  Let $n,p,r$ be positive integers with $n \geq p\geq r$. A rank-$\overline{r}$
subset of $n$ by $p$ matrices (with entries in a field) is a subset in which
every matrix has rank less than or equal to $r$. A classical theorem of
Flanders states that the dimension of a rank-$\overline{r}$ linear subspace
must be less than or equal to $nr$, and it characterizes the spaces with the
critical dimension $nr$. Linear subspaces with dimension close to the critical
one were later studied by Atkinson, Lloyd and Beasley over fields with large
cardinality; their results were recently extended to all fields.
  Using a new method, we obtain a classification of rank-$\overline{r}$ affine
subspaces with large dimension, over all fields. This classification is then
used to double the range of (large) dimensions for which the structure of rank
$\overline{r}$-linear subspaces is known for all fields.
