Beth Dobbin - Greenhead College

Centre-assessed work 

Candidate record form 

2010 (version 1.1) 

Level 3 Extended Project (9990) 

Candidate record form, production log and assessment record 

Centre number 

Centre name 

GREENHEAD COLLEGE 

Candidate’s full name 

BETHANY ROSE DOBBIN 2260 

Candidate number 

Notice to candidate The work you submit for assessment must be your own. If you copy from someone else or allow another 

candidate to copy from you, or if you cheat in any other way, you may be disqualified. 

To be completed by the candidate 

1. Have you received any help or information from anyone other than your teacher(s) in the production of this work? 

Yes 

No 

2. If you have answered yes, give details below and on a separate sheet if necessary. 

3. Any books, leaflets or other materials (eg DVDs, software packages, Internet information) used to help you complete this work 

and not clearly acknowledged in the work itself must be listed below. Presenting materials copied from books or other sources 

without acknowledgement will be regarded as deliberate deception. 

Candidate declaration I have read and understood the above and can confirm that I have produced the attached work without 

assistance other than that which is acceptable under the scheme of assessment. 

As part of AQA's commitment to assist students, AQA may make your coursework available on a strictly anonymous basis to teachers, 

examining staff and students in paper form or electronically, through the Internet or other means, for the purpose of indicating a typical 

mark or for other educational purposes. In the unlikely event that your coursework is made available for the purposes stated above, 

you may object to this at any time and we will remove the work on reasonable notice. If you have any concerns, please contact AQA. 

Candidate signature 

Date 

Supervisor declaration I confirm that the candidate’s work was conducted under the conditions laid out by the specification. I 

have authenticated the candidate’s work and am satisfied that to the best of my knowledge the work produced is solely that of the 

candidate. 

Supervisor signature 

Date 

This form should be attached to the candidate’s work and retained at the centre or sent to the moderator as required 

9900/CRF Page 1 of 18

Record of marks 




To be completed by the supervisor 

Marks must be awarded in accordance with the instructions and criteria in section 2.5.2 of the specification. 

Summary information to show how the marks have been awarded should be given in the spaces below in addition to comments in 

other pages of this document and any supporting information in the form of annotations on the candidate’s work. 

Skill area 

Maximum 

mark 

Mark 

awarded 

Supervisor’s supporting statement 

A01 Manage 10 

A02 Use resources 10 

A03 Develop and realise 20 

A04 Review 10 

Total 50 

Concluding comments 

Outline details of taught skills (specification 2.3 The Taught element of the Extended Project qualification) Record here 

details of relevant skills taught in a class/group and details of relevant skills taught individually to this candidate as described in the specification. 

Continue on a separate sheet if necessary. 

Unless otherwise stated all students will receive or have the opportunity to receive the following : 

1. ICT skills are delivered by specialised ICT staff where the students need them. Some students opt to take the 

OCR text processing course as part of their enrichment programme 

2. Research skills and referencing are delivered by the college librarian She also advises students on an individual 

basis in the use of the 

a) local University Library 

b) internet with special reference to academic search engines 

c) Moodle – college VLE 

3. Presentation skills are delivered by one member of the team to ensure consistency of advice. Students attend 

these sessions in small groups 

4. Specific subject guidance is available to students and/or supervisors. We have a subject specialist helping, on a 

voluntary basis, in all the subject areas covered by our projects. In addition all students are required to discuss with the 

relevant subject specialist whether there is any potential overlap with their A2 studies 

5. Project management skills are an integral part of the regular meetings held between the student and supervisor 

6. Supervisors meet and communicate on a regular basis 

Level 3 Extended project (9990) Candidate record form, production log & assessment record (version 1.1) Page 2 of 18

Supervisor declaration I confirm that no work assessed for the award of the marks above is also to be submitted, or has been 

submitted, for any other accredited qualification(s). 


Date 



Production log & assessment record 

2010 (version 1.1) 

Contents 





Extended Project working title 

What are the scientific, ethical and economic implications of consanguineous first cousin 

marriages in the UK? 

Planned form of project Either written report 

Or 

and accompanying written report 

This document consists of the pages listed below. Additional journal material, planning evidence, research evidence, presentation 

evidence and review material may be added. 

