The EPQ helps learners take their project development and management skills to the next level. It helps learners further develop the skills they built through the termly challenge projects in Grades 9 and 10. The EPQ involves a single sustained project completed over the course of a full year, allowing learners to explore ideas in greater depth and develop greater mastery.

As an approved Edexcel centre, we embed the EPQ into our challenge-based learning model. Each year, learners select a global challenge theme, such as Building Sustainable Futures or Ethical Technology, and choose a specific challenge within that theme to explore through their project, giving learners the flexibility to design interdisciplinary projects connected to real-world issues.

What Does the EPQ Project Journey Look Like?

The EPQ empowers learners to design, research, and execute a year-long project on a topic that truly fascinates them. Whether tackling a pressing ethical dilemma, exploring technological innovation, or creating an original artistic work, learners gain hands-on experience in research, critical thinking, project management, and communication. The journey unfolds across three terms, each with a distinct focus.

The EPQ journey is structured over the year around the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) framework’s three phases:

• Engage: where learners explore content and ideas to find what genuinely interests them.
• Investigate: where they research and build an evidence base around their chosen problem.
• Act:聽where they develop and implement their solution.

Term 1: Engage & Investigate phase

Learners begin by immersing themselves in a global challenge theme. Challenges like Building Sustainable Futures and Ethical Technology are intentionally broad. Building Sustainable Futures, for instance, spans planetary boundaries, systems thinking, and sustainable economics, while also developing inner capacity and resilience. This breadth gives learners the space to find what genuinely interests them before narrowing their focus.

From there, learners:

• Explore the challenge theme through the engage phase, developing familiarity with the landscape of issues, ideas, and debates within it
• Identify a specific problem they want to tackle and decide on a project type. There are four types of projects learners can choose from:
  • Dissertation: This is an in-depth research culminating in a structured written argument. Learners pursuing a dissertation go deep into the literature and develop a well-reasoned, evidence-backed argument in response to their research question.
  • Investigative Study: This is a data-driven research through experiments, surveys, or observations. Learners pursuing an investigative study design and carry out original research to answer their question empirically.
  • Performance: This is creative work supported by a reflective report. Learners pursuing a performance project channel their inquiry into an original creative output. This can be a short film, play, dance choreography, musical piece, an event or other performance.
  • Artefact: This is a tangible or digital solution supported by a reflective report. Learners pursuing an artefact project design and build something. This can be a product, tool, model, or digital solution in response to a real-world challenge.
• Define a research question that will anchor their project. For example, Sofia asked: Is the shift to renewable energy in public transportation a feasible strategy for reducing carbon emissions?
• Submit a project proposal outlining their objectives, motivation, work breakdown structure, Gantt chart, contingency plan, and resources, which must be approved before they can begin.
• Begin the investigate phase by researching their chosen problem in depth, building a strong evidence base through structured literature reviews before moving into solution development.

Term 2: Act phase

With their research foundation in place, learners move into the act phase where they develop and implement their solutions. During this time, they also receive mentorship from industry experts aligned to their topic and project type.

From this point, learner journeys diverge and become even more personalized depending on the type of project they have chosen 鈥� with all roads leading to presenting their final projects at the Global Showcase.

Term 3: Share & Reflect phase

In Term 3, learners enter the Share & Reflect phase. Projects are presented at a global showcase, giving learners the opportunity to share their work with a global audience at the Global showcase. Alongside this, learners complete a project review cycle where they reflect on their experience, what went well, and what they would approach differently next time. It is this final phase that brings the full arc of the EPQ together: from a question, to a tangible solution, to celebration.

How It Fits Into the Advanced Curriculum

At the advanced levels in Grades 11 and 12, learners work toward credits within the Human Literacies Framework 鈥� defined areas of learning, each with learning outcomes that learners work toward. With 30+ advanced credits to choose from, ranging from Advanced Biological Sciences to Mind & Behaviour to Venture & Product Building, learners plan at the start of the year which areas they want to explore.

