How can I maximise my grade in the EPQ?

The extended project qualification is an extremely valuable credential which demonstrates to universities your ability to research and think independently. That being said, it can be hard to know where to start! The main components of a good academic essay are a strong introduction, and argument (i.e what you think is the right interpretation of the facts), a conclusion, and a bibliography. For essays about scientific topics you may also need study data and graphs. In the early stages, the most important thing is to build a substantial bibliography, as doing broad reading will enable you to get a feel for the subject and which direction your essay might go in. Obviously this format does not have enough space to go into detail about how specifically to achieve a good mark, but hopefully you can see from that the project can be broken down into really manageable chunks, and there are lots of tips and tricks for writing a good essay!