How To Write An EPQ Essay (Step-by-Step Guide)
In A-Level by Think Student Editor March 29, 2019 13 Comments
Whatever the reasons were for you choosing to write an EPQ, the grade you get is most definitely important to you. That is why I have written this (hopefully) detailed guide on how to write an EPQ.
1. Think Of An EPQ Topic That Genuinely Interests You
It’s important to choose an EPQ you’re interested in, or you may run into some problems . Many students take EPQs each year, and many students fail because they make this mistake.
If you don’t take an EPQ you’re interested in, you’ll have no motivation to work on it . This will be because you start to want to do other things, anything instead of your EPQ.
Think about revision, for example. Is it interesting? Nope. Would you rather be playing videogames, watching Netflix, or literally anything else? Yeah, me too.
If you’re not motivated to write your EPQ essay, then you’ll either not do it or do it badly. If you don’t work hard for it, you won’t get good marks – and therefore there’s less point in even taking it in the first place .
If you find an EPQ topic to write your essay on that genuinely peaks your interest, you’ll find it much easier to get better grades in it.
A more interesting EPQ essay topic will mean that your focus is better . This will result in a better EPQ, meaning more marks when you hand it in.
You’ll also enjoy the EPQ a lot more if you find it interesting . You’ll find the whole experience a lot more fun, and therefore a lot easier too.
To find an EPQ topic that genuinely interests you, you just have to think about what you like. There are lots of different things you can do, but you only get to choose once – so choose carefully.
And if you’re really stuck on ideas, take a look at this list of 600+ EPQ ideas that guarantee an A* . Any of these ideas will be great for your EPQ, so just choose one that interests you and that you’ll actually enjoy.
2. Create A Mind Map Surrounding Your EPQ Topic
A mind map is where you write down everything you know about a topic . In this case, you’d be writing down all the ideas and concepts surrounding your EPQ topic.
That way you can see everything you need to write about in your EPQ essay. You’re essentially making a mood board for whatever EPQ idea you’ve chosen, and it will help you get in the right mindset for the task ahead.
Mind maps are most commonly used to identify gaps in your knowledge . Students tend to use them when revising to work out what they don’t know, whilst also helping them consolidate what they do know.
In terms of your EPQ essay, a mind map will provide a loose structure for you to follow . You’ll come up with lots of different things you can write about, and that will make the essay a lot easier.
In addition to this, whilst creating your mind map you may even decide to change your topic entirely. You might find that the topic you’ve chosen isn’t giving you any idea inspiration, and so you move on to a different topic.
To make sure you get your mind maps right, you might want to follow this helpful guideline . It’s mainly about studying, but the same things can be said for planning your EPQ essay.
Don’t try rushing in to your EPQ essay without first creating a mind map . Mind maps are more useful than most students think…
Mind maps will help you avoid getting lost in what you’ve written, what you’ve missed, and what you’re planning on doing. You can use your EPQ topic mind maps as a sort of checklist as you write your EPQ essay.
3. Use Your Mind Map To Think Of A Question Related To Your Main EPQ Topic
Many students forget to think about this, but it’s probably the most important part of your EPQ . If you get this bit wrong, you can say goodbye to a good grade in your EPQ.
The question relating to your EPQ topic of choice is what you’ll spend your time working on . The 5000 words you write will be about this question, and so it really needs to be a good one.
If you don’t make it a question that interests you, then you’ll find it harder to write as much about it. Find a question that genuinely peaks your interest (relating to your EPQ of course) and the rest will come naturally.
It’s also important, however, that you choose a question where there’s a lot to write about . If you choose a question with lots to write about, you can use that to your advantage when trying to reach those 5000 words.
However, if you don’t choose a question where there’s a lot to write about, you’ll find that your EPQ is slow and drains you. Not only that, but it’ll probably be worse in terms of grade too.
I’d suggest doing a little background research into your question before you start writing your EPQ essay . Just check that there’s lots to write about and then you can avoid starting something you can’t finish.
As a general rule, you’ll want questions that don’t have definitive answers. If you can find a question that is inconclusive, you’re onto a winner.
If you can’t be bothered to look up EPQ questions, then there’s an alternative . Take a look at this list of 600+ EPQ ideas that guarantee an A* .
4. Write Down Subtitles That Relate To Your Main EPQ Question
Writing down subtitles for your EPQ question means that you’ll have a better idea of what’s actually going into your EPQ essay .
When you create your subtitles for your EPQ essay, you’re essentially writing down all the mini-topics you’ll write about. You split up the massive 5000 word count into smaller, more manageable parts.
I’d suggest making as many subtitles as you can that relate to your main EPQ question. Just go for a massive brainstorm ( potentially using your mind map ) to try and come up with lots of subtitles.
That way you maximize the chances of you making some actually good subtitles. You’ll have lots of options to choose from, and your EPQ will benefit from having such a varied range of points.
You also put yourself in the right mindset for your EPQ essay . You’ll be much more open to different ideas and approaches whilst actually writing the EPQ, and examiners will see this and give you extra credit.
However, you need to make sure that the subtitles you’re writing actually relate to your EPQ question . If they don’t, you could run into some serious problems.
If you choose to work on a subtitle that doesn’t wholly relate to your EPQ question, you risk filling up your word count with irrelevant information. That means less room for the important stuff, and less marks for you.
Make sure you check all your subtitles before you start writing . Work out what the plan is before you start writing, so that you don’t have to rewrite a large portion of your EPQ essay.
So grab a pen and paper, sit down, put on some nice music, and get to writing those subtitles.
5. Triple Check That Every Subtitle Question Actually Relates To The Main EPQ Topic
By this point, you should have around 16 subtitles that you want to include in your EPQ essay . 16 subtitles will give you a nice 300 word per subtitle guide, give or take a few.
Any more subtitles, and you run the risk of overcomplicating your EPQ. Any fewer, and you’ll struggle to reach that gargantuan 5000 word count.
It’s essential that you break down your EPQ essay into smaller modules like this, to make it easier for you in the long term. 16 subtitles will mean the best productivity for you when you actually come to write your EPQ essay .
The next step is to order your subtitles, for easier reading. You’ll want to make the layout of your subtitles as sensible and as easy to follow as possible for your examiner .
If you please your examiner like this, they’ll be more inclined to give you more marks. They mark you on your written communication, and therefore you’ll want to make sure you’re communicating the most effective way.
Try ordering your subtitles by the order of most important to least important . Laying out your subtitles this way will show your examiner that you’ve really thought about your EPQ and understand what they want to see.
Alternatively, you could lay out your subtitles chronologically . What I mean by this is that you start with your question, move onto research, then explanations, and finally a conclusion.
This is probably the best way to lay out your EPQ essay subtitles . It’s the easiest way to follow the process you went through, and examiners like to see EPQ essays that are laid out like this.
It’s how I laid my EPQ essay subtitles out, and I got an A* – so I’d suggest doing the same.
6. Allocate A Word Count To Each Element Of Your EPQ Structure
You’ll want an introductory paragraph to start with, and that should only take about 200-300 words . Don’t go overboard with your introduction, as you should aim to make the bulk of your essay about your EPQ question.
I’ve already mentioned it, but you want to write about 300 words per subtitle . This is the perfect amount of words to write if you want the EPQ essay to go as smoothly as possible.
16 subtitles at 300 words each will put you at just under 5000 words – 4800, to be exact. That will leave you just enough room to add a short introduction too.
You can go for less subtitles, but that means a higher word count for each individual subtitle . If you make your word count per subtitle too high, then you’ll struggle when it comes to actually writing your EPQ essay.
You could also try more subtitles if you want, but that then means you’d write less per subtitle . That means there’s less room for all your explanation, and less marks when you hand it in.
I’d recommend keeping your subtitle count between 14 and 18 . That way you give yourself the best chances of your EPQ being easier to write.
