Today we celebrated the success of our Year 13 students who completed an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).

Thirty students in Year 13 worked on their projects throughout Year 12 and then submitted them last November. They were awarded their grades by the exam board last month, and we awarded them their certificates this morning in assembly.

These results truly are worth celebrating as an impressive 20% of the projects achieved the highest A* grade with every student awarded a grade in the A*-B band. 

An EPQ is a Level 3 qualification resulting in the award of half an A Level.  The independent nature of the EPQ offers students the opportunity to explore their own academic research interests beyond the confines of their A Level subjects and to develop new skills in project planning and presentation. Our students picked a topic of personal interest at the start of the Autumn term, then carried out more than 90 hours of research during the academic year, before writing a 5,000-word report, or creating an artefact, and then delivering a presentation to an audience. This gave them the chance to talk about their work as experts, building their skills and confidence ready for their future studies at university. The projects were driven by the students themselves and they were fully responsible for planning, researching and completing them. 

This emphasis on independent research, self-motivation and organisation makes the EPQ a really effective bridge between A Level and university study and top universities and selective courses are keen to see students take the qualification. Some universities will even lower their offers if a student achieves a grade A or above in their EPQ. 

The projects completed this year covered a whole range of topics from the link between rock music and crime to whether or not geoengineering is a viable solution to counteract current global warming, and we were absolutely delighted with the quality of work produced. It is clear from their results that their hard work, time and dedication has paid off. 

Mrs Rumboldt, Head of Academic Enrichment, Head of Religious Studies told us,

"I would like to say congratulations to everyone who completed an EPQ this session and I would like to commend them for their hard work, good humour, commitment and resilience, all which was needed to see this project through to the end. All of this would not be possible without the support and guidance of their supervisors, and I would like to take this opportunity to also thank Madame Banks (Head of Faculty ‑ Languages, Head of French), Mr Yates (Teacher of Languages) and Mrs Evans for their excellent supervision of this process."

Amélie, School Captain, said, 

“This experience has been invaluable. Not only have I gained volumes of knowledge about a topic I'm passionate about, but along the way I have developed my research skills and really enjoyed the process and experience.”