Pass, and above pass

Most standards grade at more than one level. Apprenticeship assessments revised under the 2025 reforms use pass and distinction only, while older plans may still have merit, so check the current assessment plan for your standard, including whether your portfolio is marked itself or supports a professional discussion. The higher levels are not "more of the same." They ask for different things, usually about judgement, reflection, and impact: why you chose that approach, what you would do differently, what changed as a result.

Read the higher-level criteria separately and turn those into questions too. You will find they are mostly about the thinking behind the work rather than the work itself, and that they are much harder to evidence after the fact if you did not record your reasoning at the time.

Decide now what you are aiming for. A pass is a real achievement and a legitimate target. Aiming higher changes what you write, and it is far easier to write for distinction from the start than to bolt it on to a pass portfolio later.

In practice. A learner with strong technical work was surprised to be told it read as a pass. The distinction criteria asked for evaluation of alternatives and evidence of impact. He had done both, in meetings, and written neither. Two conversations with his mentor, recorded and transcribed, gave him the material for both.

At your desk. Run the same prompt on the higher-level criteria. Note how many are about reasoning, alternatives, reflection or impact. Decide, and write down, the grade you are aiming for and why.

Write it down.

• Higher-level criteria that are about thinking, not doing:
• The grade I am aiming for:
• The criterion I am furthest from: