ABSTRACT
A capability curriculum in which students are encouraged to take responsibility not only for the delivery but also the design of their higher education programme poses particular problems within an institutional context. Learning contracts in their various guises are rapidly emerging as appropriate curriculum devices which appear to offer solutions to those problems by (a) accommodating the different interests of the various stakeholders involved (teachers, employers, institutions and students); (b) providing a manageable common framework for diversity; (c) imposing a discipline for rigour through accountability; (d) stimulating deep approaches to learning; and (e) encouraging students to develop a range of useful skills.
