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Universities which lower grades for EPQ?

I'm projected to get an A in my EPQ, and I know some universities lower offers based on it. I'm looking at AAB or ABB in predicted grades, and wanted to know which universities lower grades for an A in the EPQ (i.e. AAA or AAB with A in EPQ, AAB or ABB with A in EPQ). I'm looking to study psychology. Does anyone have any ideas of which universities offer this?
(edited 6 years ago)

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Original post by embow
I'm projected to get an A in my EPQ, and I know some universities lower offers based on it. I'm looking at AAB or ABB in predicted grades, and wanted to know which universities lower grades for an A in the EPQ (i.e. AAA or ABB with A in EPQ, AAB or ABB with A in EPQ). I'm looking to study psychology. Does anyone have any ideas of which universities offer this?


I think the majority of universities accept it but i don't think it'll bring down your grades that much as they base the grades of the actual A-levels rather than including the EPQ but if you're on track for even ABB then that's enough for alot of places even without the EPQ anyway
Reply 2
Original post by Jackieox
I think the majority of universities accept it but i don't think it'll bring down your grades that much as they base the grades of the actual A-levels rather than including the EPQ but if you're on track for even ABB then that's enough for alot of places even without the EPQ anyway


Yeah for most it's good so I'm pretty happy it's just I've found a few Russell Group unis do lower offers for As in EPQ (e.g. Southampton and Liverpool) and I was wondering if there were more that did.
Reply 3
Hey, I applied to study psychology and two of my offers included reduced grades based on the EPQ! I was predicted AAB and an A in the EPQ. I got offers from two Russell group universities. Birmingham (AAA or AAB with an A in the EPQ) and Southampton went from a typical offer of AAB to offering ABB (although they didn't specify an A in the EPQ) I do two science A levels, Psychology and Biology so my requirements were atleast a B in biology and a pass in the practical assessment. After internal grading I've got an A* in the EPQ (48/50) so hopefully I'm set! The others I applied to (Kent and Loughborough) did not reduce the offers. Birmingham and Loughborough are my firm and insurance choices.
I know several people who've had their offers reduced by one grade from Liverpool Uni (e.g. AAA or AAB + A in EPQ)
Reply 5
Original post by Rachyray
Hey, I applied to study psychology and two of my offers included reduced grades based on the EPQ! I was predicted AAB and an A in the EPQ. I got offers from two Russell group universities. Birmingham (AAA or AAB with an A in the EPQ) and Southampton went from a typical offer of AAB to offering ABB (although they didn't specify an A in the EPQ) I do two science A levels, Psychology and Biology so my requirements were atleast a B in biology and a pass in the practical assessment. After internal grading I've got an A* in the EPQ (48/50) so hopefully I'm set! The others I applied to (Kent and Loughborough) did not reduce the offers. Birmingham and Loughborough are my firm and insurance choices.


Yeah I'm thinking of applying to Southampton! Good luck on your EPQ grading if it gets moderated!
Reply 6
University of Birmingham
Reply 7
Original post by embow
I'm projected to get an A in my EPQ, and I know some universities lower offers based on it. I'm looking at AAB or ABB in predicted grades, and wanted to know which universities lower grades for an A in the EPQ (i.e. AAA or ABB with A in EPQ, AAB or ABB with A in EPQ). I'm looking to study psychology. Does anyone have any ideas of which universities offer this?


Pick universities mostly because they have a course you enjoy, not because they reduce their offers. Courses can vary significantly between universities.

Keep in mind many universities will allow a small miss from their original offer anyway (depending on circumstances, not guaranteed, etc, etc...).

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Original post by embow
I'm projected to get an A in my EPQ, and I know some universities lower offers based on it. I'm looking at AAB or ABB in predicted grades, and wanted to know which universities lower grades for an A in the EPQ (i.e. AAA or ABB with A in EPQ, AAB or ABB with A in EPQ). I'm looking to study psychology. Does anyone have any ideas of which universities offer this?


Hi,

This is something we offer at Bath for the vast majority of our courses, including Psychology.

For students who take the EPQ we can make an alternate offer of one A level grade below our typical offer plus an A in the EPQ. So for Psychology our alternate offer would be AAA at A level plus an A in the EPQ (our typical offer for psycholgy is A*AA). You can find further details on the Psychology pages of our e-prospectus.

You may be interested in our 'How to succeed in your EPQ' online course. It is free, takes around 3 hours per week for 3 weeks, and will really help you to ge the most from your EPQ and use it to strengthen your uni applications. The next course starts on Monday 19 June.

Good luck!
For some courses it's rare, but I know that Bath, Southampton, Sheffield, Birmingham and Liverpool give lower offers with an EPQ. Cardiff might as well I haven't applied there myself so I don't know for a fact
I emailed Sheffield about this and was told they do it for some courses. I'm applying for History and Politics which they said would be AAB or ABB + a B in EPQ

Leicester is the only other one I know for sure.
Reply 11
I applied to Leeds with ABB and A in the epq despite the entry requirements being AAB and got a place. Liverpool dropped it from ABB to BBB which acts as a nice insurance place considering its still a Russel group. Doing an EPQ is so worth it, otherwise I would have never got into the Unis I wanted. Its way easier getting an A in the epq than an A in your actual exams.
does nottingham uni lower the grade ,i want to do economics?
I applied for Cambridge and it didn't lower my grades...
:ditto:

Newcastle have a lower offer with an A in the EPQ, or at least offered me one. Don't know whether this is standard uni admissions policy though.

Durham didn't.
what was your topic?
Hey there, I've had offers from two Universities so far and both of them have lowered my offers thanks to my EPQ!

York would have been AAA for English, but with an A in EPQ it becomes AAB
Newcastle would have been AAB for Classical Studies and English, but with EPQ and Firm it becomes BBB!
Reply 17
Original post by 2000...
I applied to Leeds with ABB and A in the epq despite the entry requirements being AAB and got a place. Liverpool dropped it from ABB to Bwgat BB which acts as a nice insurance place considering its still a Russel group. Doing an EPQ is so worth it, otherwise I would have never got into the Unis I wanted. Its way easier getting an A in the epq than an A in your actual exams.


What course did u apply for ?
Does it matter what your EPQ topic is or do the universities just recognise that you've done one and what grade it is?
Original post by gemmawallis
Does it matter what your EPQ topic is or do the universities just recognise that you've done one and what grade it is?
Is this for thinking about clearing this year or applying for 2021 entry?

If Clearing, I suspect it'll be the latter scenario, it's often more about grades achieved than fine details.

If you're looking ahead to apply for a 2021 start, this thread best answers your question:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6158332


Since this thread is 3 years old now I'll split your post out into a new thread in the morning. :yy: Hope that's okay. :smile:

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