EPQ Ideas for Medicine: 30+ Questions Beyond the Syllabus

By Michael Thompson · Education Specialist; 10 years teaching the IB at Bromsgrove School · Published 24 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026

EPQ ideas for medicine are a common search among UK sixth-formers, and for good reason: a well-chosen question can develop your thinking on topics that A-level biology and chemistry never reach, and give you something concrete to discuss at interview. The Extended Project Qualification runs to 120 guided learning hours, so the question you pick needs to be focused enough to answer in that time - not a survey of everything you find interesting about the human body. The ideas below are written for this guide and labelled as such; they are starting points, not finished titles, because your centre must approve the final wording before you begin. Read through the themes, the worked examples, and the feasibility notes, and you will leave with a shortlist rather than a blank page.

Key Takeaways

• Focus over breadth: The OCR Summer 2024 moderators' report found that candidates who did well 'refined a research question which was targeted and focused' - generic topics scored poorly.
• 120 hours sets the scope: The EPQ is a 120 guided-learning-hour qualification; a question that is too large or too limited for that window is a structural problem, not just a style one.
• Your centre approves the title: Neither OCR nor AQA lets you simply start writing - your centre must sign off the title and aims before the project begins.
• Patient data is off-limits: Research involving patients, clinical records, or anyone's medical data is not something a sixth-former can do; the ideas here use published studies, public statistics, and expert interviews arranged through school.
• Citations must be formatted: Hyperlinks and bare URLs do not count as a bibliography; the moderators' report flags this as a common reason for lost marks.
• Universities notice the EPQ: The University of Cambridge and the University of Manchester both have positive statements about the EPQ printed in the OCR specification; some universities have included it in conditional offers.

In This Article

1. What makes a good medicine EPQ question
2. 30+ EPQ ideas for medicine, grouped by theme
3. Three worked examples: turning a weak topic into a focused EPQ question
4. Feasibility and ethics: what you can and cannot research
5. How to use your EPQ in a medicine application
6. What to do next

1. What makes a good medicine EPQ question

Finding good EPQ ideas for medicine is straightforward. Turning one into a question worth 120 guided learning hours is the harder task; as the OCR moderators put it, narrowing a topic 'so that it is focused and targeted is essential'.

The OCR moderators' report for Summer 2024 is specific about what separates strong projects from weak ones. Candidates who performed well "refined a research question which was targeted and focused", "narrowed and deepened research as they progressed", and "produced well-formatted in-text citations and bibliographies". Those who did less well "selected a generic topic", "researched broadly and shallowly", and "omitted in-text citations and bibliographies OR used hyperlinks or URLs instead of formatting references". The same report flags projects that were "too limited or too large in scope" for the 120 guided learning hours available. Getting the scope right is not a matter of instinct; it requires checking that your aims relate to the actual steps needed to produce the outcome.

Question stem matters more than most students expect. Stems such as "To what extent...", "How far...", and "Should..." invite argument and analysis. A plain "What is..." question, by contrast, describes rather than argues, and description alone gives you little to evaluate. Choosing "To what extent is antibiotic resistance the greatest threat to modern medicine?" over "What is antibiotic resistance?" is not cosmetic: the first forces you to weigh evidence and reach a defended conclusion; the second asks you to summarise a textbook chapter.

One requirement applies before any of this: your centre must approve your title before the project begins. The OCR specification states that "project titles must be approved by centres", and the AQA specification requires students to "draft a title and aims for formal approval by the centre". Your supervisor is not just an admin checkpoint; they are the first check on whether your scope is workable.

All the medicine EPQ ideas in this article are written for the guide. Treat them as starting points and test each one against the title criteria above before taking it to your supervisor.

2. 30+ EPQ ideas for medicine, grouped by theme

These ideas are written for this guide and labelled as such. Each is phrased as a question or a brief rather than a loose topic, because a focused question is what your supervisor will ask you to produce before they sign off your title. The OCR moderators' report (Summer 2024) is consistent on this: candidates who did well refined a research question or brief that was "targeted and focused", while those who struggled selected a generic topic and researched "broadly and shallowly."

Use these as starting points. The ideas that work best as epq ideas for medicine are the ones you then narrow further, using your own reading and your supervisor's feedback.

One note on surveys before you start: the OCR moderators' report says that many candidates who believe they must do primary research "produce a survey which lacks purpose and offers little to their project outcome." Do not build a project around a survey unless the data it generates genuinely changes your argument in a way published sources cannot. Interviews and email exchanges with professionals, by contrast, are cited in the same report as effective primary research where they contribute directly to the outcome.

