What do T Level grades mean?
How the overall grade is built
This is the part people find least intuitive. A T Level is a Technical Qualification plus an industry placement. The Technical Qualification has two assessed components, each separately graded:
| Component | Graded on |
|---|---|
| Core — underpinning knowledge + employer-set project | A*, A, B, C, D, E (or U) |
| Occupational specialism — practical job skills | Distinction, Merit, Pass (or U) |
The core and specialism grades are combined — through lookup tables whose weightings differ from one T Level to another — into the single overall grade. The industry placement is different: it carries a completion status, not a grade, but completing it is required for the full award. So a strong core grade alone won't earn a full T Level if the specialism isn't passed or the placement isn't completed. Distinction* is reserved for the strongest combined performance across the core and specialism.
🧮 Try the T Level grade calculator ›What each overall grade is worth
| Grade | Meaning | UCAS points |
|---|---|---|
| Distinction* | Highest grade — top performance across core and specialism | 168 (A*A*A*) |
| Distinction | Strong achievement across the qualification | 144 (AAA) |
| Merit | Solid, secure achievement | 120 (BBB) |
| Pass | Met the standard in all parts | 72–96 |
Two categories sit outside that scale. Partial achievement recognises a student who passed some but not all of the assessed parts. Unclassified means the standard wasn't met across the board. Both appear in the national data.
📊 See the grade profile for any pathwayWhy you can't compare a T Level Pass rate with an A Level pass rate
Because a T Level bundles three assessed elements into one result, its Pass rate behaves differently from a single-subject A Level pass rate. A student can do well in two parts and still miss the full qualification. When reading headline figures, it's the components and the "Pass or above" measure — not a crude comparison with A Levels — that tell the real story.