Is the EPQ worth it?

Applying for sixth form soon and I don’t know if I should or shouldn’t apply for an EPQ with my 3 A levels. Planning on going into medicine but how valued is the qualification in the field? Mixed opinions online some say it is completely useless and less valued than it should be. Some say it is useful for an application and low effort required

Which is true and - given i’ll also be doing the UCAT- is it worth the time and effort?

Also any extracurricular activity I should take during y12? (online or not)

Reply 1

Mike747

Original post

by user33713469

Applying for sixth form soon and I don’t know if I should or shouldn’t apply for an EPQ with my 3 A levels. Planning on going into medicine but how valued is the qualification in the field? Mixed opinions online some say it is completely useless and less valued than it should be. Some say it is useful for an application and low effort required
Which is true and - given i’ll also be doing the UCAT- is it worth the time and effort?
Also any extracurricular activity I should take during y12? (online or not)

epq very useful for a convo at interview, but only if done on a specialised medical topic. They love that. If not on a med topic, yeah - useless for med school.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

ringi

Duke of Edinburgh Gold is likely more useful and can also give you some of the volunteering and leadership opportunities that medical schools like.

Could you do a EPQ that is about the medical needs, or issues with access to care for the client group you volunteer with? The only value of a EPQ is what insights you learn from doing it.

But 3 great A levels grades are key as most medical schools don't like retakes and everything else can be fixed in a gap year.

Reply 3

hope99ly_

Original post

by user33713469

Applying for sixth form soon and I don’t know if I should or shouldn’t apply for an EPQ with my 3 A levels. Planning on going into medicine but how valued is the qualification in the field? Mixed opinions online some say it is completely useless and less valued than it should be. Some say it is useful for an application and low effort required
Which is true and - given i’ll also be doing the UCAT- is it worth the time and effort?
Also any extracurricular activity I should take during y12? (online or not)

Hi I’m not doing medicine specifically but I highly recommend not doing an EPQ. It truly takes a lot of time if you want to get an A* and to be honest getting an A for it with all the workload behind is not useful at all. Especially, with the workload you’re gonna have with your subjects, med work experience and ucat preparation, you’re not gonna have time. I’m a procrastinator so maybe it’s different for you, but unless you are truly disciplined and love the question you are researching don’t do it. The best thing is probably to take it right now and maybe drop it after a couple months into year 12, just to see if it is suitable for you with the sixth form workload.