You also make it easier for you to enjoy, too. Making your EPQ essay subtitles this long means you’ll find it easier and less monotonous, and therefore you’ll enjoy it more.
The word count of each element in your EPQ essay has an impact on your productivity and focus, too . Generally, the shorter the piece of writing you have to do, the more productive you’ll be.
Setting yourself short-term goals like this will help you stay focused and make your EPQ that little bit better. It’s worth setting effective word counts for your EPQ essay elements for those extra marks .
7. Research, Research ( And A Little Bit More Research )
Research should make up about 40%-50% of your total EPQ essay . That’s a lot of research, and you can see from this figure that quality research is crucial to your success.
The reason research takes up so much space is because you need to explore all opportunities within your question. Research will help you develop ideas and improve your knowledge of the subject, helping you to better answer your EPQ essay question.
And besides, who doesn’t want help reaching the massive 5000 word count?
There are many ways to research, with the most common being the internet, and books . Both ways of researching are valid and useful, but you still need to be careful.
Especially with the internet, you may come across facts and information that isn’t entirely accurate. This is because anybody can access anything, and usually the information you see online is edited by people who aren’t professionals.
Try to stay away from websites like Wikipedia, where anybody can change the information you see . There are much better alternatives out there, like Google Scholar for example.
Whereas with books, they have to go through a long-winded process to ensure they’re accurate . Books tend to be slightly more reliable than the internet, especially if they have an ‘exam-board approved’ label on them.
I’d also recommend keeping track of all the sources of your information, as you’ll have to write a bibliography at the end of your EPQ .
What that basically means is that you have to reference each individual source of information after you’ve written your EPQ essay. That’s just so examiners can check to see if you’re plagiarising any content, in case you were wondering.
8. Check That Your EPQ Structure Still Makes Sense
You should have around 16 subtitles ready to go, in chronological order or order of importance . I’d suggest chronological order, but that’s up to you.
You should also have space to add an introduction and conclusion paragraphs . They shouldn’t take up too much space, but still leave some room for you to add them in.
You’ll actually want to wait until the end of your EPQ essay to write either of these paragraphs, so it might help to add placeholders until you get to writing them.
Around 7 of your subtitles should be based on research . You’ll want to leave yourself a nice amount of in-depth research, whilst also allowing room for all that explanation.
If you don’t give the right proportions for your research and explanation subtitles, your EPQ can become lopsided. Examiners will easily spot this and take away precious marks.
You’ll want your conclusion to be longer than your introduction, as you’re essentially summing up all that you’ve written . Your conclusion should be about the same size as your subtitles, but maybe just a little bit bigger.
If all else fails, just read through your structure and think about it from an examiners’ point of view. Does it all make sense? Are the subtitles in a sensible order? Have you left space for your introduction and conclusion paragraphs?
If you reckon you’ve got all these elements in the right order and the right sizes, you should be good to go. Just keep a clear focus on your EPQ essay question, and you can’t go wrong.
9 . Write Down The Answers To Each Of Your Subtitles
Start with your subtitles to get the main bulk of your EPQ essay underway . The quicker you get your subtitles done, the sooner you can finish your EPQ.
Starting your subtitles first is a good idea, as they make up most of your EPQ. You’ll want to get them done first, and then you have time after that to work on the finer details.
As I’ve said, your subtitles should be around 300 words long . This will allow you just enough space to answer the subtitle, without repeating yourself or going overboard.
If you go too far over 300 words, you risk either repeating yourself or just extending your points so much that your words become empty. Empty words = no marks, which is what you definitely don’t want.
If you don’t write 300 words, the points you make are likely to be underdeveloped. This means you can’t get into the top band of marks no matter how good what you’re saying is – there’s just simply not enough of it.
Of course, if you think you can express yourself in more or less than 300 words, go for it . Everybody’s different, and some people have better writing skills than others.
The amount of words you write per subtitle can also depend on how many subtitles you have . If you have less subtitles, you write more words per subtitle, and vice versa – simple maths.
Try to explore every possibility within your subtitle. The more routes you go down and the further the detail you go into, the more marks you’ll get from the examiner.
10 . Write The Introduction And Conclusion Paragraphs
Your introduction paragraph needs to be slightly shorter than your average subtitle paragraph . Usually about 200-300 words, the introduction will basically talk about what’s to come in your EPQ essay.
If you make your introduction too long, you waste space that you might need for your research/explanations. You also take up space that could be used for your conclusion, which is very important.
It’s a good idea to write your introduction paragraph after you’ve written all of your subtitles . It may sound odd, but there’s method to the madness.
If you write your introductory paragraph last, it’ll be a lot more accurate than if you’d have done it at the start. You’ll know exactly what’s in your EPQ, and therefore your introduction can accurately ‘introduce’ your essay .
Your conclusion paragraph should be slightly longer than your average subtitle, and definitely longer than your introduction . I’d say about 400 words, your conclusion should sum up everything you’ve talked about in your EPQ essay.
Your conclusion should essentially answer the question you asked at the start of your EPQ essay. You should aim to include everything you talked about in your other subtitles (that’s why it’s a little bit longer).
You’ll obviously want to write your conclusion paragraph after everything else, or you’ll have nothing to conclude. Once you get on to your conclusion, you’re on the home stretch.
11. Get Someone To Proof Read It To Make Sure There Are No Errors
Proof reading your EPQ essay is so, so, SO important to your success . If you don’t proof read your EPQ essay, you may miss some pretty crucial mistakes…
I’m not just talking about the spelling mistakes you may have made (although you might want to fix those too). I mean the mistakes where you contradict yourself, go off topic, or even just get your facts wrong.
I’m sure I don’t need to explain it, but these mistakes will cost you dearly when your EPQ gets examined . Sometimes just a few marks can be the difference between an A and an A*, so you need to maximize your chances of success.
A good way to ensure your EPQ essay is perfect is to get someone else to look through it. Having a second opinion ensures that everything you’ve written is accurate and concise, and it’s better than just checking through it yourself.
If you rely on your own methods of checking through your work, you’re more likely to miss mistakes . Having a fresh perspective on your work broadens the chances of catching every mistake you make.
It doesn’t matter who you get to check your work . You can ask friends, family, or even your teachers/tutor – just get it proof read before you send it off to be marked .
If you need to check through it for spelling mistakes or wording issues, there’s a handy little trick I used for my EPQ essay. Paste your entire essay into google translate, and have it read out to you .
That way you can listen and check for anything that’s not quite right, and sort it out in time for your EPQ essay to be examined.
Thanks so much for the help !
This is so, so helpful, thanks so much!
very epic gamer moment thank you epic
dab on it wagwan
How many resources should I have for my EPQ?
20-25 should be the right number
Hi, thanks for the cool tips! I will definitely keep it for myself
Hello, thanks for the cool advice, but the most difficult thing for me is 1 point – to think through the topic itself. Therefore, already at the first stage, I give up and turn to the college essay writing service. This service helped me more than once or twice. My friends also use it. Also, it is difficult for me to create a mental map, which is in point 2. Therefore, I would rather spend my writing time on purposes that are useful to me.
yaba daba dooo
This is so useful! I have been working on my EPQ over the past few weeks and have had a few big quandries about how I should go about forming an answer to my question and this has made it much clearer. Thank you!
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- 600 EPQ Ideas – The Ultimate List For an A*
So, this is it. You’ve decided to do an EPQ and now you’re sitting at a blank computer screen with the entire spectrum of human knowledge at your disposal. You could write about any topic on any subject in the dizzying realms of the known universe. But there’s just one problem… how do you begin?
An EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) allows A-Level students to write either a 5,000 word essay on any question or subject of their choice. Alternatively, students can create an artefact or product, and write a shorter essay explaining it. The EPQ is equivalent to half an A-Level.