EPQ work contributes directly to this. Projects often count toward the Advanced Written Communication credit, where learners develop academic writing and research skills through inquiry. Depending on the nature of their project, learners can evidence a range of their chosen credits through their EPQ work, with credits spanning science, design, social inquiry, and more. Alongside their EPQ, learners complete skill units across their chosen credits, which in turn support their project development helping them build the knowledge and technical skills needed to bring their ideas to life.

Beyond knowledge in their chosen areas, learners receive additional support through targeted workshops tailored to their projects that cover everything from literature reviews and argument structuring to product design, UI/UX, ethical research methods, statistical analysis, scripting, storyboarding, and prototyping.

Global Recognition

The EPQ at 糖心APP is an opportunity to explore, experiment, and expand. It equips learners with the independence, confidence, and transferable skills they need for higher education and beyond, all while allowing them to pursue projects that are personally meaningful and socially relevant.

The EPQ develops skills that universities and employers value: independent research, critical thinking, time management, project management and effective communication. It carries up to 28 UCAS points, helping learners stand out in competitive university applications.

Learning in Action

Our learners have been tackling real-world challenges with creativity and rigor through their EPQ projects.

In 2025, 75% of our learners received either an A or A* grade in their EPQ.

Dissertation: Elliana鈥檚 Project

Elliana explored gender biases and stereotypes in primary education.

She began by building a robust literature review, critically analysing sources to identify key themes, tensions, and gaps that helped her uncover how teacher interactions, academic materials, and classroom literature contribute to differing outcomes for girls and boys.

From this, she established her central argument: that gender biases and stereotypes within the education system itself significantly reinforce learning inequalities between students. Her counter-argument examined the external factors such as culture, parental influence, and peer dynamics that also shape these outcomes, ensuring her discussion was balanced and credible.

Throughout the year, Elliana logged her development process at each stage, documenting decisions, reflections, and feedback received at multiple checkpoints to create a polished dissertation.

Investigative Study: Katie-Grace鈥檚 Project

Katie-Grace explored the link between teens’ empathy and their behaviour toward others at school.

Driven by a personal belief in the need for greater kindness in society, she began by reviewing existing research on empathy and prosocial behaviour to build the foundation for her own investigation.

Setting out to investigate whether teens with higher empathy levels would be more likely to intervene in instances of rudeness, she designed an original experiment where participants were observed responding to escalating rude behaviour in a group discussion.

From there, she made considered decisions about methodology, participant selection, and data collection instruments, all while ensuring her research was conducted ethically.

She learned how to conduct textual analysis and interpreted her data in relation to existing literature, acknowledged her study’s limitations, and used them to propose meaningful directions for future research.

Performance: Keoni鈥檚 and Alia鈥檚 Projects

Keoni created a short film exploring how to achieve fulfilment and happiness.

He began by building a literature review that drew on philosophy, psychology, and film, developing his ability to critically engage with diverse sources and synthesise them into a coherent creative direction.

From this research foundation, he developed his concept: a film that challenges the idea of happiness as something to be chased, and instead presents it as something to be created from within.

From there, Keoni moved into pre-production, creating mood boards, building a production schedule, and going through multiple rounds of scripting before arriving at his final narrative. This iterative process developed his skills in creative decision-making and project planning, learning to refine an idea rather than settle for the first version of it.

During production, Keoni made deliberate choices around composition, lighting, and direction. He drew on film references from his literature review to inform his visual style.

During post-production, he worked through editing, colour grading, and sound design, and sought feedback from an experienced film professional to refine his final cut.

Performance projects can take many forms. Any live, audience-facing experience qualifies, and Alia’s project is a great example of that.

Alia organized an in-person event in her local community examining what drives sustainable community action and civic engagement.

Motivated by a personal frustration with feeling powerless in the face of climate change, she began by building a literature review that examined grassroots movements, community resilience, and the role of inner transformation in leadership whilst developing her ability to engage critically with interdisciplinary research before shaping her project vision.

