FAST TRACK EPQ (WITH GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES)

Why should I study this course?

This course is an excellent challenge course for Year 12 students looking to add a fourth course to their curriculum. This bespoke course is unique to NBP16 and combines the EPQ qualification with additional skills development in research and critical thinking. By exploring issues from a range of global perspectives, this course aims to prepare you for positive engagement with a rapidly changing world, broadening your outlook through the critical analysis of, and reflection on, issues of global significance. You will become critically aware of your own beliefs and assumptions and those of others, developing valid arguments by reflecting on and interpreting a range of evidence. Advances in technology have changed our access to information and the way we communicate and work. Increasingly, you need to be able to think critically to deconstruct arguments, to differentiate between the ways in which people express their perspectives, to assess and evaluate claims and to develop lines of reasoning.

What will I learn?

This syllabus is firmly based on skills rather than specific content. You will identify your own topic and title for the project and the course will help you equip yourself with the skills to fully realise your investigation. You will acquire and develop thinking and reasoning skills as well as research and communication skills. These skills will enable you to meet the demands of communication and leadership in contemporary society and to make a successful transition to study in higher education if that is your chosen path.

How will I learn?

You will be in charge of your own journey.  This is an independent project which you will be tasked with managing from start to finish. You will be assessed on how well you manage that journey and how well you overcome bumps in the road. There will be supplementary teacher-led elements in the course, with a lot of discussion, team working and debate, using topical and relevant global issues to hone these new skills.

What can I do with my qualification?

Universities tell us that EPQ is an excellent preparation for undergraduate study as it gives real evidence of independent, critical thinking. It will teach you: 

• independent and self-directed learning;
• how to think laterally, critically and creatively, and to acquire good problem-solving skills;
• comprehensive understanding of any subject through depth and rigour of research and analysis.

What do students say?

“I’m so good at arguing now! I have learned that I can only have conviction in my ideas if I truly understand where others are coming from.”

“I love the debate and discussion in class, as well as the freedom to pursue topics that interest me.”