1. Don’t just do it for the prestige and the points.
It may be very tempting to do an EPQ simply because it qualifies as an a AS-level. However, you need to take in to account which universities accept an EPQ grade as an official qualification. You should do an EPQ if you want the satisfaction of achieving a university style research project, but make sure you check specific universities for their take on the matter.
2. Make sure it is for you.
EPQ is not for everyone. It requires a significant time investment, equivalent to a full A-level subject. If you are prepared to put the time in it is a very satisfying experience. You will have to be prepared to take up your free periods working on it though – with a lot of time spent on background research and finding sources to reference. The amount of time that needs to be spent writing and re-drafting your dissertation or constructing an artifact is considerable.
3. Ensure your question can scale to an EPQ level.
You need to be sure that the question you have chosen is the right size. It should not be too small so that you can cover it all in a few weeks. But not too much so that you can’t complete the project by the deadline. “What is the answer to the life, the universe and everything” is clearly too large of a question. However a question asking “what is the most common number of legs on a table” is too small. Also making sure that you have your final question refined as soon as possible will enable you to link you work to your question throughout the whole process.
4. Do it on a topic that relates to your potential university courses.
If you are applying to a university that does not count the EPQ as an AS-level, this is even more important. It still shows your interest in a particular subject area which may help your university application and give you something specific to refer to in your personal statement. Learning more widely about your subject and about specific research techniques – like referencing methods – will also help give you a head start with university level work.
5. Beware of the deadlines.
It is all too easy to let the deadlines creep up on you. This is why it is very important to keep track of all the research you have carried out in the process. This means that when it comes to writing the final dissertation it will be much faster and easier to find the information you need. The early deadline will get you your result back in time for uni applications but you will need to be extremely focused to get it done in time. The later deadline gives you much more time to refine your work – potentially increasing your grade.