My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Further education

EPQ- did your DC do it, and....

29 replies

Tansie1 · 08/06/2018 11:01

... may I be as cheeky as to enquire what their subject was, please?

DS1 just facing it now, he has some good ideas but we're interested in hearing some real-life examples, thanks!

(PS EPQ: Extended Project Qualification)

OP posts:
Report
exexpat · 08/06/2018 11:03

DS did his on prison privatisation (he was doing economics A-level and applying for economics at university). Nephew did his on the language of French rap music or something along those lines (applying for French & linguistics).

Report
flissfloss65 · 08/06/2018 11:10

My dc did his on the effect Black Death had on future medicine. He chose a history topic as some uni’s offer a reduced grade if your EPQ is an A.

Report
Tansie1 · 08/06/2018 11:12

Thanks everyone so far!

OP posts:
Report
FreshStartToday · 08/06/2018 11:18

Son did EPQ last year, along with lots of his friends

Sport studies: How important are psychological factors in sporting success?
History: To what extent does fiction such as A Tale of Two Cities help us to understand the French Revolution?
Music: Artefact - can I learn to play the guitar like Hendrix??
Biology/Medicine: Has Toxoplasmosis been underestimated by medical practitioners?
Geography: Climate change impacts on indigenous peoples/coral reefs/cricket (3 different EPQs)

HTH

Report
Tansie1 · 08/06/2018 11:58

Thank you. This is very useful; anyone else?

OP posts:
Report
Tansie1 · 08/06/2018 15:33

Bump?

OP posts:
Report
Tansie1 · 08/06/2018 18:16

Extended Project idea: "Mumsnet: Why?" Grin

OP posts:
Report
Tansie1 · 09/06/2018 17:29

Anyone else, please?

OP posts:
Report
ReservoirDogs · 09/06/2018 17:32

Tansie - what A level's is he doing?

Some friends' kids have done the following:
Producing a Children's newsround type film.
Writing a diabetic cookbook with pics.

Report
Tansie1 · 09/06/2018 17:49

Thanks! He's doing Graphic Design A level and a 2 A level equivalent BTEC in Creative Design Technologies. The EPQ is quite important as Art colleges appear much keener on your portfolio/body of work than UCAS points (though he's predicted A D D*....).

OP posts:
Report
longtallwalker · 09/06/2018 17:56

DD did one on fractals in maths. DS on Sherlock Holmes (can't remember the specific area). They both said it helped preposterous them fir extended solo study. But neither gained reduced offers as a result of their distinctions or whatever the top mark is. Think that may be a myth

Report
longtallwalker · 09/06/2018 17:57

Although it did give them
Something to talk about at interviews

Report
feltcarrot · 09/06/2018 17:59

DD did hers on Thalidomide, she is doing a science degree with interest in drug research, DS didn’t bother!

Report
EmmaGrundyForPM · 09/06/2018 18:02

Ds2 didn't bother, but I think I'd have pushed him more if he was planning to do an Arts degree as I think they are a good preparation for writing a dissertation.

Report
HesMyLobster · 10/06/2018 09:29

DD did one in year 12. At that point she was deciding between Law and Classics at university so she did it on Roman Law (I can't remember the exact title) she got a lot out of it - the independent study skills I think are invaluable. She got an A*, and while none of her offers were reduced, she thinks it probably contributed to her getting the offers. She was asked about it in 2 of her interviews at Oxford.

I think the best plan is to think about what he wants to do next and choose a relevant subject.

Report
ReservoirDogs · 10/06/2018 10:47

Certain unis such as Bath and Southampton will give reduced offers based on getting an A* in EPQ. It clearly states so in their prospectus.

Report
AnnDerry · 10/06/2018 17:19

DD's was a specific area of modern history relating to work and pay for women (A*)

She's doing History at Cambridge and it was one of the pieces of written work she sent in as part of the application process, plus she was asked about it in interview - how she could develop the topic further (geographically or into another period of history) and what she'd learned from the archive work she'd done for it.

The important aspect was that it showed she really did want to be a historian, and understood something about the research process. The topic was secondary really (she had at least another 2 she'd have done very happily - one of which may become her final year dissertation project.)

Report
Tansie1 · 11/06/2018 13:03

Thanks, everyone. I do think that seeing as in reality, Art College is far more interested in your portfolio than your grades, it'll be very useful of DS.

Trouble is, he has to come up with a topic within 5 weeks!

We were talking about something to do with political graffiti- any ideas? Ta!

OP posts:
Report
Tansie1 · 13/06/2018 19:19

Thanks, so far- anyone else with their DC's EPQ topic?

OP posts:
Report
longtallwalker · 13/06/2018 19:58

My DD didn't get a reduced offer (for maths) at Bath despite her A* Epq. She went elsewhere in the end. It's obv no guarantee.
OP, part of the EPQ process is the student coming up with an area to research or question to answer. S/he has to come up with something that is all their own. Teachers should help refine it. I'm not sure asking for ideas here is all that helpful!

Report
LoniceraJaponica · 13/06/2018 21:17

DD's school doesn't do them. She started off doing 4 A level subjects and dropped one after AS levels. The one she dropped she achieved an A in, so I hope it will count for something if required.

She has been looking at medical schools, and most of the ones we looked at said that they don't look at EPQs because they recognise that not all schools offer them.

Report
Definitelyrandom · 13/06/2018 22:30

DS got a grade dropped on what is his now his insurance offer because of his EPQ grade. None of the others changed, though.

Something on Political graffiti sounds like an interesting potential topic - not sure about how to scope it though. My DSs have long enjoyed spotting it in various European countries on holiday.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Tansie1 · 15/06/2018 17:04

longtallwalker- in the same way I assisted my DC in their choice of GCSEs, A levels and in future, degrees; when DS comes up with an idea, I will discuss it with him forensically, I will make suggestions, I will help him decide whether what he chooses is too meaty or too lean.

Like any parent would.

I have never done an EPQ; other people on here have DC who have. That forms another resource for us to draw on.

Regarding the merits of an EPQ, I think it's important to realise that the academic requirements for his possible uni choices as pretty low (112 UCAS points).

Portfolio and evidence of ability are far more important. So the EPQ offers DS another avenue in which to show off what he can do!

OP posts:
Report
longtallwalker · 16/06/2018 09:49

Fair enough. I just felt their degrees were their business. And the EPQ (since they'll chatter about it in their personal statement - that's the beauty of it) is equally their business. Their passion. Their degree. Also I knew nothing about their subjects!

Report
Tansie1 · 16/06/2018 12:31

Well done you.

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.