Year 9 options (again - sorry!), extended project?

[darlingfascistbullyboy]

Option time - dd has chosen her main 9 GCSEs (maths, eng lit, eng lang, biol, chem, phys, french, history & geog). There weren't any huge dilemmas & the blocks seem (fingers crossed) to have worked out well for her but her school have an 'applied' option block & she has to chose between a BTEC, further maths GCSE or an extended project (edexcel).

Her first choice is a BTEC performance arts production - I'm fine with this, she loves theatre & does an awful lot out of school & she isn't doing any other creative subjects. Unfortunately this is the most under subscribed of the BTECs they offer & there is a reasonable chance it won't run. There aren't any other BTECs she wants to do.

She's put further maths as her second choice - she meets the criteria, current maths level is an 8 but does not enjoy maths there is no chance she'll be doing it at A or As level. I think getting through 6 hours of maths a year for 2 years is not a great choice for her.

School have said the EP is equivalent to an As level - I'm dubious but I have never heard of an EP being done at GCSE level so I might be wrong. Does anyone know anything about it?

What would be better much hated further maths or an EP? She doesn't have any idea of what she would do for the EP - though she has just applied to do an EP about racism for the end of this year.

... 6 hours of maths a week for 2 years ... doh

EP at this level is not equivalent to an AS - there are two different levels of the extended project qualification, and as it is being offered as a gcse option I would bet on it being the gcse equivalent one. To check, get the school to confirm the entry code and check it against the edexcel website.

My school offers epq in the sixth form, the as level equivalent. I don't know how similar the approach is at gcse level but the whole idea of the epq is independence - it's basically a mini dissertation. They choose the topic, refine a title, design a research methodology, keep a record of all of their research/production decisions (this record is actually the most important bit, marks wise) and do a final write up/production piece, then finally present their project to an audience. It's a LOT of work. Many drop out. They have a tutor but the role of the tutor is very, very limited - it's about asking them questions, not giving answers - so rather than, "you have a deadline in three weeks so you need to do this by Friday, then this by next Mon, then you'll have enough time to do the last bit in the final week" it's more like "when is your deadline? What are your plans for meeting it? Do you think you've left enough time for doing x, y, z?". Also their tutor can't help them with the topic matter, so if they were doing an epq on cellular biology, their tutor couldn't direct them to read so and so - we make sure of this by giving the students tutors who know noting about the topic (I.e a drama teacher for the cellular bio student!).

It's going to be a bit less hardcore at gcse level but I am guessing not by much, or it wouldn't be in the spirit of the epq. More work with less help than another gcse I would say. But the skills they get from it are amazing, it sets them up for uni brilliantly and really gives them a taste of academic independence; a great antidote to spoon feeding!

Get the school to give you more information on exactly which epq qualification they are running, and how exactly it is timetabled, supported and assessed. Good luck with it if she goes ahead, it is hard work but worth it!

thank you!

I will check again with the school - at the presentation last night she explicitly said it was As equivalent (don't do it if that's your only motivation etc) but the booklet they gave us doesn't have the entry code.

I think it sounds great - good pre-university skills - & she would enjoy it more than the maths (she loves writing) but there's a greater risk of messing up. While they are timetabled for two hours a week she isn't the most diligent of people & I can imagine it being a struggle to keep on top of ... I do not want to be in the position of needing to nag her.

She has until the 6th to get her choices finalised.

also if it is the As level one then that means it will be harder to do well at it in year 11. Maybe further maths is better ... arrrrgggghhhh

I wouldn't be putting a gcse student in for the higher level epq. It is the whole project that is graded, not the final written piece / product piece (it doesn't have to be an essay, it can be a 'thing' like a sculpture or a film or a book of children's tales) so it would be everything she was doing from the start of year ten. They hand in a whole portfolio of work to be assessed, not just the final piece, so in effect everything she does from the start of year ten (age 14?) would be graded.
Ask the school what the results are like!