What do Certified, Certified with Merit and Certified with Distinction mean?
Every certified result under AIRS-J/1 carries one of three bands. This section explains how a band is reached, what each band says, and what a band does not say.
Every certified result under AIRS-J/1 carries one of three bands: Certified, Certified with Merit or Certified with Distinction. This section explains how a band is reached, what each band says, and what a band does not say.
Judgment is how well a person decides once AI has given the answer. AIRS-J/1 assesses judgment in AI-enabled work: how a person decides when working with, alongside or in supervision of AI systems (Section 2).
A band comes after the rules are met
A result is certified only when all six decision rules in Section 12.2 are met. In the Standard's words: "All six must be met. Failure of any one results in Not Certified." Only a certified result receives a band.
Not Certified, Provisional and Insufficient results carry no band. Provisional and Insufficient results, the two confidence levels below Moderate, are development readings. They are reported to the candidate and decide nothing about the person's employment or certification (Sections 10.1 and 12.8).
The word "Certified" names both the outcome and the first band. Merit and Distinction ask for a higher composite (the average of the nine dimension scores) and a higher floor (the lowest score allowed on any one dimension).
The three bands
Each band in Section 12.4 has two conditions: a composite range and a floor for every dimension.
| Band | Composite | Also required |
|---|---|---|
| Certified | 2.3 to 2.9 | All floors met |
| Certified with Merit | 3.0 to 3.4 | No dimension below 2.5 |
| Certified with Distinction | 3.5 and above | No dimension below 3.0 |
For Certified, the floors are those of Section 12.2: no dimension below 2.0, and each of the four domains at 2.0 or more.
A dimension score is the mean of its valid observations (Section 12.2.1).
Three levels of the Standard's scale of 0 to 4 explain the numbers (Section 7):
- Level 2, Competent. The behaviour appeared unprompted and was adequate to the situation. This is the threshold level.
- Level 3, Proficient. As Level 2, calibrated to the consequence, and recorded or stated so that another person could check the reasoning.
- Level 4, Exemplary. As Level 3, and the person leaves a reusable rule, condition or check for the next decision of the same kind.
A plain reading of each band, not the Standard's wording:
- Certified. The composite is 2.3 to 2.9, and every dimension and every domain scores 2.0 or more, the number of the threshold level.
- Certified with Merit. The composite is 3.0 to 3.4, and no dimension scores below 2.5, halfway between Competent and Proficient.
- Certified with Distinction. The composite is 3.5 or more, halfway from Proficient to Exemplary, and every dimension scores 3.0 or more, the number of Proficient.
Why the floor matters
A high composite does not move a result into a higher band when one dimension is below that band's floor.
Illustrative example: a result has a composite of 3.1, and one dimension at 2.4. The composite is in the Merit range, but one dimension is below the Merit floor of 2.5. The result does not meet the conditions for Certified with Merit (Section 12.4).
What is shown with the band
A band comes with three other facts.
- The track. Campus, Professional or Practitioner. "A band without a track has no meaning" (Section 13.2). A Campus certification and a Professional certification are not equivalent or convertible (Section 13.1).
- The confidence. Certification is issued at Moderate or High confidence only. Confidence describes how much evidence there is, not the person's ability. It is printed on the credential, so an employer can tell a High-confidence Certified from a Moderate-confidence Certified (Section 10).
- The version and the dates. The register records the version of the Standard, the issue date and the expiry date (Section 14.1).
The public register also records the credential code, the status and a plain-language scope. It does not record the employer, the dimension scores or anything from the transcript (Section 14.1). Verification is free and needs no account (Section 14.3).
Every candidate receives the separately reportable dimension scores, the four domain scores, the confidence and the evidence for each observation, whether or not they certify. A certified result also carries its band (Section 12.5).
What this does not claim
- A band is not a rank, a percentage or an order of people. Bands are used "to prevent false precision and league-table misuse" (Section 12.4). AIR APAC provides no rank order of applicants (Section 12.6).
- A band does not say whether a person suits a particular role. A result describes "the person's judgment in AI-enabled work at the level certified" (Section 12.6). The decision to hire or promote stays with the employer.
- A higher band is not a measure of seniority. Even Level 4 does not require authority in an organisation (Section 7.2).
- A band says nothing about a person's knowledge of a field, skill with an AI tool, or personality (Sections 2, 2.1 and 7.3).
AIR APAC publishes the standard for judgment in AI-enabled work, certifies people against it through its official instrument, and stands behind every result.