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Don Lyu

Deputy Head of

GBA International Education Institute

What is EPQ?

EPQ stands for Extended Project Qualification and it is an official A-level examination provided by Edexcel. Unlike other examinations, a student does not have to sit in an examination room for EPQ. Instead, he or she should carry out a research project and submit a 5000-word research article. A good score from EPQ can contribute significantly to a student’s college application.

EPQ AT MIS

曼校的EPQ项目

MIS students have received training for EPQ from SSC in the past couple of years. In January this year, Daniel of Y13 has finished his presentation and submitted his EPQ dissertation to Edexcel and received an A result recently. Alison and Betty from Y13, and Jesse, Bowe and a few others from Y12 are planning to submit their EPQ articles in May this year.

Mr. Don Lyu, Head of the Student Success Center (SSC) explains that there are actually more than one examination boards that offer project qualifications. ASDAN, our collaborator, offers EPQ; and both AQA and CAIE offer IPQ (International Project Qualifications). Although there are differences between project qualifications offered by different examination boards, all project qualifications are designed to provide students with an opportunity to undertake an independent research project on a topic of their choosing, and to develop skills such as critical thinking, research, and communication.

EPQ is equivalent to half an A-level in terms of UCAS scores and is widely recognized by universities in the UK and around the world as an excellent way for students to demonstrate their academic abilities.

According to Mr. Lyu, to successfully complete an EPQ, a student has to:

Choose an appropriate topic: The first step to success is choosing a topic that is of interest to the student, is appropriate for the level of the qualification, and can be explored in-depth.

Research the topic: A successful EPQ requires thorough research, which includes consulting a wide range of sources, such as books, academic articles, and primary sources.

Plan and manage the project: Students must develop a clear plan for their project, including timelines, milestones, and goals, and ensure that they have sufficient time and resources to complete the project.

Write a report: The EPQ report should be well-structured, clearly written, and provide a comprehensive analysis of the research question.

Give a presentation: Students must also prepare and deliver a presentation that summarizes their findings and demonstrates their understanding of the topic.

Reflect on the project: Finally, students should reflect on their experience of completing the EPQ, including what they have learned, the challenges they faced, and how they could improve their approach in the future.

An EPQ is completed over an extended period of time, usually taking between 6 and 12 months. This requires a significant investment of effort as well as a high level of motivation, organization, and critical thinking.

“On the other hand,” Mr Lyu said, “doing an EPQ is consistent with the education philosophy of Long Term Cultivation. In fact, when making admission decisions, many universities want to know whether a student has a long term academic interest, which might be rooted in his or her educational or cultural background; and they also want to know whether a student has been pursuing such an interest persistently and what outcomes have been achieved. An EPQ can be an excellent opportunity for a student to demonstrate his long term pursuit for an academic interest.

MIS EPQ Samples

In MIS, students have been working on a variety of academic topics for EPQ.

Daniel of Y13 looked at the history of using inflation as a tool for wars. “The recent war between Russia and Ukraine made me start this project. I collected a lot of data and I found that indeed in many historical occasions from Roman Empire to World War II, inflation was utilized as an financing tool for wars. Thus my EPQ has practical implications for solving the current problems.”

Betty of Y13 is designing an experiment to estimate salt intake among Chinese teenagers. Salt intake is strongly correlated to people’s health and high salt diet is blamed for many diseases. Betty is going to test people’s preference for saltiness with a cleverly designed experiment and she is recruiting subjects among her classmates.

Alison of Y13 went to a state-of-the-art laboratory in Taiwan last year and collected data regarding anti-oxidation for several anti-aging products. The results were consistent with her expectations and were quite encouraging and she is now wrapping up her investigation report.

Jesse is a Royal Mile student in Y12 and he has been working on a dissertation that looks at revisionism and negationism. “Sometimes it might be difficult to draw the line between these two concepts.”Jesse said, “However, I look deeply into examples such as the 1619 project vs. the 1776 project and I feel that I can provide some conceptual and logical clarifications. ”

Additionally, Bowe of Y12 is working on an EPQ project that looks at the impact of an aging population on economic development; and Simon of Y12 is interested in geography and he is investigating why many Chinese seaside cities such as Shanghai keep its urban area at a distance from the shoreline.

Let’s look forward to participating in these students’ presentations in April. And let’s hope more and more MIS students will start early to work on their EPQ in the future.

