Extended Project Qualification
EPQ is a standalone qualification, assessed at A level standard, which is designed to extend and develop students' abilities beyond the A-level syllabus and prepare for university or their future career.
- it can be taken as an extension of other Level 3 qualifications or vocational qualifications
- it is worth half an A-level (28 UCAS points)
- it is recognised by universities and employers
- many universities make lower A-level offers to students undertaking an EPQ.
How it works
The EPQ allows students to lead their own projects. Students get to plan and carry out research on a topic that they've chosen and isn't covered by their other qualifications. They can take inspiration from something covered in one of their lessons or something personal and unrelated to their studies. Students then produce a written report or an artifact and a shorter report on it
Students take responsibility for the choice, design and decision making of an individual project. This enables them to:
- become more critical, reflective and independent learners
- develop and apply decision-making and problem-solving skills
- increase their planning, research, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and presentation skills
- learn to apply technologies confidently
- demonstrate creativity, initiative and enterprise.
Undertaking an EPQ can also deliver other benefits for students and schools, such as:
- improved A Level performance for students taking EPQ
- boosting student recruitment by making your curriculum more attractive
- increasing student motivation by allowing them to study topics of personal interest
- enabling students to apply their new skills to other areas of study.
What skills will be taught?
The Extended Project is intended to help bridge the transition from secondary to higher education, giving students the opportunity to extend their studies and use their own research to investigate a topic of particular interest to them. Students will learn how to pose research questions and how to judge which sources of information are reliable and unbiased. They will be taught high level study skills and will have access to guidance from visiting academics from local universities.