Page Title Date completed 

1 Candidate declaration 

2 Record of marks 

3 Contents 

4 Record of initial planning 

5 - 7 Project proposal and approval (Parts A, B and C) 

8 Planning review 

9 Mid-project review 

10 End-of-project review 

11 Summary 

12 - 13 Presentation record (Parts A and B) 

14 Reflection 

Is this extended project part of a group project? 

No 

Yes 

If ‘Yes’, give brief details 



Production log & assessment record 

2010 (version 1.1) 

Extended Project final title 

What are the scientific, ethical and economic implications of consanguineous first cousin 

marriages in the UK? 


Record of initial planning 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records initial meeting(s) with your supervisor to agree your project proposal. 

Your first idea for topic/title 

Should first cousin marriages in British Pakistani families be made illegal in Great Britain? 

Your first ideas for research and development of your project 

I am firstly going to research into the origins of cousin marriage worldwide and then expand this research to the current 

world, delving into first cousin marriages in British Pakistani families. I will next research the areas of Great Britain where 

first cousin marriages are most prevalent. I want my project to cover the reasons for and against these marriages from 

scientific, ethical and economic perspectives. I hope to use my mathematical ability to look at statistics, and my 

knowledge of Biology to explain why first cousin marriages cause an increase in recessive gene disorders. I want the 

main focus of my project to be about the recessive gene disorders and how they affect the people who have them and the 

effect that they have on the NHS economically. I would like to meet up with scientists who oppose first cousin marriages 

and Pakistani families who are both for and against them. I hope to be able to incorporate their beliefs into my project. I 

want my project to cover everything in my report but in a simpler way so that people without a scientific background can 

still understand the priciples. I am going to make handouts to give out during my presentation to enable people viewing 

my presentation to read over information that was covered. I am going to use internet websites, national statistics and 

both my college, university and public library to gather information and resources. The main aim of my presentation is to 

highlight arguments in the context of social and religious reasoning and economical and ethical problems arising due to 

the resultant increase in genetic gene disorders in first cousin marriage offspring - leaving it up to my audience to decide 

whether they think first cousin marriages should be made illegal in Great Britain. 

Your supervisor’s main comments and advice 

My first supervisor suggested that I should talk to one of the chemistry teachers who is a British Pakistani and ask his 

opinion on first cousin marriage. She suggested that I could ask him if he is married to his first cousin or if he knows of 

other friends or family members that are. She thought that primary sources would be very valuble to me. My second 

supervisor suggested that I looked on the website for The Office for National Statistics during the research part of my 

project. She suggested that I could possibly talk to local MPs who have been criticised for their views against first cousin 

marriage. Another suggestion was that visting larger libraries may be more useful for finding information as my topic is 

quite specific. 

Changes, clarifications or additions you have made as a result of your discussion with your supervisor 

I had not thought of talking to local MPs but after my discussion with my supervisior I think it would be useful. I am 

therefore going to email MPs who have been appearing frequently in local news about this controversial topic and ask 

them if they would be willing to talk to me about their beliefs and what they are based on e.g. due to the suffering the 

recessive gene disorders can cause. I am also going to visit the Central Lending Library in Sheffield and the University of 

Sheffield's Libraries to assist with my research and also contact The Office for National Statistics, as well as using their 

website, to try to find out the percentage increase of infants that develop recessive genetic disorders from first cousin 

marriage compared with the percentage that develop these illnesses from non first cousin marraige. 


Date 


Project proposal part A 





Title of the Extended Project 

Present the topic to be researched in the form of a short statement/question/hypothesis with clear focus. 

What are the scientific, ethical and economic consequences of consanguineous first cousin marriages in the UK? 

Provide a brief outline, based upon page 4 of this document, of 

 

the researched or activity/task to be carried out and sources to be consulted 

I am going to be researching into recessive gene disorders, arguments for and against first cousin marriage, where first 

cousin marriages in British Pakistani families are most prevalent, and the effect of first cousin marriage on the NHS. To 

do this I am going to have to visit city and university libraries to gather information as well as using internet sites and 

looking through newspaper achives for articles on the subject. Additionally, I will utilise the statistics available from The 

Office of National Statistics either through their website or by contacting them directly to back up or contest points 

made. I hope to speak to a variety of people who have strong views on this topic such as, local MPs, scientists, health 

care professionals, British Pakistanis against first cousin marriage and British Pakistanis in favour of first cousin 

marriage. I am going to make a table containing all my sources in which I can describe what is useful about each 

source, the limitations of the source and how reliable I think the information given or inferred is. 

 

the courses of study or area(s) of personal interest to which the topic relates 

I am hoping to study medicine at university next year and so I think what I learn from this project will be useful to me as 

first cousin marriage is a very current, controversial topic within the NHS and Government. I also have a great interest 

in medical ethics so I will find my research into arguments for and against these marriages enjoyable. 

 

your proposed action 

I have made a plan in Microsoft Excel in which I have laid out all the research I am going to do as well as the tasks I am 

going to complete. I have set myself personal deadlines for which I hope to complete each activity and I hope to stick to 

this, although I know some changes to my schedule will be inevitable. In my plan I have set out work that I will 

complete in my weekly session at college and also work that I will complete at home in my spare time. I will start by 

researching all of the areas outlined earlier and gathering sources to use in my written report. After I have completed 

my report, I am going to make a presentation in which I will cover all the aspects covered in my report but in slightly 

less detail. I will also have to make the information in my presentation easier to understand for those watching who do 

not have a strong scientific background. I plan to make little handouts for those watching my presentation so they can 

re-read about any areas they found interesting in my presentation. 

Provide details of the courses that you are currently studying 

Qualification Type 

e.g. GCE AS/A, Applied GCE AS/A, 

Diploma L3, VRQ, Modern 

Apprenticeship, BTEC 

Subject 

e.g. Mathematics, English, Health, Spanish, ICT 

GCE A 

GCE A 

GCE A 

GCE AS/A 

Biology 

Chemistry 

Mathematics 

General Studies 

Candidate declaration I certify that I have read and understood AQA’s Regulations relating to unfair practice as set out in the 

notice to candidates below. 


Notice to candidate You must not take part in any unfair practice in the preparation of project work required for assessment 

and you must understand that to present material copied directly from book or any other sources without acknowledginment will be 

regarded as deliberate deception. If you use or attempt to use any unfair practice you will be reported to AQA. If AQA is satisfied 

that you have committed an offence you may be disqualified from all subjects. 

Candidate signature 

Date 


Project proposal part B 




To be completed by the supervisor. Please comment below on the validity and feasibility of the proposal (project proposal Part A) as 

an Extended Project (specification 2.4). 

Comment on the clarity and focus of 

the title chosen 

Supervisor’s comments 

Indicate the relation to, and 

development/extension outside of, 

the main course(s) of study or 

interest (specification 1.2) 

Comment on the suitability of the 

proposed initial sources and 

research base 

Confirm that the project is feasible 

in the proposed timescale and/or 

indicate any potential difficulties 

Outline the scope to produce a 

project that meets the assessment 

objectives (specification 2.5.3) 

Indicate proposed form and date of 

the presentation 

Indicate the expected format of the project product that will be submitted for assessment 

Long written report .................................................................................................................... 

Live performance (e.g. music, drama, theatre, substantial presentation) plus written report .... 

Electronic format (e.g. CD, DVD, video, program) plus written report ....................................... 

Artefact (e.g. prototype, model, artwork) plus written report ...................................................... 

Is the project a contribution to a group exercise? YES NO 

If Yes, confirm that there is a defined individual contribution by the candidate (specification 2.5.1 Group Work) YES NO 

List other group members below. 

Candidate No. 

Candidate Name 

Candidate No. 


Candidate No. 



Date 


Project approval part C 




Supervisor’s full name 

To be completed by the centre coordinator 

Comment below on the feasibility and acceptability of the proposal (project proposal parts A & B) as an Extended Project (specification 

1.4) 

Centre coordinator’s comments 

Approved 

Approved subject to the implementation of the centre 

coordinator’s recommendations 

Resubmission required 

Coordinator’s full name 

Coordinator signature 

Date 


Planning review 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records your outline plan at the start of your work. 

