Year 13 Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

On Thursday 12 March, Year 13 Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) students presented their projects to fellow students and staff. 

This year’s cohort of students researched a diverse range of topics, such as:

• Does music have a positive effect on the mental health and emotional development of teenagers?
• What is the most prominent issue currently inhibiting crewed space exploration?
• To what extent did the Hillsborough disaster change public accountability in UK law?
• How relevant is AI transparency for human trust and artificial decision making in generative AI?
• Why does hate crime still occur in the UK?
• To what extent is the rapid globalisation of K-Pop manufactured to benefit South Korea and push a political agenda?
• How did the French Revolution affect women?

Year 13 student, Thea Bentley really enjoyed studying EPQ:

EPQ has allowed me to search deeper into topics I am personally interested in as well as be able to share what I am passionate about with others. I have strongly developed my research skills, looking for sources to use in order to come up with my conclusion which will be helpful for university when writing a dissertation. EPQ has also helped me engage my curiosity and my creative side when creating my project board, which is definitely one of the elements I enjoyed most. I would recommend studying EPQ as you get to look at areas you want to research rather than just doing what you have to do in other subjects following a strict curriculum

EPQ Course Leader, Clare Neilands said:

EPQ students benefit greatly from taking this course each year. It is great to see the students researching topics that they feel passionately about. The final presentations are always so informative and enthusiastically presented

EPQ students choose a topic to research from their own area of interest and then produce either a 5000 word mini-dissertation, an artefact or a performance.

This project develops critical thinking, independent study, and project management skills which are all highly regarded by universities. The qualification is an AS Level and is graded A* to E. At the end of the project, students present their findings to their peers and staff at an EPQ presentation fair.