How to choose the perfect EPQ topic

Writing an EPQ should be great fun, but choosing your topic can be hard. Here’s how to do it.

An EPQ is an extended project. It’s normally a 5000-word on essay on any topic you want to write about. Wow! So much freedom! But sometimes freedom can be scary. Have you ever been stuck for a choice when you have lots of great options to select from? The first stages of choosing your EPQ subject are exactly like that. Follow these steps and you’ll find it much easier to get started – and that is always the hardest part.

Think ahead

When you start to consider your EPQ topic try and think about your future, not your past. It can be tempting to write about one of the topics recently covered in your GCSEs or your A Levels but this would be such a missed opportunity. You can choose any topic in the world… are you really going to pick whatever your teacher tried to tell you about in their PowerPoint last week? Instead, you should think about what you want to do in your future. This might be for work, for pleasure or for university. To a certain extent it doesn’t matter, but try and focus on something YOU are really passionate about, not something your teachers think you should care about.

Zoom in

When you have your topic (that you are super duper 100% excited about) you need to create a focus. If you take in a widely defined subject it will be impossible to write about it within the word count. The more focused you are the more you will get out of the project. You’ll be able to find some interesting results and make some great findings.

Research and rethink

During the research and writing of your essay you’ll find that you may not have selected the write question afterall. And that’s fine. Part of the research process is about finding the correct question to take on so don’t be worried if you need to take stock, and rephrase or even change your question later on. That’s completely fine!

Zoom back out

When you’re reaching the end of your project it will be time to step back and take stock of what you have achieved. Consider the implications of your project on the wider world and set it into context. This is your chance to really reflect on what you have achieved. Be proud and remember, you choose this topic because you loved it… I hope you still do!