The power of an EPQ at Sixth Form and University

At our Sixth Form, we pride ourselves on offering a bespoke learning experience for our Sixth Formers. A learning experience which is personalised to our individual students, whilst helping them gain the excellent qualifications and diversity of skills required to be accepted into a fantastic university, job, or apprenticeship. Alongside our Sixth Form Pathways Programme, we offer all our students the opportunity to undertake an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).

As half an A Level, the EPQ is valued by universities as evidence of an independent research project. When undertaking the qualification, each pupil is provided the opportunity to explore a chosen topic, whilst demonstrating an ability to lead a project from research through to presentation, much like essay assignments and university dissertations.

The EPQ teaching at our Sixth Form covers the key skills essential to completing a high-quality assignment, including project planning, time management, how to access, analyse and evaluate a range of primary and secondary data and the importance of accurate academic referencing. EPQ students complete a project proposal and lead on their own research. They are allocated a supervisor who has regular meetings to monitor progress. The finished EPQ project can be either by a written report of 5,000 words or by creating a “product”, this could be hosting an event or making a physical item, or “artefact”, such as a piece of art accompanied by a 1,000-word report. The latter is very useful if a student is applying to study a course with a vocational or practical element as the “product” created could be included in a portfolio to demonstrate a certain skill. The final stage of the EPQ is a presentation to reflect on the EPQ process. The whole process from start to finish takes about 120 hours. The EPQ is highly regarded by universities. Some will give attractive alternative offers to EPQ students and all universities recognise the valuable skills which are developed through the project. The University of Manchester states that ‘The skills that students develop through the EPQ are directly relevant to and useful for university-level study’. We are incredibly proud that for the last few years 100% of our students have achieved A* or A grades in their EPQ, in 2020, over 57% achieved an A* result.

Emily, a former student of Ipswich High School, is now studying Human Geography at Exeter University, she completed the EPQ while at Sixth Form. She explained “The EPQ has been so useful for me. I have submitted my first university essay and I would not have been able to do it if I did not have such valuable knowledge from my EPQ, particularly the referencing!  A lot of my cohort did not do an EPQ and struggled with the first essay and referencing but I felt confident.”

Our Head of Sixth Form added, “It is great to witness first-hand how our students have benefited from doing the EPQ we offer here at the school. It is fantastic to hear the EPQ has had such practical and immediate effects on a student’s degree studies and is a really powerful message to pass on to everyone currently applying and studying at our Sixth Form.”

Emily, Alumni Student said, “The EPQ has been so useful for me. I have submitted my first university essay, and I would not have been able to do it if I did not have such valuable knowledge from my EPQ, particularly the referencing!  A lot of my cohort did not do an EPQ and struggled with the first essay and referencing but I felt confident.”