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Extended Project Qualification: Home

Why choose an EPQ?

An EPQ is your opportunity to develop, extend and stretch yourself. To choose an area you are really interested in and spend time exploring that. As well as being an extra qualification that will provide evidence of your commitment to a subject or topic and your ability to work independently, it is an amazing opportunity to take yourself on a journey of inquiry. This is one of the few opportunities you have at school to spend time exploring your interests in depth and to follow them where they lead.

At the very least you will learn valuable inquiry skills that will help you at university and beyond.

At best, an EPQ can be a revealing journey of self-discovery that may be the start of a life-long inquiry journey, and the beginning of a deeper relationship with a particular subject or topic.

On this page you will find guidance including:

And:

As well as resource boxes in the sidebar containing:

What would I need to produce?

Your EPQ will be assessed on three areas:

  1. Your completed Production Log
  2. A written report (sometimes referred to in this guide as an essay)
    • If your project is solely a research-based written report of any kind (e.g. a science investigation or an essay) it should be approximately 5,000 words long
    • You might produce an artefact, such as a piece of art or portfolio, a design product, a website, or a presentation or perfornance. If your product is an artefact, it must be accompanied by a research based written report of a minimum of 1,000 words. For artefacts, you may include photos or other media showing various stages of the production process as well as the final product. You do not need to submit a large artefact as evidence - photographs or other media are fine.
  3. A presentation on the project process
    • Your presentation must be delivered live to a non-specialist audience and might use flipcharts or posters, presentation tools such as PowerPoint or Prezi or short video clips. The evidence for your presentation will  include a record in your Production Log of questions your supervisor asked and how you responded.
    • If your product was itself a presentation then you still need to deliver another presentation about the process of producing it!

Most students produce an EPQ on their own. It is permitted to work in a group (e.g. to produce a group performance) but every student must produce a separate Production Log and research report, and make their individual role in the group clear.

Who can help me?

You will be supported throughout your EPQ process by:

  • Mrs Toerien, the EPQ Co-ordinator, who is in charge of the EPQ and delivers the taught component of the course
  • Your supervisor, who will support you throughout your EPQ, helping you to plan a realistic project and to overcome challenges you meet on the way. Your supervisor will also fill in sections of your Production Log and assess your project.
  • The Library staff, who are inquiry experts and can help you to locate and work with the research materials you need
  • If your supervisor is not an specialist in your subject, you may also need the support of an Expert Advisor, who may be another member of teaching staff but may equally be someone outside school who has specialist knowledge of your area. Please consult your supervisor and/or Mrs Toerien before making contact with a subject expert from outside school.

AQA Guide to completing the Production Log introduction

AQA copyright notice

The presentation above contains slides from the AQA presentation Teaching slides: how to complete the production log (available from the AQA EPQ Teaching and Learning Resources website).  These slides are Copyright © 2020 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

A downloadable copy of the Production Log can be found here, on the Home tab of this guide.

Librarian and EPQ Co-ordinator

Production log