Group 1: Public health and prevention

Research base: UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publications (with the Public Health England archive for earlier years), NHS England statistics, peer-reviewed public health journals. A public health professional or GP interviewed via email could add real texture to any of these.

These epq ideas medicine questions suit a dissertation route but question 4 suits an artefact.

1. To what extent has the UK sugar levy reduced childhood obesity rates since 2018?
2. Is the HPV vaccination programme reaching the communities most at risk, and if not, why not?
3. How effective are NHS smoking cessation services in areas of high deprivation, compared with those in more affluent areas?
4. Artefact idea: Design an educational resource for 14-16 year olds explaining how air quality affects respiratory health, with a written report evaluating the evidence base for the claims made (trial it with pupils only if your supervisor approves).
5. To what extent does food insecurity in the UK drive preventable hospital admissions?

Group 2: Disease and treatment

Research base: Published clinical trials, NICE guidelines, Cochrane reviews. A specialist nurse or junior doctor arranged through your school could offer a practitioner's perspective, though this is not compulsory.

These medicine epq ideas work well for students with a strong Biology background.

1. To what extent is antibiotic resistance the greatest threat to modern medicine?
2. How far has immunotherapy changed the treatment outlook for melanoma patients in the UK since 2015?
3. Should the NHS fund weight-loss drugs for all patients with a BMI above 30, or should other criteria apply?
4. To what extent could personalised medicine transform cancer treatment?
5. How effective are current NHS strategies in tackling mental health waiting times?

Group 3: Pharmacology and drug development

Research base: British Pharmacological Society publications, published Phase III trial results, MHRA documentation. Expert contact is harder here, but a university pharmacology department may respond to a well-written email.

Good territory for epq titles for medicine if you are considering a pharmacology or intercalated degree.

1. Are antidepressants overprescribed to teenagers in the UK, and what does the evidence actually show?
2. Should the UK fast-track approval of drugs already licensed by the FDA, or does independent review add necessary protection?
3. To what extent does the high cost of drug development explain why neglected tropical diseases receive so little pharmaceutical investment?
4. How far can placebo-controlled trials tell us about the real-world effectiveness of a drug?

Group 4: Medical technology, AI and diagnostics

Research base: NHS England AI strategy documents, published algorithm validation studies, NICE evidence standards for digital health. A radiology or pathology department at a local hospital might agree to an email exchange.

1. How far can artificial intelligence replace human judgement in medical diagnosis?
2. To what extent do algorithmic bias problems undermine the case for AI-assisted diagnosis in dermatology?
3. Should the NHS adopt wearable cardiac monitors as a standard screening tool for atrial fibrillation in the over-65s?
4. Artefact idea: Produce an illustrated briefing document for a non-specialist audience explaining how large language models are currently being tested in clinical settings, with a written report evaluating the sources used and the limits of the evidence.

Group 5: Ethics and consent

Research base: GMC guidelines, Nuffield Council on Bioethics reports, published bioethics journals. These epq examples medicine questions are strong at interview because they require you to argue a position, not just describe a debate.

1. Should assisted dying be legalised in the UK, and what safeguards would be necessary?
2. To what extent is gene editing to prevent inherited disease ethically defensible?
3. How ethical is CRISPR gene editing in embryos when the resulting child cannot consent?
4. Should animal testing continue to play a role in medical research, given the current state of alternatives?
5. To what extent does the Gillick competence framework adequately protect the interests of adolescent patients in the UK?

Group 6: The history of medicine

Research base: Wellcome Collection archives, published medical history texts, BMJ historical editions. Artefact routes suit this cluster well.

1. To what extent did the 1918 influenza pandemic change public health infrastructure in Britain?
2. How far did the thalidomide crisis reshape drug regulation in the UK, and are those reforms still adequate?
3. Artefact idea: Produce an illustrated timeline of the discovery and clinical development of penicillin, accompanied by a written report evaluating what the primary and secondary sources reveal about Alexander Fleming's actual contribution relative to Florey and Chain.

Group 7: The NHS, policy and workforce

Research base: NHS England workforce statistics, Health Foundation reports, Nuffield Trust analyses, parliamentary select committee reports. A GP, practice manager or NHS administrator arranged through school could add firsthand perspective.

1. Is the NHS financially sustainable in the long term, and what structural changes would be required to make it so?
2. To what extent does the regional distribution of GPs in England explain variation in patient outcomes?
3. Should the UK train more doctors domestically rather than recruiting internationally, and what would this cost?
4. How far do current NHS workforce policies address the problem of staff burnout in secondary care?