EPQs are a fantastic way of proving to universities that you are the best prospective student for them, and that you deserve a place on one of their courses. An EPQ requires a huge amount of independent research (which proves that you can handle university-style work) and allows you to showcase your original thoughts and academic rigour, which is exactly what universities are looking for.
Even more importantly, an EPQ counts for extra UCAS points . This means that if you don’t get the grades you expect at A-Level, a strong EPQ grade could help you meet the conditions of a university place offer. Feeling inspired now? We’ve got 600 EPQ ideas for multiple different subjects, to get those ideas rolling.
What are some top EPQ ideas for a guaranteed A*?
Some strong EPQ ideas for a guaranteed A* are specific and original topics like “Should parents be allowed to genetically change their child’s gender” for an EPQ in medicine, and “Is the media making suicide aspirational?”, for a psychology EPQ.
You could also consider EPQ questions like, “Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?” for History, and “Should we legalise human organ trade?” for Economics.
We’ve got a list of 600 EPQ ideas for a guaranteed A*, so scroll down and get inspired. We’ve searched all over the internet and interviewed students to get the most pressing topics for each subject. You should just use these EPQ ideas to give you an idea of what you could research, and it’s up to you to come up with your own title.
EPQ Ideas For Medicine
- Is gene therapy ethical?
- Should parents be allowed to genetically alter their child’s gender?
- Can cannabis use in adolescence cause schizophrenia?
- To what extent does the sugar tax reduce sugar consumption in the UK?
- Why are the death-rates from Covid-19 worse in places with higher air pollution?
- Why does emetophobia primarily affect women?
- Could the legalisation of cannabis improve mental health?
- Should we allow only UK citizens to use the NHS?
- Can plastic surgery ever solve body dysmorphic disorder?
- Do care home environments worsen the affects of Dementia and Alzheimer’s?
- What are the links between obesity and parents criticizing their children’s bodies?
- If a woman who wanted a child freezes her eggs and then happens to die, should a relative be allowed to use her eggs to conceive a child?
- Is it right that mothers of Down’s syndrome babies are allowed to abort them up until birth?
- Are anti-depressants a quick fix problem in an overwhelmed healthcare system?
- Should the NHS provide IVF for women over 40?
- To what extent are Black women discriminated against when giving birth?
- Should counsellors have a qualification in psychology before being allowed to practice?
- Why are girls so chronically misdiagnosed when it comes to autism?
- Did the ancient Egyptians have a comprehensive understanding of mental health and illness?
- Could electroshock therapy be the most effective method of treating depression?
- Should we prioritise ICU places to people with children and dependents?
- What are the similarities between Reactive Attachment Disorder and Autism?
- A study of medical practices in North Korea
- A comparison of different cancer treatments: surgical removals and chemotherapy to immunotherapies.
- Is hypnotherapy ever a viable anaesthetic for surgery?
EPQ Ideas for Psychology
- Is the media making suicide aspirational for young people?
- To what extent does having social workers intervene in a family affect a child’s life outcomes?
- Is talking therapy nearly ineffective for treating panic disorder?
- Should children be allowed to decide if they can be taken into care?
- Are the children of alcoholics more likely to become hoarders?
- Is there a link between undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and alcoholism?
- Can non-violent psychopaths have successful relationships?
- Given how they change behaviour, should advertising and marketing be made illegal?
- How has social media altered our brains since its inception?
- Does the Stanford Prison Experiment prove that we should promote rehabilitation over punitive incarceration?
- Are attachment issues in neglected children irreversible?
- Can unschooling be classed as child neglect?
- Can authoritarian parenting styles lead to overeating in adulthood?
- Is technology making us more depressed?
- Do gender-neutral toys lead to children with less stereotypical views of gender roles?
- Can music help ease the effects of Dementia?
- What are the long term effects of bullying?
- Can studying people’s behaviours pre-suicide help prevent suicide?
- Should crime-predicting algorithms be banned for their bias?
- A study of the effects of living in an overcrowded household during Covid-19 lockdown.
- Do memories alter when we recall them?
- How does intergenerational trauma effect cortisol levels?
- Do the negative affects of racism begin in the womb?
- What can Savant Syndrome tell us about the multi-faceted nature of intelligence?
- Do all humans have some level of body dysmorphia?
EPQ ideas for Law
- Should defendants be allowed to represent themselves?
- Is the internet an ungovernable wilderness when it comes to Law?
- Why secret trials are a form of abuse
- Should CCTV be made illegal?
- Is the use of juries inevitably flawed when it comes to reaching a just verdict?
- Should mass media be banned from high profile investigations?
- Should we replace juries with AI-powered robots?
- Should Donald Trump go to prison?
- Could the police be classed as a gang in America?
- How we can stop criminalising victims of sex trafficking.
- Should we bring back the death penalty?
- How much should a child’s desire to live with one parent or another affect the court’s decision?
- Should people who see child abuse but don’t report it be subject to the law?
- Should male partners sue their female partners for abortion?
- Should organ donation be mandatory for everyone?
- When should one country legally intervene in another, when it comes to human rights abuses?
- Should marriage be banned until the age of 21?
- Should lie detector results be legalised in UK courts?
- Could the government be legally obliged to pay women for their unpaid labour that contributes to the economy?
- If embryos are capable of feelings and sensations, should abortion be forbidden at any stage?
- Should minors trafficked to the UK from a dangerous country or situation be given immediate residency?
- Could euthanasia be legalised, whether or not someone is critically ill and close to death?
- Should parents be legally obliged to leave money to their children?
- Should the inheritance tax be abolished?
- Should people with dual citizenship automatically receive diplomatic protection from both countries?
EPQ ideas for primary school teaching
- Should boys receive exclusive lessons on feminism in primary school?
- How can we teach primary school students about internet safety?
- How can we teach primary school students about their rights over their own bodies?
- Is the way we teach obesity in school harmful to overweight or obese children?
- Is the Education system indoctrinating students?
- The importance of girls in primary school having role models in STEM.
- Why banning mobile phones in school does more harm than good.
- Why our education system fails to pick up students with dyspraxia.
- Why we should allow students to move around the classroom as they learn.
- Is the Montessori childrearing method of any use in mainstream primary school?
- Should every school have access to a Forest School?
- Why primary schools should teach skills such as cooking and home management to every child.
- Are school uniforms too institutionalising for children?
- Should school uniforms be enforced as a way of giving children routine?
- The importance of failing well.
- Should school be only three days a week?
- Should children be able to choose what subjects they want to study at any time?
- How exams unfairly disadvantage girls in primary school.
- Should we abolish sets in primary school?
- How can we teach healthy eating to children?
- How can we teach anti-racism to primary school students?
- A study of anxiety disorders in primary school students due to Covid-19.
- How the education system can better accommodate students with high-functioning autism.
- Why we need a better understanding of selective mutism in primary school.
- Should primary schools in the UK become bilingual to enhance language learning?
EPQ ideas for Secondary School Teaching
- Should school start and end later for teenagers?
- Why students should never have to ask to go the bathroom.
- Could a four day school week improve mental health among secondary school students?
- Is the secondary school curriculum creative enough?
- Why we should be teaching healthy communication to secondary school students.
- Should parents be allowed to choose for their children not to receive sex education?
- Should sports be compulsory at secondary school?
- When does strict teaching become bullying?
- Should modern languages be compulsory at secondary school?
- Could Pathological Demand Avoidance explain why students who are bright aren’t meeting their potential?
- Should we ban school uniform in secondary school?
- Should we decolonise the secondary school curriculum?
- Are their enough teachers of colour in secondary schools?
- What is the effect of divorce on a student’s learning and development?
- How to narrow the technology poverty gap among secondary school students.
- How to create educational support for looked-after children.
- How does having less money than your peers affect your identity as a secondary school student?
- The effects of overcrowded and poor housing on educational attainment.
