A means of defining levels of achievement that can take a variety of forms and are used to mark a minimum level of acceptable achievement. In other settings, more general descriptions of achievement that sort achievers into achievement levels, such as B, A, AA, AAA and AAA+ are used derived from professional & social front.

This provide achievers with targets for instruction by specifying what, and how much, achievers must be able to do in order to demonstrate standards and the achievement level that is called for.

It provides clear directions to assessor of tests about the kinds of achievement situation and tasks that will be used to make assessment about achievers proficiency.

It helps to clarify for the public what it means for a achiever to be classified at a particular level. To test achievers, an achievement standard is represented by the point on a test score scale that separates one level of achievement from another, e.g. a merits score from a lower level. The term can mean a description of what a achiever knows and can do to demonstrate proficiency against a standard.