How to Do an EPQ Outside of School – Your Question’s Answered

There are various projects that you need to do when you are in school in addition to your regular studies. One such project that you may be taking on is EPQ. EPQ is an abbreviation for Extended Project Qualification. If you do not know much about EPQ, we will help you to know more about it and also will help you to understand how you can do EPQ outside of school.

Quick Takeaways

• EPQ is the course in which you will have to do a long research project instead of taking proper exams. 
• As you are not taking EPQs from the school, you will need to have a tutor outside. Thus you will need to find a mentor for your EPQ.

You must read till the end so that you do not miss any important facts about studying EPQ outside of school. 

What are EPQs?

An EPQ is an individual research project that entails either writing a 5000-word essay or creating a product. It could be anything from an art object to an application. As the project progresses, you must keep a production log to capture the stages of the project. It will also contribute to your project outcome. An oral presentation is your project’s third component.

EPQs are part of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and are equal to 50% of an A-Level. Their grades range from A* to E and are entirely based on coursework with no exams. EPQs come in three types that you can perform – dissertation, making up a product, and carrying out an investigation. However remember that when you are writing the dissertation, you will have to use plagiarism detectors like Safeassign to check if there is any plagiarism in it or not.

How to do an EPQ outside of school?

An EPQ can be completed outside of the school. It is much easier to arrange if you are already enrolled in a sixth form or college. This can be done without these institutions. EPQ courses are available both in-person and online. When you are doing EPQs, you will need supervisors to help you in submitting all the projects on time and meet all your deadlines.

They will help you in knowing if you are lacking behind. Additionally, they will help you to know if you have written accurately or not. As your college is not involved in your EPQ, it is extremely important to get in contact with them. You can get various websites that will help you to get an online EPQ course.

How much do online EPQ courses cost?

You can find online EPQ courses on various platforms. Online EPQ courses will typically cost between £30 and £50. Some of the best courses may cost you between £100 and £200. It is very simple to enrol in these courses. It is very important to do proper research related to what they are offering and what they will teach you. All you require is your basic information like name, age, address, etc. Online courses will give you more freedom as compared to in-person courses which will give you more support.

Is it easy to get an A * in EPQ?

Around 97.9% of the students passed their EPQs in the year 2020. Most of them have passed with an E grade. Though this doesn’t mean that all the WPQs are easy. You will be shocked to know that only 17.7% of the students who took EPQ, scored an A* grade in it. So do not think that it is easy and do not take it leniently.

How many UCAS points is an A * EPQ?

As you already know what EPQ is, you may want to know how many UCAS points you will get in EPQs. The following table will help you to know what are the UCAS points against the different grades for EPQs-

GRADES	UCAS POINTS
A*	28
A	24
B	20
C	16
D	12
E	8

How do you apply for an Online EPQ Course?

There are numerous online EPQ courses that you can find on the internet. You can do research and choose the best one for you. Remember as you are not doing it from your school, it is extremely important to choose the platform which is officially registered. Generally, you will need to have the basic requirements like name, address, age, etc. You can also find a lot of free online courses to help you with EPQ courses. By upgrading them you can get help yourself with your EPQ courses. However, it will cost you more.

What are the benefits and disadvantages of doing EPQs online?

Following are the advantages and disadvantages of doing an online EPQ-

Advantages of doing online EPQs-

• It will give you a lot of flexibility when you are doing it. You can complete it at any time and anywhere you want to. All you need to take care of is the deadline. 
• You can do research on your own terms. As you will be doing research in your free time, it will give you the freedom to take as much time as you want for researching the topic.

Disadvantages of doing online EPQs-

• Obviously, when you are doing online EPQs, you do not get the supervisor. This means that you will not get the person to look after your work. 
• They are generally costlier than offline courses. Therefore, you must have money to do an online EPQ.

What are the benefits and disadvantages of doing EPQs offline?

Following are the advantages and disadvantages of doing an offline EPQ-

Advantages of doing offline EPQs-

• Obviously, when you are doing it in person, you will get a supervisor to help you. They will help you in taking care if you are lacking behind.
• You can take help from the students who have already studied at your school.
• There will be no need to find out the best course for yourself. This means that there will be no tension in selecting which EPQ you will be doing. 

Disadvantages of doing offline EPQs-

• You will need to follow up with your supervisor at each point in time. This may be hard sometimes as you may have additional work to do. 
• You will get less time for yourself. This is because you will need to meet your supervisors and complete all the given work.

Conclusion

An EPQ is an individual research project which involves either writing a 5000-word essay or making up a product (for eg. mobile software). EPQs are equal to 50% of an A-Level. However, you will not need to be in school to do them, you can do them by yourself. You can do it outside the school as well. All you need to find courses online. But do remember to do proper research before taking it up as you are not involving your school in it. This is important as you will not want to do it under someone who is not registered.