Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
Exam Board: AQA
The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides an opportunity for pupils to extend their abilities beyond the A level syllabus, stand out from their peers and prepare themselves for university or their future career. The EPQ carries a similar weight to an AS qualification in the new UCAS tariff; it is assessed at A level standard and graded A*- E.
The EPQ encourages creativity, curiosity and independent learning. Pupils are required, with appropriate supervision, to:
- Choose an area of interest, a project topic may be directly related to a pupil’s main study programme, but should extend beyond subject specifications.
- Draft a title and aims for the project for formal approval.
- Plan, research and carry out the project to achieve a product.
- Deliver a presentation on their project to an audience.
- Provide evidence of all stages of project development and production for assessment. This must include a completed project log but other materials can be submitted for assessment.
A finished product may take the form of a research based written report, a production (eg charity event, fashion show or sports event etc) or an artefact (eg piece of art, a computer game or realised design). Productions and artefacts must also be accompanied by a shorter written report.
About 30 of the 120 guided learning hours will be taught, focusing on research, project management and other relevant skills. These will guide pupils in how to approach and conduct their project. The remaining time will be spent individually researching a topic and producing the final essay, artefact or event then preparing a presentation on the project.
Example EPQ titles
The following is a list of some of the EPQ titles chosen by our students.
- To what extent was York’s exclusion from court the main reason for the wars of the Roses?
- How has safety in Formula One changed since the 1950s and has it improved the sport?
- How have cryptocurrencies developed and why is Bitcoin the most likely to last?
- The design of an environmentally sustainable building inspired by nature
- To what extent are Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey historically accurate?
- To what extent can game theory provide us with objective knowledge?
- To what extent does animal behaviour differ in domestic and wild environments?
- Have the different manifestations of Hip-Hop inspired new generations in a way that leads to a positive charge or has this led to a slowly corroding culture?
- How do backdrafts and flashovers occur?
- Should Nazis still be prosecuted over 70 years on?