Outline the next steps in your planned research/initial development 

I am going to complete my research in sections. I hope to research a few sections a week, for example one section of my 

research will be on the origins of first cousin marriage and another will be on religious opinions towards first cousin 

marriage. I think this will make the research more manageable. I want to try and get my research done early on so that I 

have a lot of time to devote to writing my report and developing a presentation. I want to research each area in depth 

using a variety of internet sites and books so that I can gain a really indepth knowledge of my subject. I think by doing this 

I will be able to write up my report in one block of time so that I don't have to keep coming back to it and adding a bit more 

every few days. At present I plan to complete my report in full and then do my presentation afterwards so that I have a lot 

of information to pick from. I want my presentation to cover everything in my report in as much detail as possible. In the 

next few weeks I intend to speak to the organiser of an ethics group to see if I will be able to present in one of their 

sessions. It will be better all round if my audience is interested in the subject as they will be easier to involve and will get 

more out of the presentation. 

Your supervisor’s main comments and advice 

My supervisor saw no problem in doing the report before my presentation but suggested that I did not finalise it until 

afterwards. She thinks that there may be questions that arise during the presentation that make me want to add extra 

information to the report. I agreed with this advice so I will come back to the report after the presentation to make any final 

changes. Another comment was that I may not be able to complete my presentation just in one session. I think I had 

underestimated how long it can take to write a detailed report. My supervisor offered to speak to the ethics group's 

organiser for me but unfortunately to group had recently finished for the year. I decided that instead I would just invite 

friends and teacher to the presentation as I knew I would not be able to present to any of my classes due to the tight time 

constrictions we are under to finish the syllabus. A final comment was that I would need to be more selective of which 

topics to talk about in my presentation. My supervisor said that I would not have enough time to cover all aspects of the 

report in detail, as the presentation would be too long and I would lose the interest of my audience. I decided therfore that 

I would select sections of my report to include which I thought were the most interesting and most important and relevant 

to the conclusion and title question. 

Changes, clarifications or additions you have made as a result of your discussion with your supervisor and/or the comments from your 

centre coordinator 

See above. 


Date 


Mid-project review 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records your outline plan about half-way through your work. 

Outline the successes, failures, additions and/or changes you made as you followed your plan at start of project 

So far my project has been going really well and I am thoroughly enjoying it and finding it incredibly interesting. I have had 

to make changes to my initial plan as I had not really scheduled exam and revision time into my production log so during 

the months of December and January I got a little behind with the work. I also then had a chemistry investigation to 

complete which again took time away from my extended project. I decided that it was more important that I concentrated 

on these first and then caught up with the work on my project in the half term holidays. This worked out well as I was able 

to spend long periods of time researching the relevant information and then write up a section that related to it. I decided 

to split my report into a variety of sections to make the project more managable so that I could ensure that I included 

everything I wanted to. I had a lot of success finding news articles relating to first cousin marraiges as whilst doing my 

research the controversial topic came back into the media. Lord Ahmed spoke out about a connection between first 

cousin marriages and sexual abuse crimes committed by Asian men. Baroness Ruth Deech also conducted a series of 

lectures on the subject of cousin marriage. I contacted both of these as well as Phil Woolas but only recieved a reply from 

the Baroness. She was happy to help me and advised that I watch her lecture online which I did. Initially I had hoped to 

speak with Ann Cryer but I could not find any contact information for her. 

Outline your planned steps to complete your project 

I have now completed my first draft of my report which I have given to my supervisor to look at and offer any advice. I will 

then proceed by making any necessary changes to ensure that my report is to the highest standard. My next step is to 

create a presentation that I with present to a small group including my supervisor, an ethicist and a chemistry teacher who 

has studied genetics. One of my biggest challenges to date will be to present the information in a way that non-biologists 

can still understand, which will be very hard considering that a lot of the information I need to share is quite complicated. I 

want to make my presentation informative yet enjoyable. I intend to get my audience involved by using white boards and 

asking questions. I am still considering whether to make small handouts to give to the audience so that they can do some 

further reading on the subject if they are interested. My target date for the presentation is in about three weeks. Before 

then I hope to perform a practice presentation so that I can identify any areas of weakness that I may need to develop 

before the real thing. 

Your supervisor’s main comments and advice at this stage 

My supervisor has been very helpful and is pleased with my progress so far. She was the one who suggested that I 

practice my presentation before the real thing as she thinks it will help me to perform better on the day. She also helped 

me to get in contact with the ethicist who has agreed to come to my presentation. I have yet to discuss with her whether 

she thinks that the handouts at the end of the presentation are a good idea as it is something I have just recently thought 

of. After speaking to my supervisor about some of the questions that cropped up when I talked about my extended project 

at an interview, we both agreed that I should research these areas more and include them in my report. We also decided 

that as my report covers a large amount of information it would be best to select the main aspects of my research and 

concentrate on these in the presentation as I will not have enough time to cover everything in detail. 