吕东

大湾区教育

研究院副院长

什么是EPQ？

EPQ是Extended Project Qualification的缩写，意思是拓展项目证书，它是一种独立的资格认证，有点像一篇小型论文。爱德思考试局的项目式学习认证（EPQ）是爱德思提供的一个官方A-level考试。和其他考试不同的是，EPQ考生不需要到考场去做题。他们需要开展一个研究项目，然后提交一份5000单词的研究论文。好的EPQ成绩对于大学升学可以起到很大的帮助。

曼校的EPQ项目

MIS学生近年来已经开始在学习支持中心学习EPQ。今年1月，Y13的Daniel完成了他的EPQ答辩，并向爱德思考试局提交了他的EPQ论文。并于最近获得了A的好成绩。Y13的Alison和Betty，Y12的Jesse、Bowe以及其他几位学生也计划在今年5月提交他们的EPQ论文。

学习支持中心(SSC)负责人吕东老师解释说，实际上有不止一个考试委员会可以提供项目式学习认证。我们的合作方阿斯丹可以提供EPQ；牛津和剑桥考试局都可以提供IPQ（国际项目式学习认证）。虽然不同考试局的项目式认证存在差异，但它们都为学生提供做独立研究的机会，鼓励学生选择自己的课题，并培养批判性思维、学术研究和学术表达等技能。

从英国大学升学平台UCAS的分数来看，完成EPQ相当于完成半个A-Level学科。 英国及世界各地的大学都广泛认可EPQ，所以EPQ也是学生展示学术能力的绝佳途径。

吕东老师认为，要成功完成EPQ，学生必须做好以下几项任务：

选择适当的课题：成功的第一步是选择一个学生自己感兴趣、符合EPQ要求，并可以深入探讨的课题。

开展课题研究：成功的EPQ需要全面的研究，包括查阅各种信息来源，如书籍、学术文章和第一手资料。

规划和管理项目：学生必须为自己的项目制定清晰的计划，包括时间表、关键节点和目标，并确保有足够的时间和资源完成项目。

撰写报告：EPQ报告应该是结构良好、清晰明了，并对研究问题进行了全面的分析。

完成答辩：学生还必须准备并进行答辩，概括他们的研究发现，并展示他们对题课的深入理解。

对项目进行反思：学生应总结反思自己做EPQ的经验，包括学到了什么、遇到什么挑战以及在未来如何改进研究方法。

EPQ需要一个较长的时间才能完成，通常要6到12个月。 这意味着要投入大量劳动，也需要有很高的动力、组织能力和批判性思维能力。

吕东老师指出，完成EPQ符合“长期培养”的教育理念。事实上，许多大学在做出招生决定前，都想知道学生是否有长期的学术兴趣。这种兴趣通常来自于孩子的教育过程或家庭文化背景。大学也想知道学生是否能持续地坚持自己的学术兴趣，并取得了什么成果。EPQ是学生们展示自己的长期学术追求的绝佳途径。

曼校学子EPQ展示

在MIS，学生们已经展开了多种多样的EPQ学术课题的研究。

Y13年级的Daniel研究了使用通货膨胀作为战争工具的历史。他说：“最近俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的战争促使我开始这个项目。我收集了大量数据，发现在许多历史阶段，从罗马帝国时代到二战时期，通货膨胀都被用作战争的融资工具。因此，我的EPQ对解决当前的问题具有现实意义。”

Y13年级的Betty正在设计一个实验来评估中国青少年的盐摄入量。盐的摄入量与人们的健康密切相关，高盐饮食被认为是许多疾病的罪魁祸首。Betty将通过一个巧妙的实验来测量人们对盐分的偏好。目前她还在招募自己的同学中作为实验被试。

Y13年级的Alison去年去了台湾的一家尖端大学实验室实习，收集了有关几种抗衰老产品的抗氧化数据。实验结果与她的期望基本一致，非常鼓舞人心。现在她正在完成最后的研究报告。

Jesse是Y12年级皇家一英里的学生，他的论文研究了历史修正主义和历史否认主义。Jesse说：“有时很难区分这两个概念。然而，当我深入研究了如‘1619项目与1776项目对比’等例子，我觉得自己能够为这个课题贡献一些概念和逻辑上的澄清。”

此外，Y12年级的Bowe正在做一个EPQ项目，研究人口老龄化对经济发展的影响。而Y12年级的Simon则对地理感兴趣，他在调查为什么许多中国沿海城市（如上海）的城区与海岸线始终保持着相当的距离。

让我们期待能在四月参加这些学生的答辩。让我们希望越来越多的曼校学生能够早日开始他们的EPQ研究。

-THE END-

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