Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

Qualifications needed: Positive learning behaviours across all subjects in Year 12, evidenced by data from Assessment Point 1. Students write a letter of application, proposing a broad area of study, after Christmas in Year 12.

Course content: The EPQ is an opportunity for students to produce an extended piece of work of their own choice, with guidance from staff, which is assessed at school and then moderated by the exam board. This could be in the subject area the student wishes to study at university but that is not part of their school curriculum (e.g. Medicine), or simply an area of personal interest unrelated to their other studies. An EPQ is a unique and exciting opportunity for students to manage their own learning. It is worth the same UCAS points as half an A Level. In addition, an increasing number of universities, including King’s College, Southampton, Bath, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham and Liverpool, may make a reduced offer to include the EPQ, for example in addition to the published AAB entry requirements offer, they may offer ABB + A in EPQ.

The project can be:

• Either a written report of 5,000 words e.g. extended essay, investigation of a hypothesis, or an academic report
• Or a written report of at least 1,000 words, together with an artefact such as a video, model, performance, script or short story.

The student keeps a project log and presents the completed project to other students and staff, evaluating the process and responding to a Q&A session with a non-expert audience.

The assessment is as follows: 20% managing project, 20% using secondary resources, 40% developing and realising the essay/artefact, and 20% ‘review, reflect and present’ project.

Some example project titles include:

• Should science lead to atheism?
• Critically analyse fracking as a sustainable energy resource
• Assess the legality of the UK’s involvement in the Iraq War
• Write a short story based on the works of Ernest Hemingway, exploring the author’s style and themes
• To what extent does dissociative identity disorder exist as a real disorder?
• To what extent can valid comparisons be drawn between the Holocaust in the Second World War and the Bosnian genocide?
• To what extent did the unification of Germany in 1871 irrevocably shift the balance of power in Europe until 1904?
• Is time travel possible under Einstein’s theory of special relativity?
• To what extent were bankers responsible for the 2007–2008 financial crisis?

[Updated 2023/24]

Exam board: AQA

Course specification

We welcome the introduction of the Extended Project and would encourage you to undertake one as it will help you develop independent study and research skills and ease the transition from school/college to higher education. (Cambridge University)