Changes, clarifications or additions you have made as a result of your discussion with your supervisor at this stage 

One of the additions I have made to my presentation is to include information about the founder effect in my report as this 

is something that I was questioned on at an interview. I have done this as I think it is relevant to my explanations on why 

recessive gene disorders become more common through first cousin marriage. I have also decided to look into two 

recessive gene disorders more closely to use as case studies. I think this will be useful for the members of my audience 

who may not have an understanding of the diseases I have mentioned in other parts of the report. 


Date 


End-of-project review 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records the (near) completion of your project product. 

Outline the successes, failures, additions and/or changes you made as you followed the plan in your mid-project review 

I did not need to make a lot of changes after my mid-project review as by this time my other commitments had calmed 

down so I could devote my time to the project. After the first draft of my report I had a few changes to make. Firstly, I had 

not finished my referencing, which is obviously an extremely important part of my report, so this had to be done. My tutor 

also thought that I should add another section to my report to inform the reader about the future of first cousin marriage, 

and what could be done to solve this increasing problem. I did this as I too thought it would be a valuable addition. I was 

really pleased with my finished report as I thought it reflected the time and effort I had put into my research. I continued to 

prepare for my presentation also. I decided not to create handouts for my audience but instead to put more effort into 

producing a detailed presentation and practicising it. I tried to keep the information on the slides of my presentation to a 

minimum and to just used them as a que to explain everything verbally. 

Outline any additional advice or comment that you received from your supervisor during this final stage 

After handing in the second draft of my report, my supervisor picked up on a few grammatical errors and referencing 

errors but apart from that she thought my report was really good. I corrected these errors and have now handed in my 

final report. By practicing my presentation with my tutor I made quite a few changes. These are explained in 'Presentation 

record part A'. 

Changes, clarifications or additions you made as a result of discussion with your supervisor in this final stage 

See above. 


Date 


Summary 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records the nature of your project product (abstract). 

Outline (50 – 150 words) the nature of your final product, its main content and your conclusion 

My final product was in the form of a report. I tried to report on all issues surrounding my project title “What are the 

scientific, ethical and economic implications of consanguineous first cousin marriages in the UK?” however I mostly 

focused on the scientific (genetic) and ethical implications. In addition, I have discussed the origins of first cousin 

marriage, UK Law, the views of a variety of religious groups on the subject, arguments for and against these marriages 

and what the future holds for first cousin marriage. I have concluded that I think first cousin marriage is an issue that 

needs to be addressed however controversial. Something needs to be put in place to stop first cousins reproducing, 

whether it be a law forbidding it or mandatory genetic screening to detect an individual couple's risk. I believe the risk of 

offspring developing a recessive gene disorder has too severe consequences for us to allow these relationships to 

continue. 


Presentation record part A 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records your presentation and its preparation. 

Planned nature of your presentation (e.g. timing, audience, use of visual aids, slides, use of notes, etc.) 

I have decided to use Microsoft Powerpoint to produce my presentation. This will be used more as a support and visual 

aid rather than the base of my presentation. I am going to have a slide for each section I talk about that will just contain a 

bullet point summary of what I am saying and relevant images. I am also going to use this to display some maps that I 

want to refer to during my presentation. Although I originally wanted to present to an ethics group this wasn't possible so I 

decided to personally invite friends and tutors to watch. This wasn't ideal as I would have prefered an audience with a 

better knowledge of Biology so that it would be easier to explain the genetics. I invited about ten people in total but 

unfortunately only six people could make it. I had invited my Assistant Headteacher who is also an ethicist but 

unfortunately he could not attend either. I still had a specialist though as I invited one of my tutors who had studied 

genetics. My presentation was to be about fifteen minutes long with a five minute question and answer session at the 

end. I made my presentation up from information I had gathered and my report. I used whiteboards to involve my 

audience. 

