EPQ or Duke of Edinburgh

I haven't done DofE for myself I'm afraid but I did the EPQ. It was fairly hard but I found it really useful for getting me prepared for practical reports at university (I've just finished my first year). What subjects are you studying and what are you wanting to study at university (assuming you're wanting to go)?

Why not both?

maths, FM, Bio and Economy
Uni - stats/finance/maths/economics




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I don't study any of those myself at uni, but I have had friends who have studied very similar A-Levels to yours and have got onto maths based courses at prestigious universities without EPQ or DofE.

In that case, I think it's a matter of what you want/need to get out of each one. I think DofE can give you some really good extra-curricular activities which bumph up your application and demonstrate a range of other skills, but as I say, I haven't done it myself. An EPQ can be really useful to show dedication and commitment to a subject, as well as time management and research skills which are really valuable at university.

I did EPQ this year and have previously completed Silver DofE. In my honest opinion, do EPQ. Loads of kids seem to do DofE and to be blunt it isn't that special at all. All the Unis I've applied to didn't care one bit about it. EPQ however gives you UCAS points which may help boost you up to your conditional offer if you miss out by one grade on your A2 Levels. EPQ did seem like a lot of work however so be prepared to put in a decent amount of time. You get a lot of marks from the paperwork/forms so make sure you're organised.

thanks, I don't have much extra-curricular activities, do you have any suggestions of good things to do other than dofe



Posted from TSR Mobile

If you're wanting to study all four of your subjects through to A2 and do an EPQ, then you'll already have a load of relevant and really useful skills for a maths based uni course.

For activities, you could look for some which are more academically focused such training days at universities. I did some in year 12 and friends of mine have done language ones which involved actually staying over at uni accommodation for a few nights. Like the EPQ, it just shows you truly enjoy and understand your subject in greater depth.

Alternatively, do something less academically focused but make sure you enjoy it rather than doing it to tick boxes. This could include volunteering (which I think you have to do in DofE anyway), paid work/employment, work experience or hobbies/sports you enjoy. You can mention skills/knowledge you've gained from doing these and perhaps even say how you'd want to join the respective societies at university.

A few tips for if you do EPQ though: choose a topic which you will enjoy and feel genuinely interested by, make sure you can get primary and secondary research for it, try use some form of statistical test (it will demonstrate your own interest and understanding of maths), and make sure you space it out over time rather than doing it last minute - a lot of people I know failed it because of that

I am doing both right now. Personally I'd pick EPQ because it will actually be something you can say youve done on your application, whereas DofE takes a long time to finish so you probably wont finish it before applications are made, and even if you do, it's not really something that makes you individual whereas an EPQ shows you have deeper interests in certain topics.
Ultimately however pick the one you think youll enjoy more.