Extended Projects

The post-16 curriculum reforms saw the addition of the Extended Project to the curriculum. The Extended Project provides an excellent addition to A-levels (the equivalent to half an A-level in terms of UCAS points tariff). Assessment is by means of a 6000-word essay (80%) and an oral presentation (20%) aimed at developing the following skills: 

– Planning and research
– Analysis and evaluation
– Critical thinking
– Presentation
– Essay writing

Universities increasingly recognise the value of the Extended Project qualification, as it enables prospective candidates to demonstrate independent research skills equivalent to those they will be expected to use in their undergraduate courses, and an interest in their chosen degree subject that reaches beyond the A-level syllabus.

Recent titles undertaken by King’s pupils include:

• ‘Is cultivation of the Sahara worthwhile?’
• ‘Do Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God?’
• ‘In his California Series, to what extent did John Steinbeck see a Socialist uprising as inevitable in 1930s America?’
• ‘Is nuclear fusion a viable form of energy?’
• ‘Is the monarchy redundant in the UK today?’

Head of Extended Projects: Dr Lewin Hynes
lwh@kings-school.co.uk