How to write a bachelor’s or master’s thesis conclusion: findings and an example

After writing the final chapter, you may feel that everything has already been said. The conclusion, however, brings together answers scattered throughout the thesis. Readers should see what your examination of the topic has established without having to go through the description of every table and source again.

What should a thesis conclusion include?

First, check the guidelines and what you have agreed with your supervisor. The conclusion may have its own structure, and specific conclusions are sometimes presented separately. The outline below helps organise your content but does not replace the rules that apply to your thesis.

1. Briefly revisit the problem: remind readers what the thesis examined without justifying the entire topic again.
2. Address the aim and questions: state what you established and which part of the analysis supports it.
3. Synthesis: bring the main findings together into an answer to the overall problem.
4. Limitations: explain what the material or approach does not allow you to determine.
5. Significance and next steps: add a justified application or direction for further analysis if your thesis supports it.

Not every point needs a separate subsection. A few well-connected paragraphs may be enough. Length depends on the complexity of the work and the requirements. Do not expand this final section simply because it takes up more pages in someone else’s document.

How do you select conclusions for the final section?

Return to the aim and questions set out in your introduction. For each one, note the answer and where its supporting evidence appears. This might be a comparison of documents, a literature analysis, a research finding or an evaluation of a project that has been developed. If you cannot identify a basis for a statement, it is still an idea rather than a conclusion from your thesis.

Prepare a working note with four brief entries:

• Question: what needed to be determined?
• Finding: what answer follows from the analysis?
• Basis: where was the supporting evidence presented?
• Limit: what does the answer not cover?

This is a working tool, not a ready-made conclusion format. Use it to write a coherent text. Select findings that address the problem instead of repeating every interesting detail from the chapters. If you are struggling to distinguish the aim from the activities undertaken, return to the guide to the thesis aim.

A conclusion versus a chapter summary

The sentence ‘Chapter two discussed documents A and B’ tells readers about the content. It does not yet explain what the comparison revealed. A conclusion should identify a difference, similarity, condition or limitation, consistent with the material presented.

Do not try to make every sentence sound like a discovery. A careful synthesis of how a concept is defined, or an explanation of the limitations of two approaches being compared, can also be a result of the thesis if that was its aim.

An example bachelor’s thesis conclusion with commentary

This is an original writing exercise; the documents and findings are fictional. Suppose the example thesis compared two instruction templates for new employees. The analysis presented earlier in this fictional thesis would show that document A organises tasks chronologically, while B groups them by area. Both explained relevant terms, but only A assigned a source of help to each stage. The people using the instructions were not studied.

The first paragraph returns to the aim and gives an answer. The second brings the findings together into a comparison and keeps the interpretation within its limits. The third explains a limitation and proposes a related next step. The text does not claim that a particular set of instructions shortens employee induction, because the example did not test that.

Use only actual findings in your own thesis. Do not add a similar result simply because it sounds good in the conclusion. Every conclusion should have an identifiable basis presented earlier in the work.

Concluding section, discussion and conclusions – how do you avoid repetition?

The results chapter presents your findings. In the discussion, you can interpret them in detail in relation to the literature and the research context. The conclusion brings together the answer to the overall thesis problem. It does not need to repeat every comparison with other authors or reproduce the description of results.

If your thesis has a separate discussion section, select what is essential for the final answer. For detailed guidance on interpretation and comparing findings with sources, see the guide on writing a discussion of results. Here, we focus on the concluding section of the thesis as a whole.

If the guidelines require a separate ‘Conclusions’ section, establish how it relates to the overall concluding section. Do not create two identical sections under different headings. A list can present the main answers, while the final summary explains their overall significance, if that structure is accepted.

What should not appear for the first time at the end?

A new key finding, an undiscussed document or an additional calculation first needs a place in the relevant part of the analysis. Do not introduce it in the conclusion as unexpected evidence. Similarly, a new definition essential to understanding the thesis should be explained earlier.

There is no single universal rule banning all references in a conclusion. The requirements and the purpose of the reference matter more. If a quotation replaces your own answer, revise the structure. Do not start a new literature review here. Format any references that remain necessary in the agreed style.

Be cautious with statements such as ‘the hypothesis has been proved’ and ‘the problem has been fully resolved’. Check what your analysis actually allows you to say. Not finding the expected result can also provide an answer. Do not change the aim retrospectively simply to declare success.

How do you adapt the conclusion to the type of thesis?

In a literature-based thesis show the outcome of comparing or organising different positions. Do not write about your own respondents if there were none. In an empirical thesis relate your answers to the group studied and how the material was collected. In a project-based thesis state what was developed, the criteria used to evaluate it and what has not yet been tested.

The principle remains the same: the conclusion should reflect the study as designed. Do not add recommendations for an entire industry when you analysed a single case. Instead of the general statement ‘further research is needed’, identify the specific missing perspective or condition that needs to be tested.

Check the conclusion before sending it to your supervisor

Read it twice, with a different focus each time. First, compare the conclusion with the aim and questions. Then read it without the rest of the thesis: does it provide a clear answer, or is it merely a set of disconnected sentences? During the final check, mark:

• the answer to every question the thesis set out to address;
• the basis for each key conclusion in the earlier chapters;
• a clear distinction between a finding, a supposition and a proposed next step;
• limitations that reflect the actual material;
• sentences that merely repeat the contents list or descriptions of tables;
• new information that needs to be presented earlier in the analysis.

If your supervisor identifies a lack of coherence, first check the link between the aim and the answers. Only then revise the style. It can also help to organise the comments using the guide on incorporating supervisor feedback.

Has your supervisor already commented on your conclusions or how they relate to your aim? See the service “Thesis revisions following supervisor feedback” and send your conclusion together with the comment and the parts of the analysis supporting your answers.