Part 1 — How to summarise an academic text

Read for purpose. Then write one sentence.

The hardest part of SWT isn't writing — it's deciding what NOT to include. The 4-step strategy below is what our trainers use to mark practice attempts.

Skim

10–15 seconds. What's the topic? Don't read every word.

Find the purpose

What is the writer trying to prove or show? That's your main idea.

Cut detail

Examples and step-by-step explanations are usually background.

Combine in one sentence

Use nominalisation + a non-defining relative clause.

How academic texts typically develop

If you can recognise the shape of the text, you'll know which sentences carry the main idea — and which are background.

Problem → solution

Introduction

Problem

Solution(s)

Conclusion

Pros vs cons

Introduction

Advantages

Disadvantages

Conclusion

The main idea often sits in the second or third sentence — not the first. Many texts open with a question or a familiar fact, then state the writer's actual point.

Worked example — Text A: what makes a country wealthy?

Text A — sample

¹Why are some nations wealthy while others remain poor?

²It is true that abundant supplies of energy, timber and fertile land all help raise national income — but natural resources alone explain only a small portion of the gap.

³Far more important are a country's political and legal institutions: stable government, secure property rights and a predictable rule of law.

⁴These institutions create the incentives that lead individuals and firms to make long-term investments in land, capital and skills.

⁵Those investments compound over decades, raising productivity and ultimately producing the high standards of living we associate with wealthy nations.

Skim Text A for 10–15 seconds. What is the main TOPIC?

amounts of natural resources
levels of wealth
legal disputes
types of financial systems

Now read for purpose. What is the writer trying to do?

highlight the disadvantages of something
describe how research confirmed something
suggest the main cause of something

Match each numbered sentence in Text A with what it does

Match sentences 1–5 with the labels below:

the main cause of a country's wealth
the question the text aims to answer
what the main cause does first to help create wealth
the later steps in the wealth-creation process
factors that affect wealth but are not the main cause

Strong summary (29 words)

"Political stability together with legal rights and safeguards lead to long-term investments by individuals, which have a far greater impact on raising living standards than these countries' natural resources."

Weaker summary (30 words)

"Natural resources such as land and energy help a country to become rich, but laws and stable politics are also important in developing a nation."

Why weaker? It gives equal weight to natural resources, which the text explicitly says are not the main cause.

Worked example — Text B: performance-related pay

Text B — sample (PTE-length)

¹Performance-related pay originated in manufacturing, where workers were paid by the number of items produced rather than by hours worked. Today the term is applied more broadly to any system in which an employee's salary or bonus depends on a yearly assessment of their individual performance.

²Whether an office worker's contribution can really be measured as cleanly as a count of items is doubtful, and a growing body of evidence suggests that the downsides of these systems outweigh any motivational benefit.

³Most obviously, the colleagues who do not receive the financial reward feel undervalued — which damages cooperation and erodes team trust.

⁴Beyond that, the evidence suggests performance-related pay is poorly suited to any work that depends on creativity or problem-solving. Once employees are focused on the bonus itself, they are less inclined to take the risks that lead to genuinely new ideas — quietly stifling the very innovation the scheme was meant to reward.

What is the purpose of Text B?

Choose from the same options used for Text A — (a) disadvantages, (b) research confirming something, (c) suggesting a main cause.

Match each section of Text B with what it does

damaging effects on employees
the meaning of performance-related pay, past and present
a suggestion that it does not work well
damaging effects on creative thinking

Model summary — Text B (50 words)

Pay systems in which an employee's salary depends on an annual assessment of their performance, known as performance-related pay, tend to do more harm than good, partly because they demotivate the employees who miss out on the bonus but also because they discourage the risk-taking that drives innovation.

orange = the topic, defined
blue = the writer's main point
green = the two supporting reasons, signposted by partly because … but also because …

Paraphrase — change verbs, keep most nouns

Verbs are easy to swap. Specific nouns are best replaced with a general summary word.

Replace specific details with a general word

For each set of specific words, find the general summary word that captures all of them:

energy, timber, fertile land → ?
higher salaries or bonuses → ?
likely to devise and try out new possibilities → ?

Skill — nominalisation

Turn a verb into a noun phrase. This is how you fit two ideas into one elegant sentence.

Two short sentences

"Some businesses fail to understand customer behaviour. This is becoming more common."

One nominalised sentence

"The failure of some businesses to understand customer behaviour is becoming more common."

fail → failure · some businesses → of some businesses

Combine each pair of sentences using nominalisation

The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781. It happened completely by chance.
The potato arrived in Europe in the 1500s. This meant farmers could produce greater quantities of food.
President Roosevelt died in 1945. This occurred just before the end of the war.