- The effects of homelessness and insecure housing on educational attainment.
- What effect does the assessment and exam structure in UK schools have on students’ mental health?
- Are exams an unfair form of assessment for students with a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia or dyspraxia?
- How does ADHD link to cleverness and giftedness in students?
- Is our method of diagnosing autism in students informed enough?
- How can we tackle perfectionism and fear of failure in female students?
- Do exams unfairly advantage boys, and why?
EPQ ideas for Biology
- Why we don’t have enough evidence for evolution.
- Is Covid-19 more deadly than Ebola?
- Are animals as intelligent as humans?
- Is abortion murder?
- Is homosexuality genetic or social?
- What can the oldest living creature on earth teach us about biological immortality?
- Does incest always create biological issues?
- The use of parasites in weight loss attempts
- How long would it take you to die if you ate the same thing and nothing else for years?
- What causes diseases in trees?
- Could we ever grow food on walls?
- If your spouse died, what would the ethical implications be of cloning them?
- A study on identity crises in identical twins.
- Is obesity a genetic issue?
- How does sepsis attack the body?
- Will artificial hearts ever be a viable solution to chronic heart problems?
- Could brain transplants ever be a viable option?
- How do certain drugs affect cellular interactions?
- A study of courting behaviours in different species.
- How did different cellular mechanisms regulate different physiological processes?
- Is obesity a modern phenomenon?
- Can gene therapy cure Cystic Fibrosis?
- Can gut microbiota influence host appetite?
- What is the impact of invasive species on ecosystems?
- What is the biology of laughter?
EPQ Ideas for History
- Why poor dental hygiene in the middle ages was a myth.
- Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Justified?
- Is it right to topple the statues of slave owners, in order to erase history?
- Who does history belong to?
- Why did the USA join World War Two so late?
- How have male and female romantic relationships changed over time?
- How has the role of marriage changed over time?
- Should a country be allowed to teach its own history?
- How did the British Empire expand so much?
- Should museums return all their historical artefacts to their country of origin?
- Were the Suffragettes the biggest force in women getting the vote?
- Is religious warfare ever Justified?
- How medieval fashion influences our outfits today
- Was Anne Boleyn the main reason that Henry VII left the Catholic church?
- Did Henry VII suffer from a genetic disease that prevented him from conceiving healthy children?
- Why do we hold on to so many myths in History?
- A study of propaganda in History textbooks in UK history.
- Why is History important to the future?
- To what extent did the purchase of commissions affect the fighting power of the British army between 1760-1860?
- What is the validity of historical fiction and romance?
- How did secret churches operate in Mao’s China?
- How did 19th Century attitudes towards madness affect society’s treatment of ‘hysterical’ women?
- What is the holocaust’s relationship with literature?
- Were the liquidators who helped clean up the Chernobyl explosion used as human collateral?
- How did the pill help women’s liberation?
EPQ Ideas For Economics
- From an economic perspective, should we legalise human organ trade?
- Can an increase of wealth directly influence happiness levels?
- Could stock analysts be replaced by artificial intelligence?
- How do socio-economic factors determine someone’s health in adulthood?
- Who is to blame for the 2008 financial crisis?
- Is illicit trade with China the only factor preventing the North Korean economy from total collapse?
- How would we recover economically if the internet ceased to exist?
- How did the 2008 financial crisis make house buying impossible for the majority of millennials?
- Is the poverty trap impossible to get out of?
- Can we compare the trickle-down economy to a pyramid scheme?
- Does a lack of wealth in childhood really hold you back in life?
- Is the gig economy leading to job insecurity a myth?
- To what extent does women’s unpaid labour prop up the UK economy?
- How has Brexit affected the UK economy?
- Should we legalise a Universal Basic Income?
- How quickly did the UK economy recover from the effects of World War Two?
- Are all socialist economies doomed to fail?
- How would the legalisation of Marijuana affect the world economy?
- How does a lack of free speech negatively affect China’s economy?
- Should there be a minimum wage?
- Should there be a maximum wage?
- Should billionaires be allowed to exist?
- How has the global demand for oil changed over time?
- What effect does illegal immigration have on the UK economy?
- Why a lack of childcare support for women hurts the economy.
EPQ Ideas for Business Studies
- Should businesses expanding to developing countries be forced to pay their employees the same amount they would at home?
- What does Foxconn show about the human cost of business?
- How should we hold businesses to account for unethical behaviour?
- Should we have a single, global currency?
- How can companies become more eco-friendly?
- Should we lower the corporate income tax?
- Will Google kill the journalism industry?
- Why apprenticeships should pay more
- Why every business leader should take a course in empathy.
- How successful is it when businesses rebrand?
- Should companies interfere in their employees’ private lives?
- How churches like Hillsong became multi-million pound businesses.
- Should CEOs have a salary limit?
- Is the American government a big business?
- How has e-commerce affected bookshops?
- Does corporate social responsibility have an impact on company sales and profits?
- A study of businesswomen in the 18th Century
- When do business marketing practices become unethical?
- Should multi-million pound businesses have taken advantage of the government’s furlough scheme during the Covid-19 lockdown?
- How do corporations influence politics?
- Should a business ever own a town or city?
- Start your own small business – perhaps on eBay or Etsy – and write your EPQ on an aspect of it.
- Should private healthcare be allowed to exist?
- Could marketing be considered a mass human experiment?
- To what extent does colour effect audience response to branding and logos?
EPQ Ideas for English Literature
- The evil stepmothers in fairy tales were actually mothers in the original texts. What does this tell us about society’s anxieties and perspectives on motherhood?
- To what extent is the state of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale based on real life?
- Is writing an act of magic?
- Can works of literature oppress their fictional, female characters?
- Can the mistranslation of literature create a liminal world – a place that is not quite one thing and not quite another?
- What does the rise of the digital book teach us about literature?
- Can we ever ‘eat’ literature?
- Do you need to be able to read and write to be an author?
- Are stories living things?
- Discuss the gender politics in George Eliot’s Middlemarch.
- How is the sensory experience of dyslexia presented in literature?
- Is English Literature considered a ‘feminine’ subject?
- As an English student, is it your job to always work out what an author means?
- Is the author dead?
- Could journalists be replaced by AI-reporters?
- Do we need to overhaul the literary canon?
- Do we really need spelling and punctuation in literature?
- Should mass media be allowed to be biased?
- How helpful is the idea of literary genres to understanding a text?
- How George Orwell hid his dissenting view of communism in Animal Farm.
- Why learning to read is a human right.
- Can a novel ever be timeless?
- Does literary form exist just so that writers can subvert it?
- Is rhythm in a poem a separate language?
- Explore Plath’s portrayal of depression in The Bell Jar.
EPQ ideas for Art
- Should Banksy be allowed to graffiti on walls?
- Who decides the value of art, and should we standardise it?
- Has photography always been a form of art?
- To what extent is mathematics art?
- Why do people consider art to be an easy subject?
- Can art reverse the effects of mental illness?
- Can anything be art?
- Is all graffiti a form of art?
- Why the common perception of medieval people being bad at art is misguided.
- How does the commercialisation of the art industry change art itself?
- How does the perception of a career in art as worthless affect the life choices of students?
- Does an audience’s gaze change a piece of art?
- Are art and beauty essentially related?
- Is art supposed to be a visual and sensory experience, or something that we think about and define a meaning for?
- Who decides that a piece of art is ‘good’?
- Does art have a purpose?
- Can art help fight climate change?
- Why does it matter that children are exposed to art?
- What is the effect of producing art on a child’s brain?
- If nobody ever saw your artwork, would it be worth creating?
- Does a piece of art necessarily have a relationship with its creator, or can it detach itself?
- Is art a language?
- What does the disdain for modern art teach us about people’s stereotypes of art?
- Are philosophers artists?
- Could the world itself count as a work of art?
