The Student Room Group

How to do an EPQ

I recently today got my GCSE results and got 7s and 8s and for my college I applied for an epq
i heard theres 2 Versions on epq where u do 2,000 word essay with an artefact as a project at the end or a 5,000 word essay with a presentation at the end.
I want to do something related to engineering, mechanics and electronics but im not sure what
i also dont know how it works, like with logbooks etc and i would highly appreciate if someone who has done an epq gives me some information that would be worthwhile.
Reply 1
Hi. So I did the artefact for my EPQ. At my sixth form I was the only person that did an artefact so it was kinda difficult to do with no actual example of how to do it. My topic was "How can I best demonstrate Chromaesthesia to non-synaesthetes". Chromaesthesia is a neurological disorder (of sorts) where you people can see shapes, colours and landscapes when they listen to music. For the artefact, I made a machine (from one of the ready made machines on amazon with a xylophone on it) and linked it up to specific LED bulbs that light up when a note is played e.g. red for C, orange for D, yellow for E, etc.

It is correct that for the artefact you have to do a 2000 word essay afterwards but unlike the 5000 academic essay, the artefact version explains what research you did into to making your artefact and the research that relates to the project with references throughout the essay. You also have to do a powerpoint on: your EPQ topic, the aims for the project, the research behind the topic, the development of the project, the artefact and an evaluation of the pros and cons of the whole EPQ (these are personally what I did as slides).

As for the process, you have something called Project Q which is all online and helps break down the EPQ into different sections so that examiners (both internal and external) are able to access the EPQ to see your progress (it is for AQA). This is where the "logbooks" is. You can upload ideas like I did and create some sort of a digital diary of ideas like I uploaded pictures of my artefact plans and how I made it and sources that I used. Your college should teach you skills like how to create a bibliography, how to create your question from the topic that you thought of, how to use different sources, how to reference, etc. That will help you get a basic understanding on how to do things. The periods where it gets marked by the exam board in November and June so if you miss the November deadline you can still work on it until June. Unlike GCSE this project is something that the teachers don't help with because it is meant to be an independent research project. At least that is something.

I think I summarised everything at a surface level but don't hesitate to ask anymore questions. BTW the screenshot is the sections on the website of the different EPQ sections for the "logbook" that you have to fill out overtime. The other screenshots are from the journal section of the Project Q website.
(edited 2 months ago)
Reply 2
Original post by Indirama
Hi. So I did the artefact for my EPQ. At my sixth form I was the only person that did an artefact so it was kinda difficult to do with no actual example of how to do it. My topic was "How can I best demonstrate Chromaesthesia to non-synaesthetes". Chromaesthesia is a neurological disorder (of sorts) where you people can see shapes, colours and landscapes when they listen to music. For the artefact, I made a machine (from one of the ready made machines on amazon with a xylophone on it) and linked it up to specific LED bulbs that light up when a note is played e.g. red for C, orange for D, yellow for E, etc.
It is correct that for the artefact you have to do a 2000 word essay afterwards but unlike the 5000 academic essay, the artefact version explains what research you did into to making your artefact and the research that relates to the project with references throughout the essay. You also have to do a powerpoint on: your EPQ topic, the aims for the project, the research behind the topic, the development of the project, the artefact and an evaluation of the pros and cons of the whole EPQ (these are personally what I did as slides).
As for the process, you have something called Project Q which is all online and helps break down the EPQ into different sections so that examiners (both internal and external) are able to access the EPQ to see your progress (it is for AQA). This is where the "logbooks" is. You can upload ideas like I did and create some sort of a digital diary of ideas like I uploaded pictures of my artefact plans and how I made it and sources that I used. Your college should teach you skills like how to create a bibliography, how to create your question from the topic that you thought of, how to use different sources, how to reference, etc. That will help you get a basic understanding on how to do things. The periods where it gets marked by the exam board in November and June so if you miss the November deadline you can still work on it until June. Unlike GCSE this project is something that the teachers don't help with because it is meant to be an independent research project. At least that is something.
I think I summarised everything at a surface level but don't hesitate to ask anymore questions. BTW the screenshot is the sections on the website of the different EPQ sections for the "logbook" that you have to fill out overtime. The other screenshots are from the journal section of the Project Q website.


Alright thanks, do you have any idea of what kinda software is used for things like the logbook and "bibliography" as you call it. Im kinda broke so i can't afford Microsoft 365
Reply 3
I assume that your new school will probably create an account for Microsoft for you. The logbook is just in the Project W website so you can put it in as you or you can manually write the logbook by downloading the Production Log sections which can be found on the Project Q website once you have an account and set it up. To be able to access Project Q your college will have to sign you up for the EPQ and then you can link it up for the Microsoft account that your school makes or you can create a separate login (which is what I did).

For the bibliography, you can still use Google Docs to be able to do. A bibliography is basically where all the sources that you used in the essay as links are listed and any other information that you used which goes at the end of the essay.

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