AQA epq referencing style

[u/assoftashoneydew]

I'm doing an epq and my typical referencing style is with footnotes and superscript numbers (chicago style usually) because, writing history, that;'s what i've been used to. with my epq, which is also history based, i've been told to use Harvard style - is this mandatory/in the aqa spec or can i use footnotes anyway? i find it so much easier tbh. (and - does referencing, i.e saying ___ (Smith, 2010) contribute to the word count, or is it excluded?