EPQ Ideas for Foreign Languages
- Where did language come from?
- Do idioms prove that languages can never truly be translated?
- Is body language universal across all countries?
- Should everyone be made to learn sign language?
- Why did Esperanto fail as a language policy?
- Which is the hardest language to learn and why?
- Do multi-lingual children grow up to be more economically successful?
- Why does having dyspraxia make language learning difficult?
- Should the whole world be made to speak one language?
- How does an influx of immigration alter the language of a region?
- What is the effect of trading on local dialects?
- Should everyone be made to learn a foreign language at school?
- What does the Korean language, when compared in North and South Korea, teach us about the evolution of language?
- Is there such a thing as a ‘correct’ way of speaking a language, when languages never stop evolving with culture?
- Could a language be classed as a living thing?
- Why is English such a dominant language across the world?
- Is Latin a dead language?
- What caused the English language to evolve so drastically over time?
- What is the hardest language to learn, and why?
- What does baby-talk in different foreign countries teach us about the acquisition of language?
- Why does China have several dialects, but only one alphabet?
- Did grammar always exist?
- What is the link between being good at maths and being good at language learning?
- Why are young children such natural language learners?
- Is learning a language cultural appropriation?
EPQ Ideas for Sport
- How sports stars experience an identity crisis after they retire
- Should soldiers be paid more than footballers?
- How do psychological factors influence performance in sport?
- What do fans react to their team winning a football match as though they won it themselves?
- Are national and international sports a misuse of resources?
- How does struggling with sports in primary school affect children’s self esteem?
- Should women be allowed to compete against men in professional sports?
- Is the ability to run fast purely a genetic advantage?
- Why do we fail to take women’s sports seriously as a society?
- Should children be forced to do sports in school?
- How can the presence of media affect the outcome of a game?
- Should referees be replaced by AI-powered robots, to decrease bias?
- How does a lack of female representation in sport prevent girls from seeking it out as a career?
- What is the effect of parents’ motivation a child’s enjoyment of sport?
- What are the long term effects of the Olympics on the host country’s tourism?
- How does a lack of ability at sports correlate to bullying?
- Why do we have less interest in women’s sports?
- A history of sport in pandemics
- How does a long-term sports injury affect an athlete’s mental health?
- Can a star athlete succeed without a coach?
- Should cheerleaders be banned?
- Is racism being taken seriously in sport?
- Can you still be a top athlete with a poor diet?
- Who decides when something is a sport?
- Why is netball predominantly considered to be a sport for women?
EPQ Ideas for Architecture
- How does the design of a building influence its inhabitants emotions?
- Should city-dwellers without gardens be given free access to national parks at all times?
- What is the link between Brutalist style architecture and anxiety and depression?
- What is the link between mathematics and art in Architecture?
- How is a building affected by the people who live in it?
- How does the style of council housing feed into class stereotypes?
- Can architecture cause social dysfunction?
- Would smart cities be a breach of privacy?
- Could we create a building the size of a city, to house an entire population?
- Make an architectural model of a zero-carbon home and write an essay describing how its functions avoid the use of carbon.
- Should the local government have the right to pull down a building if the community who live there oppose it?
- Is it ethical to spend millions of pounds creating a building in a city with high levels of quality?
- Were houses built in the 1930s of superior quality?
- Should councils have been allowed to remove tenement dwellers from their homes in the post-war era, when the enforced move was traumatic?
- Can we adapt Japanese smart space efficient buildings to western buildings?
- What were the influences on architecture in China?
- How did communism during Mao’s China change the country’s cityscapes?
- How can we build environmentally-friendly housing in LEDCs?
- Can zero carbon housing ever really exist?
- Should public playgrounds exist for people of every age?
- Was Grenfell tower a total architectural failure?
- What house styles in different areas tell us about gender forms of the time.
- How does technology affect architecture?
- What was the effect of feminism on architecture?
- Should houses worth over a million pounds be built with some benefit to the whole neighbourhood?
EPQ ideas for Maths
- Is the golden ratio a racist idea?
- What is the maths behind cryptocurrencies?
- What are the links between foreign language learning and maths?
- What are the links between mathematics and art?
- Has maths always existed?
- How can we use statistical analysis to predict a child’s outcomes in life?
- Should children be forced to take maths at A-Level in the UK?
- Should maths be optional at secondary school in the UK?
- Why do some people say that maths is beautiful?
- Does money really exist?
- An exploration of chaos theory.
- Can maths explain how the universe came into existence?
- How can calculations improve the safety of commuters who cycle in Oxford over the next 5 years?
- Explore conflict and co-operation in The Prisoner’s Dilemma.
- Which is more important, e or pi?
- Can we calculate infinity?
- An exploration of orbital mechanics.
- Is maths a pointless subject if we don’t apply it to something?
- Is learning Maths more important than learning English in primary school?
- What was the role of maths in the code-breaking of Bletchley Park?
- How do fractals work in modelling systems?
- Can we reverse dyscalculia?
- Can mathematical systems ever be illogical?
- Did people discover maths?
- Could maths ever prove the existence of a parallel universe?
EPQ ideas for Physics
- How does String Theory explain the universe?
- How can physics help us prevent climate change?
- What is the relationships between maths and physics?
- What was the role of Mileva Maric Einstein, Albert Einstein’s wife, in his scientific findings?
- Build a quadcopter with remote control.
- How can emergency whistles be optimised for design and use in rural environments?
- What would happen to the solar system when the sun dies?
- How can physics help us provide electricity to parts of rural India?
- Is time an illusion?
- Discuss the different interpretations of quantum mechanics.
- Could humans ever live on Mars?
- Design and build a functioning robot.
- How soon will we have flying cars?
- What are some feasible methods for cleaning up space junk?
- Where did the universe come from?
- How can physics prove the existence of God?
- How did Einstein’s theory of relativity influence Physics?
- Now that NASA has confirmed there is water on the moon, could it be a feasible tourist destination?
- Given their devastating effects, should we eliminate nuclear weapons from the earth?
- What contributed to the Cleddau bridge disaster?
- How can we solve the pay gap in the field of physics?
- A study of star formation and star death.
- Is time travel possible?
- How far can humans realistically explore space?
- Mathematical knot theory and its applications.
EPQ ideas for Chemistry
- What was the impact of optical isomerism in the drug Thalidomide, which led to fetal abnormalities?
- An assessment of the safety of fluoride in water.
- To what extent did the government in Louisiana cover up the danger of the petrochemical plants in Louisiana’s ‘cancer alley’?
- Should Aspartame (E951) be allowed in our food and drink?
- When do chemicals become hallucinogens?
- An assessment of hydrogen storage within Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs).
- An extraction of limonene from citrus fruits.
- Make a collection of esters that smell pleasant.
- Will graphene have a significant influence on the future?
- To what extent have inventions in Chemical Engineering impacted our lives?
- As assessment of the total synthesis of natural products.
- An experiment in polymer chemistry.
- An assessment of molecular dynamics
- An assessment of solid state structure
- Could we ever create a plastic that decomposes?
- A research project on hydrogen fuel cells
- Why doesn’t plastic decompose?
- What are the chemical processes behind purifying water?
- An exploration of the chemistry behind food allergies in humans?
- What are the chemicals involved in human attraction?
- How does cortisol affect the human body?
- Should pesticides be ethically permissible?
- What are the advantages of computer aided fragment based drug design?
- How can click chemistry be used to improve drug synthesis?
- How has the discovery of pharmaceutical chemicals changed over the past 200 years?
EPQ ideas for Engineering
- Should we teach Engineering in primary school?
- Why is there a gender imbalance in Engineering, and how can we fix it?
- Is there an oversaturation of engineers in India, and if so, why?
- Was everything in the world built by an engineer?
- Do we need to expand our definition of engineer?
