Writing a Conclusion
The purpose of a conclusion is to summarise the main points of your essay. It is your last
opportunity to bring together what you have been saying, and to make your opinion, and your
understanding of the topic, very clear to your examiner. For this reason, is it a crucial component of
your essay and its importance should not be overlooked!
A conclusion should always:
§ Highlight the key argument presented in the essay.
§ Summarise the answer to the essay question, as signalled in the introduction.
§ Refer back to the essay question to show that it has been answered.
§ Reinforce the main theme of the essay, which has been established in the introduction.
A conclusion should never:
§ Bring in new information or topics that have not been discussed in the body of the essay.
§ As a general rule, avoid using in-text references in a conclusion. Like the introduction, the
conclusion should confirm YOUR understanding of, and approach to, the essay topic.
§ When writing your conclusion, copy and paste your introduction at the bottom of your
document and use it as a framework. Remember, the purpose of the conclusion is to
restate the goal, and the outcome of the essay. Having your introduction at hand will
enable you to do this more easily. It will also help to remind you of the central focus
of the essay, and of the key words that you should be integrating into your conclusion
to remind to the examiner that you have answered the question!
§ Remember to include the key words from the question, particularly in the final
sentence of your conclusion!