Festival of EPQ celebrates independent research 

5th October 2026

Our Upper Sixth pupils recently had the opportunity to showcase their Extended Project Qualifications at our Festival of EPQ, celebrating months of independent research and academic exploration.

The EPQ complements pupils’ Sixth Form studies while giving them the opportunity to take ownership of a substantial piece of independent work. Through planning, researching and presenting their projects, pupils develop skills in critical thinking, academic research, organisation and communication.

The Festival of EPQ brought together pupils, parents and guests for an evening showcasing the breadth and depth of the projects. Each pupil created a topic stand and presented their research, sharing what they had discovered as well as what they had learned from undertaking such an extended piece of independent study.

The projects explored an impressive range of questions, including the reliability of fossil evidence in reconstructing dinosaur behaviour, the expansion of Roman power, nostalgic triggers across generations, the future of motorsport and the role of fungi in Western medicine.

Other projects investigated whether the adversarial system is the best way to deliver justice, the extent to which the UK can rely on renewable energy in the future, and whether it is possible to have intellectual, human-level conversations with animals.

‘The Festival of EPQ gave our brilliant Upper Sixth cohort the opportunity to showcase the results of a year of ambitious and independent work,’ said Imogen Morris, Head of Upper Sixth. ‘The evening was a wonderful celebration of the pupils’ curiosity, commitment and intellectual ambition. Parents were particularly impressed by the breadth of topics explored and the depth of knowledge that pupils had developed through their research. Their presentations also provided an inspiring glimpse of what awaits our current Lower Sixth pupils, who will soon embark on their own EPQ projects.’