The role of discretion at examination boards for modular degree programmes

Examines the changing trends in higher education and the current movement in the UK towards a modular degree provision. Outlines how this move towards modularization often results in changes in the way undergraduate examination boards operate, universities often having to replace a series of small single degree examination boards by much larger committees operating under a two‐tiered system. Examines the changing requirements of the newer two‐tiered system with specific reference to where and how academic discretion can be applied. Concludes that discretion can rarely be supported on academic grounds within a modular degree system and that its previous use, in many cases, were symptomatic of some of the failures in the UK honours degree system.