A useful summary preserves the points the question asks for while removing repetition and unnecessary detail. It is not simply a shorter version of every sentence. You first decide what matters, then group related ideas and express them accurately in a compact form.
This summary writing worked example uses original passages, selected points and complete models. The word limits belong to these practice tasks. In an examination, follow the actual instruction, including whether it asks for notes, continuous prose, a particular aspect of the passage or a stated number of words.
Read the question before selecting points
A passage may contain a problem, its causes, attempted solutions and results. A question asking for solutions does not ask you to summarise all four. Circle the topic and the command, then turn them into a simple test: “Does this point explain the requested solutions?”
Read the whole passage once for meaning. On the second reading, identify the relevant ideas. Do not automatically select the first sentence of each paragraph. An important point may occur later, while an opening sentence may provide background rather than answer the question.
- Select: keep information that directly answers the task.
- Group: combine repeated or closely related ideas without losing a distinct point.
- Paraphrase: explain the meaning naturally, rather than replacing individual words mechanically.
- Connect: show relationships such as cause, contrast or sequence only when the source supports them.
- Check: compare the finished summary with both the source and the instruction.
Practice 1: summarise the changes, not the whole story
Original passage: A better book exchange
The first school book exchange attracted many learners, but its organisers struggled to find suitable books quickly. All the donations had been placed in one long row. A learner searching for a science revision book sometimes opened several boxes of novels before finding one.
For the next exchange, the committee sorted the books by subject and level. Clear labels on the boxes guided visitors to the right section. It also collected short request forms beforehand, so volunteers could set aside books that matched learners’ needs. The forms asked for a subject and level rather than a particular cover colour.
Previously, everyone had arrived during the same lunch break. The committee now assigned different visiting periods to groups, reducing crowding. Volunteers examined donated books before the event and placed damaged copies on a separate repair table. They kept a simple record of incoming and outgoing books so they could identify gaps in the remaining stock.
The exchange was held in a hall with green curtains. A former learner supplied the labels, and two teachers helped carry tables. At the end of the day, the committee thanked all the volunteers and discussed whether to hold another exchange later in the year.
Task: in no more than 60 words, summarise the changes made to improve the second exchange
Try selecting the points before reading the model. Your selection should include sorting and labelling, advance requests, staggered attendance, checking and separating damaged books, and stock records.
The hall’s curtains, the identity of the label donor and the thanks at the end do not describe the requested improvements. They may be true details, but truth alone does not make a point relevant.
Model summary
The committee sorted and labelled books by subject and level, collected requests in advance, and reserved suitable copies. It staggered visiting times to reduce crowding, checked donations and separated damaged books for repair. A record of books received and issued helped volunteers identify shortages.
Why the model works
The model groups sorting and labelling because they jointly help learners find the right books. It retains advance reservations as a separate improvement. It compresses the account of simultaneous arrivals into the solution, staggered visiting times, without repeating the entire problem.
“Books received and issued” expresses incoming and outgoing stock clearly. “Identify shortages” preserves the purpose of the record. The model does not claim that every learner received a book: the source never establishes that result.
Alternative wording is welcome. For example, “scheduled separate visiting periods” can replace “staggered visiting times”. However, “extended opening hours” is not equivalent. Groups can visit at different times without the total opening period becoming longer.
Compress ideas without changing their meaning
Good paraphrasing changes expression while preserving relationships. If a passage says a measure “may reduce delays”, do not write that it “eliminates delays”. If it describes “some learners”, do not change that to “all learners”. Small words often carry important limits.
Keep necessary topic words. You do not need an unusual substitute for every occurrence of “book”, “water” or “teacher”. Forced synonyms can make a summary inaccurate or difficult to follow. Changing sentence structure is often more useful than searching for a rarer noun.
Remove an example only if the general point remains clear. “Oranges, mangoes and bananas” might become “fruit” when the exact varieties are unimportant. If the question asks which fruits were supplied, however, those names become essential.
Practice 2: keep actions separate from results
Original passage: Sharing the workshop
The craft club had only a small set of tools. During open sessions, members sometimes waited while others searched for equipment. The club introduced a booking sheet so groups could reserve tools before beginning work. It numbered the tools and assigned each a marked storage space, making missing items easier to notice.
A member checked the tools at the end of every session and reported damage to the patron. New members received a demonstration of safe handling before using them. After a month, the club recorded fewer interruptions caused by missing tools. The patron hoped that the new system would also help equipment last longer, although the club had not yet measured this.
Task: in no more than 40 words, summarise the club’s actions to improve tool use
The club introduced advance tool bookings, numbered its tools and labelled their storage spaces. It checked tools after each session, reported damage to the patron and demonstrated safe handling to new members.
This answer contains the actions requested. The reduction in interruptions is a result, while longer equipment life is a hope that has not been measured. Neither belongs in this particular summary of actions.
If the question instead asked about outcomes, you would need to distinguish the recorded improvement from the untested hope. Summary writing requires accurate selection, not a fixed habit of keeping or rejecting the final paragraph.
Practice 3: repair a summary that adds claims
Original source
On two afternoons, the school moved choir practice from the assembly area to an empty classroom because nearby revision groups needed quiet. Some singers found the room crowded. The choir leader proposed using the dining hall the following week, but permission had not yet been granted.
