Our EPQ allows each student to embark on a largely self-directed and self-motivated project. Students must choose a topic, plan, research and develop their idea and decide on their finished product.

We encourage creativity and curiosity. A project topic may be directly related to a student's main study programme, but should look beyond the specification.

I think if I were to give advice, it would be that the EPQ and all the supporting documentation is about the process by which you achieve your product and less about the product itself. At least when relating to the artefact. I also think someone undertaking the EPQ should not be afraid to make, admit to and document their mistakes. The mistakes make the project interesting and demonstrates a person’s ability to problem solve and adapt, two more very important skills to demonstrate. On a different line, do not be afraid to ask for help from people who understand your topic. I received a huge amount of useful information from a number of my teachers, many also helped me during the different construction phases offering advice and support where possible. Overall I think that the EPQ is extremely valuable in building real world independent research and organisation skills, I truly enjoyed my time working on the EPQ and look forward to completing my artifact in my own time over the next few weeks.

1. How did you find the process? The process was really interesting, as you pick your own topic and, in my case, was something I was really interested in, and even with that I learnt a lot that I wouldn't have done if I didn't do such extensive research.

2. What did you learn most? This might not necessarily be about what your topic would be - I learnt how to speak better publicly. and also how to research things more academically (Medical journals and things like that)

3. What advice would you give to yourself if you were to do it all again? Don't stress about the essay so much, and just have fun with the research.

This EPQ project has helped me develop various skills, like data collection, research, presentation, communication and statistical analysis skills. They would be useful for my future study and career development. In addition, throughout this process, my time management, interpersonal, and analytical skills have also been enhanced. I started to understand what research is about and how it should be done and I become more interested in things happening around. In the end, I have also made up my decision of pursuing economic and political study for my undergraduate study.

Last but not least, I also want to make some suggestions for the next year students. first of all, please choose your research topic carefully. As you need to do this project for over half year, you have to choose a topic which you are willing to and interested to know more. Secondly, we need to plan our writing carefully and be realistic. It is almost impossible to cover everything related to one research topic, so we have to choose our focus. Then we need to organise our discussion in a logical and structured manner. In addition, some figures, tables and subtitles could be used to ease understanding. Thirdly, we need to manage our time efficiently and get things done before the deadline. Being a student in Lower 6^th form is actually quite busy, so we need to management our time efficiently. You can not wait until the last minute to get things done as you may miss the deadline. I would recommend that try to make good use of your Christmas and Easter holiday as those are valuable time for you to focus on your research and do some writing. Last but not least, please make sure to keep your project log up-to-date as it requires lots of reflection, writing and thinking. It may also help you monitor your progress.