From her research, Alia identified that community resilience is built not just through knowledge and resources, but through connection, collaboration, and shared values. This became the foundation for her project: organising a one-day hybrid event called 鈥淪ustainability Confest鈥� that brought together farmers, activists, researchers, and storytellers to share ideas and inspire local action in North Wales.

What followed was a masterclass in real-world project management. Alia secured funding through a combination of institutional donation and a crowdfunding campaign, collaborated with local organisations for venue and logistics, designed a bilingual marketing strategy, coordinated a volunteer team, and curated a full programme of panel discussions, workshops, and live music.

Every decision, from sliding-scale ticket pricing to sustainable catering, was grounded in the values her research had identified as essential to inclusive community engagement.

After the event, she gathered feedback through surveys and evaluated her outcomes honestly against her original goals, acknowledging limitations and identifying what she would do differently for her next event!

Artefact: Brielle鈥檚 Project

Brielle explored sustainable furniture design by tackling one of modern urban living’s most practical challenges: how to make the most of limited space without compromising on environmental responsibility.

She began by building a literature review that examined the history of furniture design, existing space-saving solutions, and sustainable materials before shaping her own design direction.

From her research, Brielle identified bamboo, cork, recycled steel, and tempered recycled glass as her materials of choice, grounding each decision in evidence about sustainability, durability, and cost.

She then moved into ideation producing multiple rounds of perspective sketches, refining her drawings through tutorials, and developing a detailed design brief before arriving at a final concept: an expandable dining table that folds out from a compact cabinet, with integrated storage for both chairs and crockery.

Brielle chose to build a physical mini prototype first to test her expansion mechanism, then moved to a full-scale cardboard model.

She conducted load and user testing, incorporating feedback into her refinements. She also used AI prompt engineering to visualize her final design across multiple perspectives before committing to construction.

Looking Ahead

The EPQ is, at its core, an exercise in intellectual honesty. Learners choose a question they don’t yet have the answer to, spend a year genuinely grappling with it, and produce something that reflects the depth of that process.

These projects reflect personalized exploration, interdisciplinary learning, and meaningful impact, but by the time our learners complete their EPQ, they have navigated ambiguity, revised their thinking, and learned to defend their ideas 鈥� skills that translate directly into university and beyond.

The projects featured here are a snapshot of what that looks like in practice. Each one began with a question and ended with something real 鈥� a film, a prototype, a dissertation, a study. And each one tells us something about what becomes possible when learners are given the space and the trust to pursue what genuinely interests them.

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Over the past two years, I’ve seen our pioneering cohort, Jupiter, take on more than 150 global challenges, developing a wide array of impactful solutions. Our learners join us with varying levels of competencies, goals, interests, and aspirations. While there has been tremendous growth among those who have completed two years with us, even learners who have been with us for just one term show remarkable development in their skills.

So how were they able to achieve this?

To explore this, I interviewed some of our learners. These conversations revealed the benefits of our personalized learning approach, including real-world applications, future-ready skill development, competency mastery, comprehensive guidance, and tools for human flourishing.

Personalized learning

We believe learning should allow students to explore their interests without being confined to a rigid structure. That said, structure has its benefits in developing organizational skills, which is why we strike a balance, providing structure while offering flexibility in how learners achieve their goals.

Each term learners create a personalized learning plan with a curriculum specialist, aligning their current interests, passions and aspirations with the skills needed for their goals. If they鈥檙e unsure of their direction, our pathway advisors are are here to guide them鈥攎ore on that later!

Our personalized learning approach allows learners to advance at their own pace while pursuing their passions. This flexibility is also useful for learners who are participating in extracurriculars, traveling the world, training for sports tournaments, or attending conferences (just some of the cases we have seen so far!)

So what does this personalized learning plan include?

Challenges

Each term, learners begin by selecting a challenge they鈥檇 like to tackle.