Briefly list the main content of your presentation 

I started my presentation by introducing why I had chosen this topic to look into and why it is so controversial. Next, I 

explained the UK law and the rules outlined by the key religions present here. I asked the audience to write down on their 

whiteboards which religions they thought would allow first cousin marriage and which religions they thought forbid it. I did 

this before I explained to them the facts. I next did a short introduction to genetics as I was aware that not every member 

of my audience had studied Biology to A-level so I was concious that they could beocme confused later on if I didn't do 

this. After I was confident my audience understood the basics I moved on to talk in more detail about how recessive gene 

disorders are inherited and why the risk increases the closer relatives the parents are. I answered the question of why 

recessive gene disorders are not a big issue in Pakistan by explaining "The Founder Effect". After the genetics had been 

covered I began to talk about the reasons given for and against first cousin marriage. I tried to relate back to news articles 

I had read during this. I finally concluded by giving a number of options for how this problem can be solved and the 

problems associated with each. After finishing my presenation I opened up for questions. 

Changes, clarifications or additions you made as a result of rehearsal and/or discussion with your supervisor 

I did two rehearsal presentations. In the first presentation the big issue was timing! In the time we had to practice I only 

managed to get through half of my presentation. My supervisor though that my slides were good but that I needed to be 

more concise in what I said and speed up the pace somewhat. She thought that I especially needed to spend less time 

discussing the religions as this was only background information and did not answer my project title. She suggested that I 

create a slide for each religion briefly summarising their rules on marriage. I decided not to do this as I thought this could 

infact take even longer if I had to allow sufficient time for my audience to absorb what was on the slide. I did however cut 

down significantly the amount of information I would give on the rules of each religion. Another suggestion I was given 

was to be put the two maps I was comparing on the same slide. Unfortunately this was not possible as it distorted the 

images and made them hard to interpret. Also relating to the graphs, my supervisor thought that I should point out that 

there were some anomolies to the trend such as Spain and Italy. Spain and Italy are traditionally Catholic countries but 

have about 10% cousin marriage. I had also made a mistake in thinking that Henry VIII had married his first cousin which 

was luckily picked up by my supervisor. After some more research I found that he did marry his cousin but not his first 

cousin. The final point made during my first rehearsal presentation was that I should use ready made inheritance 

diagrams. My supervisor said that "whilst the hand-drawn diagrams is a nice touch, I still think a pre-prepared pp image 

could speed things up considerably". I took this advice on board and created an extra slide containing a pre-prepared 

inheritance diagram. At home, after doing more practices by myself, I decided to make some cue cards to prompt me just 

in case nerves got the better of me and to ensure I stuck to the key points to maintain time. 

In the second rehearsal I was not really given many changes to make. My supervisor just suggested that I made clear 

that I was using the word "inbreeding" as a genetic term and not in a derogatory way. She also said that I should state 

that for first cousin marriages there is a lower number of "reported" domestic abuse cases. 


Presentation record part B 




To be completed by the supervisor. Record and comment below on the delivery of the presentation (specification 2.5.1 presentation) 

The nature of the audience (include 

numbers of staff, students and 

others present) 

Supervisor’s record / comments 

The nature of the presentation 

(include use of notes, use of display 

items, and use of presentation 

software) 

Comment on the content and 

delivery of the presentation 

Comment on the response of the 

candidate to questions that 

demonstrated understanding and 

grasp of the project and/or its 

production (give examples where 

appropriate). 

Outline the nature of any additional 

presentation evidence that the 

candidate might add (e.g. speaker 

notes, handouts, presentation 

slides, recording). 


Date 


Reflection 




To be completed by the candidate. This page records your own evaluation when you have completed your project product and given 

your presentation. 

Briefly summarise your main learning from completing this project. You might include new knowledge or expertise that you enjoy or find 

valuable, a consideration of your planning and organisation, changes you would make if you undertook such work again, advice you 

would give to others undertaking such a project. 

I have found the Extended Project Qualification to be an interesting and engaging addition to my A-level studies. Having 

the freedom to research in depth an area of interest has encouraged me to expand myself to look more deeply into 

Biology taught at A-level and think critically about ethical dilemmas. It has forced me to look outside my subject areas and 

broaden my general knowledge, for example by looking into different religions and their views on first cousin marriage. It 

has been refreshing to control my own learning and steer it towards a subject I find entralling. 

I was pleased to find that the skills I had aquired when studying for the DiDA ICT qualification in Year 11 were of great 

use to me and easily transferred to this project. During DiDA I had three seperate projects to complete so was already 

used to organising my time. I was able to produce a detailed project plan using a similar format to that which I had used in 

Year 11, adapting it slightly to meet the needs of my project. These skills benefitted me greatly as they allowed me to get 

straight into the content of the project rather than having to worry about the organisational side of the project. 

