Conclusions

Your conclusion finishes your assignment and leaves the reader with your main message in answer to the question or brief. You can think of your conclusion like a photo that captures the key moments of the journey that your readers have just been on.

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Key features

You can think of your conclusion going from narrow to broadening out to look at the bigger picture or wider implications. See this clear page explaining the key features of a conclusion:

Purpose

Knowing what a conclusion is for and its purpose can help you see more clearly how to write it. This helpful overview looks at what a conclusion should do and also what it shouldn’t be doing - such as adding in new information or unsupported opinions.

So what?

People often worry that their conclusion is just repeating what they have already written. Some summarising is helpful for the reader, especially if it is a long assignment, as they won’t know your answer as well as you do. But it isn’t just summarising without a purpose - remember to show how your summary answers the brief and addresses the ‘so what?’ question - so what does this tell us and why does it matter?

Language for conclusions

If you struggle to find the right words for your conclusion, try looking at how other people write their conclusions in your subject. See the Academic Phrasebank for more phrases for finishing your work well.