Summarising and synthesising across two texts
OCR Spec point SC1.3 addresses a skill that appears on BOTH components: the ability to "summarise the central ideas of a text and synthesise across two related texts". This is AO1 at its most demanding — not just lifting facts, but identifying the organising idea behind a text and weaving two texts together coherently.
What is "central idea"?
A central idea is not a topic or theme. It is the claim or argument a text makes about a topic.
| Topic | Central idea |
|---|---|
| Education | "Standardised testing destroys creativity in young people." |
| Nature | "The city is reclaiming abandoned industrial landscapes faster than we expected." |
| Memory | "Memory is not a recording but a creative act that rewrites itself with every recollection." |
You can identify the central idea by asking: "If I had to summarise this whole text in one sentence, what would it say?"
Summarising — the core skill
A summary should:
- Name the text's main claim in your own words.
- Support it with one or two key details from the text.
- Not quote extensively — paraphrase and embed short phrases.
- Avoid personal opinion — you are reporting the text's idea, not evaluating it.
A summary of 3–4 sentences per text is enough for AO1.
Synthesising — the higher-order skill
Synthesis goes beyond summary. To synthesise is to:
- Identify what two texts share (shared topic, shared claim, shared emotional register)
- Identify where they diverge (opposite claims, different evidence, contrasting tone)
- Organise these similarities and differences into a coherent, interleaved response
The examiner wants you to show that you have read BOTH texts as a conversation with each other — not as two separate assignments.
The synthesis paragraph structure
| Move | Function | Key language |
|---|---|---|
| Shared ground | What both texts agree on | "Both texts suggest…", "A theme common to both is…" |
| First divergence | How Text A qualifies or extends the idea | "However, Text A goes further, arguing that…" |
| Second divergence | How Text B takes a different position | "Text B, by contrast, emphasises…" |
| Inference | What the comparison reveals about both | "The contrast suggests that…" |
✦Worked example
Source A (editorial): "Youth mental health services are in crisis — underfunded, overstretched, and invisible to the families who need them."
Source B (government report): "Investment in adolescent mental health provision has increased by 22% since 2018; referral-to-treatment times have improved in most NHS trusts."
Synthesis paragraph:
Both texts engage with the state of youth mental health services in England, but they reach strikingly different conclusions. Source A's editorial insists the system is "underfunded, overstretched and invisible", implying that the problem is structural and invisible to those outside it. Source B, drawing on government data, points to a "22% increase" in investment and improved treatment times, suggesting sustained reform. The contrast reveals a fundamental difference in what each writer counts as evidence: Source A uses the experience of families who cannot access help; Source B uses systemic data. Both accounts may be simultaneously true, since improvement at the systemic level does not guarantee that every family can access care.
That paragraph interleaves, compares and infers — all AO1 top-band markers.
Common AO1 synthesis mistakes
- Summarising A, then summarising B. That is two summaries — not a synthesis.
- Paraphrasing without quotation. Short embedded phrases from both texts anchor your synthesis in evidence.
- Asserting a difference without proving it. "They have different views" is not enough — you must explain what each view is and why they differ.
- Writing about technique. If you write "Source A uses rhetorical questions to…", you have drifted into AO2/AO3. Stay focused on WHAT each text argues.
➜Try this— Quick check for a top-band synthesis
- Central idea of BOTH texts identified?
- At least one shared element AND at least one difference?
- Short quotations from BOTH texts in every paragraph?
- Inference: what does the comparison reveal?
- No technique-analysis (that is AO2/3)?
AI-generated · claude-opus-4-7 · v3-ocr-english-language