Although I had gained organisational skills in DiDA, I had never before produced a detailed report as was expected of me 

in this project. In fact, I had never done any piece of writing longer than about 2000 words. I found this quite difficult 

especially as I had not been required to do an extended piece of writing since GCSE so had lost touch a little with the 

technique. I think I was very naive to think that it was the sort of document that could be completed in one session. The 

report itself took me almost the whole of February half-term to complete. 

I think through completing this project I have become much more open-minded to the opinion of others and I believe I am 

now more empathetic to situations different to mine. In my opinion the development of skills and qualities like these are 

much more valuble than any learnt knowledge and will be more beneficial to me next year when I hopefully become a 

medical student. In the future as a doctor I will ecounter situations in which I will need to try to understand a person's 

beliefs and culture in order to help them in the best possible way and I think this project has enabled me to do this. I have 

realised that behaviour can be not only down to religious views but also upbringing and nationality. 

Building on the skill I developed in Year 11, I can now effectly produce a detailed plan and now know to always consider 

what else will be happening in your life between certain days so as to account for this. Initially I did not plan around 

exams and revision which was a definate flaw but it something I will not forget from now on. Two very important skills 

learnt that will be vital when studying at university are how to conduct research and how to reference. Before doing the 

project I had never done these properly and would not have known what sort of websites can be trusted and which are 

less reliable. I have realised that no matter how much research is conducted prior to writing a report, there will be new 

information that will come to light and need researching when writing it. With regards to writing a bibliography, I now 

realise the importance of recording sources throughout the project and not leaving this until the end as it can be difficult to 

find the websites used. Although I did this for most of my sources, there were a few websites that I forgot to list and I 

deeply regret this now as it took me a long time to find them at a later date. I am really pleased to now be able to 

reference as this means that I will not stuggle to learn at university on top of all my other work. Looking back I would also 

have added references to the final report as I went along as it was more of a challenge leaving it all to the end and having 

to scan the whole product. 

An invaluble asset to my project was having a supervisor to guide me through and give me constuctive critism. Having 

someone other than myself to judge each section of the project and suggest changes helped me to get the most out of 

the project. Some of the things that my supervisor, Maggie, saw I hadn't thought of but immediately agreed with. I think it 

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is a lot harder to be critical of yourself when you have worked so hard on something and are really proud of. Although 

Maggie never suggested anything drastic I think her advice helped me to make my project that little bit better. 

If I were to make improvements to my project, the main thing I would suggest would be to use more primary sources. 

Although I gather lots of personal opinions from people in the press I never had the opportunity to speak to anyone 

directly. I did try to contact numerous MPs and a law and ethics lecturer, Baroness Ruth Deech, they were unable to meet 

me due to their busy schedules. I would have loved to have spoken to British Pakistani individuals to ask for their 

thoughts on the matter but I didn't know if this would be a good idea due to sensitivity of the topic. I was fearful that I 

might offend or upset someone if I did this. I think looking back I could have maybe advertised for individuals to speak 

with me so that those interested could approach me, rather than me having to approach them. 

In conclusion, I am very pleased with my performance during the project and I am delighted with the finished product. I 

can now tackle ethical dilemmas with an open-mind and confidence and can look at an issue from differing points of view. 

I have learnt how to conduct research, reference and write an indepth report which are all useful skills I can take with me 

to university. I now feel I have a thorough understanding of first cousin marriage, its history, its future and the issues 

surrounding it. I understand the UK law on marriage and also which relationships are forbidden in Islam, Christianity, 

Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism. If I was to offer any advice to future Extended Project Qualification students it would 

be to firstly set out the targets/aims you want to meet by the end of your project and then decide how you are going to do 

this. I would also say plan carefully, stick to deadlines that you set yourself and consider all advice given to you by your 

supervisor and others. I think these factors make the difference between failing and suceeding. Although the project can 

seem very time consuming and the workload daughting at times, it is regarded highly at universities and often referred to 

at interview. I actually think that being able to talk about my project in detail and with obvious interest and passion was 

what tipped the balance and got me an offer from the University of Oxford, as it demonstated the skills and attitude they 

were looking for. 

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Beth Dobbin - Greenhead College

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