University to standardise all degrees, assessments, and module choices

By Isla Mustin

Durham University is currently in the process of restructuring all undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, set to be in place for the next academic year. 

The new Durham Education Framework will remove the ability to take modules from lower levels, introduce standardised module and assessment formats across all faculties, while the number of optional modules available remains under review.

The University maintains that what students learn will remain the same, however how programmes are organised will be redesigned. This aims to improve efficiency and sustainability, reduce staff workload, and provide students with clearer, more coherent degree structures. According to the University Senate papers, the current portfolio of programmes is too complex, fragmented and costly. 

The restructure will be delivered through new programme frameworks: a single university-wide postgraduate framework and faculty-based frameworks for undergraduate courses. 

These will set expectations on how many credits modules are worth, assessment load, the balance between compulsory and optional modules, accreditation requirements, and the proportion of secure versus open assessment types.

Departments will offer only options that can be delivered every year and that clearly fit within the redesigned programme frameworks. 

The new Durham Education Framework will remove the ability to take modules from lower levels, introduce standardised module and assessment formats across all faculties, while the number of optional modules available remains under review

All departments will be required to adopt greater consistency in module credit sizes, teaching delivery, assessment structures, and scheduling practices, replacing the wide variation currently seen across the University.

A review is currently taking place to assess the University’s portfolio for financially unviable programmes, low recruiting modules and those which have not run for several years, though no decisions have been made regarding their future. 

The senate papers state that these changes are necessary because Durham’s programme and module offerings have grown “organically” over time, often without alignment to student demand, institutional capacity, or market trends. This growth, it says, has resulted in a suboptimal student experience, inefficient timetabling, and increased workload for academic and professional services staff.

The new Academic Framework also removes “adjacency,” meaning students will no longer be able to take modules from a different level of study to their own. In practice, this means Level 3 students will not be permitted to take Level 1 or Level 2 modules. According to the University, this change will increase timetabling flexibility. 

Under the new Framework, module choices will be reshaped around “core, subject-specific spines.” Each programme will therefore have a spine of core modules at each level, where key skills and knowledge are developed. 

This means optional modules will be retained only where they support this spine and can be delivered reliably every year. The Framework’s standardisation and streamlining of modules is part of a broader effort to make programmes both academically rigorous and operationally sustainable.

The framework will define what constitutes “core” content within each programme and how optional modules fit around this core. 

The University states that “a good curriculum does not necessarily offer more choice; it offers academically coherent choice.”

Durham’s latest National Student Survey results show a sharp contrast: high scores for teaching quality and academic support, but far lower rankings for course structure and guidance. The University placed 42nd for building on previous learning, 107th for future skills, and 97th for advice on module choices. The University has said this indicates a need for more coherent and efficient programme structures. 

Staff have expressed to the University a desire for greater timetable flexibility, but the University argues this is impossible while departments continue to use vastly different module sizes, teaching patterns, class durations and session frequencies. It describes the Framework as an opportunity to “restore morale” as staff will be able to better balance teaching with research and other responsibilities. 

The University states that “a good curriculum does not necessarily offer more choice; it offers academically coherent choice.”

Alongside these structural changes, the University plans to include skills such as employability, AI literacy, and digital fluency across redesigned programmes that are in better alignment to student’s future careers. 

Departments are expected to redesign programme structures and finalise material information during 2025-26, with the first 2027 entry programmes scheduled for advertisement in February 2026. Staff have raised concerns about the pace of this timetable. 

One member of academic staff told Palatinate, “We are expected to submit our department’s modules for the online prospectus before then. If we still don’t know how modules will run or which will be a core module, we can’t give prospective students accurate information.”

The departments must finalise programme structures in line with the framework for the online course pages by August 2026, to be advertised to students at the start of the application cycle in September 2026 in line with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.

Professor Tony Fawcett, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) at Durham University, said: “Our degree programmes already offer students an excellent education and this programme will help us to enhance this further.  

“The Durham Education Framework project will enable us to develop our degree programmes even more carefully, and make sure we can maintain the academic excellence of our offer while ensuring our institutional sustainability. 

“The framework will review and reshape elements of our degree provision, helping us to deliver more efficient programmes for staff, and more effective programmes for students.   

“Staff and student engagement is critical to achieving the aims of the Durham Education Framework. We are working closely with staff to help better manage workload and meet student expectations, so we can ensure they continue to receive an excellent experience at the University.” 

Image: Isla Mustin