Summarize Written Text(SWT)

28% of WRITING23% of READING10 minutes per question

One sentence. 60–65 words. 10 minutes. The easiest 28% you will ever earn — if you follow the method.

The Format

Passage: Up to 300 words on screen
Your job: Summarize it in ONE sentence
Word limit: 5–75 allowed — target: 60–65
Full stops: Exactly ONE — or Form scores 0
Time: 10 minutes per question
In your test: 2 questions

The Scoring (9 marks)

Content

Cover the main idea — hit 7–9 passage keywords.

Form

5–75 words, one full stop, starts with a capital letter.

Grammar + Spelling

1 mistake = half marks. 2+ mistakes = 0.

Vocabulary

Use synonyms. No short forms, no contractions.

This one task is 28% of Writing AND 23% of Reading. One task controls over half your combined R+W marks. Nothing else pays this well.

The System

The 3-Step Method

PICK

Choose 3–4 important sentences

Usually: the opening claim, the strongest supporting point, and the contrast or conclusion. Ignore examples, names and numbers.

JOIN

Connect with , and · ; furthermore, · ; moreover,

'And' is a conjunction — a comma is enough. 'Furthermore' and 'moreover' are linking adverbs: they need a SEMICOLON before and a comma after, or the scorer flags a comma splice. One flowing sentence — never two.

TWEAK

Change 3–4 words in your response

Swap words for simple synonyms so it is YOUR sentence, not a copy. Copied strings hurt your vocabulary score.

Pick. Join. Tweak. That's the whole method.

Join

The Connector Frame

One sentence, four ideas — joined exactly like this:

1st idea , and 2nd idea ; furthermore, 3rd idea ; moreover, 4th idea .

, and

Real conjunction — comma BEFORE 'and'

…boost attendance, and officials believe…

; furthermore,

Linking adverb — SEMICOLON before, comma after

…transport habits; furthermore, ratepayer groups…

; moreover,

Linking adverb — SEMICOLON before, comma after

…already stretched; moreover, parent associations…

Golden rule: ONE capital letter, ONE full stop at the end — and a semicolon is NOT a full stop, so '; furthermore,' keeps Form safe where ', furthermore,' loses grammar marks as a comma splice.

Grammar That Scores

Conjunctions vs Linking Adverbs

The most common grammar penalty in this task: joining two complete ideas with ', moreover,' — a comma splice. Only real conjunctions can join clauses with a comma.

Conjunctions — a comma is enough

These words can connect two clauses inside one sentence with just a comma:

andbutwhereasbecausealthoughwhileso

“The library extended its hours, and students welcomed the change.”

Linking adverbs — semicolon before, comma after

These are NOT conjunctions. Inside one sentence they need a semicolon before them and a comma after:

howevermoreoverfurthermorethereforeconsequently

“The library extended its hours; moreover, it added weekend study rooms.”

A semicolon is NOT a full stop

SWT allows exactly one full stop — but semicolons are safe. “Idea; furthermore, idea.” is still ONE sentence with ONE full stop, so Form stays 1/1 while your grammar stays clean.

Spot the comma splice

A:“Cycling improves fitness, moreover, it reduces city traffic.”

✕Comma splice — “moreover” cannot join two clauses with commas alone

B:“Cycling improves fitness; moreover, it reduces city traffic.”

✓Semicolon before + comma after = correct within one sentence

C:“Cycling improves fitness, and it reduces city traffic.”

✓“And” is a real conjunction — a comma is enough

One sentence can hold several ideas: join them with “, and” or “; furthermore,” — never “, furthermore,”.

SWT · Demo

Live Example

Practice passage (written for this guide). Green = the sentences worth keeping.

Free bus travel for high-school students has been introduced in Wellington to ease congestion and improve attendance. The scheme covers more than 20,000 students across the region's public and private schools. Transport officials say the program will reduce morning traffic around school gates and build lifelong public-transport habits. But some ratepayer groups questioned the cost of the subsidy, arguing that council budgets were already stretched. As part of the rollout, the council will add extra services on the busiest routes, upgrade stops near schools, and monitor safety on board. One principal described the change as transformative for families in the outer suburbs. Parent associations welcomed the scheme, though they warned that demand may initially exceed capacity.

Keep: the main claim (S1) · the purpose (S3) · the contrast (S4) · the reaction (S7)

Tweak — swap words so it's YOUR sentence

Passage says

You write

ease congestion

→ reduce congestion

improve attendance

→ boost attendance

reduce morning traffic

→ cut morning traffic

questioned the cost

→ raised concerns about the cost

budgets were already stretched

→ budgets were already under pressure

Keep proper nouns as they are — 'Wellington' stays. Only tweak everyday words you are 100% sure about.

The Finished Answer — One Sentence, 60 Words

Free bus travel for high-school students was launched in Wellington to significantly reduce congestion and boost attendance, and transport officials believe the program will cut morning school-gate traffic while building lasting public-transport habits; furthermore, ratepayer groups raised concerns about the subsidy's cost given councils' stretched budgets; moreover, parent associations welcomed the scheme despite warning that demand may initially exceed capacity.

✓ONE sentence, one full stopForm 1/1

✓60 words — sweet spot 60–65Form safe

✓All 4 picked ideas coveredContent 4/4

✓, and · ; furthermore, · ; moreover,Connector frame

✓Semicolons before linking adverbs — no comma splicesGrammar safe

✓5 phrases tweaked, zero copied stringsVocab 2/2

Avoid

The 4 Traps That Cost You the Task

✕ Writing 2 sentences

A second full stop = Form 0 — and Form 0 kills the WHOLE response. One capital, one full stop. Always.

✕ Copying full sentences

Word-for-word strings from the passage crush your vocabulary marks. That's why we tweak 3–4 words per chunk.

✕ Going over 75 words

76+ words = automatic zero on Form. The 60–65 target keeps you safe with room for all four ideas.

✕ Cramming every idea in

You are scored on the MAIN ideas, not total coverage. Extra clauses add grammar risk for zero content gain.

Daily Drills

→Daily drill: 2 SWT passages per day with the 3-step method. That's 20 minutes for 28% of Writing.
→Reserve the final 1–2 minutes to proofread word by word, not sentence by sentence.
→Practice the connector frame until you can type it from memory: , and · ; furthermore, · ; moreover,

Memory Hooks

PICK → JOIN → TWEAK“; furthermore,” — never “, furthermore,”60–65 words, ONE full stop7–9 passage keywords = Content 4/42 spelling mistakes = ZERO spelling marks