Weak summary
The choir permanently moved to the dining hall because all singers disliked the noisy assembly area.
Task: identify the unsupported claims, then write an accurate summary of the change and proposed next step in no more than 35 words.
- “Permanently” changes a two-afternoon arrangement into an indefinite one.
- The actual temporary destination was a classroom, not the dining hall.
- The reason was to protect nearby revision groups from noise.
- Only some singers found the classroom crowded; the source does not say all disliked the assembly area.
- The dining hall proposal was still awaiting permission.
The choir practised in a classroom on two afternoons to keep nearby revision groups undisturbed. After some singers found it crowded, the leader proposed the dining hall, but permission remained pending.
The repair preserves time, location, reason and uncertainty. It is concise without turning a suggestion into a completed decision. This accuracy check is just as important as reducing the word count.
Count and edit after checking coverage
First confirm that your draft contains the necessary points. Then remove repeated openings, unnecessary background and phrases such as “the passage goes on to tell us that”. Replacing that introduction with the actual point usually saves words and improves clarity.
Count the words in the final answer, not in an earlier draft. Follow any counting guidance provided with the task. If none is supplied, leave a little room below a maximum rather than relying on an unusual treatment of hyphenated words. Do not cut a necessary condition merely to save one word.
Frequently asked questions
Is a summary the same as a paraphrase?
No. A paraphrase restates a particular piece of information in different wording. A summary selects and compresses the relevant main ideas, often drawing on several parts of a longer passage.
Should I write in notes or paragraphs?
Follow the instruction. Notes suit a request for note form. A request for continuous prose needs connected sentences. Do not assume one format applies to every comprehension task.
Must I change every word from the passage?
No. Keep necessary names and precise topic words. Demonstrate understanding through clear expression and sentence structure rather than awkward substitutions that change the meaning.
Can I include my opinion?
Not when the task asks you to summarise the source. Keep your views separate unless an additional instruction explicitly asks for a response or evaluation.
What should I remove when my summary is too long?
Remove repetition, irrelevant background and examples that merely repeat a general point. Shorten wordy phrases. Preserve distinct ideas and important qualifications such as time, quantity and uncertainty.
Can I combine points from different paragraphs?
Yes, if they concern the same issue and the combination remains accurate. Avoid inventing a causal connection just because two ideas appear close together.
How can I practise independently?
Cover a model answer, list the relevant points and write your own version. Compare coverage and meaning before comparing wording. Rewrite any sentence that adds a claim or hides an essential distinction.
More English revision
The existing KCSE English topical resource page requires login for its content. The English past-paper resource page is another place to check available revision materials. Use each task’s actual instructions; all the passages, models and explanations needed for this lesson are above.
Make hierarchical notes from the same evidence
The complete original passage “A better book exchange” above supports both a prose summary and notes. Notes show the structure of information through headings and subordinate points. They do not need to reproduce the passage’s paragraph order. Keep each point intelligible: an unexplained string such as “boxes/forms/times” loses the actions that improved the exchange.
Worked conversion: improvements to the second exchange
- Finding suitable books
- Sort donations by subject and level; label the boxes.
- Collect subject-and-level requests beforehand; reserve matching books.
- Managing attendance
- Give groups different visiting periods to reduce crowding.
- Checking and tracking stock
- Examine donations; separate damaged books for repair.
- Record incoming and outgoing books to identify gaps.
The main headings group purposes; the indented points retain actions. Subject and level matter because they explain the sorting and requests. “Green curtains” is excluded because it is irrelevant to the requested improvements. “Reservations guaranteed everyone a book” is excluded because it is not established. Numbering organises points, but it does not imply that one improvement happened before another.
Error contrast: “1. Books. 2. Everyone happy. 3. More opening hours.” The first loses an action, the second invents an outcome, and the third changes staggered group visits into extended opening hours. The completed notes above correct all three weaknesses without borrowing facts from another passage.
You may shorten familiar repeated terms after defining them, for example “subject + level”. Do not invent an abbreviation that neither you nor another reader can recover. Notes may use phrases, but a condition such as “if permission is granted” must not disappear just to save space. If the task asks for continuous prose, turn the hierarchy into linked sentences instead of submitting this outline.
Independent note-making
Return to the complete “Sharing the workshop” passage above. Without looking at its model summary, make notes under two headings: “Access and storage” and “Checks and preparation”. Record the club’s actions, not measured results or hopes. Then explain why “longer tool life” must be left out.
Explained answer
- Access and storage: advance tool booking sheet; numbered tools; marked storage place for each tool.
- Checks and preparation: end-of-session checks; damage reported to patron; safe-handling demonstration for new members.
The booking sheet is a procedure, while fewer interruptions is a result. Longer equipment life was the patron’s unmeasured hope. Neither belongs under actions. An alternative grouping is acceptable if all actions stay distinct and accurate. “Damage checks” alone may omit the separate reporting action; restore that detail.
Review: compare the notes with the two complete passages, one bullet at a time. Relevance, faithful compression and a recoverable hierarchy matter more than an arbitrary number of bullets.
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