Study Skills

Course summary

The AQA Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is a piece of autonomous work on a topic of a student’s choosing. Students may produce a written project of 5000 words or an “artefact” based project which would entail the production of a product plus an accompanying report of 1500 words. Artefact possibilities are numerous and examples include animations, scripts, models and events. Before their project work begins, students will have weekly skills lessons to develop the skills that are needed for project work and academic study in general. Skills covered in the first term will include time-management, searching and evaluating sources and effective note-taking. The process of designing their extended project will begin early in the Autumn term of the Lower Sixth year. The process formally starts with the opening of an AQA log book, the written recording of initial ideas followed by a formal research proposal which, once approved, will initiate the project’s production. Once their project commences, students are expected to independently devote 90 hours to its production. As the first year progresses, skills lessons will provide a backbone to students’ independent study by continuing to develop students’ project skills and offering guidance in the management of the project and the required log book. In the Summer term of the Lower Sixth year, skills lessons will focus on the written and oral presentation of the project, enabling students to move to the final stages of the project. The written project will be completed by February of their Upper Sixth year. All students will then be required to give an oral presentation of their findings to a small audience and the presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. The project and log book will then be submitted for moderation in March of the Upper Sixth year.