Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)

The EPQ qualification is held in very high regard by universities and employers alike and Richard Hale’s EPQ program is offered to all sixth form students in the summer term of their Year 12, starting immediately after the internal end of year 12 summer exams have taken place.  During the last few weeks of the Y12 summer term, a number of after-school sessions are held to introduce the Extended Project Qualification, overview its content and outline expectations, with guidance provided on how to generate ideas for projects that might be considered suitable.  Those who intend to participate in the program are set a significant package of work to complete during their summer holiday, the output from which must demonstrate sufficient commitment for the student to be accepted onto the program.   Successful candidates are assigned a mentor drawn from teaching staff during September of their Y13, with project progression gathering increasing momentum during the first term of Y13.  EPQ Students will conduct a mid-project review just prior to (or shortly after) the Christmas holiday and will look to finish their EPQ’s ahead of their Y13 Easter break (which will include formal presentations).  Although the EPQ is principally a qualification driven by independent research, it does have a ‘taught element’ component with some topics delivered centrally to all participants (eg presentation skills, evaluation skills etc).  All of our EPQ’s are internally assessed and sent for external moderation prior to reporting of results in the August of the year of submission.

The EPQ program has been running for several years now at Richard Hale, with an excellent track record of high grades for all of those completing their projects.  Those who aspire to the EPQ qualification must recognise that it is a very significant undertaking, with the specification calling for 120 hours of work from each participant which requires that each student very carefully balance this mandatory time requirement against their other work commitments prior to embarking upon the program.

Dr SJ Coote
Head of Year / EPQ Coordinator