The Edexcel Level 3 Extended Project is designed to add depth and breadth to learners’ knowledge and skills in a specific area.  The project topic is chosen by the learner and can either be related to a current area of study or to a particular interest independent of the learner’s programme of study.  Once a topic has been agreed by the teacher-assessor, the learner starts work on their project, which can take the form of either a performance, an artefact, an investigation or a dissertation.  This allows the learner a great freedom of choice in both the topic and its presentation.  Learners will hone project skills which will be valuable when transferring to higher education or employment.

Edexcel is currently running a pilot of the Extended Project with 27 centres. The pilot started in January 2007 and will end in summer 2008, when it will become available to all centres. 

A number of centres currently running similar projects, such as the Award in Religion and Contemporary Society (ARCS) and the AS Level in Perspectives on Science (PoS), are also joining the Extended Project pilot.  Edexcel plans to offer more Edexcel Designed Programmes like ARCS and PoS to be assessed through the Extended Project, for example we are currently looking into offering Astronomy.