Honour Moderations are a first set of examinations at Oxford University in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 during the first part of the degree course for some courses (e.g., Greats or Literae Humaniores

Literae Humaniores

Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...

).

Honour Moderations have a class associated with them (hence the "honours") but this does not count towards the final degree. In other courses, Moderations and Prelims

Prelims

The use of the term Prelim varies and is synonymous with qualifying exam, but it generally refers to an examination that qualifies a student to continue studies at a higher level...

(preliminary examinations) are the equivalent first set of examinations, but have no class associated with them. All three examinations are termed "First Public Examinations". Successful performance in "First Public Examinations" leads to the "Second Public Examinations", more commonly known as Finals. Finals are held at the end of all first degree courses at Oxford for arts subjects and split into examinations after the second, third and, if applicable, fourth year for science subjects.

Honour Moderations in Classics have been called the hardest exam in the world .