diff --git a/admin/roles/check.php b/admin/roles/check.php
index 1f6f6acf499..470159ecc85 100644
--- a/admin/roles/check.php
+++ b/admin/roles/check.php
@@ -104,20 +104,45 @@ switch ($context->contextlevel) {
         break;
 }
 
+// Get the list of the reported-on user's role assignments - must be after
+// the page setup code above, or the language might be wrong.
+$reportuser = $userselector->get_selected_user();
+if (!is_null($reportuser)) {
+    $roleassignments = get_user_roles_with_special($context, $reportuser->id);
+    $rolenames = role_get_names($context);
+}
+
 echo $OUTPUT->header();
-// These are needed early because of tabs.php
-$assignableroles = get_assignable_roles($context, ROLENAME_BOTH);
-$overridableroles = get_overridable_roles($context, ROLENAME_BOTH);
 
 // Print heading.
 echo $OUTPUT->heading($title);
 
 // If a user has been chosen, show all the permissions for this user.
-$reportuser = $userselector->get_selected_user();
 if (!is_null($reportuser)) {
     echo $OUTPUT->box_start('generalbox boxaligncenter boxwidthwide');
-    echo $OUTPUT->heading(get_string('permissionsforuser', 'role', fullname($reportuser)), 3);
 
+    if (!empty($roleassignments)) {
+        echo $OUTPUT->heading(get_string('rolesforuser', 'role', fullname($reportuser)), 3);
+        echo html_writer::start_tag('ul');
+
+        $systemcontext = context_system::instance();
+        foreach ($roleassignments as $ra) {
+            $racontext = context::instance_by_id($ra->contextid);
+            $link = html_writer::link($racontext->get_url(), $racontext->get_context_name());
+
+            $rolename = $rolenames[$ra->roleid]->localname;
+            if (has_capability('moodle/role:manage', $systemcontext)) {
+                $rolename = html_writer::link(new moodle_url('/admin/roles/define.php',
+                        array('action' => 'view', 'roleid' => $ra->roleid)), $rolename);
+            }
+
+            echo html_writer::tag('li', get_string('roleincontext', 'role',
+                    array('role' => $rolename, 'context' => $link)));
+        }
+        echo html_writer::end_tag('ul');
+    }
+
+    echo $OUTPUT->heading(get_string('permissionsforuser', 'role', fullname($reportuser)), 3);
     $table = new check_capability_table($context, $reportuser, $contextname);
     $table->display();
     echo $OUTPUT->box_end();
diff --git a/lang/en/role.php b/lang/en/role.php
index 971722c4fb2..2d664e2a634 100644
--- a/lang/en/role.php
+++ b/lang/en/role.php
@@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ $string['role:assign'] = 'Assign roles to users';
 $string['roleassignments'] = 'Role assignments';
 $string['roledefinitions'] = 'Role definitions';
 $string['rolefullname'] = 'Role name';
+$string['roleincontext'] = '{$a->role} in {$a->context}';
 $string['role:manage'] = 'Create and manage roles';
 $string['role:override'] = 'Override permissions for others';
 $string['role:review'] = 'Review permissions for others';
@@ -310,6 +311,7 @@ $string['roles_help'] = 'A role is a collection of permissions defined for the w
 $string['roles_link'] = 'roles';
 $string['role:safeoverride'] = 'Override safe permissions for others';
 $string['roleselect'] = 'Select role';
+$string['rolesforuser'] = 'Roles for user {$a}';
 $string['roleshortname'] = 'Short name';
 $string['role:switchroles'] = 'Switch to other roles';
 $string['roletoassign'] = 'Role to assign';
diff --git a/lib/accesslib.php b/lib/accesslib.php
index 084c4d5ccff..a6d4828cb8f 100644
--- a/lib/accesslib.php
+++ b/lib/accesslib.php
@@ -2981,6 +2981,53 @@ function get_user_roles(context $context, $userid = 0, $checkparentcontexts = tr
     return $DB->get_records_sql($sql ,$params);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Like get_user_roles, but adds in the authenticated user role, and the front
+ * page roles, if applicable.
+ *
+ * @param context $context the context.
+ * @param int $userid optional. Defaults to $USER->id
+ * @return array of objects with fields ->userid, ->contextid and ->roleid.
+ */
+function get_user_roles_with_special(context $context, $userid = 0) {
+    global $CFG, $USER;
+
+    if (empty($userid)) {
+        if (empty($USER->id)) {
+            return array();
+        }
+        $userid = $USER->id;
+    }
+
+    $ras = get_user_roles($context, $userid);
+
+    // Add front-page role if relevant.
+    $defaultfrontpageroleid = isset($CFG->defaultfrontpageroleid) ? $CFG->defaultfrontpageroleid : 0;
+    $isfrontpage = ($context->contextlevel == CONTEXT_COURSE && $context->instanceid == SITEID) ||
+            is_inside_frontpage($context);
+    if ($defaultfrontpageroleid && $isfrontpage) {
+        $frontpagecontext = context_course::instance(SITEID);
+        $ra = new stdClass();
+        $ra->userid = $userid;
+        $ra->contextid = $frontpagecontext->id;
+        $ra->roleid = $defaultfrontpageroleid;
+        $ras[] = $ra;
+    }
+
+    // Add authenticated user role if relevant.
+    $defaultuserroleid      = isset($CFG->defaultuserroleid) ? $CFG->defaultuserroleid : 0;
+    if ($defaultuserroleid && !isguestuser($userid)) {
+        $systemcontext = context_system::instance();
+        $ra = new stdClass();
+        $ra->userid = $userid;
+        $ra->contextid = $systemcontext->id;
+        $ra->roleid = $defaultuserroleid;
+        $ras[] = $ra;
+    }
+
+    return $ras;
+}
+
 /**
  * Creates a record in the role_allow_override table
  *
@@ -4093,6 +4140,15 @@ function role_get_name($role, context_course $coursecontext) {
     }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Get all the localised role names for a context.
+ * @param context $context the context
+ * @param array of role objects with a ->localname field containing the context-specific role name.
+ */
+function role_get_names(context $context) {
+    return role_fix_names(get_all_roles(), $context);
+}
+
 /**
  * Prepare list of roles for display, apply aliases and format text
  *