On October 5th, 2023, 10 students presented their EPQs in Kingdown School’s sixth form centre. According to all, it was an absolute success I decided to speak to the teacher who ran the EPQ, students who participated, and a few of those who went along to support their friends to get a gauge as to what degree of success those who completed it accomplished. I also want to evaluate if it is worth taking.  

For starters, what is the EPQ?  

The EPQ (or Extended Project Qualification) is an opportunity for students to create a project on nearly anything they want- there are a few topics that are off limits if they are exceptionally sensitive. It is worth half an A-level, and it is also recognised by universities and employers so much so that many universities lower their entry requirements for those who partake in the EPQ.  

At Kingdown’s presentation of EPQs there was a wide variety of projects. For example, a student created a film, another did a project on Artificial Intelligence in the art industry, and another’s project was on serial killers and the nature vs nurture argument. The efforts of everyone involved really shined through and as Miss Potkin, the teacher who ran the EPQ for kingdown, said ‘The range of projects were wonderful, very interesting, and the students have worked so hard’  

I interviewed a student who did not do the EPQ but who went along to the presentation to support their friends and peers and they said ‘It was good! I didn’t do one personally, but I was walking around looking at everyone’s there was a lot of different topics, and it was really fun’   

However, an EPQ is not necessarily easy and many of the students had their own barriers to overcome. This could range from time constraints, motivation, the workload, or the research side of things. One of the students who completed their EPQ said ‘I’d say I mostly struggled with managing my own time and finding my own resources and I probably overwhelmed myself quite a bit which made me take longer with my actual essay’ Another said that she struggled with ‘finding unbiased websites to use because you’d find like victim profiles and they are always going to be bad- well not be bad- but have a bad opinion’ when it came to finding sources of serial killers.    

Now, is it recommended to a year 12 to do this? 

The short answer is yes. Definitely!  

The students I interviewed said ‘Yes, if they have the time to do so because it does take up a lot of effort and time’ and ‘I would [recommend to a year 12] only if the subject is something you’re really passionate about and also if you have time because if you feel like you are already stressed out with the three A-levels, I wouldn’t recommend taking on the extra workload. Whereas if you feel like you may need that extra qualification I'd say, go for it.’ Furthermore, Miss Potkin said ‘100% I recently gave an assembly to year 12 promoting the EPQ and there has been a lot of enthusiasm it is a fantastic thing for your CV, for UCAS, and of course for your own enjoyment of exploring a subject that interests you’