Rules guide

Is the EPQ coursework or NEA? Which JCQ rules apply.

JCQ, the group that writes the shared rules for the main exam boards, has two sets of instructions for work done during the course: one for coursework and one for NEA (non-examination assessment). The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) falls under coursework. Here’s why, and what follows for authentication, help and records.

Last reviewed: 2 Nov 2026
Checked against: JCQ documents effective 1 September 2026

In short

The EPQ is a Project qualification, so JCQ’s Instructions for conducting coursework apply.
The NEA instructions are for GCSE, AS and A level subjects.
JCQ’s AI Use in Assessments covers both.
Your exam board’s own EPQ rules come first if they differ from JCQ’s.

The short answer: coursework

JCQ’s coursework instructions say who they are for:

“These instructions are for use in ELC qualifications, Project qualifications and CCEA GCE unitised AS and A level qualifications.”

JCQ Instructions for conducting coursework 2026-27

The EPQ is a Project qualification, alongside the Higher and Foundation Projects. The NEA instructions, by contrast, apply to GCE AS, A level and GCSE qualifications that include some non-examination assessment. The EPQ isn’t one of those.

The coursework instructions also say that if they conflict with an exam board’s own guidelines, the board’s guidelines win. So read your board’s EPQ specification alongside them.

Why you hear “NEA” anyway

People often use NEA loosely for any work done in school and marked by teachers. Some exam board pages do too: OCR’s AI update for its EPQ (H857) sits under “AI guidance for NEA components”. JCQ’s AI Use in Assessments applies to NEA and coursework alike. When you’re checking a specific rule, such as on feedback or the declaration, go to the coursework instructions for the EPQ.

Authentication

Authentication means confirming the work is the candidate’s own. Under the coursework instructions:

Candidates read JCQ’s Information for candidates: coursework assessments, and the declaration, before they start. They sign the declaration only once the work is finished and handed in (1.4).
Teachers sign their own declaration after the work is completed. Electronic signatures are acceptable (7.1 and 7.2).
Some direct supervision is always needed, so the work can be confidently authenticated (7.5).
If the teacher can’t confirm the work is the candidate’s own, it isn’t accepted and a mark of zero is recorded (7.1, 7.2 and 7.6).

Your exam board supplies the form the declarations go on, such as AQA’s candidate record form. The 2026-27 teacher declaration includes new lines on AI misuse and recorded help: see The 2026-27 teacher declaration, line by line.

Help and feedback

Teachers may review the work before it’s handed in. Advice that stays general, leaving the candidate to make the changes, doesn’t need recording.

“Generally, one review should be enough to enable candidates to understand the demands of the assessment criteria.”

JCQ Instructions for conducting coursework 2026-27, 2.4

Help beyond that is recorded on the board’s record form and isn’t given credit when marking (2.1). JCQ’s examples include detailed advice on how to improve the work against the criteria, detailed pointers to errors or omissions, and writing frames for the task. For Project qualifications, the supervisor may give feedback on progress, and this should be acknowledged on the record form (2.8).

Once work is handed in for final assessment, it must not be revised. Adding or removing material after that is malpractice (2.5). Parents and carers can discuss the project, but must not give direct advice on what to include (4.2).

AI in the EPQ

Candidates reference any AI they use, with the tool’s name and the date. They keep their prompts and what the tool gave, in a form that can’t be edited (such as a screenshot), with a short explanation, and hand these in with the final work (5.2). Teachers must not use AI tools as the only or main way of marking (8.1).

JCQ now says students doing NEA must be given its Information for Candidates: AI before they start. That wording names NEA. Check with your exam board whether it expects EPQ candidates to have it too.

Records to keep

The candidate declaration, until the deadline for a review of results has passed, or any appeal, malpractice case or results enquiry has finished, whichever is later (Appendix 1).
Marked work, whether or not it was in the moderation sample, until a review of moderation is no longer possible, or any appeal, malpractice case or results enquiry has finished, whichever is later (21.2).
A note of which candidates were in the moderation sample (21.2).
Annotation that shows how marks were given, including any help (9).

The centre also needs a published internal appeals procedure, including for decisions to reject work for malpractice or because it couldn’t be authenticated (6.4).

If you suspect misuse

Before the candidate signs the declaration, the centre deals with it under its own procedures. After they sign, the head of centre reports it to the exam board (6.2 and 6.3). Our guide A process for suspected AI misuse before authentication explains both routes.

Sources

We review this guide each September, when the JCQ documents change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.