EPQ What it is Extended Project Qualification Its

EPQ What it is… Extended Project Qualification It’s worth half an A Level and the equivalent UCAS points. It is a project, like it says. Universities like them… You’ll need to produce something and you’ll need to prove how the production of that thing has taught you skills and been done independently. … employers like them… It’s a chance to look into something that would be useful for your career that we’ve not taught you in college. Yeah, but what actually is it? It’s either: • An essay (5, 000 words) • An artefact with commentary • A performance with evaluations of outcomes… It’s all about learning and demonstrating your skills to: Research Evaluate Plan Produce Think critically

EPQ What it isn’t… Extended Project Qualification Something you can link to your current studies. Easy. You may be researching something not linked to your studies. Teacher led. The role of the teacher here, is simply to have an occasional chat about how you’re getting on and to make some suggestions… which you’re free to ignore.

EPQ How it’ll work… Extended Project Qualification Now to the Summer: You’ll come up with a question to investigate. You’ll start the research. You’ll start your log book. After the Summer: You’ll evaluate the research you’ve found and work out what is reliable and what isn’t. Once you think you’ve found your answer, we’ll plan your product - either the essay, the artefact (something you’ll make) or your performance. By Christmas It could be ready to hand in and that half an A Level is yours! This can all be done faster, we’ve done in 3 month before that got an A…

EPQ Extended Project Qualification What does it look like? Have a watch of this video produced by Talbot Heath Sixth Form in Bournemouth. At the end of their EPQ they do something very similar to our Project Presentations. As you watch it, notice the range of things that have been investigated – everything from literature studies, to death penalty debates, to cancer treatment focusses to the changing attitudes toward Down Syndrome, to the impact of financial markets on working people… You’ll also notice why these topics were chosen – they’re all connected to the careers and industries they want to work in.

EPQ Extended Project Qualification What does it look like? Your project doesn’t have to be an essay. You can design and make something. You can perform something. You can make animations or films or even a documentary about your favourite football team. . . You can produce just about anything you fancy, as long as you’ve had to do the research first!

EPQ How much help will I get with my investigation? q We’ll help you develop you question. q We’ll help you find some research to get you started. q We’ll teach you how to find more and how to make sure it’s reliable. q We’ll teach you how to plan and manage your time. q We’ll guide you with suggestions. q We’ll teach you to evaluate and support you in making decisions. q We’ll teach you how to write an essay and how to deliver a presentation. q We’ll offer advice on how to get the grades you want. In short: we’ll teach you the skills you need to research and develop your final piece. All you have to do is investigate your question…

EPQ What should I investigate? Identify a theme or subject that… As long as you’ve not studied it in school or college, then any subject …you’re really interested in is fine for you to explore. You might have an interest in …that’s related to your plans science or history, in for the future, e. g. study … you’re curious about entertainment or gaming, in at university or engineering or art… possible career This is a chance for you to learn about something that interests you or something you’ve always been curious about. … that you can realistically research …you know something - but not everything - about already

EPQ How do I come up with a question? #1 You’ll have seen these posters in the past, I’m sure. In fact, I think I’ve even seen a few of these up in some of our classrooms. For an EPQ we want to avoid researching a question with a simple yes/no answer. The point of the investigation is for you to be able to make a judgement based on evidence. This sort of question matrix is useful for setting a question for an EPQ. The last four columns in the blue border are where our questions should come from. They require judgements to be made in order to answer them – What should the government do to combat poverty? Where might the best place be to build a space elevator? How could wearable technologies change the way we work?

EPQ How do I come up with a question? #2 Let’s stick with those example questions for a moment. They’re good questions for one reason – they require a judgement to made, as we mentioned earlier. But they’re poor for one reason too – they’ve too vague and so almost impossible to answer. What should the government do to combat poverty? Poverty is a massive and wide ranging issue – how do you even start to ‘combat’ it? Also, what do we mean by poverty? A quick Google search will reveal a whole range of types of poverty. We can’t possible expect to solve them all in 5, 000 words! However, if the question was, “What should the government do to support rural communities out of poverty? ” then we can focus on a single issue and so might have a chance to solve it. Where might the best place be to build a space elevator? This looks quite specific, but actually there a range of things that you would have to consider – mostly we need to consider what ‘best’ means. Best for the UK? Best value for money? Best availability of skilled workers? Best in terms of the local political stability? If the question was, “Where might be the best place to build a space elevator in a way which leaves the lowest possible carbon footprint? ” we can specifically look for sites near to resources and existing infrastructure and not worry about the politics of the whole thing. How could wearable technologies change the way we work? Again, looks ok but ‘work’ is a very vague term. Construction work is very different to medical work is very different to professional athletes… Settings are all very different. Working outside and working in an office are very different. If the question was, “How could wearable technologies impact on offices? ” then it’s both specific and a judgement.

EPQ How do I come up with a question? #3 The beginning of your EPQ …you’re really interested in …that’s related to your plans for the future, e. g. study at university or possible career … you’re curious about Topic … that you can realistically research …you know something - but not everything - about already Ok, now let’s have a go. Select a couple of possible topics and try writing some possible questions for you to investigate. Believe it or not, there are marks just for you coming up with a question so this is something worth putting a little time into. Once you’ve got an idea, email Nicholas. jones@utcsouthdurham. org and we can begin…

EPQ How can I find out more? Email me at Nicholas. jones@utcsouthdurham. org and I’ll happily have a conversation with you about how the EPQ works.