Thirty students in Year 13 worked on their projects throughout Year 12 and then submitted them last November. Students were awarded their grades by the examination board last Thursday. These results truly are worth celebrating as an impressive 94% of the projects achieved the highest A*/A grade, where every student was 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 beginning 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 and beyond. 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, making the EPQ a really effective bridge between A Level and university study. 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. This has been the case for 17 of our students this year who have already obtained lower offers as a result of their EPQ grade. Congratulations!

The projects completed this year covered a wide range of topics from examining the portrayal of women in Ancient Greek Mythology to building a turbojet engine, 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 and EPQ Coordinator, told us, 

“I would like to say congratulations to everyone who completed their 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 Mr Brogan, Mr Gildea and Miss Thompson for their excellent supervision of this process. As Zayyan, a Year 13 student told me, ‘I couldn’t have achieved this success without the invaluable support and guidance from my teacher. Their encouragement and expertise made all the difference.’” 

“My EPQ allowed me to discuss and research in detail, something I'm passionate about.” 

Salahudeen

"I enjoyed the EPQ as it gave me the opportunity to conduct in depth research into a topic of interest, while developing this curiosity."   

Sophie

"It has been a great opportunity to research a subject of my choosing, that goes further than my A Level studies. I am so beyond proud of my final result, thanks to all the hard work, plus support from my family, and my supervisor." 

Hannah

“Doing EPQ was a great decision. It enabled me to explore a subject that interested me beyond the normal A Level specification.” 

Ewan