All students may take an extended project as a free-standing qualification, this following a 2009 recommendation by the
examination boards of England and Wales (
Edexcel,
OCR,
AQA,
WJEC,
Eduqas and
CIE), and England's former qualifications authority, the
QCA. By introducing EPQs it was hoped that students would be better prepared for study at university or begin a career, by developing skills problem solving, and independent learning. It takes the form of either a dissertation (5,000 words being a common guideline) or a number of other forms: a musical or dramatical composition, report or artefact, backed up with paperwork. According to the
QCA, an extended project is "a single piece of work requiring a high degree of planning, preparation, research, and autonomous working." The EPQ is equivalent to half an A-level and is graded from A* to E. The UCAS points awarded for the EPQ correspond to these grades as follows: • A* = 28 UCAS points • A = 24 UCAS points • B = 20 UCAS points • C = 16 UCAS points • D = 12 UCAS points • E = 8 UCAS points ==Effect of the 2020 pandemic==