O-Level 80-Word Summary: The Method, with a Worked Example (1184)
How to use this page: learn the method, test your point-spotting on the MCQs, attempt your own 80-word summary before revealing the model, then send it to the grader.
The summary question in Paper 2 is one of the most learnable tasks in the whole exam, because it's a process, not a talent. You extract the points the question asks for from a section of the passage, reword them in your own words, and fit them into about 80 words. Follow the steps and it becomes a reliable score.
Format details reflect the official SEAB 2026 syllabus (1184): Paper 2 Comprehension (50 marks) includes an 80-word summary of a section of the passage. Confirm any specific figure against the SEAB syllabus document.
What's marked: Content points and Use of Own Words
- Content: a set number of relevant points lifted from the specified paragraphs. Each correct, relevant point earns a mark. Points outside the question's focus earn nothing, even if true.
- Language / Own Words: you must reword the passage, not copy it. Stringing original phrases together caps your language mark.
Two failures cost most marks: missing points (rushing the hunt) and copying (not rewording). The method below targets both.
The five-step method
- Read the question focus carefully. It names exactly what to summarise, for example "the reasons people migrate to cities and the problems this causes". Two foci means you need points on both.
- Work only in the stated paragraphs. The question tells you which lines to use. Ignore the rest of the passage entirely.
- Underline every relevant point. Go line by line. Aim to find more points than you'll need, because some will overlap.
- Reword each point in note form. Change the vocabulary and structure: "exorbitant rents" becomes "housing is very costly". This is where the own-words mark is won.
- Stitch into one flowing paragraph, then count. Join your reworded points with connectives, then trim to about 80 words. Start with the given opening phrase if one is provided.
The source paragraph for your practice
"Cities draw the young with the promise of well-paid work and the bright lights of entertainment unavailable in the countryside. Universities and hospitals, too, are concentrated in urban centres. Yet this influx strains the city: rents soar beyond the reach of ordinary families, roads choke with traffic, and the sense of community that villages enjoy is often lost among strangers."
Question focus: Summarise the reasons people move to cities and the problems this creates.
Point-spotting: liftable point or example to drop?
From the source paragraph, which of these is a summarisable POINT (worth a content mark) rather than a mere illustrative detail to leave out?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (B) Universities and hospitals are concentrated in cities (access to education and healthcare)
The correct answer is (B). 'Universities and hospitals are concentrated in urban centres' is a distinct reason people migrate. It earns a content mark, and reworded ('access to education and healthcare') it also protects the own-words mark. (A) is a trap: it IS a relevant reason, but the instruction says to quote it directly, and copying kills the own-words mark, so lifting the phrase is exactly the wrong move. (C) 'villages are quiet' is not stated in the paragraph and is outside the question focus of reasons to move and problems created, so an invented point scores nothing. (D) 'fewer people' is not in the passage and is irrelevant to the twin focus.
Which is the best OWN-WORDS rewording of 'rents soar beyond the reach of ordinary families'?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (C) 'housing becomes unaffordable for many people'
The correct answer is (C). 'Housing becomes unaffordable for many people' changes both the vocabulary AND the structure, which is genuine own words and secures the language mark. (A) is a direct lift, which caps the own-words mark. (B) is a lift in disguise: it only swaps 'soar' for 'rise' and 'ordinary' for 'normal' while keeping 'beyond the reach of … families' verbatim, which is too close to count as rewording. (D) keeps the original word 'soar' and is clumsy and wordy, wasting your 80-word budget without properly rewording.
Your turn: write the 80-word summary
✍️ Your turn
Using ONLY the source paragraph above, write an 80-word summary of the reasons people move to cities AND the problems this creates. Reword everything in your own words, join the points into one flowing paragraph, and keep to about 80 words (aim for 75 to 80).
Reveal the model answer
Steps 3 and 4, underlined points reworded:
- well-paid work → better job prospects
- entertainment not found in the countryside → more leisure and entertainment
- universities and hospitals concentrated there → access to education and healthcare
- rents soar → housing becomes unaffordable
- roads choke with traffic → severe traffic congestion
- community is lost among strangers → a weaker sense of community
Step 5, stitched and counted (about 80 words):
People are drawn to cities mainly by better job prospects and higher pay, as well as leisure and entertainment options the countryside lacks. Cities also offer easier access to universities and hospitals. However, this movement creates serious problems. Housing grows unaffordable as rents rise sharply, roads become badly congested with traffic, and the close community spirit found in villages is frequently lost, leaving many residents feeling isolated among strangers they do not know. (about 78 words)
Examiner notes:
- Points on both foci. Three "reasons" and three "problems", so the answer serves both halves of the question, which is essential when the focus is double.
- Consistently reworded. "exorbitant rents" becomes "housing grows unaffordable", "choke with traffic" becomes "badly congested". The own-words mark is protected throughout.
- Flows as one paragraph. Connectives ("as well as", "However", "as") knit the points together rather than listing them.
- Within the limit. At about 78 words it's safely inside 80; going over risks a penalty.
The habit to take away
The score is decided in steps 3 and 4, the hunt and the reword, long before you write the paragraph. Train the process: find more points than needed, reword each in note form, then write. Copying and missed points, the two big mark-killers, both disappear when the notes come first.
Back to O-Level Continuous Writing model · Next: O-Level Visual Text Comprehension
Zippy marks summaries against the 1184 content-point and own-words descriptors and flags lifted phrases automatically. This is a sample of the Zippy approach. Try the live grader →
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