- Can Engineering solve the mystery of Malaysian Airlines flight 370?
- Can Engineering explain the disappearance of Emilia Earhart?
- Did Engineering faults contribute to the sinking of the titanic.
- Build your own model plane, boat or high altitude balloon.
- Could hot air balloons become a mainstream method of travel?
- Discuss the hydraulics paradox.
- How have innovations in airframe design increased safety in commercial aircraft?
- How do architects and engineers collaborate?
- Should we be allowed to develop robots that can mimic human emotion?
- What would it mean for an engineer to be ethical when building something?
- How has Civil Engineering changed over time?
- How can chemical engineers improve energy efficiency?
- How could alterations in chemical Engineering have prevented the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?
- As assessment of the sustainability of London’s tube system.
- How much of our countryside should we sacrifice for better transport links?
- Will we have enough oil for future generations?
- Would energy provided entirely by a wind farm system run the UK economy?
- What are the reasons for the pay gap in Engineering, and how can we solve them?
- How can we get pre-school children interested in Engineering?
- Design a system to enhance plastic recycling.
EPQ ideas for Computer Science
- Why we should teach children how to code at the same time we teach them to write.
- Create a website design and code it.
- Is one coding language superior to another?
- How can we reduce computer illiteracy in poorer areas?
- Why internet access is a human right.
- Are AI-driven robots responsible for their own actions?
- Are Ai-assessed job interviews inevitably biased?
- How soon will handwriting become totally irrelevant?
- Are companies upskilling fast enough to cope with the digital demands of Covid-19?
- It’s more important to learn to code than to learn to write
- Is Computer Science a more relevant subject than Physics?
- How will quantum computers change our way of life?
- Should silicon valley companies be criminalised for our widespread addiction to technology?
- What would happen if all technology was wiped out?
- Will we ever be able to search Google through a microchip in our brains?
- What new jobs will Ai create in the next ten years?
- What is increased automation doing to our jobs?
- Develop your own game.
- Should we allow AI-writing assistants like Grammarly to change the way we express ourselves?
- What are the positive effects of machine learning on healthcare?
- How does AI differ from human intelligence?
- Is it ethical to use social care robots to alleviate loneliness?
- Is it ethical to create an app which offers you an AI friend?
- What is the most efficient way to track down cyber criminals?
- How do cyber criminals cover their tracks on the internet?
EPQ ideas for Ethics
- Should people be able to sue their parents for bringing them into the world?
- Do men automatically have the right to be present at their child’s birth?
- Should we be allowed to dispose of spare embryos in IVF?
- Should we be allowed to use embryos for stem cell research?
- Should machines with AI have their own rights?
- Are Siri and Alexa slaves?
- Should we be allowed to mix human and animal DNA?
- Should we be allowed to clone humans?
- Do we have the right to experiment on animals?
- Do we have the right to visit other planets and the moon?
- Should a father have rights over an unborn child?
- Should there be an assessment process before people have children?
- Is sterilisation unethical in every circumstance?
- Should we be allowed to cuddle babies if they can’t give verbal consent?
- Should an embryo have protected rights under the law?
- Do we have the right to prevent someone from committing suicide?
- The disturbing eugenics around birth control
- Should parents be allowed to edit out genetic conditions before a child’s birth?
- Should testing fetuses for Down’s Syndrome be legal?
- Are our moral decisions innate or socially conditioned?
- Should we have the right to decide when life begins?
- If you need a heart transplant and you’re hoping for a heart, does that mean you’re hoping for someone else to die?
- Should we put a limit on the number of children people have?
- Does the means justify the end?
EPQ ideas for Politics
- Why has the USA never had a female president?
- If we colonised Mars, who would govern it?
- Has Great Britain lost its status as a world power?
- Are the government’s counter-terror policies effective?
- Is it acceptable to teach British values in primary schools?
- How does nepotism negatively affect politics?
- How has Donald Trump changed politics?
- Should there be universal freedom of information?
- Why did Brexit happen?
- What are the dangerous effects of conspiracy theories like Q-Anon on the public?
- Should it be illegal to publicly shame politicians?
- Will there ever be a viable mid-ground between socialism and capitalism?
- Would global governance be a better policy than individual governments?
- How are female politicians and prime ministers perceived?
- Should there be freedom of speech at all costs?
- Should countries be allowed to ban religion?
- An assessment of the case for anarchy.
- Should the UK’s land belong to everyone?
- An analysis of political cartoons in the UK
- Should everyone have to vote by law?
- Should politics be taught in primary school?
- Should everyone be made to take politics in secondary school?
- Should National Service be mandatory in Singapore?
- How did the war on drugs affect inner city US communities?
- How was Twitter revolutionised politics?
Sociology EPQ ideas
- How can we reverse stereotypes over drug use and misuse in different communities?
- What is the impact of the media on our perception of women from Muslim communities?
- Evaluate Marx’s account on the origins of the industrial revolution in Britain?
- Is it fair for today’s feminists to criticise the lack of gender commentary in classical sociology?
- How do human ideas, customs and behaviour come together to make culture?
- How do gender, class, race and sexuality affect us and our social relations today?
- A study of the effects of polyamorous family settings on children.
- Have sociologists neglected emotion in their studies of human behaviour?
- Do emotions come from society, or from within us?
- How do different models of socialisation affect children?
- Are eating disorders a social phenomenon?
- Should we ban face-altering apps?
- Should teenage pregnancy be so vilified?
- Can upbringing create a narcissist?
- Is perfectionism more prevalent in girls than boys, and how does that relate to the way we socialise either gender?
- Should we ban gendered toys?
- How can we assuage the social causes of substance abuse?
- An exploration of the sociology of food.
- Is it right to try and get someone out of a cult?
- How racial segregation in cities enforces poverty, and prevents upward mobility.
- What is the relationship between race and class?
- The effects of interracial marriage in the 1950s.
- The cultural diaspora of mixed race children.
- How Disney made princesses key role models for girls.
- Should weddings have to be registered to be legal?
EPQ ideas for Geography
- How did Hurricane Catrina change the New Orleans community?
- Is there such a thing as collective trauma after a natural disaster?
- Does the earth belong more to humans than animals?
- To what extent should be allow deforestation?
- A study on how we will survive and adapt to climate change in 3020.
- Does the way we categorise developing countries increase stereotypes?
- How have the demand for super-crops impacted the agricultural systems in the countries where we grow them?
- Should companies be allowed to expand to developing countries if they won’t pay workers the same wage as at home?
- How does tourism affect a country’s culture?
- Should all new houses be built with solar panels?
- How can we reduce the effects of coastal erosion?
- How has global warming changed the world’s physical features?
- What are the socio-economic and political implications of migration policies for the UK?
- Should borders between countries exist?
- Are countries doing enough to meet their MDG targets?
- Can a country ever become fully developed?
- How does living as an illegal immigrant affect mental and physical health?
- To what extent is global warming caused by human beings?
- Was the civil war in Syria caused by climatic factors?
- Could the National Geographic be considered exploitative?
- A comparison of two earthquakes in different decades. to observe how advances in technology have impacted responses.
- How does climate change affect different biomes and ecosystems around the world?
- What are the environmental and social impacts of natural gas fracking?
- A prototype for the generation of sustainable energy.
- The effects of littering on marine health.
EPQ ideas for Religious Studies
- Why materialism can’t disprove the existence of God.
- Why science and religion are part of the same entity.
- Paley provides the best argument to issues surrounding the existence of God.
- To what extent can Freud’s view of religion and God be said to be accurate?
- Is C.S Lewis’ claim that atheism is weaker than theism correct?
- Is the belief in nothing still a belief?
- Can we reach God through the via negativa?
- Is atheism just ignorance?
- Can we prove that the universe exists outside our mind?
- Is the Catholic catechism biblical truth?
- How did the history of the church shape our society today?
