EPQ

Course summary

Exam board – AQA Specification 7993 Minimum requirements for the course: N/A Staff contact: Mr Gimson, dgi@cheneyschool.org; Dr Robinson lro@cheneyschool.org What is EPQ all about? The Extended Project is your chance to research any topic you are interested in, and to answer a question about it. Topics covered in 2018 to 2025 include cryptography, the Tuskegee syphilis trials, race in the Oscars, Chinese youth culture, Israeli history education, the role of dance in activism, how animals moved from water to land, American presidents, how to tackle climate denial, Spanish-based creole languages, radio-controlled gliders, dissociative identity disorder, using a sugar tax to tackle obesity, rewilding, why we sleep, why Concorde failed, religious freedom in Pakistan, the Chalcedonian schism, and the future of Test Match cricket. The Extended Project is worth 50% of an A Level. Some universities now include the EPQ in their offers. All universities see it as excellent preparation for independent study at university. It is also very useful preparation for interviews. Course structure: All students will have a weekly lesson with their super tutors covering Next Steps, Study Skills, Leadership and Volunteering, Mental Health and Wellbeing, and Contemporary Issues. These lessons teach many of the skills needed for the EPQ. Students decide in December of Year 12 whether they wish to complete a project. They will spend roughly 100 hours on it between then and November of Year 13 when they will present their projects to an invited audience. Students have a formal individual meeting with a supervisor four or five times during the year. Leads to: Improved coursework in all subjects; enhanced independent study skills. What do former students say: ‘My EPQ was the best thing I did at Cheney.’