EPQ - logistics of a possibly lower offer if you don’t know your grade when the offers are made

[WhoWhereWhatWhy]

DS is in y12 and studying for an EPQ with three A levels. Some of the universities he’d like to apply to (for Politics) say that they may lower by one grade if he gets an A at EPQ. They are Nottingham, Southampton, Exeter, Cardiff and possibly York.

How does this work if he won’t know his grade until after he applies please? Are offers made at grade, say, ‘AAB or ABB if grade A achieved at EPQ’ or does he apply and list the EPQ result as pending and wait for a standard offer, and then maybe ask for the offer to be adjusted after the result os known, or what?

Im a bit confused as to the logistics.

When is he submitting his EPQ? This year? If so, he will have his grades before he applies. Lots of people who do them in year 12 submit the end of year 12 and thus have the grade.

If he doesn’t have his grade because he will submit in year 13, they will make him the offer but may reconsider if he misses his A-level grades but has a good EPQ

Actually our DC submitted their EPQ at the end of Y12 and didn't have their expected EPQ grade until long after they applied (think they got the grade in March) so that's definitely not the case for everyone.

OP @WhoWhereWhatWhy Yes, the offers are usually stated as 'AAB, or ABB with an EPQ [grade A*A or, at some unis, a B].

Good luck!

This is good to know, thank you.

Yes, he is submitting at the end of y12, but has been told that he won’t have the result until February or so in y13, so 2026.

DC (Y12) has done theirs and has a provisional grading but it still has to go through exam board moderation so no final grade until Feb-March 2026.

DD Yr13 has her score but not grade for the EPQ she submitted in February l.
She has a university offer which she has firmed of AAB. The offer includes a reduction to ABB if she gets above a grade B in her EPQ. From her score she's either got an A* or A depending on the grade boundaries for the EPQ, so she pretty much knows her target for grades is ABB but she's predicted higher.

Yes, OP. If the EPQ grade hasn’t been certified then the conditional offer should be written in two parts, one to incorporate grade A on the EPQ. This is quite typical.

Best wishes to DS

There are two entries for EPQ each year:

1. May - results in August
2. Nov - results in January

If an application to UCAS has been made, then school predict an EPQ grade, just as they do for the other Level 3 qualifications e.g A-Levels or BTECHs. The grade offers for universities will state the ‘full’ offer and what an EPQ would reduce it to -this would usually be an A or A* for most RG unis. For a points offer, an EPQ grade carries half the points of an A-Level. NB. Some courses, e.g. Law at some RGs, will only accept an EPQ if it is in the same field as the degree.

This is very useful information indeed, thank you. He is only writing a first draft now, so wouldn’t be submitting until November, I’d imagine. And his EPQ is Politics related, which is what he wants to apply for at RG universities, but not all RG will adjust their offer for EPQ. Of those he’s looking at, Bristol and Warwick won’t.

EPQ coordinator here. I would add that as his EPQ is on the topic he wants to do an uni, he should definitely make the most of talking about it in his personal statement on his university application, even if he won't have a grade or mark by the submission date. Which he has probably thought of already, but thought I'd mention!

Yes, he will. Thanks though, all guidance gratefully received!

DD mentioned her EPQ in her personal statements. All her offers ( including 2 of the Unis you mention) gave standard offer and then alternative offers of eg ‘AAA or AAB with an A in EPQ’. ( Or a B in EPQ at one uni). She got her EPQ result before submitting her UCAS form ( I think - can’t remember exact timing) as they do it fairly early in yr 12 but the Universities don’t know it yet.

DS had this. His offer was Astar AA or AAA with A in the EPQ- you don’t need the EPQ grade before applying

DD got five offers (a few years ago now), only one (Leicester) included a lower offer based on getting an A or Astar in her EPQ so it read as per @itcouldhavebeenme stated. She is so glad she did the EPQ, did most of it in summer between Y12 & 13 and so could talk about it in her interview even though she didn't know the result at that time (but had a fairly good idea). She also feels it has held her in good stead for the workload, planning and style of university work.