- Should Religious Studies be compulsory in primary school?
- The existence of life on earth is evidence of the existence of a higher being.
- How do you explain the goodness of God in the light of the world’s evil?
- What are the boundaries between a cult and a religion?
- Should the church always be subject to the government?
- Should the Queen be head of the protestant church?
- Should the church form its own political party?
- Are expensive religious buildings insensitive to those living in poverty?
- Does baptising a baby save its soul?
- Should politicians interfere in religious conflicts?
- Is religion nothing more than a comfort blanket against death?
- Can you ever justify taking a life?
- Is religion the same as morality?
- Is religion just a set of rules disguised as something greater?
So, there you have it. 600 EPQ ideas to enhance your passion and imagination for this exciting qualification. Now get ready to kickstart your academic future with an amazing EPQ idea of your own. Don’t forget to fill out that activity log as you go along!
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How to Write an EPQ essay (including lessons I’ve learned from writing my book)
Having just finished re-writing my book, The Ten Step Guide to Acing Every Exam You Ever Take (due to be published in February 2017) I thought now was the perfect time to share the lessons I've learned from doing an extended piece of writing like this so you can apply them to writing your EPQ essay.
How to write an EPQ essay – 9 Steps
1. your idea.
I did exactly this with my book. I want to become known as an expert in study skills and exam skills. The perfect way to do this is to write a book about it. Hopefully lots of new people will find me as a result of reading my book and want to work with me . My book is furthering my long-term aims (as well as being something I've always wanted to do – yippee for being a published author!).
2. Brain dump
Once you've come up with an idea brain dump everything you already know about it. This is important because your current knowledge is the foundation of where you're going to go next. It will also enable you to identify the gaps in your knowledge and therefore what further research you need to do.
Believe it or not, over the last eighteen months or so my brain dump has been my blog ! As I've listened more and more to my readers to hear what they need help with and what problems they have I have learned more and understood more about the field of study skills. I've researched, thought and read to improve my knowledge and understanding and put all that knowledge into my blog.
3. Identify your title or question
The next step is having some idea of what your title might be or what question you want to answer with your work. Throughout your research you need to ensure that you're finding information that will help you to answer this question.
With my book, the title dictated the structure that the book would take. It helped me to stay focused on what I needed to include as well as exclude.
4. Create a structure for your finished piece
From what you know already and the title you have identified you can create a draft structure or plan for your finished piece of work. Again, this structure will help to keep you focused on what research you need to do to properly answer your question. However, remember that you can always change your structure if what you find in your research deems it necessary.
When I was writing my book I had the overall structure which started with four parts and the ten chapters were divided up between those four parts. When I sat down to write each chapter I wrote a list of what I wanted to include in each of those chapters and decided in what order it was logical and sensible to write about each of those things. Doing this made the actual writing part easy – the book almost wrote itself!
5. Do your research
Now is the time to fill in the gaps in your knowledge by doing your research. Make sure you stay focused on your title and structure all the time that you're doing your research. It's also really important to keep a clear record of where you've gained your information for your references and bibliography. I remember in my early days at university writing endless notes that then got in a muddle and I could never identify the source text which meant I couldn't use that information in an essay because I couldn't reference it. I learned my lesson and soon put a system in place so that I could always identify where my notes, ideas and quotes came from!
With my book my research was listening to my readers and clients and reading books that helped me to solve the problems that they were dealing with. For example, I read a book called ‘Mini Habits' by Stephen Guise – and used that book as the basis for a blog post. I have now incorporated those ideas into the book.
6. Review your structure
As you're doing your research, and particularly once you've finished it, you'll need to review your structure. Your structure is essentially a summary of the argument you want to make in your essay. If the information you've found has lead you to an opinion that you can't express through your original structure then the structure needs to be altered or changed. This is the time when you need to be 100% sure that your structure provides with the framework to say exactly what you want to say in answer to the question or title you have set yourself.
I have found this to be particularly important with my book. The original version of my book was written before I even started my blog. The ten steps I included were all the clearest things I'd learned from my own experience as a student and from teaching geography in schools. However, through my blog, reading and coaching I gained more insights about my own experience and what really helped others. This meant that when I came to re-write the book I had more to say so that I had to change the structure to accomodate all this new understanding and knowledge.
7. Allocate a word count to each section of your structure
You know your essay has to be 5,000 words long and you know which sections you want to put into it because you've planned your structure. To make life easy for yourself you should now allocate a word count to each section. This means that you won't fall into the dreadful trap of writing way too much and having to cull all your hard work to be within the word limit.
I did this for my book. My publisher said that he'd like a 30,000 word book. The original book was about 14,000 words so I had to more than double it. I knew that I had ten basic chapters plus an introduction, foreword and other bits and pieces. So, I set myself the target that each chapter should be approximately 3,000 words. In the end some of the chapters are slightly shorter and others are slightly longer than this but I easily hit the 30,000 word marker by making sure I was reaching the word count for each chapter as I went along.
Can you believe we got to number eight before you actually started writing? Well, this is because all the planning and research you've done up until now will make the writing process really, really easy. The essay should almost write itself!
This is what I found with my book. My plan was so detailed and I'd done so much research over the preceeding eighteen month period that the writing bit was just easy. I sat down for between one and two hours a day for just eighteen days and the first draft of the book was written. It was utterly painless. I then spent two weeks reviewing and editing as well as writing the introduction.
9. Get feedback
The final step is to get feedback on your work. Give it to a friend, parent or mentor to read it through and give you some feedback. The more they know about your subject and academic writing the better. Listen carefully to the advice that they give you and incorporate it as best you can into your work.
The first person to read my book after I'd finished it was my editor. She was thrilled with it and said that ‘it reads wonderfully' and that there was very little she had to change. I credit my thorough planning process for this praise. I hope that your thorough planning leads to the same type of praise.
Some useful EPQ resources from the web
This information from The Student Room gives some really useful background information about the EPQ: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Extended_Project_Qualification
This post from the UCAS student blog helps you with where to start with your EPQ: https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/epq-where-start
You can download this essay guide from the TES website: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/epq-guide-essay-structure-6359383
If you know of any other really useful EPQ resources then leave a link in the comments below.
Over to you
I hope these tips really help you to write a brilliant EPQ as easily as possible. I've learned how to structure and organise my work in this way through years and years of experience researching, writing, reading and marking essays. Hopefully you won't have so much trial and error!
Leave me a comment below to tell me what you're studying in your EPQ and what challenges you're facing with it at the moment. I'll be sure to reply to every comment.
Get on the wait list!
My book, The Ten Step Guide to Acing Every Exam You Ever Take , will be published by John Catt in February 2017. If you'd like to know when you can pre-order make sure you're on my mailing list – you'll also get a free exert from the book when you sign-up.
Get on the waitlist here
THE TEN STEP GUIDE TO ACING EVERY EXAM YOU EVERY TAKE
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What grades don’t tell us (and how to assess yourself instead)
Lucy Parsons
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EPQ Guide: Expressing your ideas
- The Inquiry Process
- Developing a line of inquiry
- Finding and selecting sources
- Working with ideas
Expressing your ideas
This is the stage you have been building towards - writing your report. Although that is largely the focus of this page , it is not all there is to the EPQ.
Your EPQ will be assessed on:
- Your completed Production Log
- if your project is a research based written report of any kind (e.g. a science investigation or an essay) it should be approximately 5,000 words long
- If your project is an artefact, it must be accomapanied by a research based written report of a minimum of 1,000 words. For artefacts, you may include photos showing various stages of the production process as well as the final product. You do not need to submit a large artefact as evidence - photographs or other media are fine.
- If your product was itself a presentation then you still need to produce a presentation about the process of producing it!
- Your presentation must be delivered live to a non-specialist audience and might use flipcharts or posters, presentation tools such as PowerPoint or Prezi or short video clips. The evidence for your presentation will include a record in your Production Log of questions your supervisor asked and how you responded.
