Recognise record getting “Merit” but not “Ace” (7)
I believe the answer is:
discern
'recognise' is the definition.
(I know that recognise can be written as discern)
'record getting merit but not ace' is the wordplay.
'record getting' becomes 'disc' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'merit' becomes 'earn' (I've seen this before).
'but not' is a deletion indicator.
'ace' becomes 'a'.
'earn' with 'a' removed is 'ern'.
'disc'+'ern'='DISCERN'
(Other definitions for discern that I've seen before include "Cinders (anag)" , "Espy" , "Make out, distinguish by eye" , "Perceive - distinguish" , "Recognise, find out" .)