EPQ - benefit for all uni courses?

[Jamdemic]

I've heard EPQ can help students get a lower university offer or help their applications in other favourable ways.

Does this apply to all university courses? Even really competitive stuff like medicine, veterinary science, dentistry etc?

Or for those types of courses might it be better to concentrate on getting the A* grades in the actual A levels?

I think the most important thing has to be A levels, but if your DD or DS is happy that they are able to add the EPQ to their workload then yes, it can be beneficial.

For example, a few medical schools which require AAA at A level would allow AAB if the applicant received an A in their EPQ.

I don’t know about other courses though. It can also be a good discussion point at interview.

One of my students did EPQ and he said Southampton Uni was really impressed with the work that he had done for it. He had picked an unusual topic and spent most of the interview talking about it / being asked questions on it. He said it really helped because in his interview he was able to talk knowledgeably on a tricky / emotional topic and demonstrate many skills that are valued in medicine. He is certain it helped him to get an offer there, not just a lower grade.

I've also had students whose EPQ helped them to get lower offers in vet science. Don't know about dentistry.

I teach the EPQ. The trick is choosing a clever title

Thank you @LaLaFlottes and @Sarahbeans - very useful to know. I was just worrying that the grades needed for those very competitive courses would be so high and the demand so high that the grades would never be reduced. But glad to know that EPQ can still make a difference in those subject areas too.
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DD has just finished year 13. She wanted to apply for PPE without A levels in philosophy, politics or economics. Her EPQ involved politics and economics.

She didn't get any reduced offers as a result, but it gave her something to talk about in an Oxford interview. It has also taught her how to research & produce a piece of work without direction from school, skills who'll will be invaluable soon.

Check with school because ours can’t promise they are going to run the supplementary!!

The EPQ made all the difference for ds. He was predicted AstarAB, which seemed very realistic given his track record, but he messed up badly and got ABD, which lost him his first choice offer. He still ended up on the course he wanted, at a Russell Group uni, because he had achieved Astar in his EPQ.

Son got A star in EPQ

Got reduced offers from

Durham
Birmingham
Exeter
And offered a Masters Course at Bangor on the back of that

Definitely had a impact for him!

DD completed her EPQ in Yr12 and was awarded an A*.

She wasn't asked anything about her EPQ in her Oxford interviews (wasn't asked about anything in her PS either).

She was asked about her EPQ and PS at her Imperial interview. It didn't result in a lower offer though.

Not every course, no.

DS is about to start a course in physical natural sciences. His Further Maths (taken as a 4th A-level) will be more useful than if he had taken an EPQ instead.

Of the five courses he applied to, none take an EPQ into account when making offers.