Linking language · Conclusion

Conclusion connectors in English

These connectors tell the reader that this is the end of the whole text, not of a paragraph. Use a closing connector once, at the start of your final paragraph. Using one at the end of a body paragraph tells the reader the essay is over when it is not — and nothing after it will be read as an argument.

5 connectorseach with where it goes and how it is punctuated

2 worked examplesthe relationship, explained

2 common mistakeswith the repair

4 exercisesrelationship first, then the word

Start here · the long version

What conclusion connectors really claim

Concluding connectors signal that what follows is the closing move, and that no new argument is coming.

A signal, and a promise about what comes next

These are the smallest family and the easiest to use correctly, which is why the mistakes with them are so consistent. “In conclusion” tells the reader you are about to close, and that promise binds you: what follows must restate, not extend. A new reason arriving after “in conclusion” is a claim with no paragraph behind it, and it damages the essay backwards by making the reader wonder why it was not argued.

The second consistent error is using one of these to close a paragraph rather than the essay. “In conclusion” at the end of Body 1 tells the reader the essay is finishing when two paragraphs remain. The word for closing a paragraph is different — “for this reason”, “this suggests that” — and the confusion produces an essay that appears to end three times.

The third is quantity. One concluding marker, once, at the start of the final paragraph. “In conclusion, to sum up, finally” is three signals for one paragraph, and each one weakens the others.

Once, at the end

One marker, in the final paragraph. Not at the end of Body 1, and not three of them together.

It promises no new content

A fresh reason after “in conclusion” arrives with no paragraph supporting it.

Closing a paragraph is different

“For this reason” and “this suggests that” close a paragraph. “In conclusion” closes an essay.

“On balance” has a condition

It promises two sides were weighed, so the essay has to have weighed them.

What it costs you to skip this

A missing conclusion is the cheapest mark in the paper to lose — the paragraph is four sentences long and Task Response is assessed partly on it. A concluding marker used mid-essay is cheaper but confusing: the reader prepares to finish and then finds two more paragraphs, and the structure they had built collapses.

Where it stops applying

These connectors signal a conclusion; they do not create one. “In conclusion” in front of a sentence that adds a new reason has announced a close and then not delivered it. And they cannot rescue an essay that never took a position — there is nothing to restate, and the paragraph ends up summarising the question rather than answering it.

Examples · what these words actually do

A connector joins two sentences and names the relationship between them

That is the whole job. The words are not decoration and they are not interchangeable: each one makes a claim about how the second sentence relates to the first, and the reader will read it that way whether you meant it or not. Here is what this family claims.

First sentence

The essay has argued that the cultural costs are real but the material gains are larger.

In conclusion

Second sentence

A wholly negative verdict on globalisation is therefore untenable.

This is the end of the whole text, not the end of a paragraph. The closing connector says “nothing new is coming”. Use it in the middle and everything after it reads as an afterthought, however good it is.

When you need it
Use a closing connector once, at the start of your final paragraph. Using one at the end of a body paragraph tells the reader the essay is over when it is not — and nothing after it will be read as an argument.

The connectors

Where each one goes, and how it is punctuated

They do not all behave the same way. Two connectors can mean the same thing and still be written differently — that is where most linking errors come from.

In conclusion

Formal

Opens the final paragraph with a comma. The safest choice in Task 2, and the clearest.

Overall

Neutral

Opens the final paragraph. Slightly lighter than “in conclusion” and useful when weighing two sides.

To conclude

Formal

Opens the final paragraph. Interchangeable with “in conclusion”.

In summary

Formal

Opens the final paragraph. Promises a summary, so do not add a new argument after it.

On balance

Neutral

Opens the final paragraph when the essay has weighed two sides and you are announcing which one wins.

Watch one · then do three

See the relationship before you choose the word

The connector is not a decoration. It is a claim about how the two halves relate, and the reader will hold you to it.

Worked example · In conclusion

The essay has argued that cultural costs are real but that material gains are larger.

In conclusion, globalisation’s cultural costs are genuine, but its capacity to reduce material suffering makes a wholly negative verdict untenable.

Why this one: The closing sentence restates the position in different words and adds nothing that the body did not develop. That is the whole job of the connector.

Worked example · On balance

Two sides weighed, one chosen.

On balance targeted charges serve museums better than either free entry for everyone or a fee for everyone.

Why this one: “On balance” announces a judgement after a genuine comparison. Using it without having compared anything is an empty signal.

What goes wrong

The two mistakes this family produces

In conclusion, the first reason is that public transport moves more people. [followed by two more paragraphs]

The reader has been told the essay is finished. Everything after this reads as an afterthought, however good it is.

Repaired: The first reason is that public transport moves more people. [In conclusion is saved for the final paragraph]

In conclusion, governments should also consider taxation reform and international agreements.

Two new proposals appear in the final sentence with nothing behind them. A conclusion cannot introduce what it has no space to support.

Repaired: In conclusion, the case for investment rests on the two mechanisms this essay has developed: capacity and access.

Now you try · with the scaffolding on

Build it one step at a time

Open the final paragraph — signalling the close and promising nothing new.

The material

Your essay argued that congestion charging is justified in large cities, while conceding it is unsuitable for small towns.

Step 1Choose the marker, and check the essay earned it

Some of these promise something. “On balance” promises you weighed two sides. Say which you chose and what it commits you to.

Your version0 words · minimum 6

6 more words before you can compare. Writing it yourself first is the whole exercise.

Step 2Write the closing sentence

Step 3Check what you have not written

Exercises · step 1, the relationship

Before the word, the direction

Choosing the connector is the second decision. The first one is noticing where the next sentence is going.

Step 1 · the relationship

Which sentence comes next — and why that one?

The sentence you have: Both the access argument and the funding argument carry real weight.

Three sentences could follow. Only one of them this is the end of the whole text, not of a paragraph. Choose it before you think about any connector.

Exercises · step 2, the word

Choose the connector the sentence actually needs

Now that you can see the direction, pick the word that announces it. The first wrong answer gives you a hint and a second attempt, and every wrong option explains what it would have signalled instead. Nothing here is scored.

The evidence presented throughout this essay points in one direction. _______, only a sustained, coordinated global effort — combining personal responsibility with ambitious regulation — can lead society towards a genuinely sustainable model.

Both the access argument and the funding argument carry real weight. _______, a mixed system of targeted charges and protected free entry is more convincing than one universal rule.

This essay has set out the causes of household food waste and the measures that address them. _______, the problem begins with purchasing decisions and is solved closest to where it starts.

The other families