CGA’s online EPQ and the shift towards skills-based hiring

“As the workforce shifts and more jobs go remote, the need for students to demonstrate proof of skills to potential employers increases.” 

Six key trends identified as most important to student success and engagement in 2023 (Instructure, November 2023)

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Arguably, CGA’s online students will be prepared more than most for a world of agile work where ‘more jobs go remote.’ So, what can an online EPQ with CGA add in terms of skills? 

Preparing to deliver a webinar on ‘Pathways to Top UK Universities’, I was forced to reflect on the value of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).

After 16 years of involvement with the EPQ and being a long-standing advocate for the non-examined AS qualification, it struck me that I might still be underrating its potential longer term value. The reflection exercise has helped me to recognise the EPQ’s full potential as the ultimate skills-based learning opportunity that prepares students for success as they transition from school to university and beyond.

The Times Higher Education (THE) counsellor accreditation training drew my attention to skill-based hiring at the forefront of current recruitment campaigns being run by the likes of PwC (see Careers with PwC). With this in mind, I completed a skills audit of my own at the end of the academic year. Recognising the challenges of this, I also recognised the potential to promote and use the EPQ as a vehicle to embed the sort of skills-based learning and self-evaluation required to prepare CGA’s students for the jobs and careers that the students don’t yet know they might want in the future.

Recent research has shown that taking an EPQ is “associated with a higher likelihood of progressing to HE [Higher Education], a lower likelihood of dropping out of HE, and higher probability of achieving a good degree” (Gill). Meanwhile, top UK universities charged with delivering HE to these students are recognising the need to help students build an evidence-based portfolio of skills acquired during their undergraduate student experience (see the “Skill Map” that is used by the University of Leeds).

To maximise the full potential of the EPQ, it needs to be delivered in a way that helps students to explicitly recognise the nature and value of the skills-based learning they are undertaking with their projects. This is very much the approach that I am working hard to develop with the online EPQ programme at CGA.

CGA students are required to identify and prioritise at least two ‘skill development’ objectives alongside their knowledge building objectives when they complete their project proposal forms.

They are then encouraged to include explicit reflection on evidence-based illustrations of when and how they have used and developed specific skills during the four phases of their project in their activity logs. During the final phase of the project, students are required to critically evaluate the extent to which they have achieved the skill development objectives that they set in their proposal forms. See below for an illustration of how some of the core project skills can be mapped against the four phases of the Pearson EPQ.

Pearson has curated some supporting resources to encourage students wanting to use the EPQ to explore the following specific topic pathways:

‘Climate Change and Sustainability’; and 'Artificial Intelligence’.

Universities and employers are understandably looking for students equipped with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to problem solve within these areas.

However, any and all extended projects have the potential to embed the type of skills-based learning that is highly prized by universities and employers.

Students and parents interested in finding out more about when and how an EPQ might be undertaken should contact me to arrange a conversation. The only fixed pre-conditions for enrolment for an EPQ with CGA are that students should be aged 16+ and that they should have already attained a grade 6+ in English or History at iGCSE (or equivalent).

Interested to learn more on the EPQ for your child? For more information, parents can contact me via the meeting request link here.

Resources used and recommended reading

Bakhshi, Hasan, Jonathan Downing, Michael Osborne, and Philippe Schneider. “The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030,” 2017. https://media.nesta.org.uk/documents/the_future_of_skills_employment_in_2030_0.pdf.

Gill, Tim. “Students Taking an EPQ Have Better Higher Education Outcomes.” Cambridge Assessment Network and Research. Cambridge, June 13, 2023. https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/blogs/students-taking-an-epq-have-better-higher-education-outcomes/.

Hancock, Bryan , and Brooke Weddle. “Skills-Based Hiring: Right Person, Right Role.” www.mckinsey.com, October 25, 2023. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/right-skills-right-person-right-role.

Instructure. “The State of Student Success & Engagement in Higher Education.” Instructure, November 2023. https://www.instructure.com/en-gb/resources/research-reports/2023-UK-state-student-success-and-engagement-higher-education?filled?utm_source=ETFO&utm_medium=PR&CampaignID=7013m000001NlrYAAS&filled.

Pearson. “Topic Pathways | Pearson Qualifications.” qualifications.pearson.com. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-project-qualification/topic-pathways.html.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, “Careers with PwC,” PwC, accessed July 22, 2024, https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/careers.html.

The Fosil Group. “Fosil Cycle | the Fosil Group.” Fosil.org.uk, 2020. https://fosil.org.uk/fosil-cycle/.

University of Leeds. “Skills Map.” classicleedsforlife.leeds.ac.uk. University of Leeds. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://classicleedsforlife.leeds.ac.uk/skills.aspx.

World Economic Forum, and PwC. “Putting Skills First: A Framework for Action,” May 2023.https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/upskilling/first-skills-report/report/WEF_CNES_Putting_Skills_First.pdf.