — specialist review scheduledBy DigiTransact Mastermind editorial teamLast updated
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What summary writing means

You learn to pick the main ideas from a passage and restate them briefly. This helps you answer clearly, save time, and avoid copying the original passage too closely.

What you will practise

  • Pick key points from a passage
  • Leave out examples and repeated ideas
  • Use your own words for each point
  • Write a much shorter response
  • Keep only the writer's main message

Before you start

You should already be able to read a passage closely and understand its meaning. It also helps if you can spot important and less important details in a text.

Not confident yet? Work through Close reading & inference first.

Worked example

One question from this skill's own question bank, shown with its full working.

Question

A good summary should:

  • include every detail
  • be in your own words
  • add your opinions
  • be longer than the passage
Answer: be in your own words

Working: Summaries restate the main points concisely in your own words without extra opinion.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Copying sentences from the passage instead of using your own words
  • Including examples, details, and repetitions that should be left out
  • Writing a response that is almost as long as the original text
  • Missing the main idea because you focus on small points

Curriculum and exam alignment

Ghana GES SHS syllabusWASSCE

This skill normally appears in SHS English reading work, where learners practise handling passages before moving to longer responses. It is useful for WASSCE preparation because summary tasks often check how well you can condense a text accurately.

Curriculum notes are a general guide to where this work normally sits. Always check the syllabus your school or examination body is currently using.

Related skills

Other SHS Comprehension & Summary skills in English, at the same point in the course.

Other English topics

Early Reading and WritingSHS English and LiteratureAcademic and Professional WritingGrammarVocabularyReading Comprehension

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Exams that assess summary writing

Senior High work on this skill feeds directly into these exam papers. Each page lists the English topics that appear on it.

WASSCEWASSCE practice questionsFree WASSCE practice across the subjects at this stage, with worked answers.GESGES practice questionsFree GES practice across the subjects at this stage, with worked answers.BECEBECE practice questionsListed as a related subject on the BECE practice page.

How this page was produced

This text was drafted with AI assistance from the questions and topics already stored on the platform. A subject-specialist review is scheduled but has not yet been recorded, so we do not claim it here.

Written by
DigiTransact Mastermind editorial team
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Practise summary writing

6 questions with a worked answer after every attempt, and a SmartScore that tracks how close you are to mastery.

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