EPQ
The Extended Project Qualification is a programme offered to Lower Sixth pupils that helps to extend and develop a pupils' abilities beyond the A Level syllabus and prepares them for university or their future careers.
It is a self-directed project, usually an essay that explores something the individual pupil finds interesting. The pupil plans, research, produces and evaluates their own work. The independent learning achieved by the process is highly valued by Universities and they have been known to lower offer grades on competitive courses.
Some examples of titles from the recent past include:
- How are humans neurobiologically equipped to rapidly acquire spoken language?
- How women’s rights in Iraq developed in the years after the US invasion in 2003.
- Some Day My Prince Will Come: An Exploration of how the gender stereotyping of Disney Princesses has evolved over time.
FUTURE leaders
The Lower Sixth Future Leaders course aims to prepare pupils for life beyond The Arch, developing knowledge and skills that will support them as they enter a rapidly changing workplace and world.
At the same time, the course draws together elements that will also have very practical benefits as pupils consider their next steps. Elements of the course enable pupils to gain UCAS points which may help them access the higher education degree they want or even gain lower offers through their ability to demonstrate independent learning and engagement beyond the A Level curriculum.
The pupils receive two lessons a week as part of the Future Leaders programme. For the first of these the Lower Sixth is split into three groups and completes an eight-week rotation through three courses:
- Public Speaking
- Higher Education and Careers
- Geopolitics and Personal Finance Lecture Series
The second lesson in the week is devoted to research skills and the Extended Project Qualification and this is completed by the whole cohort. The Public Speaking course follows LAMDA’s ‘Speaking in Public’ qualification and develops the skills necessary for effective oral communication and public presentation. Learn more about our LAMDA provision.
