EPQ subject

[Iamsodone]

Hi all,
I am wondering how students pick-up their EPQ research subject theme. how do they narrow it down as not sure where to start/how. looking at economics or finance area.
can anyone share examples for instance ? or methodology ?
thanks

The nature of the EPQ is that the student picks their own topic, not their teachers or parents.

DC had already read a lot about various things in the subject he ended up choosing for his uni course and one particular topic really interested him.

Pick an area of interest as and something that can be discussed at length. My topic surrounded itself with the origins of psychopathy.

Please, please please let your child follow their curiosity.

Honestly, the point of the EPQ is to show intellectual curiosity, and the ability to research ( properly) and self motivate.

Kindly- you are doing them no favour at all by trying to direct this

My son has just taken this and my advice would be to choose something they are really passionate about. A genuine interest.

If he is struggling to choose what to so it on and wants to do an economics based one get a couple of back copies of The Economist so he can see whether there are any articles that are topical that spark his interest.

My son was doing both history and economics A levels so chose to combine an interest in both by discussing the economic effects of decolonisation of a particular area.

If he is into sport for example maybe he could look at financial fair play rules in football.

Maybe a mind map approach to what he is interested in and whether that overlaps with economics if he wants to do an economics based EPQ to assist his personal statement for economics based degrees.

thank you @Notagardener @Tee20x @0DimSumMum0

@SeasonFinale thank you for taking the time to write a detailed answer, I like the mind map idea.

thank

Two of my children have done an EPQ and what worked best when deciding a topic was them reading around their subjects of interest, watching documentaries, etc. until they found something which really sparked their curiosity. At their school, over half the students who started an EPQ didn't complete it, and those who did found something they were greatly interested in, interested enough to do lots of independent research, follow up on leads, carry out interviews etc, and ultimately write about it extensively. Both of my dc chose a topic which brought together strands of what they were studying for A level with other outside interests and they were both multi-disciplinary and very interesting to read. One of mine got the idea for hers from watching an episode of Horrible Histories ...

The EPQ that I teach has a section of the paperwork dedicated to choosing a subject. 10% of the marks for the whole project are allocated to them articulating different choices, investigating them then reaching a final decision. The best ones "think out loud" eg "My main interest is horology so possible topics are: designing a new clock, investigating the work of the famous horologist Bloggs, looking at the role of the horologist in an increasingly digital world, or perhaps something very different such as children learning to tell the time." Please note, I chose this example as it's nothing like any of my students have done. Then in the next section, they will go into more detail for each choice, weighing up the pros and cons of each before reaching a final decision.

The process of choosing a subject is not one to be rushed. A few of my current cohort (going into y13) chose theirs before Christmas, with the majority having their title by February half term. Some took until Easter. Their deadline is next Easter. They need to discuss this with their supervisor and in many cases, I have had several meetings with an individual before their title is agreed.

Finally, it can be advantageous to choose a subject related to their plans beyond school, but that should not be the driving force. I have had a number of students choosing and realising stunning projects that have nothing to do with their eventual university courses, but this gave them the opportunity to hone their research and writing skills on subjects they felt passionately about.

My DD came up with her EPQ question fairly early on in the process. Her school started the EPQ January of LVI (one drop in session a week). She had also gone to the EPQ presentation at Southampton Uni.

Her degree prospect was Economics, but not the casino banking end. She chose to investigate Food Banks (I think her question was something like, are Food Banks appropriate in 21st Century Britain?).

With this topic, she was able to do plenty of background research, primary research (she volunteered in local food banks during the holidays), and could do some nifty excel analysis. In her role as charity prefect at school, she organised donations towards the local food bank, and had them come in to do presentations.

Her supervisor was not convinced that her question was deep enough, but she got an A*.

There was no way of knowing how this contributed to her UCAS, but she has walked away with a first in Economics (not so stealth boast).

I think that in some ways choosing the project is the hardest part. Being able to do "anything" sounds brilliant but it is actually quite daunting, especially to young people who are used to being closely directed and supervised in their learning. I think it's very useful exercise and a good introduction to more independent learning and agree that it is very important that it is something that the student chooses something that they have a genuine interest in. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with providing some support in the decision making process.
Personally I found my DS's teachers were a little unimaginative and even though they mentioned alternatives they seemed to expect that everyone would basically write a long essay. That isn't one of my DS's strengths so he opted to design and make something. Obviously he had to write it up, but a lot of his report was diagrams, photos, video, examples of code etc. Plus much of the learning was around dealing with failure, learning to find sources of help when designs failed and so on, so the final write up was as much about that voyage of discovery as it was about the actual finished product.
We didn't tell him what to do, but we encouraged him to think a bit differently and consider a wider range of options than school seemed to be expecting.

thank you @NiamCinnOir @Malbecfan @MrsAvocet @CraftyGin !
so so helpful !!

I totally agree that the fact that it is so open is a little daunting, especially straight after GCSEs where they have focused on exam techniques/efficiency/earn points etc
It's a totally different way of working/approaching study, no doubt enriching
the other point is in our school, it appears to be all wrapped up pretty much in year 12, so year 13 is then dedicated to the actual A level prep. It does feel a little rush if you do not know ,at all, where you would like to head and how, and I agree that it is a process to go through.
I do not want to tell DC what to do, just be able to discuss process and chain of thoughts (even meandering ones) and how others have got down to narrow down their titles.
The process described by @malbecfan I think reflect what I thought might naturally happen it to a number of candidates.

