EPQ Process: A Student's Guide to the Extended Project Qualification, Exercises of Learning processes

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Navigating

the EPQ

process

Contents

• What is an EPQ? page
• Why you should consider an EPQ page
• UCAS tariff point’s page
• How the EPQ works page
• The EPQ booklet page
• Choosing your EPQ topic page
• Research page
• Your EPQ presentation page
• EPQ mark scheme page
• Submitting your EPQ page
• Useful links page

Why you should consider an EPQ An Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is not a compulsory part of post-16 education for students. However, in an increasingly competitive world it gives students the opportunity to set themselves apart from others. It allows students to complete their own project on a topic that they love, develop a wider variety of skills and gain additional UCAS points for their university application. Students applying for apprenticeships will also benefit from having a completed EPQ project on their CV. An EPQ will allow students to develop the type of skills that universities and employers are looking for. By undertaking this project you will develop skills in the following areas…  Extensive planning  Organisation  Time management  Research  Extended writing  Presenting  Critical thinking  Independent study Over 30,000 students studying in post-16 education currently complete an EPQ project as a way of demonstrating the skills they have developed. Increasingly, universities will include UCAS points from an EPQ as part of their entry requirements (check this when researching courses and universities). Whilst students can choose a topic similar to something they are studying, students must use their research and development of the project to go beyond what is currently covered in the specification of their chosen subjects. More usually, students choose to complete their EPQ in a topic unrelated to something they are currently studying. Students have taken advantage of the EPQ previously, to create a project on something related to their chosen university course, if they are not currently studying an A-Level or BTEC in that subject area. For example a student hoping to study Psychology at university but not studying Psychology at A-Level may wish to complete an EPQ on the topic of “social influence” as a way of demonstrating their passion and ability for the subject. More information can be found by clicking on the following link… https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/projects/project-qualifications/EPQ-7993/why-choose

UCAS Tariff Points As you will have already read, completing an Extended Project Qualification allows students the opportunity to increase the number of UCAS points that they can achieve. The EPQ is worth “half an A-Level” with regards to the number of UCAS points students will receive when their completed project is submitted. This can help boost a student’s university application by giving them additional UCAS points to the points they will achieve with their other A-Level/BTEC subjects. The number of UCAS points allocated for each grade of the EPQ can be found below. Extended Project Qualification (Level 3)

The EPQ booklet Once students have registered their interest in completing an EPQ they will be given a log book which will assist in guiding them through the different stages of the project. When meeting with their supervisor to check-in on progress, students will need to ensure they have their booklet (regularly updated) with them so that all meetings and guidance given can be logged. An online copy of the log book can be found by clicking on the following link… https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/admin/crf_pdf/AQA- 7993 - CRF-21.PDF Students will need to regularly update their booklet as they begin their EPQ project. As you will see from the link the booklet is divided up into the following sections…  Taught skills  Record of marks  Record of initial ideas  Candidate proposal  Planning review  Mid-project review  End product review  Presentation record  Summary and reflection Some sections of the booklet need to be completed by the students supervising teacher. It is therefore important that students only complete sections which indicate they need to be completed by the “candidate”. Students will need to meet with their supervisor to confirm their topic for their EPQ. They will not be able to begin the research and development of their project until the candidate proposal section has been completed and approved by the supervisor. Once students begin their project they will have one “formal” check-in with their supervisor where the mid- project review will be completed in the booklet. Otherwise, students are expected to complete their project independently.

Choosing your EPQ topic When it comes to choosing the topic you wish to develop your project about, be as ambitious as possible. The good news about your EPQ is that it can be about absolutely anything! You are always have increased motivation when studying something that you love, so think about this carefully when choosing your topic. Pick something that you enjoy already as a hobby as this will give you extra motivation for doing a good job and completing an excellent project – you will even have a better base of expertise than choosing something you know nothing about! Below are some ideas based on questions students have previously used for their EPQ projects…  Celebrities as role models: Do they have a positive or negative influence on society?  What are the factors behind England’s failure to win a recent major footballing championship?  To what extent have the volcanic eruptions of^ Montserrat^ and Mount St Helens differed in their economic, social and environmental impacts?  How does high quality provision effect the learning and development of young children?  What effects do video games have on modern society?  In an increasingly energy dependent world is nuclear power the preferred successor to fossil fuels?  To what extent are nuclear weapons still relevant in today’s society?  To what extent has mobile phones changed the way we live?  To what extent should certain drugs be legalized? When you have decided what topic you would like to study you will need to complete a proposal form. This will need to be agreed with your EPQ supervisor and signed off. This will form part of your EPQ booklet, which as you know will log the steps you take to completing your final project.

Your EPQ Presentation Once you have completed your research and created your project (whether it be an artefact, essay, performance, exhibition etc) you will need to give a formal presentation reflecting upon your project as a whole. You will present to the sixth form team. The presentation itself should last 5-10 minutes and you will be asked questions afterwards. The presentation is part of the EPQ and counts towards the “Review” section of the project which is worth 20% of the overall grade. Here are some steps below which outline the different sections your presentation must contain… Section One You need to begin your presentation by explaining how you came to settle on your project title and how you went about planning your project overall. Include any deadlines you gave yourself of problems you had to solve in order to make your project work. Section Two The next part of your presentation will be an overview of your research. You will need to explain how you decided to research, how you conducted your primary research and how you judged the reliability of your secondary research. You will also need to explain any problems you encountered and how you overcame these. Section Three The next stage of your presentation will need to include information regarding how you put your final project together. You will need to include how you incorporated your research into your final project and how you decided on the form your final project would take. You will need to include how you managed your time and organised to ensure the project was completed. Again, you will need to include any problems you encountered and how you solved these. Section Four The final part of your presentation needs to include a review of your project. You will need to include what went well during the project, what problems you encountered and how you might do things differently if you were to do the project again. Students will need to judge how successful their project was and if/how their project changed when compared to their original idea.

The EPQ Mark Scheme The EPQ is marked across four key areas. The total number of marks that can be awarded for an EPQ is 50 marks. The marks are broken down across the four main areas as follows… Manage 10 marks Weighting: 20% Use Resources 10 marks Weighting: 20% Develop & Realise 20 marks Weighting: 40% Review 10 marks Weighting: 20% A description of each of the four key sections can be found below... A full breakdown of the mark scheme for each section can be found on pages 10-13 in the EPQ specification by clicking on the link below… https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-W- 7993 - SP-19.PDF

We hope you found this guide useful. If you any

further questions your form tutor or the sixth form

team will assist you in any way they can!