At 糖心APP, we replace traditional lectures with meaningful experiences and real-world applications. Learners develop critical thinking through challenge-based learning, gaining hands-on experience to navigate the complexities of the modern world. Some of our past challenges include Understanding Minds, Designing Space Habitats, Social Entrepreneurship, Protecting our Oceans, and Maintaining Global Peace. These interdisciplinary challenges encourage a , leading learners to develop well-rounded solutions to global issues.

There is a unique sense of responsibility that comes with tackling real-world challenges. This sense of ownership and engagement not only enriches their learning experience but also empowers them to take charge of their futures and make meaningful contributions to their communities and beyond.

Ayesha: How has the challenge-based learning approach at the 糖心APP impacted your overall learning experience compared to traditional exams?

This past term, I had an incredible experience with the Protecting Our Oceans challenge group.

Throughout the term, learners were both surprised by the threats to our oceans and inspired by marine resilience. This sparked hope and a readiness to take action from a place of empathy.

Sofia, one of our learners passionate about Artificial Intelligence, combined math, computer science, neuroscience, and ethics in her work. During the Food, Water, and Energy Security challenge, she developed an AI model to optimize solar power in harsh Nordic winters. What鈥檚 more is that Sofia didn’t just learn; she made an impact in the world.

Micro-internships

At the end of each term, learners have an incredible opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills and knowledge in direct real-world settings. They work on internships with real organizations from around the world, solving real-world problems and gaining invaluable hands-on experience.

Ayesha: What has been your favorite micro-internship experience so far, and what kinds of knowledge and skills did you gain from it?

Skill units

In addition to the challenge, each term learners choose from a variety of skill units that explore our eight literacies, as defined by the OECD as a blend of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This literacy-based curriculum equips learners with essential skills for today’s world and tomorrow’s challenges. Our skill units enable in-depth exploration of areas of interest, allowing learners to apply their knowledge across challenges and micro-internships.

Our skill units enable in-depth exploration of areas of interest, allowing learners to apply their knowledge across challenges and micro-internships and vice versa!

Learners also develop their skills toward mastery through iterative project assessment.

Flourishing journey

At 糖心APP, we prioritize whole-human development by exploring emotional, existential, and somatic intelligence. Our goal is to provide learners with the tools and experiences to lead purposeful lives.

In weekly Flourishing workshops, learners engage in mindfulness, purpose, and existential inquiry, connecting with their inner selves and understanding their place in the world. They can also take skill units like 鈥淗appiness Philosophies鈥� and 鈥淗ealthy Body & Mind鈥� to deepen their understanding of a fulfilling life. Many of our learners have athletic pursuits and after-school activities that they can explore further in their flourishing journey, developing their physical health and teamwork skills.

Community & Social Life

Each week, learners join live online workshops, engaging in discussions and activities that promote global citizenship and cultural appreciation. Annually, they come together for an in-person gathering, and those in cities with learning hubs can meet regularly to connect and collaborate.

Pathway Advisory

What happens after school? One of the most daunting things I remember from my own high school experience was, feeling lost and unprepared for life after graduation, unsure of how to navigate my options. At 糖心APP, learners have these important conversations every term with pathway advisors. They also attend weekly pathway advisory sessions where they learn about building portfolios and resumes, acing interviews, navigating global university requirements, personal branding, entrepreneurship, networking, startups, and more!

Ayesha: How has Pathway Advisory influenced your preparation for the future?

Looking forward

Over the years, I鈥檝e witnessed our learners take on unparalleled opportunities and platforms, from presenting at prominent events like GITEX and Dubai Future Forum to joining esteemed boards with global icons. It鈥檚 a testament to how an innovative approach can catapult learners into real-world achievements and recognition as they feel confident in their abilities

The stories from Vanessa, Luna, Haleema, Sofia and Hamza illustrate the profound impact an innovative approach to learning can have on learners鈥� lives.

Through these experiences, our learners not only gain knowledge but also develop the confidence and skills needed to positively navigate and impact the world and themselves. And this is just the beginning! As they continue to grow and transform into young changemakers, we are excited to see the incredible contributions they will make to their communities and beyond.

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