EPQ - is it worth it or not?

I’ve been told that EPQ isn’t cared about that much by unis so I’m thinking about dropping it
I’ve heard that it was useful for when it came to essays in universities so the people who did it had a bit of experience in essay writing. But do you need to put a lot of work into it or is it easy to get a high grade in it?

So the first question is, if you're applying for university what subject are you applying for and where to?

Different universities regard the EPQ in different ways. Some (like Newcastle) may reduce your offer by one grade if you secure an A in the EPQ on results day. Others will not do this, but if you're studying an EPQ on an area you're really interested in connected to your chosen degree subject, and you're the same as another candidate on paper for everything else, this might give you an "edge". But that's only something an admissions tutor will be able to know for sure, not me or you.

It's certainly true that the research skills developed in the EPQ are extremely useful for understanding the level of commitment expected of you at university level. They may also help you with any extended pieces of coursework in your A Levels (History for instance).

Whether it's easy or hard is entirely subjective to you.

I have looked at what universities have said about it and Liverpool said the same thing about lowering a grade as long as one secures an A in EPQ however Manchester university doesn’t really offer anything for it
I’m looking into doing computer science at university

And have you thought about what it could perhaps be on?
I'm not sure that research skills employed in an EPQ would be extremely applicable to a CompSci degree which is a very applied subject as you can imagine. Are you doing A Level Computer Science I presume. I have a feeling there's a large coursework assignment in that.
@EmilySarah00 would you be able to advise here?

Yes I am doing A level computer science
I haven’t thought about what I could do it on. I’ve picked psychology as my third option however I’m not sure if I’ll be continuing it as I’m having trouble deciding my third subject
If I do continue with it I could possibly do my research based around that however I don’t think I’ll be doing psychology in university

So while it's very advisable to do your EPQ connected to a subject you're also studying, it's also advisable to make sure there's no overlap with a piece of work you might be doing in one of your A Levels. If you think a psychology EPQ will help you with psychology A Level content then that might not be true given this. Similarly if you're not sure about doing psychology A Level then I wouldn't recommend Psychology-based EPQ unless there's a specific area of psychology you're extremely interested in. An EPQ requires a lot of hours and a lot of love: if you're unsure about the subject you aren't going to feel motivated enough to give the EPQ the effort it needs and you're likely to end up pulling out from it.

That’s very true
I’m not really that passionate about the EPQ if I’m being honest. It makes sense to not do it whilst I haven’t decided my subjects as well. It took me by surprise when you said that a psychology EPQ will not help with A Level psychology content because I assumed it does but I guess now I see that it doesn’t
I think I will drop out of EPQ as you’re right when you said I won’t be feeling motivated for it
Thank you so much for your advice and help! I’m really grateful for it

If you don’t mind me asking, what do you think I should do as my third subject?
I’ve already created a forum asking about A Level statistics. I’m also considering business and economics but apparently business isn’t respected that much by universities but I’ve always thought that business is a subject that practically goes with everything

If you've already made a thread, I shall go find that thread and reply there.