Reading: Identifying Main Points and Using Text Features

This lesson covers DfE content statements L2.11 and L2.16 — tracing and understanding the main events of continuous texts, and summarising information from longer documents. It also touches on L2.14 — identifying and understanding organisational features and using them to locate information.

These are foundational reading skills. Every reading question in the exam requires you to find information, understand it, and sometimes summarise it. Getting these skills right makes everything else easier.

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Main Points vs Supporting Details

Every text has main points — the key ideas the writer wants you to take away — and supporting details — the examples, evidence, statistics, and explanations that back up those main points.

Main Point	Supporting Detail
The big idea or argument	The evidence or examples that prove it
Usually one per paragraph	There may be several per paragraph
Answers "What is the writer saying?"	Answers "How do they prove it?" or "Can you give me an example?"
Often found in the first or last sentence of a paragraph	Found in the middle of paragraphs

How to Identify the Main Point of a Paragraph

Step 1: Read the whole paragraph. Step 2: Ask yourself: "If I had to sum this up in one sentence, what would I say?" Step 3: Check — does the rest of the paragraph support, explain, or give evidence for that sentence?

Worked Example

Read this paragraph from a workplace newsletter:

Staff sickness absence has increased by 12% compared to the same period last year. The HR department recorded 847 days lost in the first quarter, with the most common reasons being stress-related illness and musculoskeletal problems. The increase is consistent with national trends reported by the CIPD, which found that long-term absence due to mental health issues rose across all sectors in 2024.

Main point: Staff sickness absence has increased by 12%.

Supporting details:

• 847 days lost in the first quarter
• Most common reasons: stress-related illness and musculoskeletal problems
• Consistent with national CIPD trends
• Mental health-related long-term absence rose across all sectors

Notice that the main point is in the first sentence. This is very common in non-fiction writing, especially in reports, articles, and workplace documents. Writers often state their main point up front and then provide evidence.

Exam Tip: In the exam, when a question asks for the "main point" or "key idea", look at the first and last sentences of each paragraph first. The main point is almost always there.

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Skimming, Scanning and Close Reading

These are three different reading strategies, and you need all of them in the exam.

Strategy	What It Is	When to Use It
Skimming	Reading quickly to get the overall gist — you glance at headings, first sentences, and key words	When you first look at a text to understand what it is about
Scanning	Looking for specific information — your eyes move quickly over the text looking for a particular word, number, or name	When a question asks you to find a specific fact or detail
Close reading	Reading slowly and carefully, paying attention to every word	When you need to understand meaning, infer something, or analyse language

How to Skim Effectively

1. Read the title and any subheadings
2. Read the first sentence of each paragraph
3. Look at any images, diagrams, or tables
4. Read the last paragraph (which often summarises)

After skimming, you should be able to answer: "What is this text about?" and "What is the writer's overall message?"

How to Scan Effectively

1. Decide exactly what you are looking for (a name, a date, a statistic, a keyword)
2. Move your eyes quickly down the page — do not read every word
3. When you spot the keyword, slow down and read the surrounding sentences carefully

Worked Example — Using All Three Strategies

Imagine you are given a three-page health and safety report in the exam. The first question asks: "What is the main purpose of this report?" The second asks: "How many accidents were reported in March?"

• For question 1, you would skim the report — read the title, headings, and first sentences to understand its purpose.
• For question 2, you would scan for the word "March" or the word "accidents" — then read closely around that word to find the number.

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Organisational Features

Non-fiction texts use various organisational features to help readers navigate them. In the exam, you need to recognise these features and understand how they help the reader.

Feature	What It Does	Example
Heading	Tells you what the whole text or section is about	"Health and Safety Policy"
Subheading	Breaks the text into smaller sections	"Fire Evacuation Procedures"
Bullet points	Present lists or key points clearly	• Wear safety goggles at all times
Numbered lists	Show steps in order or ranked items	1. Turn off the machine 2. Report the fault
Bold text	Highlights important words or phrases	Deadline: 31 March
Italics	Used for emphasis, titles, or technical terms	See appendix for full data
Tables	Organise data so it is easy to compare	A table of sales figures by region
Captions	Explain images, diagrams, or charts	Figure 1: Accident rates 2020-2024
Index	An alphabetical list at the back of a document showing where topics appear	"Risk assessment ... page 14"
Glossary	A list of specialist terms and their definitions	"COSHH: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health"
Header/footer	Information repeated at the top/bottom of each page	"Confidential — Draft v2.1"

Why Organisational Features Matter in the Exam

Exam questions often test whether you can use these features to locate information quickly. For example:

• "Using the subheadings, identify which section deals with complaints."
• "According to the table, which region had the highest sales?"
• "The glossary defines the term 'safeguarding'. What does it mean?"

You will not have time to read every word of every text in the exam. Organisational features are your shortcuts.

graph TD
    A[See the Question] --> B{What type of information?}
    B -->|Specific fact or number| C[SCAN for keywords]
    B -->|Overall meaning or purpose| D[SKIM headings and first sentences]
    B -->|Detailed understanding| E[CLOSE READ the relevant section]
    C --> F[Read surrounding sentences carefully]
    D --> F
    E --> F
    F --> G[Write your answer using evidence from the text]

Exam Tip: When you first open the reading paper, spend 2-3 minutes skimming all the texts before you look at any questions. Note the text type, topic, and any obvious features. This gives you a mental map so you can find information quickly later.

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Summarising Information

Summarising means condensing a longer text into its key points. This is a crucial skill for the exam — several questions will ask you to summarise or identify the main points.

The Rules of a Good Summary

1. Include only the main points — leave out examples and minor details
2. Use your own words where possible — do not just copy large chunks of the text
3. Keep it short — a summary should be much shorter than the original
4. Keep it accurate — do not add your own opinions or information that is not in the text
5. Maintain the order — present points in the same order as the original text

Worked Example — Summarising a Workplace Document

Read this extract from a company policy: