Study Skills

Course summary

The EPQ Level 3 qualification is our most popular PULSE course. It holds more UCAS Tariff points than an AS Level and achieving a good grade provides an opportunity for some universities to reduce their standard grade offer. Pupils select a research question based on their specific academic interest. This allows for extension of one of their core subjects, for those wishing to explore a specific topic in much greater detail, or it allows for new academic areas to be developed that are not offered through the core subjects at Shiplake (such as law, international relations, finance, earth science, astronomy, architecture, history of art, and so on). Pupils will be allocated a supervisor with whom they have regular lessons to discuss, inform and review their progress on the qualification. In addition to the research element of the course, there is a taught component covering research skills, time management, critical thinking, referencing and presentation skills. The beauty of this qualification is the variety of methods of submitting the project; it may be through a written document, a performance, or even the construction of an artefact. Pupils will be required to complete a detailed research review and also to present their ideas to an audience at the end of the course.