Summarize Written Text(SWT)
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 (sometimes 3)
The Scoring (9 marks)
The 3-Step Method
Usually: the opening claim, the strongest supporting point, and the contrast or conclusion. Ignore examples, names and numbers.
Comma BEFORE 'and'. Commas before AND after 'furthermore' and 'moreover'. One flowing sentence — never two.
Swap words for simple synonyms so it is YOUR sentence, not a copy. Copied strings hurt your vocabulary score.
The Connector Frame
One sentence, four ideas — joined exactly like this:
Live Example
Real practice passage (abridged). Green = the sentences worth keeping.
Armed police have been brought into NSW schools to reduce crime rates and educate students. The 40 School Liaison Police officers have been allocated to public and private high schools across the state. Organizers say the officers will build positive relationships between police and students. But parent groups warned of potential dangers of armed police working at schools in communities where police relations were already under strain. Among their duties, the SLPs will conduct crime prevention workshops, talking to students about issues including shoplifting, offensive behavior, graffiti, drugs and alcohol. One SLP, Constable Ben Purvis, began work in the inner Sydney region last week... “I am not a security guard”, he said. Parents' groups responded to the program positively, but said it may spark a range of community reactions.
Tweak — swap words so it's YOUR sentence
The Finished Answer — One Sentence, 61 Words
The 4 Traps That Cost You the Task
A second full stop = Form 0 — and Form 0 kills the WHOLE response. One capital, one full stop. Always.
Word-for-word strings from the passage crush your vocabulary marks. That's why we tweak 3–4 words per chunk.
76+ words = automatic zero on Form. The 60–65 target keeps you safe with room for all four ideas.
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,