Understood to make the grade (8)
I believe the answer is:
gathered
'understood' is the definition.
('gather' can be a synonym of 'understand')
'make the grade' is the wordplay.
'make' is an anagram indicator.
'the'+'grade'='thegrade'
'thegrade' is an anagram of 'GATHERED'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for gathered that I've seen before include "Surmised" , "Concluded from evidence" , "Gleaned" , "Collected - inferred" , "Understood" .)