Am I ready?
Am I ready to start writing my essay?
Before you start writing, think:
- Is my investigation largely complete? As you write you may find that you need a few additional resources or information to support your argument, but you should not sta rt to write until you are largely sure where your argument is going.
- Have I filled in a Research Organiser (which you will find on the Working with Ideas tab)? This will help you to organise your thoughts and make sure you understand the argument you intend to make and have the evidence to support it. While not compulsory, it makes writing your final essay significantly easier.
- Do I understand how to write in an appropriate academic style? Guidance is given in the Academic Writing box below.
- Do I know how to import my sources from my Investigative Journal? Don't waste time putting all your citation data in again! Import all your sources as you set up your document. There are helpsheets in the Resources for PC / Mac users boxes to the right.
You should use the Oakham APAv3 Academic Writing Template (below) rather than a generic Word template to set up your essay.
(The image below is taken from the EE LibGuide, but the template is just as useful for EPQs)
Citing and referencing
There are many different ways to acknowledge the sources you use. These are called referencing styles . You are free to use any recognised referencing style you wish for your EPQ, but Oakham's 'house style' is APA. We suggest you use this because we already have a lot of support in place for it. APA is an 'Author-date' system, meaning that you show which source you have used by putting the author and date in brackets after it in your text, and then put the full reference in an alphabetical list at the end of the essay. The Library does not support 'footnote referencing', where you put all the information in a footnote at the bottom of the page. If you want help with this then please talk to the member of staff who suggested that you use it.
For detailed information and guidance on how to use sources in your writing and how to cite and reference them accurately using the tools in Microsoft Word, consult the Citing and Referencing LibGuide . This site includes information about how to reference all sorts of different kinds of sources, including videos and works of art, and what to do if you are using a source written in a language that is not the language of your essay. It also gives some examples of how to use in-text citations , whether quoting, paraphrasing or just referring to a source more generally, and how to use the automatic citing and referencing tools in Word .
Academic writing
Stages in an academic essay
Your thesis is the point you want to make. It emerges from your research and your task is to use the evidence you have found to establish it as the most reasonable response to that research.
In both approaches, you must state the research question in your introduction, and make sure you return to it in your conclusion .
Sections required in your essay
Have a look at the Formal Presentation guide in the sidebar for a guide to laying out your essay.
Paragraph Structure
Paragraphs themselves have a structure - the most common you will have come across is likely to be PEEL. The letters often stand for slightly different things in different subjects, but the idea is largely the same - introduce your main idea for the paragraph ( Point ), justify it with Evidence and/or Examples , and Evaluate this evidence. Finally, Link back to the Research Question and/or Link forward to the next paragraph.
This is not the only way to write a paragraph and, with experience, you will soon find that your argument develops a flow of its own that does not require a formula - indeed, your essay would be very dull if every paragraph followed exactly the same structure. However, this structure can be a useful scaffold to get you started and make sure you don't miss anything important.
The structure of academic writing
Note that the following graphic was originally produced for the IB Extended Essay, but is equally applicable to the EPQ.
Planning your essay
It is vital to plan your essay before you start writing. An essay plan provides an outline of your argument and how it develops.
What sections and subsections do you need?
Although this might change as you write your essay, you should not start writing until you have your overall structure. Then think about roughly how you are going to divide your 5000 words between the different sections. 5000 words seems like a lot before you start writing, but it is much easier to write to the limit, section by section, than to try to cut your essay down once it is written.
What will the reader will expect to see and where?
Look back at your checklist and think about where in your essay you are planning to include the required information. Make sure the flow of your essay makes sense to a reader who may be a subject expert but knows little about your topic. Have you included background information? Details of experimental methods? Arguments and counter arguments?
Now get writing!
You've read all the guidance. You've made your plan. Now you have a blank screen in front of you and you just need to get started! Start with the section you think you will find easiest to write and work outwards from there, or follow the steps below to get started. Don't forget to write with the word limit in mind though.
What if you are writing lots of paragraphs but your essay just doesn't seem to be coming together?
1. Condense each paragraph into a short statement or bullet point. This is the skeleton structure of your essay.
2. Look at the order of the statements.
- Is the order logical?
- Does each point follow another in a sensible order?
- Do you need to change the order?
- Do you need to add paragraphs?
- Do you need to remove paragraphs?
3. Add, subtract and rearrange the paragraphs until your structure makes sense.
4. Redraft using your new paragraph order.
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Willard, D. (2003) My journey to and b eyond tenure in a secular university . Retrieved from: www.dwillard.org/articles/individual/my-journey-to-and-beyond-tenure-in-a-secular-university . Accessed: 9th May 2020
Oh no! It's too long!!
If you haven't managed to write to the word limit and are suddenly faced with cutting down an essay that is over the word limit, try these tips on concise writing from Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Use the menu on the left of this page from Purdue OWL to browse the four very practical pages on writing concisely and one on the Paramedic Method for reducing your word count.
AQA Guide to completing the Production Log: Expressing your ideas
AQA copyright notice
The presentation above contains slides from the AQA presentation Teaching slides: how to complete the production log (available from the AQA EPQ Teaching and Learning Resources website ). These slides are Copyright © 2020 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.
A downloadable copy of the Production Log can be found here , on the Home tab of this guide.
Formal presentation
Guides for PC users
- Citing and Referencing in Word 2016 for Windows
- Managing Sources in Word 2016 for Windows
- Creating a Table of Contents in Word 2016 for Windows
Guides for Mac users
- Managing Sources in Word 2016 for Mac
- Citing and Referencing in Word 2016 for Mac
- << Previous: Working with ideas
- Next: Reflecting >>
- Last Updated: Feb 27, 2023 2:28 PM
- URL: https://oakham-rutland.libguides.com/EPQ
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What is the final essay, table of contents, the product or artefact, the rest of the series.
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IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
How To Write An EPQ Essay (Step-by-Step Guide) 1. Think Of An EPQ Topic That Genuinely Interests You. The most important thing to do before you even start your EPQ is... 2. Create A Mind Map Surrounding Your EPQ Topic. You may have found an EPQ topic that interests you, but it might still... 3. Use ...
9 steps to write your EPQ essay 1. Come up with an idea. One of the main reasons students fail their EPQ is because they’ve chosen the wrong subject... 2. Write down everything you know about the subject.. Before doing any extra reading, it’s really helpful to write down... 3. Think of a question. ...
An EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) allows A-Level students to write either a 5,000 word essay on any question or subject of their choice. Alternatively, students can create an artefact or product, and write a shorter essay explaining it. The EPQ is equivalent to half an A-Level.
Allocate a word count to each section of your structure. You know your essay has to be 5,000 words long and you know which sections you want to put into it because you've planned your structure. To make life easy for yourself you should now allocate a word count to each section.
Your EPQ will be assessed on: Your completed Production Log A written report (sometimes referred to in this guide as an essay) if your project is a research based written report of any kind (e.g. a science investigation or an essay) it should be approximately 5,000 words long
This is part of what makes the EPQ so unique, accessible and popular with students. In the next part of our series we will look in detail at the 15-page EPQ production log, which is a critical piece of the EPQ puzzle that exam boards remind us is just as important as either the essay or presentation.
I have a provisional A in AQA EPQ (won't know for certain until results day) and this is what I included: Essay Title Page Contents Page Abstract Introduction Methodology My main three sub-sections Conclusion References List (All of the references I used in my essay in alphabetical order) Bibliography (All of the sources I looked at even if I ...
Hand in: •Fully complete candidate record form. •Fully referenced research report. •Copy of presentation with a script. •An artefact or picture of an artefact (if applicable) •Any additional evidence. o Gantt Chart. o Evaluation of research sources. Complete page 13 of your candidate record form and create your presentation.