English · Reading comprehension
Summarise a passage
Say what a text is about.
What does it mean to summarise?
A summary is a short way of saying what a text is about. It tells the main idea, not every tiny detail. Imagine telling a friend about a story in just one or two sentences. You would pick the most important parts. That is summarising!
How to find the main idea
Ask yourself: what is this mostly about? Look for the topic that appears again and again. Details like colours or small actions are interesting, but they are not the main idea. The main idea is the big point the writer wants you to understand.
What to leave out
A good summary skips the extra details. You do not need every name, time, or description. Focus on what happened or what the text explains. Think: if someone only read my summary, would they know the important part?
Keep it short and clear
Summaries use fewer words than the original text. Use your own words when you can. Make every word count. A summary answers: who or what is this about, and what is the main point?
Worked examples
1. Summarise this passage: Bees collect nectar from flowers. They carry it back to the hive. Inside, they turn nectar into honey. Bees work together in large groups called colonies.
- Ask: what is this mostly about? It is about bees and honey.
- The main idea is how bees make honey from nectar.
- Leave out smaller details like the word 'large' or 'inside'.
- Summary: Bees collect nectar from flowers and turn it into honey.
2. Summarise this passage: On Saturday, Mia went to the park with her dad. She wore her red coat. They fed the ducks by the pond. Mia threw ten pieces of bread. The ducks quacked loudly.
- Ask: what is the main event? Mia went to the park.
- What did she do there? She fed the ducks.
- Details like 'red coat' and 'ten pieces' are not the main idea.
- Summary: Mia went to the park and fed the ducks.
3. Summarise this passage: Penguins cannot fly, but they are excellent swimmers. They use their wings like flippers underwater. Penguins hunt for fish in the cold ocean.
- Ask: what is this about? Penguins and how they move.
- The main idea is that penguins swim instead of fly.
- The detail about cold ocean is extra information.
- Summary: Penguins cannot fly but they swim very well to catch fish.
Try it yourself
Summarise this passage: Tom found a shiny pebble on the beach. It was smooth and grey. He put it in his blue bucket. Later, he showed it to his sister. She thought it was beautiful.
Ready to test yourself?
Take a short topic test — every question maps to a syllabus point so you’ll see exactly which parts you’ve mastered.