39 © Unisa Press ISSN 0256-8853 Progressio 35 (1) 2013 pp 39–53 Improving course success rates at the honours level by setting minimum marks for the prerequisite undergraduate qualification C. J. de Swardt* J. Marx* e-mail: marxj@unisa.ac.za *Department of Finance, Risk Management and Banking University of South Africa Pretoria, South Africa Abstract The study investigated whether a proposed minimum admission requirement of 60 per cent in the final-year module of specialisation at undergraduate level could attribute to the course success rate of students proceeding to the BCom honours degree in Business Management with specialisation in Financial Management at Unisa. Regression analysis and Pearson chi-square tests were conducted. Final- year marks for the Financial Management module, MNF3015, showed a positive correlation with the marks students obtained for the three selected postgraduate level modules at honours level. Significant positive correlations were also found between marks of 60 per cent or more obtained for MNF3015, and marks obtained for the postgraduate modules in Investments (r = 0.464, p = 0.017), Financial Risk Management (r = 0.347, p = 0.188) and Financial Management (r = 0.468, p = 0.002). Tests for the possible statistical association between the marks obtained in the three selected postgraduate-level modules and gender, age, home language and language of tuition did not yield significant values. A minimum mark of 60 per cent for final-year modules in the area of specialisation as an admission requirement is recommended in order to improve the success rate of Finance students at honours level. Keywords: course success rates, admission requirements, ODL INTRODUCTION The University of South Africa (Unisa) is a dedicated open and distance learning (ODL) institution of higher learning. ODL aims to remove barriers to access and provide fexible learning opportunities and student centredness, supporting students and constructing learning programmes with the expectation that students can succeed (Unisa Open Distance Learning Policy 2008, 2). However, it is Open Rubric