Group 8: Dentistry and oral health

Epq ideas for dentistry are rarer than medicine titles, which can make a well-executed one more memorable. These questions are written for this guide.

Research base: NICE guidance on oral health, NHS England dental statistics, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities' oral health surveys of children, and dentistry journals. An email exchange with a dentist or a dental public health specialist, arranged through school, could add a practitioner's view.

1. To what extent has water fluoridation reduced tooth decay among children in the English areas that have it, compared with areas that do not?
2. Why has access to NHS dentistry fallen in parts of England since 2019, and which policy responses does the published evidence support?
3. How far does the sugar in children's diets, rather than access to dental care, explain regional differences in hospital tooth extractions among under-tens?
4. Artefact idea: Produce an oral-health resource for a primary-school audience, with a written report evaluating the evidence behind each message (trial it with pupils only if your supervisor approves).

3. Three worked examples: turning a weak topic into a focused EPQ question

The difference between a rejected title and an approved one often comes down to four questions: What exactly? Who specifically? Where or in what setting? Compared with what? The OCR moderators' report for Summer 2024 flags candidates who "selected a generic topic" as consistently underperforming those who "refined a research question which was targeted and focused." The three examples below, all written for this guide, show how that refinement works across different subject clusters.

Example 1: Public health

This question is answerable within 120 guided learning hours using NHS England statistics, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities reports (and the Public Health England archive for the years before 2021), and published peer-reviewed literature. No patient contact is required.

Example 2: Ethics and consent

The evaluative pivot ("given the availability of...") forces argument rather than description, which is what "To what extent" and "Should" stems do and a pure "What is" question does not. Sources here include HFEA guidance documents, bioethics journals, and parliamentary select committee reports, all publicly available.

Example 3: Medical technology

Publicly available sources include NHS England evaluation reports, NICE evidence reviews, and published clinical trial data. An email exchange with an optometrist or ophthalmologist, arranged through school, could add a practitioner perspective without requiring any patient involvement.

The counter-intuitive point worth noting: adding the "compared with what" dimension does more than sharpen the question. It forces you to research two bodies of literature rather than one, which tends to produce the kind of "narrowed and deepened research" that the OCR moderators identify as the hallmark of high-performing projects. A broad survey of AI in medicine is shallow almost by definition; a direct comparison between two specific interventions in one clinical setting is not.

4. Feasibility and ethics: what you can and cannot research

One rule applies to every medicine EPQ idea on this page: research involving patients, clinical data, or anyone's medical records is not something a sixth-former can do. You are not a registered clinician, your school is not a research institution, and no NHS trust will grant you access to identifiable patient information. That boundary is not negotiable, and a good question does not require crossing it.

What sources are realistically available

The ideas in this guide rely on sources you can actually reach:

• Peer-reviewed literature via PubMed (free to search, many papers open-access)
• NHS England data and NICE guidelines (publicly available)
• ONS statistics on population health, mortality, and disease prevalence
• Primary research through professional contacts arranged via your school, such as email exchanges with GPs, pharmacists, public health officers, or dentists

That last category is worth taking seriously. The OCR moderators' report for Summer 2024 notes that effective primary research "often included, for example, interviews, email exchanges with experts or visits to appropriate locations." One well-prepared interview with a local pharmacist about antibiotic stewardship will add more analytical depth than a 50-response online survey. The same report is clear that primary research is not compulsory, and that where it proves ineffective, you can still demonstrate insight by analysing why it did not work.

The counter-intuitive point: a survey asking members of the public whether they "think AI should be used in diagnosis" rarely adds anything, because the responses cannot be generalised and the methodology cannot be defended at the level an EPQ demands. If you cannot explain what the primary research adds to your specific question, leave it out.

Alternatives to a dissertation

Where the topic suits it, an artefact or investigation route can be more effective than a 5,000-word report. An illustrated educational resource on antimicrobial resistance for a Year 9 audience, or a structured policy briefing on NHS workforce shortages, can demonstrate exactly the same research and analytical skills as a dissertation, and may suit the topic better. Both the OCR specification and the AQA specification permit artefact outcomes alongside a minimum written report.

Sensitive areas: talk to your supervisor first

If your question touches mental health, end-of-life care, substance use, or anything involving vulnerable groups, speak to your supervisor before you finalise your title and aims. The supervisor's approval of your title and aims is the right checkpoint for flagging these concerns early, not after several weeks of planning.