Skill — non-defining relative clauses

Add extra information without ending the sentence. Always preceded by a comma; starts with which or who (never that).

Pattern

"The discovery of Uranus in 1781, which happened completely by chance, opened up the modern era of telescopic astronomy."

Combine each pair into ONE sentence using nominalisation + a relative clause

It was suggested that human activity might be changing the climate. This was not taken seriously at first.
Certain bacteria survive in deep underground rock. This is surprising because they normally need sunlight.
Africa's population grew rapidly in the late twentieth century. This was driven mainly by falling child mortality.

Check & fix common SWT mistakes

Two clauses joined with just a comma is the single most common reason an SWT loses form points. Use a relative clause or a semicolon instead.

Rewrite each as ONE grammatically correct summary sentence

"Customers tend to buy the same product repeatedly, this is known as brand loyalty. It has become harder to create nowadays because of increased competition."
"University graduates often feeling nervous about job interviews, they can prepare by reading book about interview techniques. These books are widely available in bookstore."
"The development of electric car was slowly at first. This was due to high production costs, but it has now become more economical."
"Most company promote their products on social media, this is cheap and effective, also there is risks involve."

Final check — 60 seconds, two passes

Pass 1 — sentence shape

Is it really ONE sentence? (No full stops in the middle.)
Have you joined two clauses with only a comma? Fix with which or a semicolon.
Is the writer's main point clearly visible?

Pass 2 — words

Spelling — especially plural -s, third-person -s.
Articles — a / an / the in front of nouns.
Word count — between 5 and 75 words for a valid response.

Part 2 — Useful Language for Writing

A formal-style toolkit for the writing tasks

Academic writing isn't a different language — it's a more disciplined version of the English you already use. The rules, idioms, prepositions and phrase banks below are the building blocks our trainers reach for when marking your responses.

General rules of academic style

Lead the reader through your argument

Academic writing makes its logic visible. Show how your ideas connect with linking phrases.

AvoidSo,

UseTherefore, / As a result,

It has been argued that …
However, this view has been challenged …
An alternative interpretation is that …
This is illustrated by …

Use full forms — never contractions

Contractions belong in speech and informal writing.

Avoidisn't, doesn't, it's

Useis not, does not, it is

Be specific, not vague

Replace catch-all words with the precise term you actually mean.

Avoidstuff, things, good, nice

Usewaste materials, components, effective, beneficial

Choose the more formal alternative

When two words mean the same thing, pick the one used in academic writing.

Avoidbad → negative ; got expensive → has risen ; besides → moreover ; anyway → however

Avoid extreme adjectives and overgeneralisations

Academic English prefers measured language to strong opinions.

AvoidThat's amazing!

UseIt is interesting to note that …

Never leave a sentence unfinished

Words like "etc." and "and so on" suggest you ran out of ideas. Finish the list.

2.1

Spot the least-academic word in each sentence and rewrite it

For each sentence, identify the word or phrase that breaks academic style and propose a more formal version.

In future, there won't be enough forests left.
The effects of the new policy have been very nice.
Anyway, there are many reasons to be concerned about the financial costs.
Everybody agrees that a law banning the advertising of fast food is needed.
We need green power sources, solar power, wind power, etc.
Some countries have got a load of problems with floods.

Four techniques for academic register

Possibility, not certainty

Use verbs like suggests, may, tends to, appears to in place of is, will, must.

Subordinate clauses

Add condition or place with where, unless, although, while.

Prepositional phrases for detail

Add precision with in many regions, after extensive testing, on a large scale.

Substitution & paraphrase

Avoid repeating nouns. Use those individuals, this approach, the researchers.

2.2

Rewrite this paragraph in a more formal academic style

"It is better to buy goods online. There is a need for more space in town centres. That space is good for housing. Online shops can be located outside of city centres. There is no competition for that space. Another reason is that there is more choice online. There is a large variety of goods."

Try to use at least three of the four techniques shown above.

Idioms that are acceptable in academic writing

Most idioms are too informal — but a small set is genuinely useful in essays and summaries.

Phrase	Meaning
bear in mind	remember a fact that may be relevant
bridge the gap	reduce the difference between two things
in the hands of	controlled or managed by
in the light of	after considering new information
take on board	accept or consider seriously
the take-home message	the most important point to remember

2.3

Choose the right idiom for each sentence

It is impossible to ______ between rural and urban services.
It is important to ______ the long-term costs of new infrastructure.
The government introduced a new policy ______ these findings.
Any solution should ______ the views of those most affected.
______ from the conference was that handwashing remains the most effective intervention.
______ the wrong actors, this technology could be dangerous.