Heavily over EPQ word count and very worried.

Hi, I do AQA EPQ and my whole project is due Wednesday 6th.

I'm very near finishing, but my report has ca. 6000 words when its supposed to have around 5000. I'm trying my best to cut it down but can only seem to get it down to 5800/5900. This is stressing me out because I'm wondering if i will get penalised for being so over. Im desperately trying to get an A* and I think that my log book and planning was good, and I am worried that a report that is over the word count will take away from my chances.

Any help/advice/insights are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Agree with fedora34, disregard in-text citations too.

OK. Ive been able to cut down to 5700 but if i disregard in text citations I am probably around the 5500 mark. I am over the word count, but I think if I reflect on this and say why it went wrong in the Summary & Reflection, and say how it wont happen again at University, it shows learning and reflection, which is what they want to see right?

You can definitely present it as a challenge but don't blatantly state that you are over the word limit. Don't present it as a wrong but rather as a wrong that you indeed turned right. They want to see that you actually made changes to counter the issue. Example: you can perhaps say that you have learnt how to communicate your ideas more effectively in a more concise manner by rewording extensive sentences.

Completely agree with this ^.

OP, I think if you say "I'm over the word limit but it won't happen again", that doesn't really demonstrate any genuine reflection, and tbh it just draws attention to the fact that you're still over.

As above, try to phrase it as a problem which you've overcome. "One of the main challenges was being significantly over the word count etc etc, so I had to really consider how to phrase things concisely etc etc, which helped me develop better editing skills". Problem, solution, growth - that's what they like to see in the EPQ.

Thank you so much I decided for this -

'Another weakness of mine was being significantly above the word count. To overcome this, I looked for paragraphs that I could restructure or sentences I could make more concise, resulting in me lowering my word count. I feel as though this has improved my editing skills, and has helped me communicate my findings in a more concise manner.'

Does that sound that genuine reflection and does it come across in a good way? Thanks.