Source evaluations are required

Whichever route you take, the OCR moderators' report is explicit: "Source evaluations are required. These should include a consideration of the usefulness of a source for the candidate's project and an evaluation of the credibility and reliability of the source." For medicine EPQ ideas, this means assessing a peer-reviewed study differently from a charity campaign page or a newspaper article. The CRAAP tool is cited in the report as an acceptable evaluation framework. Submitting a list of URLs in place of formatted citations is identified as a common weakness, so build your bibliography as you go.

5. How to use your EPQ in a medicine application

The EPQ is one of the few qualifications you can discuss in detail at interview, because the process is yours to describe. Two university statements printed in the OCR H857 specification make the case directly.

The University of Manchester states that students 'can refer to the Extended Project in their UCAS personal statement and at interview to demonstrate some of the qualities that universities are looking for.' The University of Cambridge states: 'We welcome the Extended Project and would encourage applicants to undertake one as it will help to develop independent study and research skills valuable for higher education.'

On the question of offers, the WJEC EPQ student guide 2021 notes that 'Increasingly, universities are including the EPQ in their UCAS offers. Very often an A/A* grade in the EPQ will lead to a lower A Level grade requirement.' That is WJEC's observation, not a guarantee, and the picture varies considerably by course. Some medicine and dentistry programmes exclude the EPQ from their offer conditions entirely. Check individual course pages rather than assuming any arrangement applies to your choices.

Where the EPQ tends to add most value is at interview. Medicine interviewers are interested in how you think, not only what you know. If your project question evolved during research, say so and explain why. If you weighed a primary study against a systematic review and chose one over the other, that is exactly the kind of source evaluation worth describing. If your planned approach hit a practical limit, explaining how you adapted shows the self-management skills the qualification is designed to develop.

A concrete tip: prepare two or three specific moments from your project log to discuss. 'I narrowed my question after finding that the published data only covered secondary care settings' is more useful in an interview room than 'I researched the topic thoroughly.'

Check each course page you are applying to for its stated position on the EPQ before finalising your personal statement references.

6. What to do next

Your question shortlist matters more than a polished title at this stage. Pick two or three questions from this guide that genuinely interest you, then book a meeting with your supervisor this week to talk through scope. That conversation is the point: a question that sounds focused can still be too large or too narrow for 120 guided learning hours, and your supervisor will spot that faster than you will.

One thing many students miss: your centre will set its own title-approval deadline, and it will almost certainly fall before any board deadline. Waiting until you feel "ready" risks missing the window entirely.

This week, contact your supervisor and come with a shortlist, not a single title. Ask specifically whether your question is scoped for the time available and whether your planned sources are ones you can realistically reach.

FAQ

Is an EPQ good for medicine applications?

Both the University of Cambridge and the University of Manchester have positive statements about the EPQ printed in the OCR H857 specification, and the WJEC EPQ student guide notes that universities are increasingly including it in conditional offers - but the student should check individual course pages for current terms.

Does the EPQ help with medicine interviews?

The EPQ gives you a research process to discuss at interview - how your question evolved, which sources you evaluated and why, and what you concluded - which maps directly onto the independent thinking medicine interviews assess.

What makes a good EPQ question for medicine?

The OCR Summer 2024 moderators' report says candidates who did well selected a topic that genuinely interested them and refined a question that was targeted and focused - neither too limited nor too large for 120 guided learning hours.

Can I use patient data or clinical records in my EPQ?

No - research involving patients, clinical data, or medical records is not something a sixth-former can conduct; EPQ projects in this area use published studies, public statistics such as NHS England or ONS data, and interviews with professionals arranged through school.

Is primary research compulsory for a medicine EPQ?

No - the OCR moderators' report states primary research is not compulsory; where it was effective it included interviews or email exchanges with experts, and where it proved ineffective students could still analyse why it did not work.

What EPQ ideas work for dentistry?

Dentistry EPQ ideas that work well focus on oral health inequalities, fluoridation policy, access to NHS dental care, or comparisons of treatment approaches - questions answerable through NICE guidelines, ONS data, and interviews with dental professionals.

References

• Cambridge OCR Extended Project H857 Moderators' report - Summer 2024 - https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/727849-moderators-report.pdf
• Cambridge OCR Level 3 Extended Project Qualification H857 Specification v2.2 (October 2026) - Assessment, PPR, marking criteria bands, overlap with other qualifications - https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/414382-specification.pdf
• AQA Level 3 Extended Project Qualification (7993) Specification v1.4 - 2.5.1 Assessment evidence and project product - https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-W-7993-SP-19.PDF