I think I would start with asking DC whether they want to do something that complements their A levels/career aspirations or something completely different.
Mine both chose the former, opting for projects with a lot of relevance to their intended post A level courses. The rationale for that was that the EPQ might be helpful in gaining places (my DS wrote about his quite a bit in his personal statement and it certainly helped when looking for related work experience) but also that it might give more insight into whether the planned course was actually what they wanted after all.
On the other hand I know students who have done something totally unrelated on the "change is as good as a rest" principle. It also gives the opportunity to show breadth. A friend of my DD's who was doing maths, further maths, physics and computing A levels did a music related EPQ because he was keen to show that he wasn't a one trick pony and also he wanted a break from all that maths type study.
So there are pros and cons either way. But I think that's a good starting point myself as it makes the first "cut" to possible topics.
I would also discuss with DC what kind of general type of presentation they want to do. Are they good at and do they enjoy writing essays or not? Again, do they want similar or different to their A levels. If they are doing all essay heavy A levels maybe they want a change, or to stick to what they are comfortable with. There's no right or wrong answers but I think a topic that they have a genuine interest in and a method of delivery that plays to their strengths/says something about them as an individual make a big difference.

Start broad and narrow it down. It is perfectly possible to tweak the title when the research is underway. One of my current students wants to study some sort of environmental science at uni and started looking at a county-wide biodiversity issue but has changed her focus as the research has gone along. As long as she documents it and is prepared to explain it briefly in the documentation, that is fine.

It is worth pointing out at this point that the paperwork which accompanies the artefact or essay is worth more marks than the actual essay itself. My cohort who finished in the spring were pretty good about this and their projects were mostly fantastic. The current group are getting it and have worked very well this year. We had 3 hours' contact time per fortnight but in this new academic year it drops down to one, although the students know that I will help by email if they have particular issues.

The key things to take away from the EPQ are the research skills, learning how to handle lots of information and referencing. This gives them a flying start when they have to do it at university.

Most schools do them in one year so either y12 or y13 and we agreed that y12 is better as usually any A levels with coursework are usually doing that element in y13. Also it means that there isn't overlap with finishing EPQ with revision and also that the unmoderated grade is known when firming unis so you know whether the dropped grade for an A or above at EPQ is on the table if needed.

My DS is doing EPQ and he got all his advice on it by watching You Tube videos so it might be worth your child taking a look there.

Future Learn have a free course about EPQ which looks interesting:

www.futurelearn.com/courses/epq-success

Really watch out for the timing of this. EPQs have two submission dates per year, and schools have to have time to finalise their grading before submitting them.

We thought my daughter had a year to do her EPQ, doing it in lower 6th. So she was thinking a little about it over the summer but not much. Starts 6th form, figures a topic, starts working on it. Suddenly I'm hearing stuff about drafts over Christmas. What?? Turns out they had to complete by Easter for a ? end of May submission. If I'd had any inkling that their "year" was actually 2 terms I'd have pushed her to think more actively about a topic over the summer and perhaps intervened earlier when she did start her topic and got bogged down (intervention was, for goodness sake watch the film first then try to read Shakespeare). I did feed back to her school about informing parents better...

Come to think of it, must check with DS's school where he's about to start an EPQ. He's got even less idea what to do than his sister had (though I could be wrong), and I may need to encourage him to think about what is achievable when he knows just what time he's got to do it in.

I agree though that the process part of things attracts a good proportion of the marks. Encourage them to record their ideas and thoughts systematically from the start.

Following up hobbies, interests, cross-curricula things, stuff they might want to do at uni, all a good start for topics. Then narrow down, and narrow down some more - but make sure this process is recorded as it can contribute valuably to the assessment! My niece got an A* doing one last year (started it in the first lockdown once GCSEs weren't happening). Her initial idea was great, then she narrowed it down to researching a smaller number of people, then finally focussed just on one person but referenced the relevance to others. That focus was essential to being able to complete a coherent piece of work.

DS1 was doing science A levels and is a keen sportsman. He managed to find a topic that linked the two. It gave him some useful stuff for his UCAS personal statement as he could link it to his degree choice too.

my daughter is probably going in to the creative arts but has a strong interest in sociology. She hasn't studied it formally but is going to base her EPQ on something within that field. She has just started A levels but they are getting their ideas firmed up.
I think the key is for your child to do something they are really interested in, not necessarily related to future plans, and something outside their A level subjects. Her back up plan is to study Anthropology, so I guess it would tie in to that, but it is a chance to research something outside their subjects (she really resents having to narrow down to three subjects, which I do not understand the reasoning coming from another system myself).

Many thanks for feedback and great useful suggestions.

The Future Learn course is really valuable and we suggest that all our students enrol and complete it. My school does the WJEC EPQ and there is a section in the Learner Record for writing this up. You can tell in the first half term who will do well by the quality of their completion of this section of the Record.

@Pythonesque that seems really heartless. It's meant to take 140 hours and I think that is a lot to cram into 2 terms. Coupled with that, this is the time of life when students turn 17 and in my rural part of the world, learn to drive, then along come university Open Days so that knocks out yet more time. Mine plan early on in the process and most of them aim to complete in their 4th term. Very few do (maybe 1 in 30) because, put simply, life gets in the way. We suggest completing the bulk of their research and note-making in year 12. Quite a lot of my new y13s have drafts of some of their dissertations now. Most are hoping to finish the writing before half term, but we have exams in school, then we get into tests like MAT/BMAT etc and interviews. The Easter deadline of y13 is a scramble for many.

Whilst it may be slightly advantageous to have a "known" EPQ grade on a UCAS form, I find the quality of writing and research improves markedly over the duration we use. It does not seem to cause any issues for our students having it as a pending grade as, in effect, it is no different from their A levels.