Support for teachers and students

The University of Manchester gives A-level students and their teachers access to a range of dedicated resources and support for the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). Our EPQ support and resources are also of relevance to students undertaking other research projects or qualifications, such as HPQs; Welsh Baccalaureates; international EPQs; and extended A-level essays.

As a research-intensive university, Manchester is very supportive of the skills that our Extended Project encourages learners to develop. We have been involved in working with local schools and colleges since the Extended Project qualification was first piloted.

Downloadable resources

We have developed a series of bespoke workshops, designed by experienced researchers specifically to support students who are studying for their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), or who are undertaking an extended project as part of a diploma.

These sessions can be used by teachers delivering the taught element of the EPQ to provide students with an excellent grounding in the academic and intellectual skills required.

Help with practical EPQ projects

Some of our academic Schools, Departments and connected research centres offer support for students thinking about undertaking a practical EPQ project.

This includes subject-specific workshops at the University and one-to-one support from researchers. These activities are currently funded through our Research Councils UK School University Partnership Initiative as some of our flagship projects.

Resources for current University of Manchester students

You may find resources developed for our own undergraduate students useful to help with the successful completion of an Extended Project.

Library Access Scheme

The University of Manchester Library runs an access scheme for sixth-form students enabling them to use the resources in our main library.

For more information, see our Widening participation guide.

Ask an expert

If you or one of your students is undertaking an Extended Project, you may want to try and make contact with University research staff working on your chosen topic or a related area. This may seem like a daunting task, given the scale of our institution and the number of people who work here, but it is by no means impossible.

Here are a few hints and tips on how to find people and strike up a conversation:

  • You can search our research areas through our research explorer website. You can search on topics and themes, then click through any results that look relevant – they may lead you to an individual or group working in your area.
  • Use the web pages of the relevant department to search for the research interests of staff working there – often research groups working on particular topics will be identified, or pages will contain staff profiles that explain what topics their expertise covers.
  • Sometimes it won’t be obvious where a member of staff is working, because universities tend to be organised rather differently from schools and colleges. Talk to your supervisor about which department or area your topic will fall under, in order to identify which Faculty or School relevant researchers will be working in. You could also browse the websites of our three University Faculties, in order to learn more about which subjects each Faculty covers:

  • Our University also has a number of Research Institutes that could be a useful source of information for your project.
  • Once you have found the contact details of somebody working in your area, send them a brief introductory email outlining who you are and what help you are looking for. Try to be specific, eg mention what particular question you are addressing and what you are hoping to gain help with (don’t expect them to answer your project question for you, though!).
  • Once you have made contact with a researcher, you could converse by email. Alternatively, you could suggest that you arrange a time to talk on the phone that is convenient for them. It’s likely that this will be easier for them than meeting in person; remember they are likely to be very busy people.