The EPQ is a process-based qualification where students are required to plan, research, develop, realise and reflect on a project of their own devising, with the presentation forming an integral part of their assessment.

Eighty-two students presented on a variety of topics this year, speaking without the use of notes, displaying mastery of their subjects and providing confident and detailed answers to a range of unprepared questions about their research. We were once again treated to a wide range of eye-catching displays and students worked hard to make complex material accessible to an audience of non-experts.

Once more, there has been remarkable breadth and diversity in the topics chosen: Nietzsche’s influence on Nazi ideology, French WWI poetry, chemotherapy as a treatment for advanced exocrine pancreatic cancer, the effect of gut microbiota on mental health and whether art can be regarded as a language to name but a few.

All the pupils who presented will have gained a valuable portfolio of skills to take with them to university and the workplace. Congratulations to all on their achievement.