Equal score and make the grade (4,2,2,7)
I believe the answer is:
come up to scratch
'make the grade' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'equal score' is the wordplay.
'equal' becomes 'comeupto' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'score' becomes 'scratch ' (I've seen this before).
'comeupto'+'scratch'='COME UP TO SCRATCH'
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for come up to scratch that I've seen before include "What a diver with eczema might do" , "meet required standards" , "Might flea-bitten rabbits" , "Diver may be itching to" , "What monkeys down below can do" .)